"Winter Light, Garden Path" A Plein Air Painting of Magnolia Gardens

" Winter Light, Garden Path"
Oil on birch panel
16"x 19" framed dimensions
Price: Sold

This alla prima, plein air oil painting is another entry I have in the Magnolia Gardens Gallery Show during the 2008 Winter Garden Festival. The painting is designed to direct the viewer's eye from the bright red pyracantha bush to the curving live oak tree down past a camellia bush to the garden path finally coming to rest on the garden bench. It's a visual trip through the painting (and garden) that I found inspiring and peaceful.

While I painted "Winter Light, Garden Path", I enjoyed talking with passing visitors to the gardens during a mild December afternoon. The path in the painting runs beside the Ashley River just a few yards from the spot where Lord Cornwallis and his forces landed at Magnolia Plantation on their way to lay siege to Charleston during the Revolutionary War.

History, interesting horticulture such as red pyracantha berries, camellia japonica blooms, an ancient live oak with Spanish moss, views of the garden and the Ashley River- this painting location had it all.

The original artwork of the winter gardens by Charleston Artist Guild members is remarkable. The show, in which all artwork is for sale, demonstrates the range of creative vision and technique of the many accomplished artists in the guild.

The Winter Garden Art Show and variety of winter blooming plants including one of the largest and oldest collection of camellias in the country at Magnolia will make an interesting visit if you're in the Charleston Area during the Festival January 19 - February 17, 2008.