Colorful Row of Irises

When do you know you have too many irises? Never!

I just adore a flower that doesn't ask me to do anything for it.  They just come back prettier and thicker every year.

I just Original Palette Knife Oil Painting on 6"x 12" Wrapped Canvas

Click Colorful Row of Irises if you'd like to purchase this little painting.

The Road Home

Poor Mr. Frost... He had to choose.

Lucky me... I'll take both!

If you find yourself in this exact spot, you're almost here!  If I know you're coming, I'll be on the porch waiting for you! When you get to the fork in the road, turn right.  It's hidden by the trees, but my house will be right there.

As it turns out, however, this painting isn't about turning right. 

Come for a stroll with me down the other way. We'll pass the garden... laugh at the chickens... walk around the pond where we'll avoid (or crunch) pinecones... count the deer in the meadow and watch them scatter... snap a photo of the favorite dogwood (no matter what season)... turn onto the next country road and continue ambling along until reaching the bend in the road where we'll turn back. It takes about 500 steps there and 500 back.

Original Oil Painting on 10"x 20" Wrapped Canvas.

[SOLD]

Back for an Encore Art Showing!

We are thrilled to tell you that our

art is back on the walls of Red Kite

for a second showing!

Stop by during 

May & June!

to enjoy your favorite coffee

and the all the paintings on the walls!

Red Kite Coffee Company

1852 Crossover Road

I Like Thursday 5/24

   Thank you to Leeanne of Not Afraid of Color for reminding me to notice things I like. 

I like that my hens (and Pete) get to roam freely around the yard and woods all day.

I like bulb plants that come back every year.

I like this scraggly little dogwood that shows off in every season.

I like a warm spring day in April when it's time to wake
up this little patch of ground from its winter nap.

I like the promise of summer garden harvests in this rich soil.

I like seeing my little cucumber and okra plants ready to go in the ground.

I like working on my back porch. I have pleasant office mates.

I think they like hanging out with me too.
(That's Eleanor in the wood chip tub.)

I like that my wildlife come close...
unless it to eat something I don't want to share with them.
(Look behind the little pepper plant. Do you see her?)

I like my tiny Bantum hen, Fancy-like. 
She's wanted to be a mama, so I'm letting her have a few eggs to hatch.
(Stay tuned! We'll see who joins the family in a couple of weeks!)

LeeAnne's  get-to-know-you writing topics this month:

What does your name mean? are you named for someone? Do you like your name? Have you ever changed your name as you got older. Would you like a different name?

Helen – I hated my name.  I never knew anyone my age with that old-lady name, and it started with “hel” for goodness sakes!  As an adult, I learned that Helen meant shining light, bright one, one who gives light. Also the most famous Helen was Helen of Troy who was supposedly the most beautiful woman who ever lived. So, I’m good with Helen now.

Margaret – I didn’t much like my middle name either.  When I was little, I could not figure out how to spell it.  I pronounced it /Margret/ but there was an extra “ar” in there somewhere. Now my oldest granddaughter shares my middle name. It means Pearl.  I love that.

 

How do you celebrate your birthday? Did you grow up with parties? Home made cake or store bought? Theme parties? Did you share a birthday with someone special to you? Do you give yourself a gift each year? Do you reevaluate the year somehow?

I don’t have a specific birthday tradition.  A present or a cake or family dinner or maybe a trip.  I share my birthday with a brother. Since we live in the same area now, we make it a tradition to go out to eat with our families on our birthday. A few weeks ago, I turned 60! Ron & I took a lovely trip to Cleveland, ha ha ha, yes, Cleveland! We had the best bed and breakfast ever. We enjoyed the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the Cleveland Museum of Art, and some great restaurants. I'm embracing 60!

What lessons from your childhood have most impacted your worldview? 

Hmmm… I’m going to go with “Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without!” That little quote sums up two important priorities to me. The first is living within our means, and the second is being a good citizen of the earth’s resources.

Do you have a morning routine?

