Saint Patricks Day and Frances

Spring is full of green and good spirits.   So is my friend Frances.     She is 82 now and so full of fun, it makes you wonder what she was like when she was a fresh  young thing.     And I bet she was really fresh, as she is still full of spunk and vinegar, loves to start a row or any kind of mischief.   Don't take her to a meeting unless you are prepared for unexpected challenges she might make to the leaders.  LOL   Phyllis and are in charge of getting her home safely from the Spring Art Show Gala event.     I'll be working the whole evening at raffle ticket sales, and Phyllis is signed on for at least half of the time.    The other half, I think she may be keeping Frances out of trouble.      Here's my new sketch of Frances.    Photoshopped in green in honor of her ancestral and heart homeland.    I hope to have at least half her energy and spunk when I reach her age.  
Phyllis will say I'm too kind in leaving out some of the wrinkles (and she will be right), but this is more the way I see Frances.   This is done with #2 and 2.5 pencils in my art journal.










While we are thinking green, here are some of yesterdays pics from my garden.  

This little arbor is next to the entrance to my studio(which of course is painted green.     We are expecting rain today so the head/planter is lying on its side so it won't drown the succulents that are planted in it.    

 I like to perch little unexpected things here and there in the garden.  They sort of make me smile or even giggle when I come across them.    These are plastic bugs (old toys) that live on the birch tree.    They do nothing to scare away garden pests as you might expect.   

This one is in a cage which my friend Nancy gave me awhile back.   I'm so happy to have little reminders of my friends when I'm out there alone.    

 I've been waiting and waiting for this ground cover to start blooming. The neighbor across the street has them in front, and they have been blooming for over a  month.  A wild mass of bright blooms.     I pulled most of mine out as they had overrun the rose bush and everything else.    There are times we might get overambitious in pruning and pulling, and I thought perhaps I had done it permanent damage.  But, alas, the blooms have started and I'm loving them again.    The pink oxalis in front   is something I've toted along from home to home, splitting and sharing with anyone who wants them.    The originals were in a wheelbarrow in a little shop in Ione some 30+ years ago.     The shop owner was going to plant them and I talked her out of a couple.  They grow like weeds and most people think they are weeds.  But, I know from all these years that they are the most dependable fresh p ink blooms in spring and way into summer if treated kindly and with respect.    

This little corner has succulents and white oxalys next to a taller pot with the pink ones growing.     They look sweet together.     

Now, I'm inspired and might just paint some flowers today.     Or bugs... LOL