Japanese Garden, Koi, and Crane Paintings

I'm excited to reveal my newest series: Japanese Garden. Each of these originals will be available in the Big 500 show. opening this Saturday, Dec 13, for just $40 each plus prints are also now in the RPS shop.  These pieces make a unique gift for a garden lover!
View all Japanese series prints and print sets in the shop.

This series of eight small paintings (8" x 8") celebrates the constancy and beauty of nature amidst the changing cycles of the year. I believe we can learn a lot from nature. The first four pieces reflect the special energy of each season. For each piece, I drew the same basic scene on all panels and added a Sashiko pattern background to match the energy of the season. See more pictures from the beginning of this series in my last post. In the garden, certain things endure such as trees, ponds and stones while other elements change gracefully through time like light, plants, flower and leaves. Each season has a purpose and a unique energy.

Winter is a time of rest, nurturing and stillness, a time to admire what beautiful qualities still remain in our core. Seeds underground begin to gestate which will bring new life in the spring. In the winter garden, trees hold majestic forms swaying with the wind, glistening with ice and dew.

Japanese Garden- Winter © Robin Phillips Studio

The spring garden sprouts new life! The days are lighter and brighter. This is the season of re-emergence and beautiful new beginnings. Birds chirp happily and possibilities abound now.

Japanese Garden- Spring © Robin Phillips Studio

In summer, the garden is abundant, decadently filled with fruits and flowers. The lush, green grass is soft and warm under our feet.

Japanese Garden- Summer © Robin Phillips Studio

The fall garden withers gracefully with jewel tones in it's final days. As the earth winds down to rest,
the wind blows, and seeds scatter for the future.

Japanese Garden- Spring © Robin Phillips Studio

In various Asian traditions, Koi are known to symbolize happiness, wealth, long life and good fortune. Their vibrant colors and enthusiastic feeding bring me great joy :)

Koi Pond I © Robin Phillips Studio

Koi Pond II © Robin Phillips Studio

Koi Blessings © Robin Phillips Studio

Red-crowned cranes are known in many Asian traditions to also symbolize longevity, happiness, good luck, and peace. I think they are the most stunning birds. Many cranes have become  endangered species due to loss of wetlands. Learn more at International Crane Foundation. 20% of sales from my print Crane Blessings will benefit this Foundation from my home state of Wisconsin :)

Crane Blessings © Robin Phillips Studio

Print sets are also now available for the first time in the RPS shop!  Japanese Garden is a set of 4 and Koi Pond set of 3. Buy the prints together for a special price. Don't they look nice displayed together? Choose from 6x6 or 8x8. :)

Japanese Garden print set of 4

Koi Pond print set of 3

 
We expanded our own Japanese garden bed (one of the several beds in our garden) this year with more asian plants, a hand-tied bamboo fence (yotsume-gaki), a waterfall, flagstone patio, stepping stones, solar-powered entry lanterns, and a new koi pond! And most recently, we added 20 fish this fall. Now that it's December, they are deep into their hibernation time. Koi rest and do not eat all winter when it gets below 50 degrees. The overall design is modeled after the traditional hill-pond style Japanese garden. It took a lot of work, but it was a joy as artists/craftspeople/gardeners who love nature!

Winter.... (before expansion)

Spring.... (adding the pond, removing weeds, adding new soil and new plantings)

Summer... (growing, growing!)
Some of the main plants in the garden are japanese maples, black lace sambucus, pieris japonica, peonies, azaleas, dwarf spruce, mondo grass, japanese painted ferns, crocosmia, japanese spurge grass and japanese iris.

West/main entrance to garden with patio

A golden Buddha with healing Lapis stone sits above the pond...

North entrance to the garden

Fall... (with new Koi pond)

South entrance to the garden

To deter herons and raccoons, we put up a net and cover for the pond... it works pretty well!

"There is meaning in every stone, reason in every plant and tree, and in every shadow a story"
-Portland Japanese Garden 

If you are in/around Portland, OR, do visit the Portland Japanese Garden! This 5 acre garden is beautiful in every season and offers a pond garden, stone garden, teahouses, waterfalls, authentic stone pathways and more.

Winter blessings to you!

Inspired Design Style: Wildflower

The beauty of late summer meadows, sprinkled lightly with color amidst an earthy richness
brings forth a rustic vibrance that is light as honey, yet rich as wine. There's a unique glow this time of year as the days shorten slightly. In the garden, many plants have now completed their cycle and August wildflowers take center stage.

