Monet’s Garden.

Original Painting painted at Monet’s Garden in Giverny in 2018.

Printed on Rives BFK fine art paper.

Each print comes signed.

Print available in four sizes.

1. image size (6 x 8 )

2. image size (18 x 24)

3. image size (30 x 40)

This is a pre-order and it will take 2-3 weeks for your print to ship.

• Ships Flat.

• Each print order will come with recommend mat and framing sizes for your convenience.

• Shipping charged separately. DFW pickup is available.

• Afterpay is available on all store orders. Proceed to checkout to access after-pay on this item.

• Email zarina@zarinastudio.com with any purchasing inquires.

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September 2018 - I have been painting full time for about a month, and I am about to go to my first art residency in Italy. I have a two day layer over in France, and I allocate one whole day to go to Monet’s Garden in Giverny. (Duh) A dream of mine is finally coming into fruition, and I pack my little backpack with artist panels, paint, glass bottles, and water. I’m on an aggressive mission to paint at Monet’s garden and unsuspecting of the rules I’m about to break amongst one of my hero’s studios. 

It’s an early Saturday morning and I board a train to Giverny from Paris, excited to see Monet’s home and studio. I arrive and almost immediately find a group of Parisian student’s with their paper and pencils getting in a long line for the garden. We chat and they adopted me as their American art friend for the day. As we go towards security I put my backpack down and realize I double knotted my drawstring backpack…. this is important because it took me forever to even unknot one loop that the security guard just got frustrated and let me through….If they would've actually opened my bag they would've confiscated my paints and the following story would not have happened. Oops.

Ah, now just imagine a big eyed Zarina wandering through Monet’s Garden. Me and my new art friends pointing out every angle to draw - And alas, I come upon the water lilies and that oh so famous willow tree. You know the one. I sit my happy ass down on the sidewalk and pull my paints out and start painting. For the record- I brought two empty glass bottles and a water bottle. I would put the water in a the glass bottles and clean my brushes in the glass bottles while I was painting. I then took the glass bottles home with my paint water and then disposed back at the hotel. I would never in my right mind ever do anything to damage the nature by dumping my water irresponsibly. Okay back to the good stuff- anyways, I am painting… for like two hours. No disruptions, people from all over the world would talk to me here and there and tell me how joyous it was that I was painting the famous scene. (But no security guards showed up the entire time.) After a solid painting session, I realize I need to go find my art friends and paint another area. I do a little sketching here and there - and we all land on a final spot near Monet’s studio. 

There is a beautiful arch made of flowers (obviously) that leads into the garden. It’s a more public area filled with people and at this point I don’t think I’ve done anything wrong by pulling my paints out and starting a little plein air painting. (Plein air is style of painting outdoors. Typically impressionistic painting) 

Then the drama begins- the security guards come up to me in front of everyone and go 

“IT IS FORBIDDEN, YOU CANNOT HAVE PAINT IN HERE”. 

Please, please read that in a french accent. They watched me pack my bag and forced me to put my paints away….. and the crowd was not happy about it. Lots of boos and sighs… I could see people were really disappointed for me that I wasn’t allowed to paint and experience the garden as a painter. So, I decided once the guards walked away… 5 more minutes of painting would be worth it. So I took my paint out and just kept painting. I saw the looks of people around me… the smiles. It is a very touristy area, filled with hundreds of nationalities and languages, but I could see the joy in their faces of me just being a bit rebellious in the face of structure. Realizing in that moment that I was putting on a show… playing the “artist”. Then quickly the show was over .… The guards came back, made me put everything away and escorted me out of the garden. I headed over to the pastry shop around the corner and new it was all worth it for the water lily painting. I looked over my paintings with a croissant and a big smile. 

Now as an adult, I truly understand why there were angry. I can only imagine how disrespectful people could be if they weren’t courteous while trying to paint at the garden. I am now aware that you can bring pencils and paper - but not paint and will probably not do that again unless I am supervised by a representative of the garden. 

I remember the train ride to my hotel and thought to myself… that was a perfect memory. Truly one that has stayed with me over the years. I’m so glad I had ample time to paint this painting, and then had a little drama with the french police… and oh man having a story about how I got kicked out of Monet’s Garden is absolutely awesome. Especially at beginning of my career… to have this painting with me is so special.. and I really feel true happiness knowing I was able to keep this painting. I’ll have it forever. 

Z