a re-styling

parrot tulips

8"x10"
sold

I painted the tulips below awhile ago.  I loved the tulips, but was bothered by the background.

Today I added more leaves and painted the background black.

Now it's more my style.

new print: peony

peony

8" x 10" print

Rain is on the way, hooray! 

Looks like a very rainy Monday for my very dry garden.

new print: agapanthus

Agapanthus

8"x10" print

Agapanthus is also known as lily of the nile.

So much fun to paint all those petals!

Have a sunny weekend!

welcome autumn

I am so happy that Autumn is here!

This summer was so hot and dry. My garden is just making it's

fall comeback, but we need to be careful with watering.

I joining Mary's Mosaic Monday today. 

Make sure you see her gorgeous mosaic of goldenrod!

A switch to acrylics & back to watercolors this week:

 

my new pumpkin painting

acrylic 8" square

 Have a lovely autumn week!

*Gift of Jewels*

           Don't you love getting mail?                   
Last week I mailed a package to Australia to someone I have never met.

This week, a very large envelope was in my mailbox from Libby in Salem, MA.

Libby sent me a lovely hand-made collage!
Thanks, Libby!

    I do enjoy participating in *Gift of Jewels* hosted by

sweet Se'Lah of The Necessary Room.
Se'Lah matched us all up for a wonderful international pen-pal exchange. 

I'm looking forward to next year, Se'Lah!

a house

It took me all weekend, this little 8" x 10" watercolor.

My very talented daughter managed to paint three houses to my one,

but that was ok.

I was painting a house...very calmly, very happily...

on the sidewalk of Howard Street in Cape May.

The weather was perfect and I was actually comfortable 

sitting on my folding chair painting en plein air.

If you read this post, then you know I was a tad anxious,

comfort zone, etc.

But, I wasn't once I started...I just painted.

Sometimes we need to just get started.

I used butterfly pictures from Saturday to fill my mosaic.  

They were everywhere in Cape May this weekend.

I'm joining Monday Mosaics at Mary's Little Red House.

Mary is so sweet to host this fun event & her photos are just breathtaking.

Have a great week!

I love Lucy

No...not that Lucy.

I love Lucy Willis,
extraordinary watercolor painter of light and shadows,

and author of several wonderful books.

Lucy is my go-to-woman when I need a back-to-the-basics pep talk

and a reset of thought processes. 
Just looking at her books inspires me and quiets the doubts.

I'm  getting ready for a wonderful weekend workshop in Cape May with Marge Chavoosian.
Marge is an excellent artist and a very patient teacher.

The weather looks beautiful for our torture test  plein air painting
in front of the grand no way can I paint those Victorian houses.

My stomach is already in a knot.  Why, you wonder?

Because painting houses is out of my comfort zone,

painting houses in plein air is really out of my comfort zone.

My sister asked "well, then why go?"

and of course, the answer is

because it's out of my comfort zone.

It's intimidating, and frustrating and anxiety-producing,

but I'm going to be there painting along side my daughter,

my architect daughter whose houses fly right out of the end of her pencil.

I'm packing my Lucy books for comfort.

If I produce anything not too humiliating I might post next week.
Have a great weekend!

frog blog

NJ has been so hot and dry this summer,

so this clever little frog found his own private swimming pool

right in my garden fountain.

It's a great spot....

lots of bugs to eat, fresh water every few days & plenty of sunshine.

Today he decided to pose for me.

Later on, when my son came over, there was a little garden snake

slithering up over the edge of the fountain to take a drink.

So now.....

it's a community pool.

Meanwhile.....

while I'm inside trying to paint

Buster decides to keep me company..

and that was the end of that!

new treasury

My cabbage painting is in a beautiful brand new treasury:

 here