Year Two Day Thirteen - Carpe Diem Gardens

Dear all

Our final day at the office was to be held at the famous Carpe Diem gardens just south of Thornbury. http://www.ruralgardens.ca/mempgs/dykstra/carpediem.htm. I had driven past so many times but had never thought to venture in and what a treat I had in store.. these gardens are simply heavenly. 

John encouraged us to be 'lose' and 'free' with out brush and use the beauty and colour of the gardens let our paintings evolve without feeling constrained by details. I love this concept but it is still hard to remove yourself from being focused on the end result and this is something John has been very good at explaining during the week; it's all about the process, don't worry about producing a master piece.. that will come in time. 

We had a daily critique which was extremely useful and constructive where John discussed every single painting produced during the day, highlighting strengths and weaknesses.

For me, confidence is my biggest hurdle and I am determined to banish all negative thoughts and concerns out of my head and paint away until my brushes are calling a strike to demand shorter working hours. Success is all in the mind so I need to stop worrying that I am going to be a dissappointment and believe I can do it; our mind is an extremely powerful tool. I am going to reach for the stars!

It does help of course, to have a fabulous muse to paint like this incredible poppies. Here is one of my poppy paintings that I rattled off in about 15 minutes. I am very inspired to paint more and as John says, 'Paint what you love'! How can you not love these gorgeous blooms, they are sublime!