Watercolour | Art journals | Melissa Peacock
  • Home
  • About Me
    • Group Exhibitions
    • Contact
  • Gallery
    • Wild Satellite Series
    • Living Spaces Series
    • Miscellaneous Paintings
    • Handmade Art Journals
  • Shop
  • Blog
  • Videos

2016 Balcony Garden Tour

8/29/2016

 
Picture
I usually get all excited about the garden right in the springtime, after I've rearranged and tidied up. I delayed it this year for a couple of reasons you probably don't care about (where's the art, lady??).

1: I didn't get to go plant hunting this year due to everything suddenly surviving.
2: The real exciting stuff happens after spring, because I never grow actual flowers.

I'm trying to accept my mostly-shade situation, and am gearing toward more coloured or exciting foliage (I get sick of green).
Picture
This is the first year of the self-watering containers and they are a hit! My twig of a lavender grew into a ratty collection of twigs. I'm staking it now to see if I can topiary it. But what is really great this year is how well the calamondin (center) came back after mostly dying. It's almost a normal green colour, with no scales, and this recent heatwave triggered its first flowering in several years. I'M SO EXCITED.
Picture
Watering the hell out of this planterbox, combined with the heatwave, is bringing the creeping jenny back to life. Not much good has come for the juncus grass though. It looks awful. Major surgery is scheduled soon. I'm thinking of chopping it in half. Should it be quartered?? Where will I put its other half??
Picture
This year I learned that "Coprosma" literally translates into "poopstink". Ha ha ha. For the record, there is no stink on this plant. This plant which started out as a 4 inch baby last year and is now a 2.5 foot beast. It looks way too pale, but the leaves are still so dang pretty on this one. Chose this one for the red foliage (to battle the greens), but it only feels like making yellow-green this year. Next time.
Picture
Only one of the old strawberries (center) survived my negligent, dry winter. But it is breeding up a storm regardless. I'm pretty sure there are 5 in there now. On the right is the purple smokebush I've desired for so long. It's looking pretty alive, not too happy... and also NOT VERY PURPLE, LIKE WWHYYYYY. I'm trying to fight the greens, guys. What are you doing to me. It needs more sun exposure. There are a few purple leaves, but that's all I get until we move somewhere sunny. Hang in there, smoky!
Picture
Last year I also decided to give up on succulents. They don't grow much and they shrivel out of existence in the winter, even when I bring them indoors. Even the sedum, which is supposed to be the easiest, doesn't like me. The jades, however, are such a delight. They've grown at least twice their original size. I'm hoping they grow and grow forever because they are pretty darn rad.
Picture
Turning the too-dry strawberry tower (right) into a weed tower was mostly a success! They drape nicely all the way to the floor. Seeds everywhere. Every once in a while, a pot will die back, but there's usually another weed growing in another container. I just rip it up and throw it in the tower and it re-roots there. That stubborn bastard is working for me now. That blueberry on the left still does nothing but looks gangly and kind of dumb.
Picture
Finally, this is the most exciting and new thing this year: polka dot. I bought it on a whim, just because it was pink. Then I learned that it is a much-hated plant that grows to be ugly. They were right - it was a struggle to get through his awkward teenage flowering stage. Then I learned it would die over winter anyway. But then it did this! It got big! And even pinker! And it looks so damn healthy! And now I want it to stay! We're zone 9, I think, so there's a chance he will return next year. Pink!

In conclusion, this year it seems as though everything responds favorably to more heat and more water. Shade be damned. I did not spend any afternoons on the balcony this year. And I also learned that most of the fun of gardening was hunting for new plants. And that the calamondin is looking so fantastic, after it completely died back and I got the chance to properly shape it. Watching that tiny blossom grow everyday is such a thrill. I highly recommend it.

Collage ACEO - Window

8/28/2016

 
I saw images of collage work chopped up into pieces and displayed on a page, and was instantly inspired. I'm amazed by how it transforms the collage. Maybe this is why "inchies" are a thing - tiny square inch pieces of art that people trade and collect. To me, it always seemed too tiny, but together, the pieces make a powerful little collection.

Like Power Rangers.

