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!