{"id":2034,"date":"2020-09-13T12:07:18","date_gmt":"2020-09-13T16:07:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.maryahernartist.com\/art-blog\/?p=2034"},"modified":"2026-01-16T23:40:42","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T04:40:42","slug":"why-i-paint-why-i-write-the-garden-tells-me-to","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.maryahernartist.com\/art-blog\/why-i-paint-why-i-write-the-garden-tells-me-to\/","title":{"rendered":"Why I Paint. Why I Write. The Garden Tells Me To."},"content":{"rendered":"

Long ago in the way back machine, I grew some sunflowers for my young sons. You know which ones, they\u2019re the 8-foot tall ones that excite every kid. So on the day the flower was pitch-perfect, I pulled out my pastels and tried to capture its roundness, its color. And then it was time to light the barbecue and make dinner for the boys so I put away my pastels and paper while planning to finish the work the next day.<\/p>\n

We enjoyed our burgers outside in the garden under the towering sunflowers that evening sitting at the picnic table with the soft summer breezes and called it a day. The next morning when I gathered my chalks and half worked drawing to complete the art don\u2019t I discover that a squirrel had beaten me to the day\u2019s work. The center seeds were chomped and mangled. This was my clarion call to the ephemeral.<\/p>\n

I learned that day the garden doesn\u2019t wait. The passing of time can be in a split minute. A flower has another calling and it\u2019s not willing to wait for me until I\u2019m ready. It, like me, has a busy life with other goals.<\/p>\n

\"First

These are some of my earliest paintings hanging on the wall in my studio. The Sunflower pastel is a reminder of the ephemeral garden.<\/p><\/div>\n

So I committed myself to capture the transient moments in my garden. The inspirations in form and color. The visions and details that escape us as we hurry through and around in our busy lives. The moments that don\u2019t wait for us.<\/p>\n

And then I realized that my garden not only shows me its secrets, it also tells me its mysteries. It whispers ideas into my head. But those ideas are also fleeting. They come to me but fly away on the breezes too quickly for me to grab. So I\u2019ve begun writing. Each time the garden sends a story I write a note of it down. I capture it on my keyboard or quickly with a pencil. At times I even have to catch it so quickly when I\u2019m immersed in the midst of my garden that I can\u2019t run indoors quickly enough before I lose it so I speak it softly into my phone. I\u2019m building a library of stories the garden is generously sharing with me. This is one of them.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Sunflowers<\/a>

Sunflowers With Purple Asters. Prints of this artwork are available in various sizes on canvas, fine art paper, acrylic and metal in my online Art Shop.<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Long ago in the way back machine, I grew some sunflowers for my young sons. You know which ones, they\u2019re the 8-foot tall ones that excite every kid. So on the day the flower was pitch-perfect, I pulled out my …<\/span> Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,145],"tags":[18,173,43,266,179],"class_list":["post-2034","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-garden-artist","category-musings","tag-art","tag-being-an-artist","tag-influences","tag-musings","tag-my-garden"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy I Paint. Why I Write. 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