Wednesday 18 July 2012

New painting, a great laugh and gardens

Well I finally got some painting done, I am a bit slow getting back to it after holidays, but here is a watercolour that I have just finished. It is titled "Celebration".  It is a little late for Canada Day and Bastille Day but still a good fireworks show is always welcome:


I remember as a Brownie and Girl Guide singing a song about a Kookaburra that laughed.  Now I had forgotten about this until recently when "Seeing Each Day" posted some pictures of a kookaburra. I decided to investigate the birds call and here is what I found.


Now that is a really good hearty laugh and it had me chuckling.

Here are the gardens I promised, this time two private gardens, first Mary's garden in England and then Steve and Chantel's garden in France.

Mary's garden reminds me of my mothers' garden when I was a child, filled with roses, peonies, phlox, delphiniums and columbines. I was transported back by the beautiful columbines and probably took too many pictures so I have made some of the pictures into mosaics.


 


This one has attracted a bumble bee:


One last one .....


There were also irises, lilies, clematis, flowering horsechestnut, gladiola, and many more I haven't been able to name.










A beautiful garden, thank you Mary for sharing your garden with me.


"To be overcome by the frangrance of flowers is a delectable form of defeat." Beverly Nichols


Here are some pictures of the flowers in Steve and Chantel's garden in southern France. Clematis, honeysuckle, wisteria, and Virginia creeper covered decks and pathways offering glorious shade and filling the air with perfume.


Roses, pansies, hibiscus, daisies, geraniums and many more flowers, bushes and grasses created a beautiful and private retreat. Pots, hanging baskets, whimsical garden ornaments.





Steve and Chantel spend the time to water (by hand), weed and trim so the garden thrives.
"A garden requires patient labor and attention. Plants do not grow merely to satisfy ambitions or to fulfill good intentions. They thrive because someone expended effort on them."   Liberty Hyde Bailey










And the lavender bloomed in the second week of our stay and filled the air with its heady scent.




"Everyone can identify with a fragrant garden, with beauty of sunset, with the quiet of nature, with a warm and cozy cottage."  Thomas Kincade

Warning: If you don't like bugs, you might want to skip over the next few rather quickly.

There were some interesting bugs too, I spotted this little fellow on a rose. Some of the bugs were much larger than I am used to.





This iridescent June beetle loved the honeysuckle. It was at least an inch long.





This large moth came for a visit one evening, I have seen similar ones before but never one this large, it was over 4 inches long. It made quite a racket banging against the ceiling, and was still inside in the morning so we carefully put it outside.


I think these next two are grasshoppers or crickets, both were in the 3 to 4 inch long range. The first one was out in the garden but the second one (black) was on the ledge outside our kitchen window. We closed the window just in case it had any intention of coming inside and I bravely took its picture through the window.






Enough bugs, everyone that tuned out can come back now.



A couple of weeks ago Jeremy (Jeremy Inglis Photography) shared some wonderful Puffins pictures on his blog, and allowed me to use some of those pictures to do a painting. I have always been fascinated by these beautiful and brightly coloured birds.

So my painting is below, it is a watercolour and is quite large (13" X 19"). The painting is not quite finished yet, it is unsigned and without a name, but I wanted to share what I have done . Thank you Jeremy, hope you like the result.

 
That's it for this week, thank you for dropping by, Happy Whimsy Wednesday, until next time .....

37 comments:

  1. I love your paintings and such beautiful flowers too. Great post.

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  2. A truly diverse and fascinating post. Insects in all their guises intrigue me (though I don't like wasps!), but I am absolutely mad about puffins. I feel sure Jeremy will be thrilled with your exquisite watercolour. I feel so inspired to pick up my brushes!

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  3. wonderful paintings dear Gillian ! the firework is really beautiful and I love the birds !
    this is an amazing post and I enjoy so much your lovely world !
    thant you so much gillian

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  4. Superb watercolours. The puffin are just perfect.

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  5. Wow, a feast for the eyes on the beautiful collection of flowers and bugs. You paintings are wonderful!

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  6. you always load so much into your posts, it is hard to comment on it all. the blooms, the bugs - all beautiful! your fireworks painting is wonderful, as are your puffins!

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  7. What beautiful paintings! And so many lovely shots of flowers and insects.

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  8. The fireworks is my favourites until, the best of ages, your painting of the Puffin, it is marvelous.

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  9. The flowers are all beautiful and the puffins just great. Of course I like the Kookaburra laughing - even though I can hear the real thing laughing outside most mornings. In the wild these birds are usually in family groups and laughing together - even better than the single one you showed!

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  10. love all the Columbines. :) And your painting. It is great.

