my garden is in the wild…

Around his time of year I long for a little plot of land to plant a few herbs, maybe some roses or lavender. Even more so now that Little One is here. I’d love to plant a patch of sweet strawberries with him (once ripe he would be excellent at picking them and putting them in his mouth). For now my only garden is one of wild roses along a wooded path. The flowers that exist untended to can be just as beautiful and satisfying.

I have big, dreamy gigantic news to spill very soon. Soon! And thanks for all your sweet comments and great ideas! It seems that I can not get my blog fixed to reply. It has been eating away at me that I can not figure out this problem, and I do not have time to redo my whole blog. So for now it exists in this state.

ferns, ghosts

I am enchanted by ferns as-of-late. Their imagery keeps coming my way! And antique mirrors (this one has such a pretty fern-like carving adorning its top). Here’s one I came home with a few weeks ago. I finally got around to cleaning it up and it currently sits on my studio floor.

Walking through the woods last weekend, I noticed hundreds of patches of pretty ferns. Little One was quite smitten by the ferns too! He even tried to eat one. I think next time we’ll collect some to press as a memory for our forest walks during his babyhood.

The other day while perusing in an antique shop I found this photograph of a lady in the prettiest lace dress holding a bouquet of ferns.

I was so surprised when I lifted the photo out of the folder for a cleaning…another version was behind it, this time her lace dress fading away to reveal ectoplasm underneath (yes, I know it was a glitch in the developing process but oh to dream). If you read this blog you already know delicate, antique lace is one of my favorite things.

Started collecting mini greenhouses. I have two! However, I can’t find a fern small enough to live in the tiny greenhouse.These little conservatories have been enchanting me ever since I found the larger one in a church thrift shop. They live on top of my curio cabinet in a sunny corner of my room.

And the newest photos for my collection. I think I’m going to paint her this summer when I get back in my studio.

And here she is, as a ghost:

A happy, long weekend to all those in the United States, summer has begun!

in the woods, treasures abound

Went for a rather long foresty walk this morning, sipped my morning coffee and daydreamed about colors and painting ideas. The way the morning light hits golden on the trees is such a sight! But the best thing of all about walking alone in the woods at an early hour is looking for the littlest treasures (and other signs of fairy-ish enchantment).

There were sweet, mushroom like “pipes” that grow in mossy areas. When I was little I called them dwarf pipes. Do you know what they are called?

And to my amazement they formed a fairy ring in one tree-covered area of the ground!

I was gathering feathers and such for my collection. The best one from today, scanned.

And…

The little hollow-stump home was perfect, it even had a garden of moss outside it’s door. And a few feet away from the stump was a lone (and very forgotten) grave stone from the 1850′s.

Pretty mushroom formation in the moss.

And a snail I could not get to come out of his shell (I wanted to see his slimy antennas!)

Lastly, a very inspiring Etsy find that I own. I just love the intricate, folksy (and very storybook) woodland border. I think it’s strange how she is inside a magnifying glass.

Now I am back to an afternoon of painting!

new lockets and fig buttercups

Two bits of good news. I am not mia or forgetting about this blog! I have some major time-consuming work obligations right now (which take up part of my weekend as well) but come the end of May it will end and I will be less busy! Also, I look forward to a relaxing, painting-filled and totally free summer in the coming months. I have been using this time to go back to the well, so to speak, and sketch, plan, journal. I hope to revamp this blog with more of my process, my inspirations, sketches. Would you like to see more of my sketchbooks? I’d like to know! The second bit of news is of a shop update, with a couple of lockets that feature my sketchings and bits from my oil paintings.
A preview of a vintage locket that will be in my shop within the next few days…

Close up, the blue bird is taken from Pulling on our Ribbons and Hair. I think I’m going to tie a piece of vintage fabric to the top of this one.

And the gal from the locket graces the inside of my giant sketching book/ journal.

I ventured to a swampy glen down the street to take some pics of my lockets. There are the most amazing flowers that carpet the entire woods floor, creating an almost day-glow effect. They are called Fig Buttercups, or Pilewort and they grow in moist areas (and often mix with the skunk cabbage, which is abundant here as well.)

A close-up of these sweet little perennial blooms.

I am so grateful for each and every one of your comments here! It keeps me going, inspires me to post more often… Thank you!!

honeybee forest sea

A peek at a painting in progress, Honeybee Sisters

Yesterday I decided to put this painting aside and paint the pair into more of a setting with bee imagery (recently I have had a craving to paint more detailed settings as opposed to portraits). I’ve been researching bees and hives and they hold a vast amount of symbolism and meaning which is interesting. Interpret it as you will honeybees are pretty too and I love to see them buzzing around the flowers. Wasps and hornets are interesting as well but I was stung a few weeks ago and I’m still bitter!

While I was roaming around the other day I noticed that they fungi in the moss carries similarities to certain sea treasures, white coral and sea urchin:

How I would love to dangle these forest sea treasures from my ears.