Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Clementines from the backyard

I thought I better capture a few of these Clementines from our dwarf tree in the backyard before we pick them and forget that we had some. I think this is the first real (although small) harvest since we planted it 10 years ago when my youngest was in 2nd grade. His teacher introduced us to Clementines and my little guy was smitten right away.

9 comments:

Joanne said...

There's nothing like fresh food right off the vines in our own yards. I grow tomatoes in the summer, and that goodness just can't be beat ... Enjoy!

Teresa said...

Hi Claire!

Gorgeous colors in this! Hope you had a good Christmas and New Year's.... and hope this coming year is wonderful for you and your family :-)

Cheryl Gebhart said...

What a beautiful drawing - great variations in the greens and nice bright round fruit. Lucky you to have your very own clementines - one of the advantages of California living I guess. We have several fruit trees, but rarely get fruit - apples have been the most consistent for us, but even those we only get every few years. That might actually be a blessing - my husband doesn't spray much, so the fruit is a LOT of work to deal with!

Sarah Melling said...

Beautiful! And such lovely lettering. Our little Satsuma mandarin orange tree is LOADED this year, but they're not quite ripe yet.

I also enjoyed your art chart post - I'm trying to draw every day; so far, so good. And what a good idea to keep some ornaments out for drawing...heaven knows there's never enough time at Christmas to do it!

ArtbyBernadette said...

Great sketch! And I really like your lettering!

Catherine said...

Claire, I have been missing San Jose, and your sweet little painting of the clementine just made it worse :) Nice painting! Our kids have several citrus trees in their small backyard, but no clementines. We live in cherry and apple country, and right now we are getting snow.

Kate said...

Hi Claire! Thanks for visiting my blog and leaving comments! I love comments. I was just looking at some of your recent entries -- LOVE the idea of the calendar and coloring a square for each day! And your word "sparkle" just makes me smile -- what a great word for this year. Were you in Alisa Burke's Watercolor Bliss class? I was in it when she first ran it.

Claire M said...

Thanks everyone for your comments. I can see that I need to paint something new to post so you'll come back again.

Joanne - I agree with you that home grown tomatoes are hard to beat. I sure miss them this time of year!!

Teresa - Yes, we had a wonderful holiday and we are looking forward to having all 5 of us briefly together for middle son's college graduation in June. Time for all of us together is so precious now ... it will be 1 year in June.

Cheryl - Truth be told... they weren't the most flavorful this year, but it really was the first crop. Actually my husband dug the little tree up last weekend and moved it into a better spot for more sunlight. So we're hopeful for more and better Clementines in the future. We have quite a number of fruit trees in our little tract house yard -- more than we can eat. But my husband isn't too eager to spray either.

Sarah - Yes, it sounds silly but my little art calendar is quite motivating for me. I've missed a few days and I have an urge to paint something tonight so I can fill in my square again.

Bernadette - Thanks much for the comments!

Catherine - Let me know when you are in San Jose in the future and I'll have you sign my book of yours! Enjoy your fruit, and the snow you are getting now.

Kate - I only found out about Alisa's watercolor Bliss class at the end of the year - when I was swamped with other commitments. It would have been perfect for my 2011 theme of the year 'Color My World'. Sad to have missed the class, but it is in the back of my mind to try to take when time allows. But, I've signed up for the "Beyond Layers" class for now. Maybe I'll run into you there. Best wishes with your word for 2012.

It was fun getting comments from all of you. I hope we keep in touch as the year of 2012 unfolds...

Lisa Holtzman said...

Really lovely painting Claire!