Gardening & Painting

Working the soil and watching things grow mean a lot to me. If you garden, then you know what I mean.

There's nothing quite like fresh cut flowers in the house... and fruits and vegetables from the garden... they are so beautiful... so incredible.

And even if they aren't used in a painting... well... I still think they have a deep influence on how I paint.

Recollection

"Recollection" . 12" x 9" . oil on wood panel
© 2012 kay eneim
available

While the larkspur were still going to town in the garden the 'Crocus' roses were winding down to very small buds... but that's okay because their tiny blossoms were wonderful with the larkspur... and the snail vine buds, too.

I really like them together... a lot.

This painting is available in the small works collection at eneimfineart.com

Crocus Rose and Larkspur

"Crocus Rose and Larkspur" . 12" x 9" . oil on wood panel

© 2012 kay eneim

available

... of a new addition to the garden... a David Austin rose called Crocus Rose.
So beautiful.

And, for a change, the larkspur seeds that I scattered happened to do the best ever this year... not sure why, but I'm not going to complain! They have been blooming and blooming and blooming!

This painting is available in the small works collection at eneimfineart.com.

Lasting Arrangement

"Lasting Arrangement" . 20 x 16 . linen on panel . 2011

copyright © kay eneim 2011

sold

This particular painting did not come easily... i mean really.

At the time it was begun, my head was in a fog. I was adjusting to a studio move which was far more to 'reckon with' than i had expected... and i was without a garden for inspiration.

In a workshop in April (2010) with Sherrie McGraw, i began this painting with much promise...

but i just couldn't get into the swing of things that week.

I had planned ahead for this workshop and had the last of the roses from a bareroot rose i had planted in a can... just so i could have some roses for Sherrie's workshop.

I loved this arrangement so much... it made the struggle all the more frustrating.

In the end... after getting the unfinished painting home... I decided to scrape down some areas and begin again with some new protea and new roses.

WELL... without a garden the 'new' roses weren't going to happen, either!

photograph © kay eneim 2010

At least i had this photo from the workshop.

As much as i really dislike working from photos, this photo did help me to work on the painting this week... many months later.

Sooooo... after an injury that kept me away from the easel for eight months, it is at last finished.

... i can't begin to tell you how grateful i am!

Amy's David Austin & Blueberries

"Amy's David Austin & Blueberries" . 8 x 10 . oil on panel . 2010

copyright © kay eneim 2010

Available

I am temporarily without a garden. For me, trying to paint without a garden is a bit of misery!

I have been searching for something to inspire a new painting. That inspiration hit when I went to the local nursery with my daughter who happens to be a Master Gardener and landscape designer.

We came across a new variety of blueberry that is supposed to do well here in Arizona... so there we go... it now sits in a pot in the patio, loaded with new unripened berries just beginning to blush with alizarin crimson and ultramarine blue. I had to, ...had to paint them!

Later that day, I was gifted a rose from my daughter's 'David Austin' in her garden... it was the last blossom left on that rosebush. It just may be my next favorite variety... it produces incredibly beautiful roses.

I sure love roses from the garden.

Rosie Day

'Rosie Day' . 6 x 8 . oil on linen panel . 2010

copyright © kay eneim 2010

sold

Abraham Darby roses are, to me, the most fragrant, most beautiful roses.

I have been pruning them back, as we must do here every January to give them a fresh start.

I will miss their blossoms very much and will be anxiously awaiting the Spring.

Rachel's Rose

'Rachel's Rose' . 7 x 5 . oil on linen panel . 2010

copyright © kay eneim

Click here to acquire

My daughter-in-law and son gave me this vase. I love it.

The rose is from the 'New Dawn' climbing rose in the garden. It has been rambling like mad! Though a prolific bloomer, each of its blossoms lasts on the bush no more than a day... two at the most. I have to stick to business to get them painted!

YIKES!

My Garden in the Spring

copyright © kay eneim 2009

I think homegrown flowers are the most beautiful to paint, and I think it's good for a person to get down in the dirt and dig... so gardening is good for me. Time flies when I'm in the garden.

Well... a few weeks ago I had a rude awakening. I was greeted...up REALLY CLOSE and personal...by a rattlesnake!

He had been hiding in the overgrown herb bed. When I started watering the bushy plants he was hiding under, he decided to pop his head up out of the bush, about a foot above, and he just looked at me. He then slithered over and down to a clearing. That's when I saw the rattles on the tail.

Surprising to me, he never coiled and he never rattled. Thankfully, he didn't strike. I might easily have begun digging in that spot. It happened on the Feast of the Guardian Angels. I am very grateful to mine.

Not being any sort of expert on the subject of rattlesnakes, I can only guess that, with the cooler weather, he was starting to get sluggish for his winter sleep. I've heard that rattlers don't always warn you with their 'rattle' when they are around, but I was pretty shocked to have experienced it.

I will definitely keep the garden trimmed closer from now on so those critters won't have a place to hide anymore because I still love... truly LOVE... living in the desert!