Yes! It depends a little on which day of the week, but everyday starts with the day's checklist.  Perhaps is all those years of being a teacher and living by lesson plans, but I'm still a huge live-by-the-almighty-checklist girl every day.

Tangerine

Tangerines are very special at my house. You see, my daughter is very allergic to citric acid.  (Do you realize how many things are made with citric acid? A lot.) She can't have it in her house.  Even being around it or being in the room when someone peels an orange causes a reaction.  So, I have a place in my fridge just for tangerines. Every single time my grandkids come over, they know Gram-E will have a tangerine or two for each of them. It's our special Gram-E treat. 

As they came bustling in the other day, one said, "I'm ready for my tambourine!" 

Ha ha 💕💕

My Weekly-ish Challenge was "Citrus." That made it the right time to paint tambourines... I mean, tangerines.

Original Oil Painting on 5"x 7" Wrapped Canvas.
Click Tangerines if you'd like to purchase this little painting.

Degas Vignette

My Weekly-ish Challenge partner had this prompt: 

Paint a vignette from a painting of one of the Old Masters. 

• Look up "Old Masters" to see exactly which artist is and who isn't. (FYI - There were 25 listed.)
• Decide who I'll choose.  
• Go to the library to check out some big books. (It's the old-fashioned way, but it works just as well as it always did. The internet is very guarded with its images of the Old Master paintings.  You can see them, but only enlarge them to a couple of square inches.)

• Find a painting that I'd like to spend time with.
• Choose the small portion to focus on.

I have the quote "Painting is easy when you don't know how, but very difficult when you do. - Edgar Degas" on a small card hanging beside my painting table, so I knew I wanted to find a way to incorporate that.

When I was "assigned" this one, I wasn't planning on enjoying it. But, much to my surprise, I thoroughly did.

Oil Painting on 9"x 12" Canvas Board, Vignette Copy of Degas Original

[GIFT]

I Like Thursday 4/24

   Thank you to Leeanne of Not Afraid of Color for reminding me to notice things I like. 

I like the purple of redbud trees. 
It's so fantastic that it's Dr. Seuss-ish

I like my strange little daffodils.
They look kind of like a carnations.

I like a hot fire on a chilly spring day.
So does Buff. He loves a good nap right in front of it.

I like our neighborhood road in every season.

I like these gals... and Pete.  
They've been giving me so many eggs this spring!

I like the sound of windchimes.
They're especially lovely in the spring winds.

I like these 6 little ones who call us Gram-E & Pop-E.

I like having a greenhouse... Actually, it's the upstairs bathroom. 
There's a big window that gets lots of sun.
And, there's a door... to keep the cat out.

LeeAnne's  get-to-know-you writing topics this month:

Amusement Park or Day at the Beach?  I'm going to pick "Day at the Beach" but only if it can be a rocky, big-wave, lighthouse kind of beach... or a windy, shell-scattered beach if it has to be a sandy one. My dreamy day isn't the lay-under-an-umbrella, watch-the-same-never-ending waves, white-sand, turquoise-water beaches. 

• The best rocky beaches I've been lucky enough to visit... Maine, Washington State, Indonesia 
• The best shell picking beaches I've been lucky enough to visit... Outer Banks of North Carolina, Indonesia
• Bucket-list beach to visit... Nova Scotia where the tides are the highest/lowest in the world.

Morning Person or Night Owl? I'm forever a lark, a morning person. Get on up and get 'r done!

Crunchy or Chewy? Crunchy, for sure.  What's the point of Plain M&Ms or a regular Hershey Bar? Or cereal without almond slivers sprinkled on top? Or salad without croutons? Or a soggy apple? Or Milky Way when there's a Snicker's around? 

Bed And Breakfast or Luxury Hotel?  We've had some of our favorite experiences staying in Bed and Breakfasts.  I'd recommend any Select Registry place. Where ever your next trip might take you, there's probably one nearby.

Grandma's Sewing Machine

We had one of these little black sewing machines in my family.  It had been passed down several times. It fit perfectly in its little black case, and many ladies in my family had her turn with it.  

