The day before Mother’s day, I had the pleasure of being able to create a plein air painting in a Japanese Garden 2015. It was the second year in a row that I have participated in a joint venture with the Lilburn Arts Alliance and the Lilburn Women’s Club. The home I chose had a beautiful Japanese Garden in their backyard complete with a stream and a bridge. The pond also had beautiful goldfish. Since I have a pond of my own, I was excited to be able to have this opportunity to paint in such a beautiful location. The sound of the water plus the serenity of the surrounding gardens and nature created a wonderful environment to inspire my creativity. The owner shared with me that he had built his Japanese Garden over a period of 25 years.  It had been a gradual process in which he would have an idea and then implement it and then build upon that idea to further expand

According to Wikipedia, Japanese Gardens are “traditional gardens that create miniature idealized landscapes, often in a highly abstract and stylized way.[1] The gardens of the Emperors and nobles were designed for recreation and aesthetic pleasure, while the gardens of Buddhist temples were designed for contemplation and meditation.” The history of  the earliest Japanese Gardens have been traced to the pleasure gardens of the Japanese Emperors and nobles in 720 AD.

I sketched and worked on my watercolor on the premises for several hours. I did not finish it before the Garden tour ended but have continued to work on it at home. My Plein Air Painting In A Japanese Garden 2015 was a very relaxing and creative adventure for me. I hope you will take a moment to leave a comment and sign up for my newsletter. Prints of my Plein Air Painting In A Japanese Garden 2015 are available on my Fine art America page .