awesome april (day 5) – the beautiful

Part of staying inspired and motivated as an artist is to keep your sense of wonder.  I have been working pretty hard in the studio for a while and needed to plan a time to get out and see something (re)new.  So here I am in Round Top, Texas today, exploring and being intrigued by the beautiful, the nostalgic and the ridiculous.  There is so much to share, it will take me a few days to cover it all…..

greeting us to Round Top
Welcoming Us to Round Top

First:  The Beautiful.

April in Texas is probably my favorite time (I really like late October, too).  Things are lush and green, and the wildflowers are profuse, especially in this part of the state.  I grew up in a rural area, where there were tons of wildflowers along the roads and highways.  I don’t see them as much in suburbia (with the exception of a few yards that have enthusiastic owners who spread seeds each spring), so it’s good to get out and see them in their natural habitat.  Bluebonnets in Texas never get old (just don’t ask me to paint them).

Texas Blueboonnets

We had a fast and furious time of looking at more ‘junk’ than the law allows (more on that next time).  After most of the vendors started packing up, we headed over to the square in Round Top and took an early evening stroll.  It is the most picturesque little square — if Hans Christian Andersen had been a Texan, I’m sure he would have chosen this for the setting of his fairy tales.

Part of the gardens at Haw Chapel
Part of the gardens at Haw Chapel
Trumpet Vines in Round Top Square
Trumpet Vines in Round Top Square

And the Live Oaks are gorgeous!

Live Oak Tree Round Top Square

We have a live oak next to our house, which I love (I can see it right out my studio window), but it’s really nice when they have room to spread like they do here. They are gnarly and majestic.  Sublime.

Texas Live Oak Round Top

Gypsy Vanner Horse Dragonfly Moments Round TopWe finally made it over to our rental cottage for the evening, and we had another warm welcome from this guy.  His owner, Joi told me he’s a Gypsy Vanner and Shire mix. He kind of reminded us of a Clydesdale, with his size and the long hair around his horse-ankles.  There are actually several gorgeous horses here, and sprawling green fields as far as the eye can see.

Dragonfly Moments Round Top
View from the porch of our cottage.

I’m looking forward to sitting on the porch in the morning with a cup of coffee, while I watch the horses have their breakfast,  and wonder…..

 

 

 

One thought on “awesome april (day 5) – the beautiful

  1. Pingback: awesome april (day 30) – i did it my way | fresh paint

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s