“JAC’S GARDEN”
………………………..Jac loved her garden!…………She could hardly wait for winter to be over so she could go to the garden center and buy her flats of PANSIES….Jac was like a “kid in a candy store”…..She would only buy the ones with the “faces”………I would say to her “isn’t it a little early to plant pansies?” and she would say….”no, if they are selling them it’s OK to plant them”. Many a night we would have to bring the flats into our enclosed sun porch because there was a snow or worse, ice storm coming! She would always say, “snow won’t hurt them but ice will”. She was right…….The first of March she would ask Franco to please bring out the terracotta pots and saucers from the garage……fifteen of them in various shapes and sizes. She was like a little girl waiting anxiously to get her flowers planted. On the first sunny warmish day she would plant…..usually with the pups at her back, in her lap…..where ever they could squeeze themselves. They were a great help taking the empty containers away and hiding them in the yard………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
I have wanted to do a print commemorating Jac and her garden for the longest time……It has taken me two years working on it to get it just right. This was a labor of love, and I had to make sure all of her absolute favorites were represented………Her PANSIES…..Her DAFFODILS, and Her MORNING GLORIES……Of course she loved all flowers but these were her favorites. When the Pansies had reached the very end of their season, and we needed the pots and space for the summer mixed flowers…..I had to have Franco remove them when Jac wasn’t home. It was really to painful for her to see them ripped out of their little homes. We sometimes tried to save some, but it never really worked well……….Then the daffodils would start to come up and Jac was happy……..Next…..Jac would plant a wall of BLUE MORNING GLORIES and they would last until fall………I worked and worked on this print gathering pictures of all the flowers…..cutting them out and trying to create a layout…..When I basically got them to look the way I wanted I worked with a print designer to fine tune everything and put the print into repeat……Then I had to decide on colors…….ALL of the flowers are the same colors in each of the colorways…..only the background colors change………..There were two last touches I wanted in the print………..two things that Jac loved………..Butterflies………and Ladybugs………Jac was always thrilled to see them enjoying her garden……I created a signed square scarf to go with the shirt or to wear on its’ own…………………..My print for Jac was complete……………….I hope you love it as much as I do……..I’d like to think Jac is looking down at it with a big smile, and saying “I love it my Lou”……………
