Just because I know nothing, absolutely nothing about actual gardening, that doesn’t mean I don’t “garden”.
Why, just TODAY I “gardened” a baby Japanese maple tree growing about six feet from the big old Japanese maple in my front yard (bottle of Saint-Emilion for scale, because we have to be scientific):
And here’s me showing the Japanese maple tree that we “gardened” last year when it was a baby growing in Top Cat’s tomato patch in the back yard, which he re-planted and is now a sapling way back in the woods (yeah, that’s the same bottle of Saint-Emilio there, for scale, because it was still TODAY when I took this pic):
Yes, walking around the yard with a bottle of wine is what I call “gardening”. In fact, sitting around with a bottle of wine is also what I call “gardening”. In my world, you can also “garden” while sipping tea, flipping through a J. Peterman catalog, or otherwise re-arranging the mental furniture up there there in the brain pan.
I am bringing this up because later this week, on Wednesday April 27 I am going to appear LIVE on the internet with the marvelous Bren on GardenChat (chat is French for cat, so you see — I knew that, at least) and you all can tune in and type me questions in real time and we will “garden” together. Youse and me. Is technology awesome or what?!
LIVE on the internet means that I will be on camera, in my house, so I will have to make my “gardening” space camera ready . . .
. . . so I’m going to have to clean up even though it’s not even close to Thanksgiving, when I usually do my housekeeping.
AFTER
Lights, Camera: OK now! Let’s do some “gardening”!
And when I say “gardening”, I mean: Let’s paint!
Yes, we’re heading back to Claude Monet’s garden in Giverny, this time we’re leaving the flower garden part (above) and we’re heading to the famous lily pond (below):
Let’s start with my photo of Monet’s famous Japanese bridge . . .
. . . and I’m going to point out what attracted my attention, in this photo — something in the background there, on the right hand side . . .
I saw these boats, and the reflections of the bamboo on the water, and the back-lit stuff, and I thought:
Triscuit!
So I take out my “gardening” tools. . .
. . . and I get down to the dirty work:
This is the only time I use a flat brush (below), when I dip it into clear water and swipe over a painted surface to pick up pigment, and leave these streaks of white lines that imitate the ripple of water. Cool, huh?
Now I’m going to use white acrylic paint to paint over those dark bamboo plants in the background. . .
. . . so I can put a light, bright, lime green paint on top of the white acrylic bits:
And this, my Wonder Ones, is how we “garden”:
GIVE AWAY * GIVE AWAY * GIVE AWAY
AND In honor of my LIVE internet debut later this week — Wednesday, April 27 — I am giving away this Monet’s Boats Triscuit! This contest is open to everyone, whether or not you have Commented recently, even if this is your first visit here to VivianWorld!
Just leave a Comment to this blog post, and pick a number between 1 and 100. Top Cat will do his usual random picking of number and I will announce the winner next Friday, when we meet here again and discuss our GardenChat, and whether or not I still do that weird thing that I do with my mouth when I speak, which always looks 1000% worse on video than it does in real life. I also tend to make faces, which I will really try very hard not to do in front of the camera.
Before I go, I must give you the latest picture of Taffy “gardening”:
. . . and tell you the latest in GoAaF news:
Sweet Dear Reader Anne alerted me last Wednesday that the generous and kind Elizabeth Gilbert posted this on her Twitter and Facebook:
GARDENS OF AWE AND FOLLY, by Vivian Swift. I love the work of watercolorist/explorer Vivian Swift (her first book WHEN WANDERERS CEASE TO ROAM is on my personal Top 10 Books of All Time list), so I was delighted to see this new volume of hers, which is a study of public gardens all over the world. As a wanna-be botanical historian, this one is right up my alley. It’s beautiful, thoughtful, whimsical, and smart (and would make a perfect mother’s day gift, by the way).
I got all teary-eyed, and then the GoAaF shot up to No. 1 in Garden Design on Amazon:
Thank you, Maryanne S., for the screen grab. That #1 Best Seller in Garden Design means, I think, that 100,000 copies of the GoAaF flew off the shelves thanks to the wondrous Liz Gilbert. On days like this, I feel kindly towards the whole book making process and I get all sentimental and I think to myself, Hey, it might be worth it to stick around and write another whole ‘nother book. Maybe.
P.S. to Nancy S.: Sorry, but I bumped your tea cups to next week’s blog, but trust me: I made it really special for you and all us tea cup fans out there.
P.S. to Lynn from NOLA: I loved your question, and I will dedicate an upcoming blog post to you in answer, about that missing Chapter 10 from Gardens of Awe and Folly. Here’s a h int:
Have a great weekend, and go forth in awe and folly, my Wonder Ones.
P.S. Re: Monet Boat Triscuit Give Away — As of Wednesday noon, these numbers are taken (so please mind-meld with the universe to choose your own special digit):
4
68
99
26
11
13
30
80
21
9
10
33
77
7
87
5
50
79
84
38
21
62
67
14
63
79