Pansies and Violas: Favourite Flowers

Anyone who has followed me for a long time here or elsewhere on social media knows how much I love pansies and violas. They have strong childhood associations for me and remind me particularly of my mom's mother who was named Viola. They are also favourite garden flowers with delicate looks yet a hardy character, perfect for a northern garden. And they are a joy to paint.

This spring I did a painting of some little yellow and white violas that I bought in a little pot to cheer up our kitchen windowsill. I've made my watercolour into prints and cards. You can see the note card in the photo at the top.

Cheering up is the key role I think of these flowers. Whether in the garden, a pot or a vase, their little faces have the ability to lift our spirits. Who doesn't need that, especially right now?

The very first print I created in my studio in 2011, when I launched my online art business, was of a watercolour painting I did of a pot of pansies in my backyard. That happy group of blue pansies was punctuated by pink nemesia, coral diascia and white euphorbia. It's still available in my shop as a print (shown below) and note cards.

This past week, I added an assortment of pansy and viola note cards to my shop. I chose five of my favourite watercolour paintings: Pansy Quartet, Pansies in a Pot, Posy of Pansies and Violas, Violas and Verbena, and Yellow and White Violas. This notecard collection is for all of the pansy and viola lovers out there like me.

When I was a little girl, I would follow my grandmother around as she fed the birds and squirrels in her backyard and tended to the annuals. One of my favourite memories is of her letting me pick pansies from the garden to put in the beautiful silver and glass posy vase she owned. The memory of gathering pansies with her was so special to me that I tracked down an almost identical vase for myself years later from an antique dealer.

If you'd like to see all of my pansy and viola art currently available, click here. There are prints, print sets, note cards, my new note card assortment, and a bookmark. I hope that they give you the same pleasure that they give me.

🌼  🌼  🌼  🌼  🌼

Nature's Paintbox

I am constantly amazed by the beauty in nature. I love looking closely at flowers and admiring the lines, colours and textures of each bloom. Of all of the flowers I know, I think pansies remind me the most of watercolours. Don't you think Mother Nature must have her own extra special paintbox?

I have painted a lot of violas and pansies over the years. They are such happy flowers. You can click here to see a few of my prints featuring them.  If you are relatively new to my blog you won't know this special connection. One of my grandmothers was named Viola.

I planted the little beauties in these photos in my front garden this week. The traditional planting date for annuals in our region has been May 24th for many years. I tend to try to plant much earlier if overnight temperatures are forecast above frost. Pansies, however, can handle frost so they can be planted before most any other annual. One neighbour a few houses down never plants anything before May 24th. Often when I'm out planting my first annuals, he will pass by and say "Isn't it a little early to be planting those, Kathleen?" I always assure him that they will be fine. It's like an annual tradition! I was a little disappointed that he didn't walk by this year. ;)

I have been so busy this past week with the spring cleanup in my garden that I haven't had a paintbrush in my hand once! I have so many flower beds that it takes at least five full days to clean everything up. I filled 20 big garbage bags with clippings and garden waste for the municipal green pickup! You should have seen the pile at the curb. I feel like I should have got some sort of Amazon woman award for that! Once the beds are presentable again, I will move my attention to my beloved square-foot vegetable garden.

My handsome and kind-hearted garden supervisor

After the slow, cold beginning to the spring, this week has been remarkably sunny and warm. If you blink, you can miss an important change in the garden. Leaves have opened. Flowers are blooming. We have our first sparrow family too. It's a beautiful time of year.

Could It Be?

Yesterday, I gardened wearing a winter jacket. I pretended it was warm outside. On Saturday morning, it was 0 degrees. Yesterday, it started at a toasty 3C (37F).

Today, I don't need to make believe. It feels different. I heard lawnmowers in the neighbourhood for the first time. A bud on our magnolia tree is starting to unfurl, with many more to follow. All of the spring flowers are open wide, drinking in the warm sunshine. The lilac buds look like they are just days away from blooming. There are butterflies in the garden and a new family of sparrows in one of our birdhouses. Meeko and I took a long walk at lunch and came back overheated rather than chilled to the bone.

