765 Cottage Charm

I remember hollyhocks from my childhood growing up in Detroit.  Tall stocks of hollyhocks lined the alley behind our house, and I remember being afraid of all the bees that swarmed the beautiful flowers.  Now I think of them mostly as an old fashioned cottage flower, as many Door County gardens feature them in their gardens.  I wish I had a sunny spot for them in my yard, but I can always visit my neighbor's hollyhock garden just down the street.

"765 Cottage Charm"
oil - 24x12 in

http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/diane-campion/765-cottage-charm/440713
dianecampion.blogspot.com

659 Old Fashioned

More of Vicki's beautiful hollyhocks.  They are all beautiful!

"659 Old Fashioned"
acrylic - 8x6 in

http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/diane-campion/659-old-fashioned/399197

657 Reminiscence

My neighbor, Vicki is a fabulous gardener and I just realized today that she has hollyhocks growing in her garden!  Hollyhocks remind me of my childhood as we had them growing so tall in the alley behind our house when I was growing up.  I remember the bees especially liked their nectar.  Their beauty has stood the test of time.

Side note:  I painted this entire painting upside down.  Don't ask me how that happened, I don't even know, but it did.  I just know that I signed it and something felt wrong....could be that the pollen defied gravity. 

"657 Reminiscence"
acrylic - 8x6 in

http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/diane-campion/657-reminiscence/398743

653 Public Enemy Number One

Okay, maybe the title is just a little dramatic, but mention rabbits to my gardening friends and they turn crazed.  My bachelor's buttons and liatrus didn't have a chance and my swiss chard and marigolds are chewed to stubs. 

"653 Public Enemy Number One"
acrylic - 6x8 in
http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/diane-campion/653-public-enemy-number-one/397881

653 Frilly Lily

I saw this lily in Chicago, not your standard day lily, as it has more petal layers. 

"653 Frilly Lily"
acrylic - 7x5 in

http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/diane-campion/653-frilly-lily/397450

652 Karen's Lilies

My neighbors across the street have a beautiful rain garden.  Something is always blooming, except in Winter, of course.  Karen loves the color orange, and so do I. 

"652 Karen's Lilies"
acrylic - 7x5 in
http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/diane-campion/652-karens-lilies/397185

651 Around the Block

"651 Around the Block"
acrylic - 7x5 in

http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/diane-campion/651-around-the-block/396927

610 Happy Little Signs of Spring

Many thanks to Kari Snick for allowing me to use her photograph of this happy little vignette.  I notice that one of the eggs has a crack in it, so I wonder if the eggs have hatched.

In Owl Patrol news, this afternoon I heard loud squawking coming from the tree where the owls were last seen.  Out my kitchen window, I sawe lots of wing-flapping during this raid.  It made me so sad to see two nasty crows diving on the owls so  I went outside and CAW CAWed at them a few times, hoping to shoo them away.  One left and the other followed a few seconds later.   I was relieved. 

http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/diane-campion/610-happy-little-signs-of-spring/374236

306. Garden 1

I am an active member of a garden club and have been working on a painting to use as our banner image for our participation in the Milwaukee Art Museum's Art In Bloom Marketplace, where we will sell our leaf vessels in late March, as well as enter our floral interpretation of an ancient art piece.  I find alcohol inks extremely difficult to work with because there is very little artist control, even less so than watercolor in my humble opinion.  I have painted many "pretty" abstracts with alcohol ink, but never a more controlled subject like this.  Although challenging, I am enjoying this very much.  More to come....

158 Monarch

157 Garden Zinnia

142 Ann's Dancing Poppies

My friend, Ann grows the most beautiful and interesting poppies in her garden.  They are the typical orange variety, but they dance to reach the sun's rays, their stems twisting and turning every which way.  I have tried several times to grow poppies, unsuccessfully.  I blame it on lots of things, but not the gardener.   

132 Florida Garden

Nasturtiums, lavender, lobelia, dusty miller.

129 G'Morning Glory

My favorite flower, the morning glory.

124 Suzanne's Garden

My neighbor Suzanne has a beautiful front garden that the hummingbirds, bees and butterflies love to visit.  Pictured here are echinacea and bee balm.  One cannot help but stop to observe these little winged creatures, which are very elusive when the camera is ready.