First Phlox

First Phlox
Oil on canvas, 5x7

I've been working in the flower beds quite a bit lately, and as I turned the corner of the house - these had popped open overnight!  The fragrance of garden phlox is beyond compare - I think it is something close to lilac, and scents the whole lawn!  After hours of working outside, I have taken a little break to paint this small canvas before starting in again.  With all the rain, I have had a big job staying on top of the flower beds - and a couple of those beds are winning still!  I am painting loose and free on this one, letting the strokes land where they may.  Trying to stay impressionistic with the foliage is still a challenge for me, so I end up "slap dashing" those colors in to loosen up their forms. This white phlox is always a late bloomer, but not this year!  It has opened on the same day as the purple one below it.  The purple phlox are very abundant in my beds, but I have only one clump of these white ones, which I have now had for 25 years, given to me by our old neighbors the Ruhls.  Well, this painting makes 549 in 549 days, and I am back out to ready the yard for company :)