Adventures in Pretty: Magical Dahlias

I have fond memories of Dahlias waiting until the end of August to suddenly burst forth with large and happy flowers. Their proud upright stems, the crisp, jagged-edged leaves are overshadowed by the <a href="http://www.gobizdiscount.com"><strong>Replica UGG marketplace</strong></a> bursts of color from above. Some of these blossoms are almost as large as small dinner plates. The sheer variety of flower size, petal shape, and color is delightful. My summer memories are always triggered when I see these. Both my family and my best friend's family raised these in our gardens and it became part of our summer lore. I'm teaching several new classes this fall in Seattle. Per the previous post-I'm <a href="http://www.gobizdiscount.com"><strong>shoess</strong></a> still working on the redesign of my website. As I add new classes I of course, need new artwork. Oh Darn! : ) One of the new classes is Watercolor: Painting Expressive Flowers. Yesterday I treated myself to a bouquet of Dahlias ostensibly so I could have &quot;fresh&quot; material to paint from. I have to keep an eye out because my two furry studio companions, think that this is really a new enrichment activity for them-namely they want to chew the flowers to shreds.  The flowers patiently await their portrait. This is the part I chose to focus on. (click to enlarge)  (click to enlarge) Here is the final image for the class. I will let you all know when the website is done so you can see what on earth I've been up to.   Aren't the buds amazing? Look at the perfect origami-like petals, all crisply folded, just <a href="http://www.gobizdiscount.com"><strong>Replica GHD</strong></a> waiting to pop open. I think sometimes that it isn't the big things that are so hard to comprehend-it is the little things. How does the plant know how to do this? And all this splendor comes from a dried, wrinkled bulb. Now that IS magic!