Delphiniums in the Rain

We are in the final push to put our current home on the market this week, so when I woke up this morning looking at the very gray sky and the mountain of work I had to do at home, I almost didn't go out to paint. Luckily my darling husband wouldn't hear of my excuses and practically kicked me out the door. ;-) I had been invited to paint with friends in this beautiful walled garden at a private turn-of-the-century residence tucked back in rolling hills near the banks of the James River. The drive up to the site was stunning in itself. Beautiful bucolic fields were lined with stately mature trees of all kinds. But it wasn't until I entered the garden past the roses and rounded a corner to take in this view that I audibly gasped. I remember my first thought when I saw this beautiful flower lined walkway was that I hoped I had brought the right blues.

"Delphiniums at Redesdale" Oil on panel, 12x9"  Jennifer E Young

I am told that this garden was designed by Charles Gillette, who is pretty famous around Virginia for his formal garden designs on stately homes such as Agecroft Hall, The Virginia House, and Tuckahoe Plantation. I believe he also had a hand in some of the early designs of the  Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens.

The rain fell softly off and on during this painting. Every once in a while sunlight and a bit of blue sky peeped through, but luckily not enough to "ruin" my cloudy day painting. At several points things got pretty soggy, and I found myself jostling my brushes, paper towels, and my painting umbrella, which I was using as a rain umbrella for myself, my painting, and my palette. But it all worked out in the end, so I guess that's what matters!

View from Libby Hill

Today I joined up with local members of the Mid Atlantic Plein  Air Painters Association (MAPAPA) for an urban paint out.  Not being able to paint lately has driven me a bit batty, so I was really looking forward to today. The paint site was Libby Hill Park, which has a nice panoramic view of the James River and some of the Richmond skyline. It was apparently this view that gave the City of Richmond its name. The story goes that William Byrd II is said to have thought that this view resembled the view of Richmond upon Thames in England.

View from Libby Hill, Richmond Oil on panel, 8x8" © Jennifer E Young

It has been brilliantly sunny all week, but this morning we woke up to clouds and haze. I grumbled about it (which always does worlds of good in situations over which you have no control) but I went any way. I'm glad I did. Thehaze did eventually burn off and now we have nice blue skies and sunshine. I had to leave around lunchtime so I could pick up my daughter from school, but I'm happy that at least I got one painting in today.

"Winter Sunset" recognized in FAV15 at FASO!

"Winter Sunset, North Run Creek", Oil on linen, 16x20" ©Jennifer Young

I'm taking a break from packing to post a quick update. I am very excited to learn that my painting "Winter Sunset, North Run Creek", was selected as part of the FAV15% (jury's favorite 15% of the entries) in the March 2015 BoldBrush Painting competition! This is only the 2nd time I have entered one of these online contests, so I feel pretty happy to have been recognized.

Thank you FASO and Fine Art Views!!! http://faso.com/boldbrush/fav15/160

Daffodil Season

I'm back to work from spring break, and since it was such a beautiful day yesterday I decided to kick off the week with a little plein air painting at Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens. It is a great place to visit and paint! Tulips are everywhere right now, but there were a ton of people visiting yesterday. And since I had gotten a late start and needed to set up quickly,  I wanted to avoid setting up in high traffic spots and those completely devoid of shade. So no tulips. However,  I found a lovely spot (with shade) in a quieter area of the gardens near the Bloomenthal House profuse with daffodils and pansies:

"Daffodil Season" Oil on panel, 8x10" Jennifer E Young

It's pretty gray and rainy this morning, so I may need to re-photograph this when I have a bit more natural light. I had about an hour and a half to work on this painting, and then it was time to close up shop and pick up my daughter from preschool. But  was such a beautiful day in the gardens, that I returned with my daughter to share with her my enjoyment of this beautiful place.

Pear Squared!

Change is in the air. Nothing seems to change as fast in spring as the appearance of blooms on fruit trees. One minute they are ablaze with blooms, and the next they are leafing out. Here's a little ditty I did yesterday morning right from my own garden. Mine is largely a late spring/summer garden, but my neighbor shares a little early spring splendor from across the street:

"Pear, Squared" Oil on Panel, 8x8"  Jennifer E Young

It used to be really spectacular, almost cotton-ball like. Then a year or two ago a huge chunk either blew off in astorm or it got struck by lightening. The top was split in two and I was so sad because I had always meant to paint it at this time of year and something always seemed to pop up to prevent me from getting to it before it leafed out. Any way, thankfully, it survived. And in spite of yet another very windy morning, I managed to get it down.