Roses at Yaddo

 

 I enjoyed a visit to Yaddo Gardens recently.  This is where I started plein air painting back in 2010 and this is the view I painted except it was raining then.

 

 

steps going up

 

 

a rose from the well known gardens

 

 

the pergola

 

I never knew what a pergola was until I visited here.  It is a garden feature forming a shaded walkway, passageway or sitting area of vertical posts or pillars that usually support cross-beams and a sturdy open lattice, often upon which woody vines are trained.  I read a book about Winston Churchill and his open air painting and learned he had a pergola at his house then I wanted one too.

 

 

my subject

 

set up for watercolors

 

 

I ended up with a loose and colorful study

watercolor on gessoed paper

 

 

refreshing snack at coffee shop

 

Had an interesting moment here: 

 

 I was reviewing my sketches and notes in my art notebook as I snacked.  A lady noticed me, leaned over my table and asked, " What is that?"  I was uneasy not knowing what she meant or how strange this interaction was going to get.  "It's my notebook,"  I answered.  "Oh," she says, " most people are like this..." she mimicked someone huddled over an IPhone fiddling with it.  Then she laughed and commented on my notebook, "You don't see that much anymore. That's really old school." 

 

Without even trying to I got to amuse a fellow human being and be an anachronism all at the same time.

 

I give this place an A+ for creative light fixtures.