Daily Painting Landscape, "Grand Pampas"

"Grand Pampas"
9X12
Oil on Masonite Panel
Available from the artist
$725.00











When my son, Matt, still lived with us as a young man he helped with the yard chores. And every spring in North Carolina we are obliged to cut back the monkey grass and the Pampas grass. You can use the mower to cut down the monkey grass and it just pops back up with lots of new growth. But the Pampas grass is no easy cutting job. One year Matt went outside with the shears in hand to do this chore and after a while he showed up back in the house with a big sigh, covered in sweat, asking me for a bandaid. I asked him what happened. Matt informed me that if the little stuff was "Monkey Grass," then the big stuff that has sharp leaves and is such a pain to cut must be called "Gorilla Grass." So from here on, in our house, Pampas grass is known as "Gorilla Grass." This is what I thought about while painting this...and missing my children. Matt is a Major in the Air Force now and has even bigger "Gorillas" to worry about.

The other thing I want to say about this painting is that I was inspired by another daily painter to choose this subject. Her name is Laura Wambsgans and she paints the most gorgeous landscapes. A while ago she painted her version of the Pampas grass and it was beautiful. I hadn't thought of painting a Pampas grass until I saw hers, so yesterday I went out with my camera and went looking for the right bunch of it. Unfortunately, this time of year the Pampas is not totally fluffed out, but this is the bunch I found and here is my version of Pampas for you.