I was inspired to paint this as I currently live in my dream home, which faces a lovely little council park with many heritage gum trees. This little patch of greenery is haven and home to lots of birds, such as rainbow lorikeets, sulphur crested cockatoos, plover birds, mynahs, butcher birds, magpies, fairy wrens, and probably a good few others that I can’t name. As I don’t have a large fence bordering my property, it always looks as though this long patch of green belongs to my home, except it doesn’t, haha. It’s got a little shelter hut, and a path winding along it, where many local residents take their walks in the evenings and mornings. Many dogs take their daily constitutional along that path too.
I like this view a lot. It gives me something green and beautiful to look at every morning when I wake up in the morning and when I brush my teeth. I can see beyond the trees into the distant hills of the suburbs. The sun rises in this part of the sky and shines its bright rays into my bedroom window. Better than an alarm clock!
The soil in this council park must be incredibly fertile as well. The grass becomes lush and green after every rain fall. The council mowers come every fortnightly during summer and leave the grass clippings behind. All the fallen leaves, twigs and bird droppings surely contribute to the richness of the soil. I can see why the weeds and grasses grow so abundantly! When I still had many pet birds and guinea pigs, this used to be my foraging grounds for edible weeds for them. No need to spend money buying fresh greens!
Plenty of chickweed in the winter. Plenty of stinging nettles in the summer. Not so good if you touch them, but excellent to eat if you handle them correctly, blanch quickly in hot water and chill in ice after.
I am very fortunate. In that this painting soon caught the eye of a buyer and is now on route to its new home in South Australia.
