Greetings everyone and a warm welcome to my bumper 100th issue of Art, Gardens and Always Roses.
This issue is dedicated to all my readers, and I am sending out a big thank you to everyone who sent me a contribution.
Your photos have inspired me to seek out some wonderful paintings as a response to each image I received, such fun! Imagine if we could only speak in pictures...
It is easier seeing green
One common thread among the photos I received was our love of greenery. The colour green, being in the middle of the colour spectrum, is where our perception is the best, and we can distinguish variation in greens better than other colours.
This has been useful in our evolution as shades of green helped us to distinguish freshness, and nutritive value of foods. And today we still judge the condition of a lettuce leaf, the ripeness of a banana or a capsicum, or decide that our lawn needs some attention, by the shade of green we see.
It is thought that the colour green is restful because our eyes need to do less work when looking at greenery.
Studies also show that people who have more green spaces in their environment live longer, so I think we are all doing the right thing by seeing green.
“When the world wearies and society fails to satisfy, there is always the garden.” – Minnie Aumonier
Thank you Val, for this lovely montage.
Val writes: Although a garden lover all my life, my home now is a ground floor apartment, not much room for planting, but I still enjoy my courtyard views from the windows.
And for you, Val, I have a painting of a Courtyard in Venice 1877 by American painter, William Merritt Chase.
And it seems William liked al fresco dining because here's another entitled Open Air Breakfast.
Tessa has sent me a picture of her Giant Strelitzia which has grown higher than her roof and gives a glorious tropical feel to her Melbourne suburban garden.
Thank you, Tessa, for you I couldn't resist one from post-impressionist French artist, Henri Rousseau. This is Woman in Red in the Forest.
Nancy P. from the delightful Little Lake Cottage in the rolling green hills of Gippsland is a great admirer of the humble geranium.
Nancy writes: It’s geranium time of year again, and here is a photo of my lush and lovely summer verandah. I love and always appreciate having plenty of water during the summer, and I love this spot. Things thrive and I can play out here with plants and cuttings even on the hottest days…and be cool and contented.
Well, Nancy, this really could be a painting of you surrounded by your geraniums, except that it was painted in 1888 by American Impressionist painter Childe Hassam.
Sheenagh from South Africa was the first to send through a photo of her very charming garden, where honeysuckle and foxgloves keep the roses company. The white roses are Frau Karl Druschki, a Hybrid Perpetual rose bred by Peter Lambert in Germany in 1895. The rose was named after Klara Hildach, the wife Karl Druschki - a wood merchant
and founding member and president of the German Society of Rosefriends.
For you Sheenagh, I have selected a painting entitled Summertime 1914 by British painter, William Kay Blacklock. This is most likely his wife, Nellie, who modelled for him. The light on Nellie's dress is particularly special.
Sheenagh also sent me some exceptional photos of frogs in roses, something I have never been lucky enough to see! I don't know if these are very large roses or very small frogs, but what a treat! Thank you Sheenagh!
Whilst we are on the subject of garden visitors, this month I came across a newly emerged dragonfly waiting for his wings to harden (pictured below).
This species of dragonfly was named back in 1871 by Baron Edmond de Selys Longchamps in Belgium. Selys, who is referred to as the father of odonatology - the study of dragonflies - was being sent dragonflies from all over the world to name and describe, including many from Australia, and in his lifetime he named over 700
dragonflies.
After a little rest in my garden, the dragonfly went on his way.
Wistful Wistaria/Wisteria
Jacqueline S. sent me this glorious photo of her Wistaria arch and azaleas. Wistaria or Wisteria, was named in memory of American physician and anatomist Caspar Wistar, by the botanist Thomas Nuttall, who preferred the spelling Wisteria because of its euphony - the quality of being pleasing to the ear.
Thank you very much Jacqueline, in response I am sending you a painting of Wisteria by Monet from 1920. I hadn't seen this painting before so it was a treat to discover it! And this issue would not have been complete without a mention of Monet!
I think of Monet with every bloom on my Mermaid rose, as the facade of Monet's house is covered in Virginia creeper and what has been called Monet's, and now my, favourite climbing rose, “Mermaid”.
If you have been receiving my newsletter for a while, you will know Miss V, who loves nothing more than spending time in the rose garden with her special friend, Leona. The rose in the foreground is Beautiful Girl, a rose bred in Germany and just released here in 2020. And I would like to take this opportunity to send belated birthday
greetings to Miss V who turned 12 on Valentine's Day!
For Leona and Miss V, I have chosen an E. Phillips Fox painting, The Green Parasol, painted in 1911. If you click on the photo you can watch a most interesting video from the National Gallery of Australia telling you some secrets about the painting.
The next contribution is from my Aunty Noelle, with a picture of Nana's hoya in bloom. This was the first flower my Aunty had witnessed in over 20 years, and a few days later it had disappeared! Hoya's are also called Wax Flowers because of their waxy appearance, but this didn't stop it from being very tasty to something!
And in answer to this wax flower I have a very interesting print by Margaret Preston, of Geraldton Wax Flowers, along with a Banksia, Flannel Flowers, Kurrajong seed pods and perhaps some Swan River Daisy. It was printed in coloured inks in 1950 from one hand-cut paper stencil.
Even though her garden was under snow when she received my January newsletter, Teresa Byington from Indiana sent me some stunning photos to choose from. Such a hard decision, so I have had to include a couple.
Above on these beautiful archways is New Dawn and the Peggy Martin rose. If you haven't heard the story of the Peggy Martin rose which survived being covered by 20 feet of salt water in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina then you can read all about it here.
Teresa writes a wonderful blog called The Garden Diary which I always enjoy reading and seeing photos of Teresa's magnificent garden. Love the curved pathway and plantings in this picture below which features
the Mother of Pearl rose.
For Teresa, I found a special painting of rose arches by Beatrice Emma Parsons, a British painter best known for her watercolour paintings of garden subjects.
The seasons have provided inspiration for artists for hundreds of years and often series of four paintings would be produced symbolising the passing of time and the cycle of life. Artist Jo Reitze sent me seasonal paintings (Summer, Autumn, Winter, Spring) of two aspects of her garden, front garden above and back garden below. It is
wonderful to see the subtle variations in colour and form.
Jo paints commissions of people's gardens, and I am sure you will enjoy browsing her fascinating and very colourful website here.
For you Jo, I have selected four seasonal paintings from Van Gogh.
And the winners of the five Many Happy Returns Journals are...
I couldn't stop drawing names out of the hat when I got to number five, so I will be sending out a journal to all of the contributers to this my 100th issue. If I have featured your photo(s), please email me your best postal address, and expect a surprise in the mail when it eventually arrives.
Thank you again to everyone for giving me so much pleasure and content to share!
Finally, something special from one of my newest subscribers, Laurel Sommerfeld from Queensland. I'm sure Laurel won't mind me sharing this photo of a beautiful rose that she bred, currently called Double Wow. I would love to feature more of Laurel's hybridising efforts in future editions.
For Laurel I have found a painting by American artist, Willard Metcalf from 1905, entitled Mountain Laurel.
So that brings up to the end of the 100th edition of Art, Gardens and Always Roses. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed putting it together.
What would you like to see in my next 100 issues? I would love to hear from you.
Until next time,
Love and roses,
Michelle
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My Novel: Rose Garden Reverie
A story of transformation set in a rose garden with rose care tips throughout the seasons.
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May the beauty of nature inspire you everyday
Michelle Endersby Art
www.michelleendersbyart.com
phone: 0400 473 173
[email protected]
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