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September 2020

- Two Dahlias in the Garden -

My mother-in-law's garden always had a special charm, especially in September, when the ripe fruits dangled from the three apple trees, thick orange-red pumpkins shone out of light green foliage and dahlias bloomed everywhere. It was so much to my taste to paint here on beautiful autumn days, while the peacock eyes danced through the air, thick buzzers whizzed by, birds chirped in the trees and white mountains of clouds were barely noticeable in the blue sky.

For years we all visited my mother-in-law every six weeks and stayed for the weekend. I always had my painting equipment with me. But the paintings, which were created in the garden, are almost always small in size. Why is that? I simply lacked the time for a large painting. For as soon as I had placed myself in the garden in the morning to paint, there was already the first interruption: "Mama, you should come, the food is ready." What, was it time again? 11:30 am, hadn't we just had breakfast? My mother-in-law had been on her feet for hours, setting the pace: she cooked, we ate, I did the dishes. Then quickly back out into the garden. "Darling, are you coming for coffee?" It was (suddenly!) 2:30 pm already. Afterwards, we traditionally walked to the forest and back together. And then I went on with my painting. "Marion, won't you have supper with us?" It was half past six – and after eating I had no time left, because in autumn the days are shorter again.

But among all the many paintings I had done in my mother-in-law's garden there was one watercolour in a large format. This painting was meant as a present for my husband for our 12th wedding anniversary: two red-violet dahlias growing just behind the stable by the rain barrel. I like dahlias because of their clear form, the rich colours and their great luminosity. But it is not easy to paint the petals flowing out of the centre in concentric circles. Sometimes short, sometimes long – they always form a round flower ball that challenges me. In this painting I was so busy at lunchtime that I only noticed my mother-in-law when she was already standing next to me. "It's nice that you have time for that," she said to me. "I never had time to paint, work always came first." – I looked up in surprise. "Would you like to paint, too?" – "Why not?" – "Then try it out. I'll show you how to do it." – "No, no," she gestured with her hands. "My garden and my household are quite enough for me. I have no time for anything else. Are you coming? In 10 minutes, I'll drain the potatoes." I watched my mother-in-law walk slowly back to the house. Isn't there an artist in every gardener? In any case, at least to me, the natural arrangements had the effect of a living work of art. "Mum, thank you for the beautiful garden and the wonderful flowers," I shouted after her. I wonder if she still heard me. I took my thickest brush out of my pocket, changed the water in the pans and enthusiastically finished my painting in the remaining time. Then I quickly ran into the house, where it smelled deliciously of roast duck and on the kitchen table were the bowls of steaming potatoes and vegetables from the garden.

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