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Art in the Garden weekend the recap.

Hello everybody.
What a weekend it’s been and what a work up to the Art in the Garden show!
It’s been a fantastic few days, mixed with hard work and exhaustion, and a couple sushi suppers. Come, I’ll show you how it all went.

As late as Friday afternoon, the day before the expected 300-400 people came for a visit, I was still picking up weeds and leaves and bits of stuff, cleaning and filling up the waterfall, putting things away and bringing things out into place.

As I complained to my friends on FB, I took the glass from my tea caddy trays and into the kitchen to wash them, and, as everything was all soapy, the bottom glass slipped out of my hands and crashed into my stone sink, upsetting four vintage and heavy ceramic ink bottles on the window ledge, which crashed on top of and around the tray.
Well, my hearts stopped, but, miraculously, nothing broke! Not even a chip! Can you believe it?
By the way, are you my friend on FB? If not then friend me. 🙂

So, after a few deep breaths, I opened the garage-studio, parked my sports car against the doors, moved tables and chairs around and put my big oil paintings on the easels because I thought it might be nice to have people wander into the studio.

And then I did what every artist/gardener would do the day before a major outdoor art/garden show, I cleaned up the entire inside of the house!

I know you can relate. 😉

And then I painted well into the evening till I felt a bit calmer, and went to bed.

Saturday morning dawned sunny and warm and some more flowers started to open. It’s been such a late spring that most of my late May flowers are still in very tight buds, but some are making up for lost time, so I’m happy about that.

I put my paintings on the big studio table,

hung some more paintings around the garden, and opened my sketchbooks on some stands and shelves so people could have a mooch thru them.

I brought out my vintage tea service and some old tea pots. I love serving tea in real tea cups and saucers, and ages ago bought these for use when there are big crowds. I also bought some crispy coconut cookies. Just the thing for a little pick-me-up in the heat.

And then it was noon, and, with Chloe’s help, we opened the garden!

Morgan took up a favourite position. She was funny. All weekend she made the rounds to people she liked. Everyone loved seeing her.

And loads of people came. About 200 each day.

And my little birds flew out with their new owners.

People enjoyed the garden. Some walked thru and sat for a bit, some sat in the cool studio, some came to see the rescued 100yr old grape vine or the rescued peonies, others came to see the art or listen to the concert.

The concert was amazing. This beautiful girl, Feona Lim, played and sang on both days.

Feona was accompanied by this beautiful girl, Jill Russell.
I loved it so much.

Everyone stopped and painted a little something on our interactive canvas.

Young and old, everyone really loved sharing a little of their art and left a mark.

Here are some close-ups. I love the pink baby squiggles. There were a couple little guys here who could barely reach!

Here is the full canvas. Amazing, right?

Well, the weekend just flew past! Before we knew it, it was 5:30 pm Sunday night, the art in the garden weekend was finished, and some friends stopped by for a visit.

So we sat for an hour and chatted and cleaned up and moved things and watered, and then we went out for late sushi…

…while the garden bloomed on.

Comments: 12

  • May 29, 2017
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    Ohhh how lovely, I would have loved to be there and yes i can totally relate to the cleaning your whole house part 🙂 Beautiful.

  • May 30, 2017
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    How beautiful V. I wish I could have come and sat and enjoyed! Wonderful photographs 🙂
    Love mx

  • Diane

    May 30, 2017
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    Looks super, and so fun! Great sunshine going on and I love that so many ladies are wearing big straw hats to keep the sun off their head.

  • May 30, 2017
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    What a wonderful weekend. I love that you set up an interactive canvas.

  • May 30, 2017
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    Wow, Veronica, you really know how to do it up right! The whole thing is amazing, from your exquisite flowers and artwork to the antique tea pots to the lovely inside of your house! And live music and munchies to boot! This must have taken an incredible amount of work; I just can’t imagine. Congrats on the sales, too! xox

  • May 30, 2017
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    Everything looks just PERFECT! What perfect weather you had for the event too!

  • Susan

    May 30, 2017
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    How wonderful to have 300-400 people enjoy your art and garden! Your garden is like a paradise. Such beauty.. Sharing tea with visitors and hosting musicians – fantastic. I’m sure people loved every aspect of their time with you. The interactive canvas appears well enjoyed by all. Amazing how random people can join together to create art, whimsical and delightful. You provided a beautiful day for many people. You and C look most lovely. And then there is Morgan enjoying her favorite garden spots and helping to welcome visitors. A totally wonderful show. Thank you for sharing.

  • May 31, 2017
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    Oh how I wish I could have been one of the 400 people who wandered through your Art Garden.

  • Sheryl

    May 31, 2017
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    Okay, I promise, I’ll come down for this next year. Notwithstanding floods, snow storms and moves. That’s what happened this year, let’s hope it’s done for at least another 10 year cycle. 🙂

  • June 4, 2017
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    what a fabulous two days … you always have the best adventures in/with art

  • June 9, 2017
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    Beautiful beautiful images V! Sounds like the weekend was terrific! And your house was sparkling. Love the shot of you and Chloe 😀

  • June 14, 2017
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    Hello Veronica, some flowers are looking start to open and some are tight buds, looking awesome. I love to take care of garden. I like to plant red and pink flowers. I just loved your blog. Thanks for sharing such a nice blog.

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