January Painting

What is the spring?High sky, clouds that float carried by the wind that never rests. Fields in bright colors, tulips to the horizon. The Netherlands - the overwhelming tenderness of spring. What is summer?It is so hot that even in the shade of large trees it is difficult to breathe. The aroma of flowers and sweet fruits is felt, carried by the breeze coming from the river. I sit in the garden on the bank of the Danube river and draw. In the morning, I meet the sunrise with gulls on duty over the river. I hear the woodpecker in the old pear at the bottom of the garden. Above me in the apple tree come different birds to welcome the new day together.What is Autumn?Favorite botanical garden of Sofia University. Asters, roses, the centuries-old oak and the lake where the water hyacinth still blooms. After the lush bloom in spring and summer, the garden is quiet and tired. What is winter? Memories of the sun!*** I can’t have enough of the diversity of gardens; of their fragrance that the shifting wind, sunlight, clouds, rain and snow change. The weather fills every garden with surprises even to its creators and keeper them. However, in some places the last thing you expect is gardens.For example, New York’s concrete jungle hides an astounding green treasure.I’d been dreaming of finding myself in the NYBG/ New York Botanical Garden / and it didn’t fall short of my expectations. It was an amazing experience. The big surprise was The Cloisters – the garden of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Colours, scents, sounds and a multitude of birds. The banks of the river Hudson house two gardens in the medieval style. A dream come true! The one is full of medicinal plants and herbs; the other collects rare specimens of flowers. Both are alive with butterflies and birds… plus a hard-working groundhog. Talking about the Middle Ages… next come to mind the gardens of (my favourite) Venice. In the autumn of 2015, I put on an exhibition in this unreal city and had time on my hands to explore it. Strolling along streets and canals, I kept discovering gardens. The palazzi conceal gorgeous gardens, while the ordinary houses, (although in Venice everything is out of the ordinary), make do with balconies, terraces and roofs full of flowerpots. As early as the Middle Ages, they grew vines and orchards on the islands that make up the astonishing miracle called Venice. In the 16th and 17th c., tending to a garden of plants from distant lands carried prestige.