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  11. Aww … that painting at the bottom is really sweet! The world is a wonderland of flowers it seems and bugs that love to eat them. The iridescent beetle is a showstopper!

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  12. Those are stunning collection of flowers in their gardens, it must have been so hard to leave.

    Jen @ Muddy Boot Dreams

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  13. Love the puffins and the fireworks. You are so talented.

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  14. your blooms and gardens are looking so beautiful. it's so hot here, i have not been outside to take pictures of mine.

    your paintings are just gorgeous, i really like the fireworks!!

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  15. Beautiful paintings Gillian. You are so talented. I LOVE puffins and hope to see them in the real world one day beyond tv and the internet. Your flowers and insects are a lot of fun....the June beetle is one of my favorites...I love the shimmering green on its shell. Have a good rest of your week.

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  16. Kookaburra's singing is so charming and made me smile. The two gardens are really beautiful. Flowers and insects are shining in their beauty, especially the iridescence of the beetle. I think Puffins are hardly seen in Japan. The fireworks painting of yours takes me into one night sky of summer.

    Yoko

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  17. Beautiful gardens and amazing insets, Gillian. The green shell on that beetle was especially wonderful. But, most of all, I am blown away by the sound of the laughing Kookaburra. I don't think I've ever heard one before. That was truly outstanding!

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  18. Hi Gillian,
    Just been told of your Puffin painting, and I have to say I think it's brilliant. I like the way you have composed it with the two birds on the left and the one flying in on the right. Don't suppose there's any way I could buy a print of it when you've finished? I'd love to have it hanging on my wall!

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  19. Hi there - great set of pictures.

    When you are holiday and trying to have a bit of a sleep in the Kookaburras can be a bit of a pain! They don’t call them "Bushman’s Clock" for nothing!

    Stewart M - Australia

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  20. Are the birds in your paintings Puffins? This has captured the birds so well. Beautiful photos go columbines Gillian . It's difficult to take photos of flowers that nod their heads to the ground but you have managed very well.

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  21. As always my friend so many wonderful photos. And I just love all the wonderful detail you put into your paintings. They Look wonderful..

    Hugs~

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  22. wow..your photos are amazing!! I love looking at them.

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  23. Gillian I love your paintings. The fireworks and the cool looking puffins are just beautiful. Well done. The flowers are lovely captures. Beautiful post, hope you have a great weekend.

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  24. The puffin painting is so sensitively done and with such good detail. It also makes me feel as if I'm in the middle of a very intriguing story about the puffin family being illustrated.

    Excellent rendition of fireworks at the top of this posting! Lovely flowers, not to be sniffed at. My favourite is of the bug on the rose. It almost looks like a painting.

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  25. Your painting looks lovely. Its full of colors and pleasing to the eyes. Totally awesome.

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  26. It must have been a wonderful opportunity to spend time in such lovely private gardens. The flowers are delightful and the insects very interesting.

    Your painting of the puffins is fantastic, it almost looks 3 dimensional.

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  27. Your fireworks paintings have a feeling of peace about them. The light in it is exceptionally well done...creating a wonderful mood and sense of place. I'm also impressed with the vibrant colors that you've used. Well DONE!

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  28. The Kookkaburra's song was a delight to hear. My dog perked up and looked at me for some signal for him to attack. Not wanting a lap full of dog on top of a laptop, I pretended I didn't hear a thing.

    The last couple of bugs you show are on their way to becoming wheel bugs — and they pack a bite that will last up to 6 months of intense pain. Apparently you didn't play with them.

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  29. Beautiful paintings Gillian, excellent pictures; you are certainly a very talented lady.

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  30. These are beautiful photos and paintings. Of course, I love the puffins! Well done!

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  31. Wow.. your post is jam-packed with beauty, as always. The flowers are lovely.. I love that one with the lilac coloured petals but the deep blue center. Your paintings are wonderful.. the fireworks one is so colourful.. I can practically hear the usually ooohs and ahhhs from the crowd. Puffins.. I didn't realize they were a real bird.. I have no idea why I thought that.. go figure.

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  32. Gillian, What a treat!!!! Such gorgeous flowers and so well photographed. I think you included every color of the rainbow in your selections. Your post " put a smile on my face". Nature and all its beauty will do that for you!!! Thanks for sharing your lovely pics. Mickie :) I loved the Kookaburra song.

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  33. Wow, some beautiful flowers and bugs and I really enjoyed the video of the kookaburra.

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  34. Good work Gillian, I really enjoy your pictures, it gives photography a whole new world. Enjoy your summer.

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  35. Beautiful collection of photographs. I am greeting

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  36. Great painting! I love those beautiful flowers you got there, my mom would love it too if I show these to her later. Keep posting please.

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