Sometimes the magic works...

...and sometimes it doesn't.  After our sketch outing at Calvary Cemetery on Saturday, Tina and the dogs and I continued down the road to the Center for Urban Horticulture, which manages the Fill.  There are plenty of interesting things to draw here -- the education buildings, the greenhouses, the perennial beds, an atrium with boulders scattered about, a fountain -- and yet I couldn't find a view that worked for me.

Truman tried to help, as always.

At first I wanted to find a view within the flowery perennial beds where there was plenty of color, but alas, there was a family hanging out with loud children running around, and it's a small area with no place to hide, so I moved along.  I found a rock-lined path with grasses and ferns on the sides and gave it a try.

It was okay but not really satisfying.  So we ventured back to the perennial garden after the noisy people departed, but again I failed to find a view that I thought I could do justice to in the little time we had left that day.  The problem with gardens is that they are so rich with color and form and patterns -- it's difficult to settle on a focal point.

Finally I gave up on doing anything in color or any wide view of the beds, and just drew zeroed in on one lone plant.

I want to figure out how to paint gardens some day, though, so I will return!  I think it requires more thought, planning, and lots of time.  We shall see.

To end with, here is a bonus shot of what Truman looks like when I tell him we're going out:

Which we did again on Sunday -- and I'll post about that tomorrow!