Midnight in the Moon Garden I

Moon gardens have fascinated me since I first became aware of them. Probably because I tend to be nocturnal. They are basically a color themed garden, employing both white/light colored blooming and foliage plants that seem to 'glow' when lit by moonlight. In my experience these gardens are both dramatic and ethereal, especially during a full Moon. I worked the second shift at my prior job and in the summer I looked forward to coming home to a garden I could enjoy late at night when it was cool and quiet.

This was my attempt to capture the unique beauty of these gardens. I saturated both sides of Fabriano #140 HP paper, poured on DV indigo fluid acrylic straight from the bottle along with Prussian and cerulean blue watercolor and tipped my paper in different directions to allow the paints to mingle. Before the fluid acrylic could dry I lifted out the petals of a few blooms with an oval brush, then added more detail with soft pastel. I like how the blooms seem to float which is exactly how they appear in the garden at night. The stems are 'lost' in the darkness and all the white blooms seem to hover in mid-air.