Gray Day Spring, Third Year In The Artist's Garden, Plein Air by Roxanne Steed

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

I love spring anywhere, but if I could choose I would always greet it in a garden. ~Ruth Stout


This week I've spent a lot of time painting BIG! I've been staining/weather-proofing my back deck. I'm reminded how much energy is spent when you are using your whole body in the painting process. Man I am worn-out, but am happy to have completed this project, before this week's coming rains set in! Saturday, once I unfolded all the achy parts of my back and every limb I decided to paint outside. It was that soft gray day, with no cast shadows, no strong sunlight, but no dark clouds just yet either. It has been really fun documenting the changes in this garden over the past three years. Sometimes it's hard to believe all this has been created in such a short time. The rose canes are thick and strong, arching across the fence line, with so many buds forming to blossom in the coming weeks! The creeping phlox is blooming in great mounds of lavender and pink. Soon their show will fade and something else will come along to add some color. It's going to be quite the year in this garden!

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