Draw To Remember

On this chilly Friday, December 13th, today’s image is a photograph of an oil painting done by an artist friend of ours. I chose this particular painting because it has vibrancy and depicts the simplicity of a home and its surroundings. It speaks to the importance of form and composition often seen through art and drawing. Let's use an excerpt from my August 2009 archived post. ‘A great exercise when starting to develop a new garden is to look for landscapes that impress you. Now look at them through the eyes of an impressionistic artist. Don’t look for too much detail at first; simplify your perspective. See the form and color composition; envision what soothing elements may apply to your own garden.” Here’s the link if you’d like the remainder of the post. 

But the real reason today’s image is an oil painting is stated best by David Gentleman. “Drawing things makes them seem more real and makes me feel more alive. It also makes me pin down and remember things - landscapes, season, weather, occasions, incidents, people - that would otherwise have melted from my memory.” On this 25th day of 26 days of kindness, we honor Caroline Previdi. Nicknamed "Boo" due to her resemblance of the character in "Monsters, Inc.," Caroline loved gymnastics, drawing and dancing. Today’s post represents Caroline’s love for drawing and the opportunity to do an act of kindness in her honor. 26 days of kindness will be extended until December 15th. There will be one extra day of kindness to honor the survivors, teachers, first responders, friends and family of Newtown, CT.

A footnote: This personal journey started out when my niece-in-law, Jen, a lifelong resident of Newtown, CT invited me to join Ashley Petersen’s 26 days of kindness event. Each day, each post was done through the eyes of our gardens, our landscapes, flowers blooming brightly in the sun. The effort was always to combine the short bio that Ashley would send and touch upon something each one of the lives being honored enjoyed and loved. But the part that was most important was to consciously think about an act of kindness for each one. Here is the FB and event page where acts of kindness will continue as each day moving forward Newtown, CT heals as a town. These acts of kindness help. P.S. Happy Birthday, Mom. 

© Andy Newman oil painting - image by Ann Bilowz 

 If you like this blog, hope you check in for your daily share's worth of inspiration, design, and garden tips; always original, not cookie cutter and copied. Just like our design work, we strive for unique! Like our Facebook follow on Twitter or subscribe to the blog to receive posts daily via email or a feed. Either way, we hope you follow the postings somewhere in cyberspace and share it with your gardening friends. Contact me direct at Annie You can follow with visuals on Pinterest and find us on LinkedIn and Houzz, too.