The Regency in Great Britain refers to the time period when King George III (1760-1820), the guy blamed for losing the colonies to the original guerrilla warriors in the American Revolution, was deemed unfit to rule; his son ruled as Prince Regent. On his father’s death in 1820, the Prince Regent became George IV. The regency period was a time of sweeping change due to industrialization. To offset its impact, cities in Europe and the United States began designing parks in the picturesque style-asymmetrical pathways and emotionally charged vistas-for city dwellers to enjoy while strolling past carefully designed flower beds. 

And of course, Regents Park, designed by John Nash and Humphrey Repton,  named for George IV’s efforts at beautifying London, is where the great love story between Pongo and Purdy begins.

Just like Regent’s Park in London, America’s first public botanical garden was the Boston Public Garden, in 1837.

Much like Regent’s Park, the Boston Public Gardens is meant for strolling and taking in the flower beds. The riot of colorful flowers was considered garish by Victorian Bostonians. Designed by George Meacham, who was paid 100.00 for his award winning design, far less than the award granted to John Nash.vvOver 80 variety of flowers are grown in the greenhouse and planted in the garden.  

As an artist looking for New England scenery to capture in my work, I have long been inspired by the beauty of the Boston Public Gardens. Below are two limited edition prints of original paintings I’ve created of the gardens. Both are available for purchase.

Looking for some juicy gossip? Watch my short video about Regents Park, the king, and the gardener’s wife. Scandalous!

I named this painting Resilience to emphasize the metaphors I see within the subject of rocks and water. The rocks demonstrate resilience as they stand up to the pressures of the crashing waves. The waves in turn are resilient against the steadiness of the rocks which appear to resist their constant force and unending pressure. This, for me, is the metaphor for life, and the reason I have chosen to illustrate this subject so often in my artwork. The subject of ocean waves and crashing seascapes mesmerizes us and has filled our imaginations with awe and wonder for as far back as artists have sought to capture this subject. But, the same beauty of the seashore presents a danger-get too close and one is bound to stumble and fall. And as one who has slipped on these rocks more than once, I can testify to how much it huts. But, stay too far away from the surface, and life becomes mundane, boring, no risk, no glory. To purchase this painting, or to order prints, click on the enclosed links.

Here is a short video of me applying overeaten abaca and flax to the surface of the painting. I do not plaint with traditional media, I use beaten abaca pulp, he same medium first used to create oil on canvas paintings.

In the 17th century, Venetian artists began using the canvases of shipping vessels as surfaces to apply their paints. These canvases were made from durable fibers such as linen, flax and abaca.  It is for this reason that these now famous works have survived to us through the ages. 

Using these same fibers, I have embellished on this idea and created an actual painting method that is just as durable and permanent, and pigmented with light-fast colors to match the rich hues of nature.

My process provides a textured, almost three-dimensional quality to the painting’s surface, thus mimicking nature in all its splendor . . . from its rocky crevices along the ocean shoreline, subtle shadows in a garden path, the fullness and detail of a treed landscape, and the smooth surface of a still lake.  

Natural fibers, beaten into thick coats of pigmented pulp, provides the perfect media with which to create these modern interpretations of representational art.  

I’ll share more about this painting in my net few blog posts.