THREE POPPIES

Every spring I wait with bated breath for the appearance of my Poppies. 

 (By the way this is the only way we use the word bate these days.  It comes from "abate" to hold back.  Since I am a terrible speller I looked up the spelling to be sure and found this funny little poem that uses the incorrect spelling of the word to good "effect"...and why is it not "affect"?  Well I think because in this case it is a noun.)

Geoffrey Taylor

Cruel, Clever Cat, 1933

Sally, having swallowed cheese
Directs down holes the scented breeze
Enticing thus with baited breath
Nice mice to an untimely death.

So much for the grammar discussion.  Here is one of my favorite Poppy paintings.  I recently found a painting done by my grandmother of Poppies so I suppose you could say Poppy painting runs in the family.

THREE POPPIES

Nancy Herman

12" x 16"

oil on stretched canvas

close up

THREE POPPIES

SOLD

$75.00

Korean Lilacs and Katsura

Here are a couple of immigrants who have settled in to a glorious existence in my garden.  They get along very well in this country and certainly reward all efforts on their behalf with show after show of exuberant beauty.

KOREAN LILACS AND JAPANESE KATSURA TREE

Nancy Herman

12" x 12"

oil on stretched canvas

inset Lilacs

SOLD

$50.00

FORSYTHIA AT SAINT JOE'S

One of the things I look forward to in the early spring is the lively dancing Forsythia pushing itself joyfully around corners and through dense brush.  One place where there is no contest for its spirited display is this huge hedge bordering a dorm at Saint Joseph's University campus which is on my dog walking route. Here it gets a beautiful dark green background of towering pine trees.

FORSYTHIA AT ST. JOE'S

Nancy Herman

12" x 12"

oil on stretched canvas

inset FORSYTHIA AT ST. JOE'S

$50.00

IN PRAISE OF WEEDS

Spring is finally here and things are beginning to burst forth in all their glory.  Some of the first beauties to arrive are the weeds.  The weeds that like the conditions in the lawn and can get out there and bloom and go to seed before the first mow have a permanent place in my lawn and my heart.  Here are just a few.  Weeds are, after all, the easiest plants to grow.  Whatever green is left over after they bloom is a pleasant variation in the lawn.

Marsh Marigold

Veronica

Violets

MARIGOLDS AND PETUNIAS

For some reason the thick paint on this canvas doesn't show in the reproduction but if you like think paint, marigolds and petunias this one is for you.

MARIGOLDS AND PETUNIAS

Nancy Herman

oil on stretched canvas

12" x 12"

Bid on eBay

SWALLOW TAIL, BUDDLEIA AND UMBRELLA

Well, it sure is summer now.  My vegetable garden is beginning to produce much more than we can eat, the flowers are bursting out of their buds and the butterflies are back.  Not as many butterflies as I would like to see, however.  I've only seen one Monarch in spite of planting lots of Milkweed and having many Butterfly bushes.  There are some Swallow Tails, both black with blue spots and yellow with black.  I caught one on the Butterfly bushes in this painting.  I love seeing them flit around the garden tasting everything.  What a little paradise a garden is!!

Swallowtail, Buddleia, and Umbrella

Nancy Herman

8" x 16"

oil on canvas board

$350.00

3 water colors

As you know I am in the process of trying to figure out what kind of water colors I want to make.  The first one I did I wet the whole paper, made a loose water color of the scene and then after it was dry put a pen and ink drawing over it.

ALIUM 2015

Next day I went outside and decided to start off with the pen and ink sketch.  I had a new selection of calligraphic pens that I was eager to try.  I sketched in the drawing with the pens and then using a rather larger brush then I wanted to (because that was what I had) I began to fill in the colors.  The pens, which I had selected because they were supposed to be water proof, were not, so all the water colors turned a bit dark and the lines fuzzy.  After the paint was dry I went in again and did some more pen and ink.  This is a scene by my pool.  The whole thing has gotten so fussy I'm not sure that is even visible.

BY THE POOL

Things had gotten out of hand so I decided to simply play with the colors and pens at this point.  This was a lot of fun.  

DANCE

water color on Arches cold press

9" x 12"

Nancy Herman

$100.00

Next day I hunted around my studio until I found a small water color brush, made a sketch and painted very carefully these 4 tulips that I have been longing to paint since early spring.  Nothing loose about this and no pen and ink.  Today I will try another version of this scene.  I have to admit this was also a lot of fun.  So where I am heading I do not know.

YELLOW TULIPS

Nancy Herman

water color on arches cold press

8.5" x 11"

$125.00

Alium

This year I had a bumper crop of beautiful Alium.  I didn't get around to making any oil paintings of it....at least not yet, but I did experiment with a water color.  I have been thinking about making some water colors for some time and have now assembled all the supplies I need to get started.  I think what I want to do is very loose water colors with pen and ink, after considering many methods.  This is my first stab at it.  The water color does not end abruptly on the sides as it does in the photo but blends into the paper as in the bottom and top.  My scanner isn't wide enough to include all.

ALIUM 2015

Nancy Herman

10.25" x 12.5"

water color and pen and ink

$125.00

TOMATOES

Back to the reality of life at home.  It has been a glorious summer in my garden.  Plenty of rain and, with the exception of a very persistent band of Japanese Beatles, no series bugs.  I have been adding fresh vegetables to my salad every day.  This is for me one of the joys of daily life in the summer.  Planting, harvesting and eating my own food.  It gives me a good reason to enjoy nature, watch things grow and feel that I am doing something good for myself every day.  The flowers encourage bees and butterflies, both in need of unpolluted nectar, and they are a joy every day to anyone who loves color as I do.  Tomatoes from the supermarket are a sad version of the real thing.  I had my first large tomato from the garden yesterday and it was fabulous.  The small golden ones have been flavoring my salads for weeks with their bursts of sugar.  Hooray for summer!

TOMATOES

Nancy Herman

9" x 12"

oil on canvas board

$250.00

Coleus

Coleus #2

Nancy Herman

9" x 12"

oil on canvas board

This combination of coleus, sweet potato vine and the Cordyline Australis with its exotic bluish leaves is one of the best color combinations I have 

found for my barrel of eye fun.

$350.00

Sungolds

SUNGOLDS

Nancy Herman

8" x 6"

oil on canvas

The sweetest tomato you'll ever have, the Sungold, not only tastes delicious but, as they ripen on the vine, look like jewels, selected for their carefully modulated color.

SOLD

HOLLYHOCKS #2

HOLLYHOCKS #2

Nancy Herman

8" x 6"

oil on canvas

These Hollyhocks look almost completely black until the sun comes around to the west and seeps through in the dappled shade.  Then they turn a rich shade of red wine.  The garden is an ever changing marvel of lighting effects for the patient eye.

$125.00 

FIRST RAYS

FIRST RAYS

Nancy Herman

8" x 6"

oil on canvas board

The first rays of the morning sun, no matter where they land, seem to say, "it's a new day and anything is possible".  When they hit a treasured part of the garden it is especially lovely and, because the flowers are so ephemeral, a little poignant at the same time.

$125.00