Under the Japanese Maple

"Under the Japanese Maple" 24" x 18" SOLD

To the embarrassment of many of my friends and neighbors, I have this strange habit of peering under Japanese maples. In public places, in parks, even in people's yards, I know no shame. 

Lace-leaf Japanese maples are everywhere in the Northwest. The huge majority of my neighbors have them. They take decades to grow, but the old ones are absolutely incredible. Under each tree's umbrella of dappled light is a hidden world. When I look under a Japanese lace-leaf maple, it makes feel very small, like a fairy living inside the moss and twisty branches.

I did this painting after a recent trip to the Portland Japanese Garden - absolute heaven for a Japanese maple peering person! Underneath, the moss just vibrates with life. The frog hides nearby, giving his approval of the health and vitality of the place. (To see my previous post about the frogs in my paintings click here.) I hope you enjoy my painting!

To Those Who Get My Blog Posts by Email

My apologies to those of you who have subscribed to my watercolor blog by email. I set up yesterday's post with Google Chrome instead of my usual Internet Explorer and got a nasty surprise with the background color of the text when the email post came through. Please go to www.catherinemjames.blogspot.com to read this post more easily online.

Yesterday's Woodinville Garden Tour

Yesterday was the 2012 Woodinville Garden Tour. The gardens were amazing, the weather was perfect! I saw so many good friends and made so many new ones!

As part of the day's festivities, my painting, "Dancing Branches", was raffled off. I have never seen so many people so who really wanted to own a piece of my artwork! I just have to thank everyone for showing such wonderful enthusiasm for my work. I am honored beyond words! They pulled the winning ticket at Molbaks about 4:30. The lovely woman who won couldn't have been happier. It was such a pleasure to meet her!

I am thinking I will have some quality giclee prints made of the painting for those who were so disappointed not to have won the original. Please contact me at cmeyerjames@yahoo.com if you're interested in a print.

A very big THANK YOU to the incredibly organized and enthusiastic members of the Woodinville Garden Club for choosing my painting for this year's poster and for making me a part of their wonderful events yesterday!

Finn Hill Winery Art Show

I am very excited to have 12 of my paintings currently hanging in Finn Hill Winery in Woodinville!

This week Thursday, July 19 is the Woodinville Warehouse Wineries Wine Walk from 4-8pm. These wine walks happen each third Thursday February through October. They feature tasting at over 20 wineries, microbreweries and distilleries, all within walking distance of each other. Please stop by, taste some wonderful wines, and check out my artwork!

Finn Hill Winery is a family owned micro-winery dedicated to limited production of hand-crafted ultra-premium wines. I have been very fortunate to do the artwork for a number of Finn Hill's wine labels. If you miss this month's Wine Walk, Finn Hill Winery is also open for tasting every Saturday from 12-5pm. at 18800 142nd Ave. NE in Woodinville, WA.

 

Aging Gracefully

"To Age with the Grace of a Trillium" 10" x 10" SOLD

I'm finally back in the studio after a busy month of art shows, end-of-school-year events, and a beautiful vacation to Glacier National Park.

This is a painting I began some time ago while painting at the Woodinville Plant Sale in May. Sometimes you think you plan a painting out carefully, and then it takes on a mind of its own and becomes something different. This is one of those paintings. It has taken me a while to post, because the painting took such a change of direction for me that I really wasn't sure if I liked the end result.

The original plan was to paint a small, simple cheerful flower. I selected a photo from my garden of a native trillium. These trilliums begin as white as snow, and after they are fertilized and begin to die, they become even more beautiful by turning pink or red. This is an aging trillium.

Somewhere in the last month, I also had a birthday and growing older was rattling around in my mind as I painted. The trillium painting subconsciously became more of a contemplation of graceful aging than the cheerful flower painting I had originally intended. The flower becomes more beautiful, more rich in color and intensity as it dies. The trillium is surrounded by dead and dried ferns, symbols of the last season's passed life. The shadow is rather menacing and dark - like the shadow of what is to come, yet on the trillium shines. And of course the little tree frog hides among the leaves, suggesting that life is in balance as it should be, and it is all part of the greater cycle of things. Oh, to age with the grace and beauty of a trillium!

So much for a simple pretty flower painting.