Inspired by Gardens

Inspired by Summer Gardens

Summer is the perfect time, not only to enjoy flowers and gardens, but like so many artists throughout the centuries, create art inspired by the abundance of color and design. Claude Monet not only spent years crafting an amazing garden which was the muse for his paintings, but he also once said, “my garden is my most beautiful masterpiece”. This week’s lesson was about the “Art of Seeing”. Artists and scientists have the superpower of observation and attention to detail. The class studied images of flower shapes and structure and did preliminary sketches. They provided the foundation for the pieces. The students in Wednesday's class translated their drawings into foam stamps based on plant forms, to create their mixed media prints. The Saturday class focused their colorful prints on the relationship of Bees and flowers in the garden. They created foam bee stamps to add to their original paintings using paint brush pens.

Great thinkers, artists and writers have often used nature as a sourcebook for their thoughts and creative projects. Here are a few of my favorite quotes:

If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need. –Cicero

If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere. –Vincent van Gogh

“To see a world in a grain of sand and heaven in a wildflower

Hold infinity in the palm of your hand and eternity in an hour.” William Blake

“A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.” Greek Proverb

WEDNESDAY CLASS