1.  Rose, Black Eyed Susan and Daisy bouquet, from our garden
2. Claude Monet's "Garden at Argenteuil", one of my favorite paintings!
3. Bleeding Heart and Trillium arrangement, our garden
4. Felt/embroidery flower basket wall hanging, a Robin Phillips Studio pattern
5. Antique basket of lavender from my collection, our garden
6. Kanzashi folded fabric flowers, so fun to make
7. Garden bed inspiration: Lavendar, Pampas grass, Yarrow and Sedum
8.  Floral candleholder, wicker mat and old crochet runner, my heirlooms and thrift store finds
9. Beaded sunflower picture frame,  peyote stitched flower
10. Patchwork table runner, embroidered linens and wood inlay frame, RPS pattern and antiques
11. Arrangement inspiration: Bacopa, Butterfly Weed, Dracaena
12. Sunflower!, my favorite August flower
13. Dahlia, pansy and vinca vine in my old clay pot planter, our garden
14. Primrose printable design (design downloads RPS shop)
15. My grandmother's wildflower painting, circa 1970
16. Our bird garden/wildflower bed: Black-Eyed Susan, Salvia, Penstemon, Crocosmia, Hyssop
17. Old crochet, wicker, shells and silk flowers, my thrift store finds and antiques
18. My painting "Sun Spirit", 6" x 8", oil and mixed media on canvas
19. Flowering Thyme, our garden/pond
20. Etched pewter platter, Violet china, shells, silk flowers, my thrift store finds and antiques

And a wildflower-inspired table runner....

Use your favorite floral prints in 2-1/2" squares. The finished mat is 22" x 22" with 4-inch border sashes. I used Clover's Yo-Yo Flower Maker for the small flowers and the large flowers are based on the traditional Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt block.

More wildflower design ideas:

-multi-color accents paired with earth tones
-small flower motifs
-Impressionist style prints
-old paintings
-wicker and weathered wood
-vintage pitchers and clay pots
-layer wicker mats, crochet and old-fashioned lace
-country plaids
-Gardens: Try a wildflower bed with long stems such as Salvia, Lavendar, Black-Eyed Susan, Sunset Hyssop, Purple Coneflower, Aster or Daisies. Small groundcovers like violets or thyme and grasses are great for borders and rocky areas.

Enjoy the summer while it lasts and happy designing!

A New Chapter

The blog has been quiet for a long time... but no worries I am still here! I have started a beautiful, new chapter in my life. Big life changes in the past few months- a wedding, a new house and a new studio! Thinking a lot about what direction to go in for my career. Now, I'm finally getting settled in my new home and studio and finding lots of inspiration here. Going forward, I will be spending more time on my true passion- inspirational art and craft pattern design. I've started writing arts and crafts pattern articles too. A new website store is in the works. And I plan to share more often here :)

My guys love the new studio. Iko the cat sleeps on the loveseat in the sun all day. I'm pretty sure there must be fairies and gnomes living in our enchanted, foresty yard.  

I married the man of my dreams on the Oregon coast. :)

Of course, I had to make the dress! I used cotton and floral lace and adapted Butterick pattern #1909. Sweet and simple.

Right now in the studio, I'm finishing up two new quilt table runner patterns for Connecting Threads, strawberry patch and beach cottage. Fresh strawberries from the farmers market is my favorite part of June.

Visited the Portland Rose Garden and that day a harpist was performing. Isn't it nice to take in such beautiful moments in life?  I wish happy summer moments to you too.

Summer Home and Garden

Everything is so abundant right now! I love walking around my little neighborhood, taking it all in. I live in a small countryish town, right outside the city. Even in our own yard, so much beauty...

 

The garden is doing amazing again this year. I've just picked herbs, zucchini, lettuces, peapods, cabbage and artichokes. Hopefully tomatoes and eggplant soon!

 

Outside my studio window... Iko cat watches me in the garden :)

Fresh lavendar...

 The old cottage door, a door on the house we don't use... isn't it charming? :)

Rose sketches.....

And... new art! I just released these fun wall decor panels, on sale through Sunday in the Etsy shop! Really excited about these, many of my paintings are combined with inspirational quotes. The panels are 4x4 and 6x6 wood blocks with hooks for easy hanging. 12 different designs  :)