Parks and Gardens, by Marla Eklund

Every year I plant sunflowers with the idea of making a memorial wall of flowers in honor of all my loved ones that have passed away.  I plant tons of seeds, most of which are eaten by squirrels or dug up by my dog, Carley.  I do get some flowers and they are always amazingly stunning.  It's very cold here in Rochester this morning and I was day dreaming away about this years sunflower wall so I painted a bit in my sketch book.

Parks and Gardens, Marla Eklund, "a little crate garden on it's way"

I love crate gardening because it is easier for me to contain it since it is, quite literally, in a wooden container.  I often try to fasten some of the shallower crates vertically thinking that I can plant vine like plants and they will naturally hang down.  Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.  Here is a little drawing I did on an index card of some vines planted in a crate that was hung from my screened in porch.  It worked beautifully last year!

A doodle in my kitchen, by Marla Eklund

I doodle everywhere, walls, kitchen cabinets, appliances and even paper.  Here is a doodle I just finished on one of my kitchen cabinets.  It's very bright and busy and will probably get painted over and doodled again soon.