December, inside and out

I sat in my living room early this morning and looked at our Christmas tree, its lights reflected in the window behind it. It was the work of a minute to fetch my paints and pencils.

It has been a balmy day, so I headed for the botanical gardens and found my old friend, the bottle tree,  looking splendid and cheerful against the clear sky.

Underneath today's sketch is a sketch of the bottle tree and environs from last June. And, from that same post, here's a bit of bottle tree history: Malevolent spirits are lured at night inside blue bottles on a bottle tree. When the sun's first light touches the glass, the evil beings are destroyed. Bottle trees were found in rural, primarily African-American, communities in the southern United States. This bottle tree, underplanted with okra, is part of a collection of historical plantings placed in raised beds at the North Carolina Botanical Garden.

I had a few minutes before meeting my husband for lunch, so I drew an elegant hydrangea, bereft of almost all color, but full of texture, its dried blossoms  overlapping each other in  soft semicircles. I apologize for the misplacement of captions. I can't seem to work out how to match image with words in this case.

Comments

[Linda Colgan]

Laura,the sketchesaregoodasalways.It seems allarein the christmas spirit:)
Linda

[Terri]

I love your interiors. They are always so full of detail, colour and warmth. Your Christmas tree looks lush and lovely. The captions download first and I usually read them whilst waiting for the images to download. So when you mentioned the bottle tree, I already had an image in my mind. Here in Australia - in Qld in particular - this is what we call a bottle tree:
http://www.grasstree.com/bottletree.htm So you can see why I was surprised by your colourful creation. :o)

[Tom G]

The reflection of the tree in the window is masterful. Beautiful work.

[marly]

Here's a house for the bottle tree:
http://www.airliegardens.org/photo_gallery.asp?albumid=5&photoid=44&page=&photopage=...

I am fond of bottle trees and Christmas trees--both having something to do with the eternal (ghosts! heavenly visions! evergreen dreams!), both fooling around with tree-dressing, both wonderfully shiny and light-catching. And I second the remark about the reflection-perfection.

[Robyn]

I was tricked by the bottle tree too, being familiar, as I am, with the Australian version. I add my appreciation to all above regarding your Christmas tree - the clever depiction of its lights and the elegance of all the other objects. Today I particularly love your sketch of the hydrangea - without the distraction of your wonderful colours, one can really appreciate the liveliness and beauty of your lines and composition.

[Kate (Cathy) Johnson]

Silly me, all the times I'd imagined bottle trees, after reading of them, it never occurred to me how PRETTY they might be! All those different colors and shapes...lovely, Miss Laura!

[lin]

OH HOW I LOVE that bottle tree -- in the gardens and especially from your pencils!!! AWESOME! And your tree -- I can see and feel the warmth of the room, Laura -- just like you! It's been a perfect time to visit the NCBG, and I would have loved to be there with you, save for the grands and shopping and holiday preparations! Your paintings, Laura, are such a JOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Robin]

L, I have heard of bottle trees (in Eudora Welty, I think) but never seen one, so thanks!

And your living room looks perfect. Hope you're enjoying the holidays!

[lindsay]

Laura, your post on my blog made me laugh. We are both being very bad girls!! Doing art related things instead of Christmas prep! Aint it grand!!!
You art making has a relaxed elegance. ALso, a LIGHT touch! I'm trying to figure out how to have a light touch with my oil pastels!hahah could be a contradiction in terms...but What the heck. I love a challange.

[Paris Parfait]

Your living room looks gorgeous! And I didn't know the history of the bottle tree - how intriguing. Reminds me of the French bottle drying racks, which resemble a tree, but are strictly practical in purpose. Love your sketches!

[TeriC]

Absolutely gorgeous colors, reflections. WOW, just everything!!

[Jana Bouc]

I saw the word elegant in someone else's comments and I think that is a perfect word to describe the images of your home, which I love seeing. It seems so grown-up, sophisticated, and obvious has an artist's touch everywhere. You've done a wonderful job of capturing the light in the two new paintings and the composition is so much stronger in the new bottle tree than the old. I so admire your work!

[Cin]

your interiors are always so beautiful, the sparkle in the window is so wonderful

[Felicity]

The reflections in the window are wonderful! It really captures the warmth and sparkle of Christmas. Love the sketch too.

[Dr. Research]

Lovely interior drawing.

[Terry Banderas]

Nice warm feeling in your living room rendering. Reflections of the tree are great. Nice job.

[zephyr]

such gifts you bestow upon us!!
i can't decide which i love best
how nice i don't have to choose!
;^)

[zephyr]

by the way
if you'd like a snowflake
a swap is not required...

[df]

What I like about the interior (besides the great reflection on window) is how it moves from the warm tones on the left to the cool tones on the right. Very nice!

[Lori Witzel]

Lurking a bit, given all the holdiay baking/cooking/working/etcetera-ing...but loving the year's scope on where you were, and where you've gone.

[Laura]

Hi everyone! Thank you for your interest and great comments on the reflections and the bottle tree. Like many of you, I'm rushing around trying to get holiday things done, so won't have time to properly respond, but know that I cherish every single comment. Thank you, thank you!

[joyce]

Your sketches are so lovely. I love the bottle tree. I saw a rather large one with many bottles in the hills near Galena, IL. It was stunningly beautiful.