"There shall be eternal summer in the grateful heart"...Celia Thaxter

I am again posting a painting of a window....this one by Childe Hassam, (pronounced "child"), American Impressionist (1859-1935).

Here is a lady at a window,with a geranium on the windowsill. It is called "Summer Evening". I love the reds and golds, even the whites are warm whites, her dress and hair from a more romantic time....the late afternoon light is pouring in and casting shadows.

Hassam was a friend of well-known gardener and writer, Celia Thaxter who lived on an island with a light house, off the coast of Maine [ or New Hampshire. (Appledore Island)]

Childe Hassam did this painting of her garden in 1890. It is both cozy, the rocks and flowers ground us, and expansive with the sea and sky in the distance!

Celia, a poet, wrote a wonderful book about this garden (which you can still visit, as it is maintained today) called Island Garden which was illustrated by Hassam. A lovely book to own!

This is a recent photo of Celia's garden....more than 100 years have passed...

this is from Claire Murray's award-winning magazine, "La Vie Claire", Spring 2006. Back issues are available....(this particular issue also had an article about Tasha Tudor!)

I know I posted this page before.....






It is from my on-going cut and paste art/life journal.
It shows a cozy breakfast nook which had colors and things I loved. Too much yellow, maybe, but it is a very happy room!
Several years before seeing this, I had painted my kitchen cabinets the same green color as the cupboard in this photo. Pasting this in my journal this spring inspired me to do on-line research on Monet's kitchen..

The written text is a quote (sorry I didn't note the source!)
"You can draw inspiration from some of the French Impressionists like Monet, Renoir and Van Gogh (post impressionist!). Colors that are used in French country kitchen style include sunny yellow or soft gold, bright red or rust, grass green, cobalt blue and soft ocean tones."







Finding this photo (the one in the journal above), with a china collection on the walls really "clicked" with me because I have a collection of blue and white china....(as with all collections it is easy to get "too much") [my bookcase with my precariously stacked china!]

The love of the blue and white along with a love of the "old" green from the 30's and 40's had inspired the colors of my kitchen and breakfast room. Deep blue on a couple of walls and lots of white, and all my cabinets the "old" green. [all of this was done in the last century you understand!]





So this spring, instead of painting the breakfast nook sunny yellow, (Mr. Pear was not in favor of it for one thing!) I visited flea markets and added some sunny yellow plates. Then I hung my own poppy painting (Lila is an "Impressionist" too!)




Now we know there is always room for improvement....(did you hear that when you were growing up?)....I straightened the painting and re-took the photo...but it is still a bit off!!!




Here are my cabinets....and they could be improved with a fresh coat of paint and new hardware.....it never ends!