Japanese Tree Peonies

 "Japanese Tree Peony #1" -- oil on canvas 6x6" -- Margie Guyot

 "Japanese Tree Peony #2" -- oil on canvas 6x6" -- Margie Guyot

 

Yikes!  Once again I've fallen behind on my blog posts!  And my Internet service is running slow this morning.  Still, an attempt to catch up a little this morning.  It's kind of a miracle I have any Japanese tree peonies at all.  I'd bought several plants at a moving sale about 5 years ago.  It was in the 90's.  From what I'd read about these plants, they should only be moved in early spring, in cool temperatures.  Somehow they survived being moved twice: first, to my house in Farmington Hills, and a second time, to my house up in northern Michigan.  They're quite beautiful when they bloom, but the blooms only last a couple days.

"June Field" -- plein air field study -- oil on canvas -- 8x16" -- Margie Guyot

A painter friend and I were driving around the Leelanau Peninsula the other day, looking for good spots to paint. I spied this view of the furrows and row of willows. That's a new crop of corn peeking up. The farmer apparently didn't plow last year's crop of cornstalks under. They'd been harvested, but all the stubs were still in place.

It was supposed to be partly cloudy, but it turned out to be mostly cloudy, turning to completely cloudy. At one point, just for a couple seconds, the clouds parted and sunshine appeared on the upper left portion of the field. I tried to capture that view.

"Leelanau Barn" -- plein air field study -- oil on canvas -- 8x10" -- Margie Guyot

The sky was completely overcast. My friend and I were hoping to find something with a bit of color. He loves painting barns, so we stopped at did this view of an old barn. It was on one of the largest cherry orchards on the Leelanau Peninsula.

In the foreground there were a few daisies and a type of weed that has a rusty-pinkish bloom on it. Some call it "British Soldiers"; others call it wild sorrel.

"Peony Garden" -- plein air field study -- oil on canvas -- 8x16" -- Margie Guyot

Lots of rain here lately! But it's a good thing. Everybody with a garden is happy. Although I'm sure the campers are miserable. I knew my neighbor's peonies were in full bloom. They don't last forever, so I took a chance on painting yesterday. The sky was leaden. Every once in a while I'd feel a drop of rain, so I painted as fast as I could.