Pastel Artwork: Purple Iris

 

My latest artwork, a pastel painting. 

"Purple Iris"

Pastel on PastelMat paper

©2020 Melissa Enderle

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Pastel: Splashes of White and Violet

My latest artwork, a pastel of spring flowers at Olbrich Gardens in Madison, Wisconsin. Painted on PastelMat paper.

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Not Quite Giverny

A few weeks back, a friend posted some photos of her tour of Giverny. I fondly remembered my trip to Monet's Japanese-inspired garden as well as his home. When I want to capture Madison bridges in my imagery, Tenney Park is one of my favorite places to visit. The park system is working on transitioning the landscape with native wildflowers.  Although many of the wildflowers had already begun petering out, there still was a fair amount of color near the red bridge. No, it's not quite Giverny, but its beauty hearkens me back. 

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Sunshine at the Sunflower Farm

A friend and I were eager to visit the sunflowers at the Pope Conservancy Farm, located just a short distance from Madison. Upon entering the parking area, I was already impressed; the large swath of grassed land was trimmed and had white lines painted to show denote parking spaces. A traffic attendant directed people to available parking spots. Signs indicated where we were to proceed. A few sprinkles on the windshield, we grabbed our rain jackets – just in case. As we walked up the slight incline to the sunflower field, I noticed a weak patch of blue amidst the very overcast skies. Perhaps things will change, I thought....

Neatly clipped paths led us along the outer perimeter of the sunflower fields. Every so often, some short sections of the field were cleared so visitors could walk into the field just a bit and take photos. Some took photos of their family; others selfies, and still others focused on the sunflowers. The nearly 500,000 plants were just waiting to be photographed, their heads proudly facing the sun. As we were putzing around taking photos (it's nice to be along with a fellow artist; both are eager to explore and take photos, rather than being bored after a minute or two), I noticed that the sky became increasingly more blue.  

Soon, the clouds had dissipated, and the sun was free to cast its glow on the yellow petals. The nine acres of sunflowers made such a beautiful sight. What a great place for sneaking in a photo of myself!

Bees were busy flitting from sunflower to sunflower, whose heads were heavily laden with pollen and ripe with nectar. Zooming in gave opportunities for capturing other views.

The clipped paths led visitors along fields of corn, soybeans, and prairie. 

A few monarchs were spotted fluttering about, landing on various wildflowers.

What a great place to spend the morning with a friend!

When talking with some volunteers at the site, I learned that the Conservancy is a popular place for school trips. Students (grade 4 is a popular year, as this grade focuses on Wisconsin history) have many opportunities to learn about how Native Americans and early settlers used the land and the types of crops they raised. Some thematic gardens had informative signs and some artifacts were also present. I learned that the seeds from the dried plants are harvested in late November or early December. 

The Friends of Pope Farm Conservancy help the farmer (see farm in the distance) through the sale of sunflower seeds to the public. Interestingly, nearly a third of the crop will have already been eaten by birds prior to harvest – nearly 4,000 pounds of snitching! 

There still are a few more days left to Sunflower Days (Aug 12-20). If you're in the area, come and visit! Great for the whole family!

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Tulips at the Capitol

A beautiful spring day in downtown Madison, it was a perfect opportunity to capture the capitol in spring. Moving down to a lower vantage point, I managed to hide any people and focus solely on the magnificence of the architecture and nature. If you haven't been to the Wisconsin capitol, it's worth a visit!

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Change is in the Air

In the last two weeks, I've visited Olbrich Gardens three times. After a rainy spell these past several days, a slight break (at least for a few hours) enable me to check the local botanical gardens yet again.  Last week's warm weather and blue skies brought out lots of people; today, the overcast skies, brisk wind, and cool temps meant a smaller crowd. A week ago today, the cherry blossoms were singing. Today, few petals remained; Their tune was over. I walked away from the area from the area where I had photographed the cherry blossoms and magnolias last week, searching for new subjects.

The wooden bridge crossing the Starkweather Creek was my spot of choice for today. Here, the redbuds provided a colorful contrast against the overcast sky. 

Next to the bridge, three painted turtles vied for a spot on the grassy section of a log. 

What changes are you observing in your area?

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Spring Awakens at Olbrich Gardens

Having photographed (at least according to my sister) all the flowers in Korea, it was high time that I began to document those spring beauties in Wisconsin. Spring in Wisconsin is a few weeks behind that of Korea, so I had to be a bit more patient. Finally (as my eyes and sinuses also revealed), the warmer temperatures have awakened spring in the area. After completing my online teaching, I took advantage of the pleasant temperatures and non-rainy late morning to walk to the Olbrich Gardens. It was the first time that I had visited Olbrich in spring, so I was eager to see what it would look like.

Other people, young and old, seemed to have had the same idea, strolling around the grounds (free admission) to see what firstfruits of spring were present. While many areas still looked rather dormant, sections were sprinkled with color. Blue Stars carpeted the ground, interspersed with daffodils. Magnolias and cherry blossoms added to the color palette, offering variation in size and color. I crouched low to the ground to get some shots, immediately getting dirt on my freshly laundered jeans. Oh, the price that a photographer must pay! 

