Sidetracked

 

March I
watercolour, salt & metallic printing ink
Teresa Newham

As regular readers of this blog will know, I have a great artistic relationship with my neighbours' flowering cherry tree.  The source of much inspiration over the years, it has been the subject of paintings (Flowering Cherry, Cherry Blossom) and photos, as well as making the ideal perch for gangs of goldfinches and great tits.

a sketch made on my iPad
© Teresa Newham

Last August, all its leaves fell off; we feared it had died. So you can imagine my joy when I noticed signs of life in mid March, around a month later than last year.  One evening I was praying the Rosary while a blackbird sang to the dusk in its branches; I gave thanks, recalling that I'd sprinkled some Lourdes water on the tree last October. 

laying down initial washes with salt
© Teresa Newham

I had planned to do some printmaking in the run up to Easter; it never materialised.  The tree, by now flowering more splendidly than ever, had become an obsession. When I found myself making a little sketch of cherry blossom on my iPad one evening, I knew I had to get it out of my system - and there was only one way to do that . . .

flowers and foliage
© Teresa Newham

I began with some loose washes of Permanent Alizarin Crimson and Permanent Sap Green, with plenty of salt sprinkled over them while wet. Once these had dried, I used the shapes made by the salt to show me where the flowers should go, then painted in some branches with same colours, this time mixed together.

adding the background
© Teresa Newham

I used Cobalt Blue for the background and enhanced the centres of some of the flowers before picking out the stamens with titanium white and adding final touches with metallic copper printing ink.  The cherry blossom is fading now and the leaves are taking over, but that's OK - the tree is out of my system for another year!

March II
watercolour, salt & metallic printing ink
Teresa Newham

From Winter to Spring

early signs of growth on the Mahonia
© Teresa Newham

Having tried out a DSLR camera for the first time last summer - and been completely hooked -  I thought I'd better get one before they are replaced completely by mirrorless cameras and smartphones. I like to buck the trends . . .

dried hydrangea flower
© Teresa Newham

As a point-shoot-hope-for-the-best sort of photographer, I was pleased to find that this approach works well with the new camera.  That's my excuse for not yet having engaged with all the aspects of it, anyway!

Winter flowering heather
© Teresa Newham

The first three photos shown here were taken in my garden at the end of January, when most of the shrubs were still dormant, but there was still a surprising amount to see. Using just the automatic settings on the camera, I was delighted with the results.

Tête-à-tête
© Teresa Newham

The next three pics were taken almost exactly a month later, by which time some of the Spring flowers were out and blossom was showing on the trees.  My neighbour's flowering cherry is full of birds at this time of year, and a source of artistic inspiration.

cherry blossom from below
© Teresa Newham

I have snowdrops in my garden that I transplanted from the family home after my Dad died.  Every year they come up in larger and larger clumps - and because he had so many, there were still plenty left for the person who lives there now.

my Dad's snowdrops
© Teresa Newham

In the last few days I've found all sorts of things have sprung up which I didn't know were there, including this little plant. What is it, I wonder? and how did it get into my border? although it's quite possible I may have planted it myself and forgotten about it . . .

something I don't recognise
© Teresa Newham

The hellebores have been marvellous this year. Every time I look out of the window, I see more and more of them - they've almost completely taken over that part of the garden, along with a slightly out-of-control cornus. Must be all the rain we've had!

the hellebores are spectacular
© Teresa Newham

Nature is a great comfort at this difficult time when we are asked to stay at home as much as possible.  I count myself lucky to have a garden, and hope that sharing these photos will help those who don't. Stay safe.

leaf buds on the acer
© Teresa Newham

Second bite of the cherry . . .

Cherry Blossom II
mixed media watercolour by Teresa Newham

The cold weather continued right to the end of March this year, with snow on the ground in the South of England barely a fortnight before Easter.  The few blossoms which had dared to emerge on my neighbour's tree froze in the chilly wind.

this year's blossom
© Teresa Newham

The blossom is fully out now; perhaps not as spectacular as in some years, but still providing a welcome splash of colour as the gardens recover from what one of my friends described as "eternal winter".

the original Cherry Blossom watercolour
© Teresa Newham

That tree has inspired a couple of paintings in its time: last year it was a mixed media watercolour Flowering Cherry, and a couple of years before that a pen and wash called simply Cherry Blossom.

brightening up the background
© Teresa Newham

My favourite painting is always the next one, so when I do look back at my old work, I'm often pleasantly surprised.  Not with Cherry Blossom, however - it's never felt quite right - and once Flowering Cherry was finished, I knew it needed a re-think.

emphasising the foreground
© Teresa Newham

This year I embarked upon whole series of renovated watercolours, of which Cherry Blossom II is the latest: washed off and reinvigorated with Permanent Alizarin Crimson, Permanent Sap Green and metallic copper ink, and remounted. And at last I can say I'm happy with it!

revitalised painting in new mount
© Teresa Newham

Cherry Blossom

cherry blossom ~ pen & wash
© Teresa Newham

A few weeks ago my neighbour's cherry tree started to bloom.  It's at its most interesting before the blossom comes fully out, when there are buds as well as flowers on show, and some leaves starting to emerge:

the inspiration for the painting
© Teresa Newham

Luckily, I was able to get something down on paper while the tree was still covered in blossom. I made the design, inked it over, and laid down a couple of washes in Alizarin Crimson and Permanent Sap Green.  Then I spattered more water onto the paper to create some pale areas:

initial sketch & wet washes
 © Teresa Newham

Once the washes were dry I began to fill in the branches and flowers using the same two colours . . .

the first colours
© Teresa Newham

. . . and picking out the leaves.

painting the leaves . . .
© Teresa Newham

I painted the flowers using the Alizarin Crimson and Titanium White:

. . . and the flowers
© Teresa Newham

Then I double checked the tones by photographing the painting in black and white.  This told me I needed to make the centres of the flowers darker.

checking it out in black and white
© Teresa Newham

Finally I added in the stamens of each individual flower using one of the Elmers paint markers I was given for Christmas, and popped a mount over the top to see how it will look!

how the finished painting will look in a mount
© Teresa Newham