All In A Golden Afternoon (Norfolk Botanical Rose Garden) by Roxanne Steed

6"x8" oil on Belgian linen mounted on archival artboard

"You can learn a lot of
things from the flowers, for especially
in the month of June. There's a wealth
of happiness and romance, all in the
golden afternoon..."
- from Disney's Alice in Wonderland

Have you ever been to a place that made you believe in magic? Something about it that took your breath away at the site of it? Turned the corner and there it was....even if only for a moment, then the light changes, the moment forever gone? There's a wonderful botanical garden in Norfolk, VA where I had spent many happy days painting while I lived there...and from time to time when I get to visit there. The rose garden seems to go on forever. In the late afternoon on this particular day, the light was golden...and I knew I'd remember it forever. Made me start humming "Golden Afternoon", from Disney's version of 'Alice in Wonderland' from my 2nd grade days....have a listen:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0lbfEb8MMk

Find yourself a bit of magic, take a walk in a garden; doesn't matter if it's yours or not. Enjoy the light, the shade, the fragrance. Take off your shoes, walk barefoot in the grass....there now, don't you feel better?

While it's wet & unframed:

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******Notes for artists: I've had another artist friend ask me about the roses on the picket fence I painted the other day, specifically, what kind of palette knife do I use to get that kind of detail? My answer - the bigger the better. I actually use a rounded tip knife, same one, on almost every painting I do, my current favorite is a Langnickel P-5, the blade is a little over 3 inches long with a rounded tip rather than a pointy one. You can move a lot of paint with that thing, yet still have the edges & tip for detail. Give it a try if you're inclined to paint with a knife....and want to really learn to 'mass things in' rather than 'draw & color it in'.