Chickadee nest box

Something wild in the garden...I think it was me!!!

Doug built this bird house and I've been painting it. The flowers came from both the back and front gasrdens and will privide inspiration to paint a few flowers between the lace designs for a more country, cottage or victorian look. It's been fun so far and I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

Last weeks card, last year's bird house

I finally finished that watercolor notercard I've been working on and thought I'd add pictures of the Iris I painted on this bird house as well. As you can see there's an unusal nest in it this year, we sat out in the yard and watched it being built and got quite a kick out of seeing the bird make up to four tries to insert each stick. I'm seldom that determined to do anything so I took it as natures lesson on ambition for the day...and a darned funny sight as well.

Summer Vacation

Got your attention, didn't I? I can hear the people that know me laughing because I never go anywhere and I don't do vacations. I think that's what makes painting this trellis fun because all of the colors and patterns remind me of things I've seen in travel shows about warm and wonderful places so I giggled a bit at the idea of doing it in Minnesota and yes, I'm curious to find out just what folks in my neighborhood think of it.

Works in progress with a lighter touch

The finished one is simply the envelope for the card that I'm working on. Yes, you've seen this subject before but I've been going on with it until I feel like I've done a really good job on them. I thought that the paint application on the framed painting was a bit heavy handed so I wanted to try something less complicated. Yes, making cards is still my favorite thing to do and I'm pleased to report that a lot of people that get them go ahead and frame them. It's fun to see the transition from snail mail to wall art.

...my favorite things...

Card making on a rainy afternoon

I had a little fun with pictures of some of my paintings as I made a few cards today. Now I'm getting the urge to paint again, it seems that cropping and changing some of the images around a bit was just the thing to shake a few ideas loose and get me ready to head back to the studio again.

Burgundy and Gold

Now that these Iris have stopped blooming I'm working exclusively from my photos. Having finished this watercolor I'm going to see what I can do with colored pencils and possibly move on to acrylics from there. I may even paint some on a birdhouse or some furniture. Keep reading to see what I do next...

The last fresh Iris

I'm so glad I took the time to finish painting these yesterday. It rained today and there wasn't much left of the fresh flowers I'd been working with. I'm planning to grow more of them next season and always on the lookout for more types and sizes to add to my collection.

New Iris Drawings

Relaxing in the front yard

I love the shape and size of this tiny iris growing in one of my borders. It seemed I was making pretty good progress on the drawing when it began to rain so I grabbed everything and ran for the house. Now that I've posted pictures and began to write about it things cleared up, the sun is out and the birds are singing so I'm not sure what to do next.

Obsessed with the garden

I often find myself wondering whether it's the art or the gardening that is a form of madness. I knocked these rocks off an old backyard bar-b-q 8 years ago and I've been moving them around to different parts of the garden ever since in search of the perfect place for them. I rearranged both flowers and pots today trying to improve one tiny corner of the front garden, the point of all of this is to create something that I both want to paint and that I want to spend time in.

Pretty in Pinks

Watercolor Tuesdays

At home I'm working from the live flowers in my garden and when I go to painting group I work from photos of my garden. I'm finding both the shift in locations and methods of working helpful in getting the feel of the image right. It doesn't need to look exactly like the photo if it conveys the mood. I've been working on both of these quite a while but am encouraged with the results so far.