The Midnight Garden

Soft secrets whisper through the grass

as the night creatures stir

dreams fly from a hidden lair

And the seeds of tomorrow are sown

There must be something about January for its chill and drear seems to inspire me to dream of seasons past and to come - the warm kind - and to paint flowers. This time last year I called my 'Poppy Period' and it seems we have come full circle with the seeds of last winter bearing fruit again!

There are paintings in various stages of completion drying all over the lounge floor and calling me back. This one came from a messy experiment. It started life as an abstract watercolour butterfly, then I tried my new stencil and played with some spray inks. It was all set to become a piece of scrap when suddenly I saw the poppy heads stirring in the night as the fairies brushed past their stems...

Sharing with Sunday Sketches.

P is for Poppy

Well, given my proclivity for painting the things it had to be really.

Here are a few I prepared earlier...

I'm a bit talked out when it comes to Poppy art and I've been sat at a computer all day so need a break. Masterchef is calling... So I'll just let the paintings talk for me this evening.

I'm going to share with my friends at Paint Party Friday though - need a bit of a social!

Disaster - well, a very small one...

Does your common sense diminish as you grow older? I think mine may have done. Take today. I had just finished this perfectly respectable piece of artwork above - just a light poppy sketch I thought I'd knock up - I mean, it's been all ... what .... about 12 hours since I last did one...

Anyway, some sixth sense (obviously my common one) told me to scan it in before I attempted the next stage. I had decided to seal it with wax. Now, you might not think that's a bad idea - after all, it's only on an old book page which is pretty flimsy. As long as I don't leave the iron on for too long, all should be well.

And so it would have been... had this not been a piece of art embellished with oil pastel. Yes, that's right, a very waxy substance which when heated has a tendency to revert to liquid form and smoosh across the page. Delicate petals became a sticky mess. The art was no more.

At least I still have a digital version to share with my buddies at Sunday Sketches... Unfortunately though, the person whose birthday card it was intended to be may have to have something else!

Poppies

I am going through a phase - it's all about the poppy. Fortunately it's just painting them and not consuming any by-products.

Shall I let you into a little secret? I took this one to a couple of art galleries last week to see if they might be interested in selling my work. They liked this one and told me to do some more! So, this weekend I did quite a bit of painting....

Sharing this one with Inspiration Avenue's Poppy challenge.