Magnolia

Prairie Crocus (plus the top photo)

I really love prairie crocuses.  They are such dramatic and bold looking spring flowers.  I have white ones too that aren't out yet.  Prairie crocuses are the provincial flower of Manitoba, the Canadian province where I was born.  I just found out that they are also the state flower of South Dakota.

Dasystemon Tulip (tulipa tarda)

Violas

Wood violets in the lawn

Daffodil (a lovely pale yellow but I don't remember its name)

Greigii Tulip 'Toronto'

This is my first spring blogging and, when I read others' blogs, it really hits home how our spring weather is behind so many other areas--except for that weird dose of hot weather we got in March.  It's hard to be patient sometimes, but then it feels really good when it does finally arrive!

Welcome Spring!

Welcome Spring! Thank you for arriving in such a lovely way this year. My garden is coming alive and my heart is full of renewed promise and hope. I love this time of year!

Studio Time

I was in my studio all day today working on two paintings.  I can only show you one of them, as the other will spoil a Christmas surprise.

I had two live models with me (no, no, not that kind of model!).  Two little violas were still alive on that lovely tangled bouquet I started working on last week.  My painting is almost finished now.  Did you notice the one upside down viola near the base of the bouquet.  I just left it that way instead of rearranging it.  It's a good reminder that things don't always need to be right side up to be beautiful.

I've taken these photos using artificial light.  The natural kind seems to be in short supply these days. It is pouring here. So much for snow.  Meeko and I got absolutely soaked on our walk this afternoon.

My desktop computer was in for repair today.  It was a good thing as that meant I wasn't tempted to sit down and work on any new prints in Photoshop. The computer will be back tonight but I'll try to walk past it and head up to the studio tomorrow. Hope you are all having a good week.

Late Gifts

I worked on a painting this weekend of a small bouquet of violas I picked as I was emptying some pots in the garden.  I never have the heart to toss anything out if it's still remotely in bloom.  There are some people who tend to their gardens according to their watches and calendars.  I will wait as long as some flowers are there which means occasionally I can get backed into a wall of snow.

Here's the mug of violas in progress alongside a pansy painting I did a while ago

As I was working on my painting, I was thinking that for sure it was the last bouquet of the season. Then yesterday, I found a bunch of verbena still growing in a pot that I usually abandon outside all winter.  There was enough for not just one bouquet, but two! Talk about late garden gifts.

I think it points to what a temperate November we have had.  I would have enjoyed a little more light some days but it's hard to complain when I am still gathering flowers in late November! The temperatures are definitely changing.  The high didn't go above zero yesterday and tonight they are calling for freezing rain.

I have spent more time indoors than outdoors this week.  I have been working hard on converting my paintings into prints and have added a few more to my Etsy store.  Here's one of them:

I received a couple more orders on the weekend. When you open a new shop, it's hard waiting for the orders but so exciting when they do start coming in.  My youngest daughter Chloé saw how happy I was and, spur of the moment, decided to make me this cake to celebrate. (I posted this photo on my Facebook page, but decided to share it here for those who don't go on Facebook.)   She was limited by what we had in our kitchen drawer so my Etsy celebration cake was decorated with Winnie the Pooh candles, smurf-blue icing and sugar pearls we bought in Paris this past summer.  It was beautiful and delicious!

Here's a funny little story. A few days ago, Chloé asked me if we were going to have any guests at our place for Thanksgiving.  I said 'Pardon?'--not because I hadn't heard her, but because I wanted her to repeat the question to see if she realized what she had said.

You see we live in Canada and we celebrate our Thanksgiving in October!  It shows you what a big impact the U.S. celebration has on us. Chloé is not a kid who gets confused easily. We see the American Thanksgiving mentioned on cooking shows, in magazines, on blogs and on television shows to the point that we feel that we are celebrating along with you!