This card "Window" is available in the shop!



Art Journal Video - Solitary Mink

8/25/2016

 
The tiny Paradise sketchbook is more of an artbook than an art journal, I guess. This is what I was up to at the last livestream on Tuesday. Everything takes a bit longer during a stream because of all of the lovely distractions (cat vomit not counted).

My blog editor is acting a little crunchy so I will leave you with this replay of the last stream. Enjoy!

Watercolour ACEO - Orchid Cake

8/21/2016

 
Unrelated: Sometimes I walk to work at 5am, while it's still quite dark outside. It's not much of a distance, still I keep running into city wildlife! Sometimes I'm creeping past  skunks, sometimes I'm flanked by raccoons, and sometimes I'm blowing kisses at friendly-looking kitties. It's not quite the Shifty Dudes Who Steal Bicycles that I was expecting.
Picture
This sweet card is available in the shop!



Watercolor ACEO - Golden Eagle

8/14/2016

 
Recently, we wandered over to the UBC botanical gardens to see what we could see. It was a hot, long trek and the 2 hour trip one way was slightly regrettable. But we did get to see a huge golden eagle perched on top of one of the resident buildings! It looked fake at first, until it finally gazed down at us. What a sight!
Picture
This card "Golden Eagle" is available in the shop!


Planner Page - Raining Sun

8/11/2016

 
I think this is page number 10! :O I'd like to think there were only two left to do, but then I have to come up with matching monthly calendar pages and whatever else I think one might need. But that should go quicker I think.

I'm seriously considering rushing off on a two-hour public transportation journey just to gander at a huge garden. Yay? Nay? It sounds a little crazy to me but I can't think of anything better I could do.



Watercolour Art Journal - Pastel Butterfly

8/10/2016

 
Picture
Not even making a dent in the paper supply yet... This new journal is available in the shop! 

If my current schedule holds, I've written in a livestream for Monday August 15th 1pm PST!


Watercolor Lavender ACEO video - One blossom

8/7/2016

 
A couple of years ago, I went through all of my seed packs and used up as many as I could in my balcony garden. My balcony is mostly shaded these days, and most of the seed packs were years old, so luckily not a lot sprung up. A single lavender seed germinated and I didn't have much hope for it. The sprout grew into a skinny little thing with no branches, and I thought it would be gone by spring. It made a single blossom, which I quickly removed.

This year, that scraggly little twiglet grew to be at least 3 feet tall, with other scraggly little twiglets sprawling from the crown. The thing is a mess, and it's hard to wait through the summer before I can prune it. I think I might try training it into a tree, instead, because it has so much woody bark already.

Another single blossom popped out at the very skinny little top. It's the prettiest lavender blossom I've ever seen.


Picture
You can catch it for yourself in the shop!

If you ask, I could even rub lavender all over the back of it to stink it up real nice.

Watercolour Art Journal - Squid

8/6/2016

 
Picture
New in the shop is this squid journal! The cover is a laser print of one of my art journal pages. I struggled a little bit making this one, so some of the triangles on the front have been painted over in gold ink! I guess it's a bit of a happy accident.


Watercolour Painting Time Lapse - Rose Jelly

8/4/2016

 
I really liked the jelly painting I did during the stream, but forgot to record the actual painting of it. So I did it again bigger and upgraded it a bit, paper tole style.

This painting is available in the shop!

    Picture
    Hello! I'm Melissa, and here you'll find some behind-the-scenes footage of an artful life. Won't you join me?

    RSS Feed


    Picture
    Picture

    Archives

    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012

    Categories

    All
    Art
    Art Journals
    Cakes
    Contest
    Diy
    Freebies
    From The Post
    Garden
    Home Improvement
    In Progress
    Inspiration Deck
    Journal Flip
    Journal Post
    Journal Post
    Just Sketching
    Review
    Scrapbook
    Step By Step
    Video

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
  • About Me
    • Group Exhibitions
    • Contact
  • Gallery
    • Wild Satellite Series
    • Living Spaces Series
    • Miscellaneous Paintings
    • Handmade Art Journals
  • Shop
  • Blog
  • Videos