Lotus vs. Water Lillies

white lotus

Many people confuse water lilies with lotuses but they are definitely different. Basically, Lotuses lift themselves above the water and have round leaves while water lilies float on the water and have heart shaped leaves. The lotuses also have those wonderful seed pods. When I first started putting these flowers on my pots, I two confused them so there are some pieces out there that could stump a botanist. At the beginning of my efforts I  sculpted water lilies and called them lotuses. I confess! I added to the confusion! My only saving grace is that I now know and promise to make those flower petals softer, the leaves round and the pods visible.

Here are a few photos of the water lily that we saw at the Fountain Pond Park on our way home from the Stockbridge, MA Arts & Crafts show last weekend.

with arrowroot and cattails

Water lilies

Saturday & Sunday at the Berkshire Botanical Gardens

Next!

Birch Forest

      This Saturday and Sunday, August 21 & 22, we will be showing our work in the Berkshire Botanical Gardens in Stockbridge, MA. Show hours are 10 am- 5pm on Saturday and 10 am-4pm on Sunday. It should be a beautiful setting for 90 artists. Come and join us for a lovely weekend in the Berkshires!

Willow Trees

Elm Trees

Dogwood

Laurel

Bleeding Hearts

Sunday at the Saugerties Artists Tour

Today started out slowly and then it rained. So all in all we had about half the number of visitors as we did yesterday. They didn't really get to enjoy the outdoor setting but we tried to make it up to them by demonstrating and answering questions indoors. Here's how our studio looked dressed up:

Clockwise from the entrance

full circle

going home

Thank you every one for a successful open studio tour!

Saturday of the Saugerties Artists Tour 2010

Awfully dry this year!

We used our fair countertops in the studio.

After 2 weeks of grooming the garden and 2 days cleaning the studio, we opened our doors to the public this am. at 10.

Spic 'n Span inside

Used pedestals from a White Pine Steve cut outside.

 

 

 

 

Looking good

Studio Work

Our annual studio open house in conjunction with the Saugerties Artists Tour is coming up quickly. We have been madly running around mowing, weeding and watering the garden & yard in anticipation of this weekend's event. If you've never been to our studio, this is a good time to come. We'll have a lot of work displayed outside in the garden as well as in the studio and hopefully have a chance to actually make some pots while you watch.
Simultaneously we have continued to make pots. Cherie worked on an order for a Brugmansia today.

dividing the pot into sections

sketching the design on the pot 

applying the coils

Finished!

another view

while Steve trimmed minis.