I prefer painting from real life over a photograph.
It feels more authentic and less like plagiarism even when the pictures are ones I captured myself. This is why I spent the better part of a week visiting the botanical gardens here in Montreal. Oh, and because I love plants and gardens and wild spaces. One of my dream jobs is to be asked to spend a season sketching and painting someone’s garden. It has been a few years since I have had one of my own, and may be a few more years until my next one. My biggest travel regret is not having made it to Monet’s garden in Giverny, France – the quintessential gardening artist’s paradise. Ultimate dream job? You guessed it: being asked to paint in Monet’s garden.
The days are noticeably cooler now. I caught myself wondering when the sun had started to set before 7pm, it seemed like just last week when the days stretched well past 8 o’clock. I hope to visit the gardens one more time, but I grow less and less confident of that happening with each passing day as it slips by. Now I am glad for all those extra photos I took to last me through the winter months. I am sure I will overcome that feeling of cheating soon enough, drawing details of leaves and flowers and tree trunks from the hundreds of images eating up space on my phone.
I think I will leave it at that for words this time. Hopefully you enjoy this selection of details from Montreal’s Botanical Gardens.
Happy turn of the seasons my dears.
