week 6 Ornamental Cabbage or maybe it's Kale.

My flowering kale or cabbage has an interesting story.

I bought 6 bedding plants way back in November of 2014 and they grew to look fantastic in the pots in front of my winter home.  Last  winter was extra cool and damp.  They seemed to love the temperatures and really put on a show for us. 

from the winter of 2014/15

When we were ready to head home to Canada in April the plants were still looking great and I had a hard time abandoning them to the hot Texas summer.  The pots dry out real fast and here isn't much I can do except take them out of the pots and transplant them into the ground where they at least have a little chance of getting some moisture. 

When I got back here this fall I was surprised to see that 2 of them were still alive, well barely alive but still showing a bit of green on top of a long, slightly leaning stem.  I started watering them and gave them a little fertilizer and away those guys went once again! 

What great plants. 

I wanted to fill my pots with Ornamental Cabbage again this winter but after searching high and low in all the green houses I could not find any.  Luckily for me the old fellows that managed to stay  alive thrived and put on a wonderful show of colour for me and my neighbours. 


I have noticed some little baby plants growing in the shade of the big fellows.  Could they have set seed some time along the way?   I hope these little babies grow for me during this summer and are here to great me when I arrive again  in the fall. 

I will be very honest and admit that I don't care much for this weeks painting.  I am not very happy with how it turned out.  Im not going to stress about it though.  Learning how to paint is a process and I have lots of weeks and lots of  flowers left to practice on.  It's not really about making perfect paintings but about setting the goal of one flower painting a week as well as making my art a daily routine. 

.

week 5 - Bird of Paradise

I had to go to a neighbors for this weeks flower.  I did say I was going to paint flowers in my yard and garden but not much is blooming right now so I ventured down the block a little. 

This project of painting a flower every week is going well.  Easier that a diet! Well for me it is at lease.  I usually loose interest in things much faster than 5 weeks.  I think it's because I have combined two things I love, gardening and painting. 


The Birds of Paradise flower inflorescence is borne atop long scapes, or pedicels, that grow to 5 feet or more in height. The flower on the Birds of Paradise plant is the most unusual part.
A series of highly colored bracts, or modified leaves, are formed into green, red, and or purplish canoe-like structures. Bracts vary between 4-8 inches long, depending upon the age and size of the Birds of Paradise plant.
Each Birds of Paradise flower is made up of three upright orange sepals and three highly modified vivid blue petals. Two of the petals are joined together in a structure resembling an arrowhead with the third petal forming a nectary at the base of the flower.
Each bract contains 2 or more protruding Birds of Paradise florets of bright yellow or orange elongated petals and a bright blue tongue. The female part of the Birds of Paradise flower is the long extension of the blue tongue, which is extended well away from the stamens.

week 4: Poinsettia

I think the paint may still be a little wet but Im rushing to get this posted as the weeks are flying by.

I started this canvas by laying on some texture, in this case through a stencil.  Then I gesso and when that is dry I start my painting. 

I am still enjoying this Poinsettia in it's little pot but I think it's almost time to plant it into the garden.  If Im lucky it will grow all year long and give me colour again.