another iris

sold

I have added another iris painting to my Etsy 

& "fluffed-up" the shop a bit.

Please visit when you get the chance.

I'm participating in Blue Monday & Mosaics Monday today.

Have a wonderful first week of June!

sniffle, sniffle

Goodbye Lost.....

I will really miss you.

oh, irises!

I love, love, love irises.  They're just not here for very long,

but when they are

I am so 

very

happy.

I think the structure of an iris is fascinating

and

fun to paint!

 sold

I'm linking with Monday Mosaics &
Smiling Sally.  Have fun visiting!

iris watercolor

available here

I'm linking with Claudia for Friday Finding Beauty.
I find beauty in all flowers and only hope to capture some of that in my watercolors.
Visit Claudia for more beautiful posts.

Have a lovely weekend!

happy violets

My violets are happy..finally.

I used to buy African violets, enjoy the blooms &

then (gasp) toss them out when they stopped

blooming & became weary looking.

I could NEVER get them to re-bloom.

I'd feed them & get a lot of beautiful leaves but no buds.

Then my friend Janet brought me a violet to plant-sit for her.

It was just gorgeous.

I thought

I 

can 

grow alot

of gardening plants

&

orchids,

but can't get African violets to re-bloom?!

Her secret was "water from the bottom"

...so simple.

(this one looks like a painting-to-be!)

Now I gather all my violet babies together & let them soak

in the sink for about an hour.

This makes them very happy....

and a window of morning sunshine helps, too.

Thanks, Janet! ;)

 

I love May

I'm joining Laurie for Favorite Things Saturday.
Make sure you pay Laurie a visit for other posted "favorites".

  May is my absolute favorite month!

Before I retired from teaching, May meant getting two art shows ready,

organized and hung...over 1000 pieces for each of my two schools.

I would work like crazy on the weekends to get the garden and patio in shape.

Ahhhhh.....now it's just a pleasure to slowly plant the pots and flats,

spray for weeds between the pavers, 

scrub the outdoor furniture & hammock, 

watch the birds in & out of the birdhouses,

and

just enjoy

the sunshine!

Happy May!

back in the garden

I spent most of the weekend working in my garden.  Just a few months ago, 

it was covered in snow.  This weekend was very, very warm for May (near 90!).

Still, it was a pleasure to dig in the dirt, weeding & planting.

I'm joining Little Red House for Mosaic Monday.

Reminder:  until May 8

all of my prints are buy one/get one free.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/carolspaintingroom

Email me for the print you would like as your free one.

Thank you old & new friends for participating in my 

one year anniversary give-away!

The $25 Michael's gift card & a watercolor print

goes to

Bobbi @ The Bead Goes On

Bobbi wrote:

I looked at your Etsy paintings and my goodness they'll all so beautiful, 

but I just fell in love with your violet painting. 

Congratulations, Bobbi!  Send me your info & I'll

send your gift card & violet print asap!

 

my favorite room

I joining Poppies at Play today for my favorite room in my house.

Go see Andy's lovely blog for more favorite rooms!

So...

welcome to my sunroom!

We love this room!  My architect daughter designed it and

we had it built just a few years ago.

I did a lot of sewing for this room.  The dining chairs were from Lowe's

and covered in a brown tweed.  I made the drop cloth for the table and added a glass top.

I bought all the fabric on-line.  This one was love-at-first-sight!

The fabric is all indoor/outdoor & very durable.

 

There's a cozy corner to read or to watch big snowflakes fall in the winter.

There's a nice big chair to rock.

Little birds are here and there

 

in my painting,

on a sconce,

even on a bird's nest table.....

and there's usually a kitty or two.

Lots of spots for my favorite blue and white collections, too.

Many windows to keep the plants & flowers happy.

Thanks for visiting!  Last chance for my give-away here!