To all of my U.S. readers, good luck with all of your preparations, travel and celebrations.  I will be offering a special in my Etsy shop over the weekend, so be sure to have a look!

Come Walk With Me

I've spent most of the last two days on the computer trying to improve my relationship with Photoshop and my printer. I might need a therapist on this one. My family will vouch for the fact that I am definitely in a better mood on the days that I paint.  I literally floated after finishing my little chickadee painting on Sunday. Gravity and I have had a closer relationship the past couple of days. :)  

It occurred to me that it might be a good idea to take an extra long walk today with Meeko and my new camera.  Fresh air and focusing on nature can be a good way of recharging the batteries (and avoiding complete insanity).  Come along with me and Meeko.  Despite the grey clouds, it was a very pretty walk.  I was astonished by the life and colour that is still in our neighbourhood and my garden this late in the season.

I call this photo 3M (the m's stand for mushrooms, macro and Margie, the owner of a beautiful blog that involves all three!).  Hey Margie, I got my knees wet taking it!

Aren't these golden cutleaf maple leaves beautiful? I saw them a couple of days ago and didn't have my camera with me.

Meeko decided they were the perfect backdrop for a modelling session. He was very intrigued by some noisy ravens which helped him stay in place.

This maple leaf was just waiting on the pathway for a photo.

Back in our garden now.  Guess who's been eating my beautiful crabapples? (Shameless, isn't he?)

Apparently they are delicious.  Actually I am surprised that there are that many of them left on the tree as this is a regular snack.  If I go into the yard and ask him what bad things he has been doing in my garden, he joyfully runs to my crabapple tree to show me. (I don't think he understands the weight of adjectives.)

I found this verbena still flowering in its pot.

This is a gorgeous oak-leaved hydrangea shrub which has never flowered for me in eleven years.  I can forgive it for that when it gives me an autumn display like this.

I couldn't believe it when I saw how alive and well the diascia was.  This pot is not visible from the house.  It's a great annual if you're ever looking for one that is frost hardy and doesn't complain about being in the shade or sun.  It also comes in pink and white.

My delight in finding the pockets of colour is because most of my garden right now is the colour above--brown.  I am one of those messy gardeners who leaves most of the perennials in place until the springtime.  It may not look beautiful but the birds appreciate it. The chickadees and goldfinches will enjoy the echinacea seeds in the months ahead.  I love watching them tip the stems with their weight as they harvest the seeds.

Notice the leaf in Meeko's hair (wheatens have hair, not fur).  He comes into the house regularly with the evidence of his activities attached to him. Not a clever criminal. But cute.

These are crabapples from my Sir Lancelot tree, a sweet, small crabapple that gives just enough height to provide us with privacy from the back neighbours  (when it has its leaves of course).

There are many violas still blooming in my square foot garden that is normally a vegetable plot.  I can't wait to show it to you in the springtime. It's an efficient and pretty way to grow vegetables in a small yard. Actually the classic method is more efficient than pretty, so I added the 'pretty' to my method.  That way, it appeals to both the left and right sides of my brain (which is important to me)!

Remember this little guy?  My alyssum growing in the crack of our front steps made it to the end of the season!  I think it may be be hugging the oak leaf for warmth. :)

Thanks for joining me on my walk.  It did me a lot of good.

I hope to do some more painting this week. I appreciate all of the warm and encouraging comments about my recent paintings. I hold your comments to my heart.

It occurred to me this week that when I write about my painting, I lose the garden, nature and dog enthusiasts.  When I write about my garden and nature, I may lose the art lovers. When I write about Meeko, I lose the not-so-crazy-about-dogs readers. (He's going to have a hard time believing that one!)  I hope it all makes sense over time as they are all things that are part of me and my life.  I appreciate you coming here to share them. ♥