Garden Tour - North River

Each year I am invited to paint at a property on the Garden Tour organized by the Cliff Rogers Library.   It is their biggest fundraiser and it draws an impressive number of people.   Who wouldn't want to stroll through the very prettiest gardens in the local area and support this lovely small independent library as well.    I look forward to tour day each year and getting to capture the beauty of these gardens. 

I was assigned an expansive garden in North Marshfield that abuts the North River.   The mature plantings were perfectly balanced with many of the specimens in full bloom.   I chose a border planting that had a black wrought iron fence and gate as a backdrop.   I included this lovely woman as she admired a very unusual clementis that had purple bell shaped flowers.  As for the painting, the thick paint application that I like works particularly well for lush and vibrant garden scenes like this one.

Garden Border Bells

Wollaston Yacht Club Plein Air

The Quincy Art Association organized and hosted this paint out and yours truly was the instructor/demo painter.   We arrived plenty early to get set up and it was a good thing.   We quickly realized (like boaters before a storm) that we needed more ropes (aka bungies).    The wind was gusting to 25-30 mph and it was the first lesson that was discussed regarding successful plein air painting.  The large tent next to me where the painting participants were working actually flipped over.  Equipment must be weighted down to the point were it will not budge!   In every photo, I'm gripping my easel out of habit, even though I was securely tied down.  The bright sun and warm temperatures (low 90s) were also challenging but the participants stuck with it and all came away with a work of art they should be proud of!

This is my painting from the demo, a depiction of the Wollaston Yacht Club and dock with Quincy Bay and some Boston Harbor Islands in the distance. 

Wollaston Yacht Club and Dock