It finally ended up with my sister, and that's the perfect home for it since it continues to be used often as she makes quilts.

I did some thinking outside the box... or thinking outside the frame to create a companion piece for this one.  I made my plan as I went along. As I worked on each step, I tried to figure out how I'd do the next part. First I made a tiny quilt top for the background then added some tan scraps stitched in a what I thought looked wood-like. The machine is just collaged scraps of black, gray, and gold.  (Is there anything quite as satisfying as using up bits and scraps!) The fabric that drapes out of the image was an experiment that worked!

My favorite thing about each piece is the thread. In the painting, I made that straight line of pink thread with the edge of a credit card.  In the fabric collage piece, you'll have to look closely, but I left a tail of pink thread hanging loose from the needle. 

I admit that I did double dip this project.  This month my WordSpark was "Vintage," and my Weekly-ish challenge was "Fabric."  Shhh... neither project needs to know!!!

Original Oil Painting on 12"x 16" Wrapped Canvas

[SOLD]

A Donkey Named Carlos

I always love the challenge of painting what someone asks me to do.

"Can you paint my mom's donkey?"

"Can you put him in the view from her window?"

"Can you finish before Mother's Day?"

 

These are the photos I had to work with for this piece.  I didn't have a very good photo of Carlos, but was told he spent many hours with his head over the fence waiting for a treat. 

Wait... Fence? What fence?  Ooohhhh.... there is a wire fence in front... Yikes! How to do that... 

Challenge 1 - Find a better photo of a donkey and make it be Carlos.
Challenge 2 - Use the edge of a credit card to make the fine straight fence lines.

I hope their mother will be surprised and pleased. 

Original Oil Painting on 12"x 16" Wrapped Canvas
[SOLD]

Easter Bunny & Some Springtime Bunnies

I painted this Easter bunny...

Then all of her springtime friends!!!

Whenever I'm planning to teach a painting lesson, I want to practice until I can do it without much thought. So... My bunnies multiplied... as bunnies do.

These lovely ladies of my church worked (and played) so hard and painted some lovely bunnies of their own.

It all started with a Weekly-ish challenge which was "All the Colors of the Rainbow." That's when I painted the Easter bunny with the R.O.Y.G.B.I.V. eggs in her basket.

Acrylic Paintings on...

12"x 16" Canvas Board

Click HERE if you'd like to purchase the first one.

9"x 12" Wrapped Canvas

Click HERE if you'd like to purchase the last one.

9"x 12"  Flat Canvas

9"x 12" Watercolor Paper

Let me know if you'd like one of these others.

I Like Thursday 3/24

  Thank you to Leeanne of Not Afraid of Color for reminding me to notice things I like. 

I like having a friend to paint with and to get to share our art with.

I like walking around the bend and seeing deer. 
They stand still and stare... until they raise their tails and run.

I like flowers on the table. So does Buff.

I like Pete. 
He's a good protector of his hens.
But Lordy, he does crow all day and all night!

I like collecting colorful eggs.

I like the beginnings of spring!

I like our YELLOW March yard!

LeeAnne's  get-to-know-you writing topics this month:

Describe something you experience with each of your senses every SPRING taste,  touch,  sight,  hearing,  scent  

I wrote this the year after I retired.  I think it's a good description.  I re-read my words and still love them.  

You can tell these words were written 5 years ago as some things have changed... I only had 5 hens... I had an outside cat... I had a little dog.  And some things haven't... I still don't know which birds make which sounds.

What is your favorite spring flower and do you try to grow them in your house or yard? Daffodils in March... then irises in April... then lilies in May.

What Spring creatures might you see in the wild where you live right now?  White-tail deer and squirrels every day... possums, raccoons, armadillos on occasion

Baby animals are often born in the springtime. If you could choose any baby animal to be your pet, what would you pick and why? Don't worry about space or legal restrictions, just imagine having it.  Sorry to be boring, but I'll pick kitten.