Summer Explosion

Watercolor (unframed, no mat). This riot of color is the garden Mom always wanted. As the trees around her house got ever more mature, throwing her beds into increasing shade, she never did get her flowers to bloom in this profusion. She had to paint them instead.

The Old Pump

Watercolor (no frame or mat), 9.25" x 13". There's a charming pub in the heart of Hampshire called The Mayfly. It sits next to a crystal clear trout stream, has charming architecture and a great garden. One of Mom's favorites, it inspired several scenes including this one. I live just half an hour from the pub now, and will think of Mom whenever I go.

Missouri Autumn

Matted watercolor, 18" x 24". Here's proof that you don't have to go far for inspiration. This is the view off Mom's back deck, as the fall leaves started to turn. We traveled to so many places, but she never lost sight of the fact that home was exquisitely beautiful.

Sunrise Tree Everglades

Matted watercolor, 16" x 20". As much as Mom loved traveling to Europe, part of her heart always stayed in Florida. Though she never got her retirement apartment overlooking the Atlantic, we were able to travel there regularly through the years. Cutting from one coast to the other meant a drive over Alligator Alley ... one very early ride inspired this picture.

Giverny Pond

Matted watercolor, 16" x 20". Mom and I spent a glorious summer holiday in France in 1997, first wandering around chateau in the Loire, then heading to Normandy to visit Monet's garden at Giverny. That's Monet's rowing boat moored at the top of the picture, from which he used to paint those famous water lilies. You're getting a bit of reflection in this photo from the cellophane that's wrapped around the painting; the actual painting is a bit brighter.

Place of Rest

Matted watercolor, 16" x 20". Someday, I'll figure out where this is. The willow, the lake and the architecture of the garden folly tells me we're at an English stately home, but I have no idea which one. Joanlee, after all, visited scores of them, and had a pile of photos a foot high that she planned to turn into watercolors. Someday I might find the photo that she worked from for this. In the mean time you'll have to go by her title: "Place of Rest".

A Profusion of Pansies

Matted watercolor, 12" x 20". Mom loved color, and got a chance to show it off here. I was planting the pansies. She was painting and directing my labor...