59) Liberty Bloom

11 x 14” watercolor on 300 pound cold press paper
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Early May in the north western most corner of the orchard. Here are the Liberties, a variety that Nick has committed to growing organically. As I spend more time at the orchard I learn more about the multitude of varieties. The Liberty bears lovely yellow fruit with red stripes. It is a hardy apple and considered one of the more disease resistant apples (to learn more visit The Backyard Gardener).


Although the sky was without clouds, the late afternoon was cool. With such a dry spring the bloom has been wonderful, though some trees are late (as with the tree on the left) … “late bloomers”. One of my favorite times to paint is 2 - 3 hours before sunset, as was this day. The late afternoon sun kissed the bark on each tree in a unique way. One of the two tress displayed a rose pink bark and the other a golden yellow. The blossoms that once had inhaling the blue tint of the sky, suddenly took on a shade of crimson. I am overwhelmed at times in how the landscape can suddenly morph from one set of hues to another, sometimes subtle and other times stark. It was challenging attempting to capture the movement of colors while time was fleeting.


The background was interesting with the tilled soil radiating warm shades of orange, dancing with the complementary blue above, and the lime green grass slicing between the upturned earth and the far away blur of trees. I labored with sections of this work, leading to over painting, though the vitality of the two Liberty trees made for a happy ending.