An old tree in California

A couple of days ago I received this fine line drawing by Pat Reese showing a Californian tree. It seems that I am not the only one who is sometimes speculating what such an old tree has been looking on and has heard during it's life time.
Funny things, frightening situations, drama, silly conversations, a lot of lawn mowing and more...

I wish I knew what species that tree is and would like to request Pat from here to find out for me. Looking at the trunk I would guess it is a Metasequoia glyptostroboides (that sounds great) or similar. In that case Pat would have cheated us on the foliage, what I really do not want to suppose.

Thank you Pat for the beautiful tree and the kind words!

Postcard From Granada

It's such a treat receiving cards from unexpected parts of the world.  Robyn had a recent trip to Granada Spain, and I get to be the lucky recipient of the card painted while she was there!

This is the Alcazaba military area of the Alhambra as viewed from Robyn's rooftop.  Robyn had to climb a steep ladder to get to it.  Given how much I hate ladders and easily suffer vertigo I'm especially grateful! 

I am not sure what time of day this was done but it's bright sky and hot!   Great colours and shadow work and I love all the lushness of the foliage contrasting against the imposing architecture.

Thanks Robyn - it's beautiful!

A vision of topiary in France

Topiary in the front garden of the Chateau Dumas

I've been waiting a long time for my postcard from Bridget Hunter.  First of all it went astray - except I didn't know I was due to get it.  So then I had to wait until the end of the month to work out who might have sent my missing postcard - because of who had not had a painting listed in the month.

I finally worked out it was Bridget, wrote her an email and she very kindly agreed to send a second one. In fact she painted three in total as she decided it was boring doing the same one again!

So this truly beautiful postcard - which I am so very pleased to now own - is of the Chateau Dumas in South West France.  Bridget recently stayed there during a spell of gorgeous weather and describes it as a painter's paradise, inside and outside, with a still life or landscape around every corner!

This particular view is of the formal garden at the front of the house.  Bridget shares a love of topiary with me.  She says that the beautifully shaped bushes made her feel as if she was in the garden of the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland.

The October card from Down Under safely arrived

Today I received one of those beautiful postcards from Liz.
I love them because they are drawn in such a spontaneous way and I like the combination of lines and watercolours. At the front of the card there are three terrace houses in Globe. Liz thinks their colour combinations are sometimes rather odd but Liz made the best of it! At the back of the card there is an extra image of a tarte she had bought in a suburb of Petersham. She enjoyed it at home with a nice cup of Earl Grey. Both, the cup and the tarte look extremely three-dimensional. And here again Liz has put some lovely stamps on it. Great! Thanks a lot Liz!

Door to the Garden

Desiree Habicht

Watercolor on paper

This postcard comes from Desiree's creative brush during a moment to herself near a garden retreat.  The welcoming cushions on the chair and the open door to the garden allows us to experience the wonderful garden exterior with beautifully accommodating weather but blocked by the bench, keeping us safely cocooned in the cool interior.

 Receiving this card lifted my spirits and kept me smiling for the rest of the day.  I have placed it on the desk that is now holding all of my postcards. 

Here are the cards I have received up to this point.(right to left)

Bridget, Desiree, Katherine, Charlene

Martin, Vivian, Liz and Cathy

Kew Gardens

This exquisite colored pencil and sepia ink painting is from Katherine Tyrrell .  She said this is a sketch of one of her favorite views in Kew Gardens.  It’s the east/west axis from the Palm House looking toward the Chinese Pagoda.  The Pagoda in reality is a deep crimson but Katherine said it always looks blue when viewed from a distance.

It was such a treat to come home from my vacation/working week away to find this wonderful piece of art just sitting there waiting for me.  I can’t even put into words the beauty of each colored pencil stroke combined with another color to magically make shape and depth and glowing contrast.

A ray of Tuscan sunshine!

This beautiful card came from Robyn in Tuscany. I'm afraid my scanner hasn't captured the colours at all well but the stone walls are painted in a range of very delicate pinks and soft browns which seem to radiate with the warmth of the Tuscan sun! I love the shadows playing across the blue/green door and it's all been painted so delicately.

On the back Robyn has written "This is the door to the old convent house we rented when we first arrived in Castiglion Fiorentino. I stop by often because it is now owned by friends but mainly because it holds such great memories of our first year in Italy with an open fire, two dogs and no television!" Isn't that wonderful? Now I want to open the door and go inside!