Yellow Bucket of Flowers(sold!) & Don't Worry, Be Happy Flops by Roxanne Steed

6"x6" oil on gessoed masonite panel

For more information or to purchase, click here. 

Yay, it feels great to be back in the studio PAINTING! It's been a busy winter, who woulda thunk it?

I recently got back from a short trip to Hawaii! Now, before you get all excited, it....was...very....short! In fact, I spent as much time in airplanes and airports as I did on the ground there. But it was productive three days, none-the-less.  I took a sketchbook....and a swim-suit....and that's about it! Oh yeah, some flip-flops (umm, they are called 'rubber sandals' over there in Oahu) don't make the mistake to call them the wrong thing! 

You definitely need a pair like this! Yes, even in a freezing winter (like I'm having here in CT). I can just slip these babies on and feel like summer is really going to get here! (hey, it worked for Dorothy, even if those were ruby slippers, not rubber slippers). 

and yes, those things really do make GREAT prints in the sand! (or wet tracks on sidewalks!) Woohoo!  Where did I get those? Subscribe to my Cheer Factor newsletter, and I'll tell you all in the next issue!

ALSO***** "a save the date notice" for Saturday, June 1st- this summer. I'll be releasing some very exciting news....think gardens, blooms, summer fragrances...sigh! More about that in my upcoming news- letter, too!

Please visit my website: www.roxannesteed.com 

Memorial Day Mist 2011 by Roxanne Steed

"Any man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it deserves."
-Albert Einstein


6"x6" oil on gessoed masonite archival panel

This morning I set out to paint my annual 'Memorial Day' painting, with the bunting on my front fence....when thunder started rolling. The skies were already dark, but I thought I could get a small painting in before anything blew through. Well, the wind picked up, too. So I picked up my gear & headed to the front porch where I could just paint another section of the garden. Glad I did, I wasn't painting very long before a light rain started falling.

The day did redeem itself, the sun came out in late afternoon, and I am getting ready to cook for some good friends who are coming over this evening.

Yes, I've been away for almost two weeks now, no blogging or painting happening here. Like Einstein says in the quote above, there are things you just need to give full attention to. I've been down at my mom's house in Florida, helping her move to a smaller place. She's moved to smaller digs in a retirement community, and the house she's leaving is where we grew up, she'd been there for forty-three years. It felt so strange to say good-bye to the place. But mom is ready, and chose the place where her new apartment is, saying she wished she had done this last year. And as one dear friend reminded me, "Home is where your mom is" (thanks Norma!).

Looks like it will be a very busy week. Tuesday, I'm headed to a plein-air paint out in Danbury, CT at Tarrywile Park and Mansion. Hoping to get some good painting time in this week! More about the show and sale in my upcoming blog-notes!

This painting is available in my DailyPainters.com gallery. (will show up Tuesday morning)

Splash! (Norfolk Botanical Garden) sold, by Roxanne Steed

8"x10" oil on Belgian linen mounted on archival board

"Where I was born and where and how I have lived is unimportant. It is what I have done with where I have been that should be of interest."
- Georgia O'Keefe

On the Friday morning that I spent painting for the "Out & About Norfolk" plein air event, I took myself back to one of my old favorite 'hang-outs'- the Norfolk Botanical Gardens. One of the most delightful things is to walk the paths through the gardens, and find the ah-ha! place that takes your breath away. Depending upon the season and what is blooming at the time, it can be a different place each visit....most likely many places within the garden will provide this!! And of course, one of my very places to set up and paint is near the fountain. This garden is created so that you can see this fountain from so many different angles...and all the plantings behind that part, frame up the view perfectly! I'm always amazed at the artistry of the plantings, it's like a painting everywhere you look! So here is a view I hadn't noticed to paint before...
This painting "Splash" is an 8"x10" oil on Belgian linen mounted on archival board sold that Saturday evening at the show and now belongs to my newest corporate collector, Bank of Hampton Roads!

The Secret Garden by Roxanne Steed

7"x5" oil on gessoed masonite art board

"I have never had so many good ideas day after day as when I worked in the garden."
- John Erskine

I'm finally ready to unveil the last two paintings from my Chincoteague trip. Both of them were done in the fabulous little garden behind the "Channel Bass Inn", just off of Main Street. You would never know that such a garden exists by looking at the front of the Inn. But once you enter into the back yard area, the garden is like a series of little rooms and paths, with a vine covered potting shed, bird baths and fountains, flowers spilling out every where, climbing & soaring; there's something blooming at every level. Tall butterfly bushes and tall sunflowers blossomed overhead to give a real sense of privacy, pink and white phlox growing along some of the lower levels. For my first painting of the morning, I placed my easel where I could see the light peeking through on the garden path, lighting up the rim of an old shell shaped fountain. I'm calling it "The Secret Garden" and it's a 7"x5" oil on primed masonite art board. Oh what an inspiring place to paint (and think about what I might do in my own garden at home)! Tomorrow I'll show you the last painting of the "Chincoteague weekend". To purchase, please visit my DailyPainters.com Gallery Store.

Welcome to my latest new subscribers! I do hope you enjoy the paintings, photos & stories! I always love hearing comments from my readers!!
My web site www.RoxanneSteed.com

Late Day Sunlight On Coneflowers

7"x5" oil on gessoed masonite archival artboard

"Adopt the pace of nature; her secret is patience."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

There are certain times of day when it's fun to see what gets illuminated in the garden. As the light moves around the house from sunup until dusk, it's like a showcase of various points in the garden. Around late afternoon the stems of these coneflowers become lit up, and seeing the colors that come out of this is really fascinating to me! Our childhood brain might say "flowers have green stems" but if you really look at how light hits certain ones, you really have a lot of color in them!

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