Category Archives: paintings in progress

wild rose

Tiny, fragrant, rambling things.

messes

pieces of lace
walnut oil
sepia photographs
color swatches

she’s a botanist

lately, wanderings and paintings

Been working on a lots of new paintings.

White-washed layers have been consuming my painting time.

Sketchbook pages, ideas, plannings. For the new year and now. I keep playing around with variations of a sketch of this one woman….

Bits.

I found the loveliest roll of 1940’s wallpaper along a driveway, discarded.

Last Saturday I went for a snowy walk oh so early in the morning. So cold but I got to see the sun rise over the silvery trees!

Another brooch from tinyhappy. So lovely…not only because of the teeny-tiny artistry that goes into each one, but because they are made with real wool felt and hand dyes threads. These little touches really make them so uttely amazing!

I am so excited for this new year! I have some exciting art news for you that I can’t wait to spill!
Happy Holidays Everyone!

collections in windowsills

and walking in the dreamy woods…

But first I would like to say that I just put a larger, ORIGINAL drawing (11″ by 14″) of “From Within” in my shop.

It’s a darker version, similar to this one, from a few post’s ago, with the birch trees at night. Yes, I sketched a third one! I wanted to try her without the ribbon around her neck. I am so happy to offer it in my shop (and it is so hard for me to let it go)

I’ve been thinking about wildflowers and all things green and lush (yes, very unfall-like of me). I pulled out one of my favorite found embroideries and hung it on my wall. I’ve been thinking about it ever since I received this package. I took photos of the queen annes lace embroidery and posted them here last year, but I just love it so much, so here’s more!
Beautiful detail.

And knowing that winter will soon be here I have been adorning my windwsill with this and that, summer memories and other things, found.

The sandy bottle was a wash up at the beach. It’s very old! The other, smaller bottle I found in the early spring during a walk through the woods. Did you know that the frost pushes old bottle and other discarded items up out of the ground in the spring?

I have been painting too. This is a piece in the earliest of stages…just the underpainting and I’m sure it will change and morph into something totally different. But the concept will stay the same for the most part. The raw umber scribbles you see in the right hand corner are actually a grove of willow trees with a piano in the middle. I imagined a procession of birds soaring out of it.

The leaves were in their glory over the weekend! They are now falling. To everyone in the northern hemisphere, enjoy the remainder of autumn bliss !

work in progress

Creating a complimentary painting for Honeybee Stories only this time in oils just because.

Actually, I feel I can get finer detail, the paints just slide like butter and do not dry on the brush as I work. And for other reasons too, which I don’t feel like getting into. There will be many, many layers and glazes over this base. The composition is flipped, and she will have a fox instead of the fawn. It’s big with lots of little detail and it will be awhile. Now its time to put this aside to dry and sketch up some new things.

Stay cool!

a snippet of a work in progress

Painting detailed scenes of honeybee stories as of late! Here is a work in progress, a small snippet of a much larger scene…

I am so, so excited about this piece! I’ve been working secretly on it for some times and I can’t wait to put a print of it up in my shop. Despite the heat and beautiful weather, tomorrow will be spent in my painting room finishing it.

Vermont has left me totally inspired. My eyes kept roaming the countryside looking for honeybee keepers, which were all around. It was a coincidence that this painting was in progress before the trip.
Also, we went to the most magical folk art museum which has left me completely in awe and inspired too! I will post some photos of my favorite things from that very soon too. I hope tomorrow!

tiger lily, finished

I have been painting the day away! Tiger lily is now finished. She has adorned her hair with the most magical flower (I would love to be a bee or humming bird!) A print will be in the shop, along with the original (me thinks!)

And….

Telling a tale (though paints) of two girls at the edge of the woods. Way up in the trees there are ghost birdies. The gals still need a bit more work but I am so excited about this one!
Thanks for visiting me here!

tiger lily

One of the many paintings I have in progress. She is based loosely on my last sketch.

and some progress photos…
sketch on ampersand panel in sepia colored pencils:

A sort of underpainting for her face and a completed, cloudy (and very dreamy) backdrop:

painting:

I am going to finish her this morning and then move on to a larger painting that tells a tale of missing honeybees.

Sylph

This vintage, wood-burned brooch is my newest (and very favorite) accessory. From etsy.
I just want to wear piles of lace and fluttery silk skirts. She has that sylph-ish disposition that I adore, and I think she will stay pinned to my shoulder all summer long!

A close up:

The rest of the day will be spent painting and listening to the soft rain outside my window. I have sooooo much artwork to do!

welcoming march with open arms!

clockwise, from right:

? work in progress
? stack of Christie’s auction catalogues with a cover drawing by Matisse that’s inspiring me to pieces
? Grandma’s wedding China with a faded floral design that is, well, inspiring me to pieces!
? rose fabric snippet that I collaged into my sketch book the other day (snip snip goodbye roses)
? colorful, loose tea cans that are just so pretty (and perfect for holding things!)
? a beautiful white fox that my hubby brought home last week from an estate sale. He knows my style so well.
Clearly I need a bigger table!

Please excuse the absence. Work schedule changed and for the next few months I will be very, very busy with other obligations. In the little free time I have I’ll be taking some quiet, creative time out for myself to sketch and develop new ideas. It seems during my busiest work months the most ideas surface!