Fret Not Yourself: Public Parks, Private Gardens, and my Roses

Public Parks, Private Gardens at The Met exposits the development of gardening in France between the 1789 Revolution and World War I. Expansive green spaces were created to ensure the "pleasures of the king would be the pleasures of the people." With renewed interest in flowers and the common man, outdoors became places of leisure and inspiration. Is it any wonder artists moved their easels outdoors, too?

Surprise! Wasn't this work at the Art Institute of Chicago last month? No; this is the final study Seurat made before his masterpiece. What a treat to see it again... with the same painted inner border.

Study for "A Sunday on La Grande Jatte"
by Georges Seurat, 1884.

According to the information card, the Monet family was in their back yard where Claude worked on the flower beds when Edouard Manet dropped by and started painting them - and their chickens. Before he finished setting up, Auguste Renoir came over, borrowed some of Edouard's supplies, and started his own study which is at the National Art Gallery. Claude is not in Auguste's painting because he'd quit gardening and started his own picture of Edouard. An early example of groups working on a common challenge just like quilters today.

The Monet Family in their Garden at Argenteuil
by Edouard Manet, 1874.

There were several Cassatt's including one of her earliest plein air paintings of her beloved sister, Lydia. I love the way her brushstrokes changed from Lydia's delicate face, to broader details of her clothing to the sweeping strokes of the garden.

Lydia Crocheting the Garden at Marly
by Mary Cassatt, 1880.

Fashion icon, Empress Eugenie, was painted as if she was outdoors. The detailing of her clothing is exquisite but the background looks more like a stage flat. Results like this pushed artists to move their work outdoors.

The Empress Eugenie
by Franz Xaver Winterhalter, 1854

Altogether this was an excellent showcase of the style variations of studio versus extemporaneous painting in daylight. In some ways it mirrors planned versus improvisational quilting. What do you think?

The day after we returned I became ill and still have little energy. I can't do much except think about the quilt on the design wall. Where should the stems lie? Do they need buds? How realistic do I want to be? {Since friends must point out the rose leaf structure my answer is, "Not very."}

Adding leaves to the rose stems
on Chinese Coins VIII: Strewing Roses

Then I cut some leaves. And pondered. And moved a few. And added more leaves.

Moving leaves on the rose stems
on Chinese Coins VIII: Strewing Roses

It still needs some tweaking. Once I turn the edges everything will be smaller so more leaves may be in order. We'll see.

The quilt looks amazingly different as the details are filled in.

From the first layout of Coin sheets...