In Praise of Idleness Drawings 87 – 95

 

Fuchsia

Trumpet flowers

Leaf

Calla lilies

Trees

Great blue heron

Face

Crow

Hands

The end

It was a rush to the finish, but I did complete this project by the end of the year as I had hoped.  Time for new projects in 2017.

 

Happy New Year!

Wordless Wednesdays: 12 Views of Angel’s Trumpet Flowers at the Volunteer Park Conservatory

Remembering with Photos vs. Sketches

Trumpet flower, Volunteer Park Conservatory

“The camera is an instrument that teaches people to see without a camera.”
— Dorothea Lange

“Cameras made the task of keeping a record of people and things simpler and more widely available, and in the process reduced the care and intensity with which people needed to look at the things they wanted to remember well, because pressing a button required less concentration and effort than composing a precise and comely drawing.”
— Michael Kimmelman, The Accidental Masterpiece:  On the Art of Life and Vice Versa

I am certainly guilty of often choosing the ease of photographing to the effort of drawing or sketching.  And while I have trained my eye over time to really see and pay attention to what I am photographing, it is true that I look differently when I am attempting to draw or paint.

To draw or paint means to carve out space, time, and materials (brushes, paper, water, good light, etc.), and that is cumbersome compared to snapping a quick photo with a portable device.  I can take photos with people around, but I like to draw or paint in solitude.  I like to think of my photographs as making art, equal in value to my drawings and paintings.

Something is gained by the ease of digital photographing, but something is lost, too.  I’m going to try to cultivate both ways of seeing and remembering.

Trumpet flowers with Lomo-ish effect

Trumpet flower, Volunteer Park Conservatory

Watercolor sketch of trumpet flower

My Watercolor Show is Up and Running through September 28, 2012

Exhibit of my watercolor sketches at the Elisabeth C Miller Library

An exhibit of my watercolor sketches is now on display at the Elisabeth C. Miller Library at the Center for Urban Horticulture in Seattle.  The exhibit, which runs through September 28, is available for viewing during the library’s normal visiting hours.  Please check this link for hours and driving directions.

I spent a delightful couple of hours yesterday morning with a group of six women who drove down from Bow, Washington to see the show.  This is the first time I’ve actually met new friends through my blog, and they are each kindred spirits — some painters, a couple of librarians, some with ties to the Midwest, fellow travelers.   I am touched that they made the effort to see my work and it was a real pleasure to meet them.

Magnificent bouquet from the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market.

I was also very honored to see a stunning bouquet from the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market delivered to the Miller Library to celebrate my show.  The bouquet is so beautiful, and it is such a thoughtful gesture of support from my friends at the Market.  The bouquet was quite a showpiece of local, seasonal blooms — I was tickled to see a stem of blackberries tucked in among the flowers and greens!

Display cases show sample blog posts, some photographs, and tools of my trade — watercolor sets and journals.

The framed watercolors are arranged by season — spring, summer, fall and winter.

I invite you all to stop by the Miller Library to see my show.  And to spend some time visiting this wonderful horticultural resource in the city.  Tomorrow’s blog post will take you along the trails of the Union Bay Natural Area adjacent to the Miller Library.  And Friday’s post will introduce you to the Otis Douglas Hyde Herbarium, also part of the Center for Urban Horticulture.  I’ll close here with some photographs from the demonstration gardens.

Datura

This purple trumpet flower is called “the devil’s trumpet,” or datura

Bed of sneezeweed

Sneezeweed, so much variety in one bed

Hostas

Lilies

I loved the range of colors here, too.

A hanging curtain of green

Looking through the curtain

Grape leaves like stained glass

Displaying Photos

Framed photos of trumpet flowers

I have a selection of my favorite photos framed and hung on the walls of my home.  I recently changed the photos in this frame.  I chose a few of my favorite photos taken this year.  It’s refreshing to change things up a bit, even in this small way.

A Few Trumpet Flower Photos

Once again I was totally captivated by the trumpet flowers at the Volunteer Park Conservatory.

Hanging trumpet flowers

Trumpet flowers at the Volunteer Park Conservatory

A trumpet duet

Peering up into a trumpet flower

Beautiful trumpet flowers

Star-like glory of the trumpet flower

Angel’s Trumpets

My friend and colleague, Jenny, recently took some lovely sepia-colored photos of trumpet flowers.  I’ve been on the lookout for these blooms since then.  I was so happy to find Angel’s Trumpets in flower at the Volunteer Park Conservatory.  Here are my photos, inspired by Jen’s.

Pendulous angel trumpets at the Volunteer Park Conservatory

These blushing blooms were textured like seersucker

Furled angel trumpet

Trumpet flower unfurling like a star

Angel's trumpet, looking up

Radiance