My Giverny

PoppieLove

The Ciener Botanical Gardens here in my town of Kernersville, is definitely not Giverny. Not yet anyway. It is a beautiful garden that is still growing and expanding. But I love drawing here and have loved it for a year now. For other posts of drawings and paintings I’ve made there..click here and here and here and here.  And as I’ve resumed my Friday drawing time downtown, I have gazillions more to share with you…someday!

I look forward to, one day, having a compilation of drawings made at the Gardens throughout the years. And though my little sketches are not the mammoth works of Monet, I like to think of this place as a spot I’ll frequent for many years like he did.

I began to teach myself to paint and draw 16 years ago. I remember talking to a new artist friend with whom I was sharing my first attempts. I remember saying, “I’m sorry there are so many flowers…I know they’re considered to be a worn out subject…but I just love them…and they are all over our yard…” Now, all these years later, I do not apologize for painting and drawing flowers. I like to think these words of Monet’s could have been mine as well:

“I am following Nature without being able to grasp her…

I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers.”

**Perhaps you too can find a place that you will visit over the years to paint and draw there time and time again.

0 thoughts on “My Giverny

  1. stacey says:

    I LOVE the colors! you have a way of making a simple line drawing pop. i am always drawn to poppies just because of all of that vibrant color. thanks.

  2. Suzy says:

    Beautiful flowers Jen, love the background and wondering if you masked the flowers first then painted the background area. I have a several places where I have painted and drawn over the years. Flowers are a fascinating subject and are always a welcomed sight for me.

    • jenpedwards says:

      Hi Suzy! No I never use masking. I just painted the background colors first, working quickly, then going in with the poppy colors. This allows for some mingling of the edges. With masking you end up with really hard edges and you have to work even harder to soften them. I enjoy a rather brisk pace when I paint. Some do. Others don’t. Thank you for commenting!

  3. freebirdsings says:

    So bright and pretty! After being up much of the night with a sickish pup it was good to find that bit of cheer this morning. Hopefully, I can turn my back yard as tiny as it is, into a place I can draw and paint over the years. I’ve done one quick sketch out there already but it needs serious work – drainage, patio and much more before it’ll be what I am able to draw in often. The San Diego Zoo would be a good spot but it’s two hours away.

  4. Lisa says:

    How nice that you have a place that brings you peace and beauty. Good for your soul on a lot of levels!

    From reading your blog, I thought you were an art teacher, and had an art background. It’s so encouraging to me that you taught yourself to draw .

    I think everything has been painted before. It’s the energy and perspective and expression that each artist brings to a subject that makes it interesting. Your painting expresses your joy and wonder of your subject. Lovely!

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