Needless to say, it wasn't difficult to quickly rack up quite a few shots. I'll have to return in a week or less to see what further changes there will be. The folks (including many volunteers) were busy with spring cleaning and preparing many areas. I can't wait to see the fruits of their labors!

via Instagram

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A Walk Through the Desert Wildflowers at Catalina State Park

I timed my trip down to Arizona this spring so I could see the desert wildflowers. The area had received ample rainfall this winter, so the flowers were happy. We took a drive about 1 1/2 hours away and visited the Catalina State Park near Tucson. 

I was surprised to see how green much of the park was. The leaves of many of the trees were emerging, and grasses of different sorts looked very fresh - unlike the wild grasses near Apache Junction which have already dried up. The creek going through the park definitely helped.

In addition, the area was dotted with various wildflowers, in various intensities of yellow, white, orange, red, orange, and blue. Some were so tiny and appeared to be very fragile. They reminded me of some of the tundra flowers higher on a mountain.

Some of the flowers played hide-and-seek, peeking out between the cacti. Many of the cacti themselves were beginning to blossom as well. I suspect that in a few weeks, rocky hills and mountains in this park will look very different yet again, with these fragile rainbows all dry and withered up, hoping to reappear next year.

See more of my photos from Catalina State Park on my Flickr Site

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After the Rain

In Wisconsin, we've been getting quite a bit of rain these past few weeks. Although the Madison area did not have the flooding that occurred last week in other areas of the state, it still affected things. With the skies temporarily absent of precipitation, I decided to walk over to the nearby Olbrich Gardens. I loved the way the night's weather transformed the petals, leaves, and spiderwebs.

The petals here reminded me of the scales on a dragon's wing.

Raindrops beaded up along the veins of the elephant ear plant.

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Lilies And More at the Centennial Gardens

The Allen Centennial Gardens contains a wide variety of lilies, lovingly tended by a special club dedicated to lilies. Below are some photos of the garden's lilies that I took, along with a few other types of plants and flowers.

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Through England and France at the Centennial Gardens

The Allen Centennial Gardens contains several areas, each with their distinct look. In one section, there was a pond, complete with waterlilies and a small wooden bridge, which temporarily transported me to Monet's gardens in Giverny or the Taikobashi Bridge of Dazaifu. It did have some cattails and milkweed, which reminded me that I was indeed in Wisconsin.

Beyond a high hedge was a European-style garden, complete with manicured shaped hedges and sculptures.

With some tweaking on the gazebo, I could have been at the Garden of the Morning Calm near Seoul.

It was fun watching the koi and other fish swim in schools. Such a common sight in Asian gardens.

All in all, a beautiful place to enjoy on a Sunday afternoon!

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Period Garden Park, Madison

On this cloudless summer morning, I set out to visit the Period Garden Park. Located at the intersection of Gorham and Pickney in the Mansion Hill District of Madison, the small park is on land that was once the front lawn of the Elisha W. Keys House. This house, pictured above, was built between 1853-1854. 

In 1972, the plot (which at the time was a parking lot) was slated to be redeveloped as a 30 unit efficiency apartment building, which surely would have hidden the newly-designated historical landmark of the Keys house. Members of the community along with funding by the city and state governments helped secure the purchase of the land for a park.

Through the work of volunteers, the garden has been maintained. Over $10,000 worth of perennials, shrubs and trees have been added since 2007. 

The park has been designed to look like a typical garden that the neighborhood once enjoyed. Wrought iron from the time period was moved from a cemetery to the location. The sandstone steps are listed as original, and are typical of that era, as are the brick walkways. 

If visiting the Capitol area, the Period Garden Park is a pleasant, quiet reprieve in the heart of a historic neighborhood.

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Bathing Baby Buddha

As part of the Buddha's Birthday festivities at Jogyesa Temple, a floral well was erected. In the middle of it was a golden baby Buddha.

Devotees took a special ladle and poured fragrant water over the baby Buddha to bathe it. 

Typically they would pour water over the small figure three times, signifying the washing away of evil thoughts, then cultivation of good ideas, and a desire to save all living beings. 

Nestled amongst the flowers was a coffee cup. The hanbok-clad devotee was a bit embarrassed when she saw that I had noticed the "addition" to the display. Perhaps Buddha would have liked a sip of this oh-so-popular drink of Korea.

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A Little Symphony at the Pond

One of the places that I was keen to visit within the Garden of the Morning Calm was the pond with pavilion. This area wasn't a part of the winter lighting festival in which I attended this past January. Such an area combines some of my favorite elements; bridges, traditional architecture, a pond, surrounded by spring plant life.

Instead of dragons or lions heading the beginning of the bridge, it sported some stone frogs. Soon this choice would become more evident. I had heard loud croaking but assumed that it was probably piped frog sounds coming from some speakers scattered throughout the pond's edges (I've been to other Korean sites where music is projected from speakers concealed as rocks). 

Lo and behold, it was the real deal! Near the shorelines were some rather long-limbed frogs, blissfully croaking away. It was fun watching them puff out their cheeks like symmetrical barbells. The frogs didn't seem that concerned about the curious onlookers. Perhaps it was mating season and they were more concerned about attracting some lovely lady frogs.

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