Apples and Pear Paintings

I have mentioned I am learning a new painting technique.  I practiced first on this hapless pear.  My! but it needs more work, especially in the leaves. 

The artist acrylics blended with medium to mimic oils is a whole new ball game for me. And the technique entails much more tapping and blending rather than stroking on the paint. 



By the time I finished the apples I was getting a better feel for it.

I will do a third one, maybe some cherries or other intensely colored fruit, then they can be sold as a set on my website.
 


This lovely machine is an industrial tailoring machine that was the pride and joy of my paternal Grandmother.  Grandma Jo (short for Josephine)loved this hearty workhorse and she upholstered a bounty of sofas and chairs with it.  She also sewed countless shorts and tops for children that she sold at the flea market to make ends meet along with the sets she made for her grandchildren. 



It has been in storage and I have finally gotten it brought into the house.  Now to make it pretty again.  I know it was working when we removed it from Grandma’s house but that was quite a few years ago.  I have not been brave enough to plug it in.  I learned to upholster on this machine, it sews beautifully when running properly.  

I am rather liking it in the living room but I am not sure my husband will.  We have a small home and every space needs to pull double duty.  Having something for mostly show is not practical and yet I just may push this up under the window after removing the bench you see behind it and just enjoy it as eye candy for awhile.  

The trick will be gussying this baby up.  And/or getting it upstairs to the sewing/guest room, it is very heavy.  I two man job for sure! I am thinking of a nice gray for the metal base and a warm white for the top…??? Or would the black of the sewing machine be to stark against that?  Decisions, decisions.
I have one more Japanese Maple shot for you from the other day.



The rain has started and the cold has arrived.  It felt frigid when I ran to the Post Office earlier this afternoon.  The chill bit right through my jeans.  

So I came on home and started cooking and the spicy sweet aroma of delicious pumpkin bars is wafting into my office as we speak.  Time to see if they are ready for their scrumptious cream cheese frosting.
 
Enjoy!
 

Come visit me in my studio

 

 

The Rebellious Rooster behaves

Finally he came together.  I knew I wanted him to be the star of this show so he is very colorful.  To me this begs to be a poultry feed sign or something like that.  Vintage looking lettering….I will give it a few days to see what strikes me. 

I did manage to get out to take those photos of the Fall foliage and more.  I sometimes forget what a lovely place I live or I should say I take it in stride instead of reveling in it. 

There are lots of little lakes and ponds, gorgeous vacation homes that are art unto themselves and landscaping to match.



This yard has about 12 gorgeous Japanese Maples, including lace leaf that drape down like a bush. All of them are drenched in Fall colors.



From flamboyant red to a bit more orange.  You can see the orange one tucked back in the center of this photo below. The line the large half circle drive of this massive stone house. 



Not far down the road I spotted this bench on a front porch of another lovely vacation home.  I nearly screeched the brakes to stop and get a shot.  I love pew benches and I am finding them around, there are much more than I thought.  It is a lovely porch to enter the house from, there is a large painting above the bench that is quite colorful, I would love a closer look one day.



As I drove (crept) slowly down this same street who do you think bounds in front of my Suburban but this guilty looking lady.  Is that my strawberry plants I see between her teeth?? 



One of the numerous lakes around, the reflection of the trees in the water was what caught my eye. 



Many of the neighborhoods take great pride in the area and try to add to it. And I think they pull it off quite well.  This is the pool house (bathroom, changing area) for this lake.



Because of harsh weather conditions throughout the school year these bus shelters are placed at many bus stops so the kids do not have to stand out in the pelting rain or snow while they wait for their bus.
Obviously this neighborhood takes great pride in making this one not only comfy but picturesque. 



I had to get close ups of this mural.  The artist did an outstanding job.







This cozy little shelter will come in handy this coming Thursday.  Cold, cold weather is heading our way and fast. Today we will enjoy low 70’s for a high with beautiful sunny skies and by Thursday it will top out in the low 40’s with snow predicted here.  Brrrr. And Friday the hi will be in the 30’s.

Good grief that is a 30+ degree drop.  Winter is here. 

I have more of my paintings to share.  I am learning a new method that is more impressionistic and I think I am finally getting it.
I worked on a couple small paintings and the rooster above most of the afternoon between cleaning the house, laundry and getting things more winter ready outside.

I have plenty on the agenda again today so I better get a move on.
   
 

Pansy Garden Therapy Sign

A beautiful new day and a new week!  Last week I did not get to that daisy painting tutorial but I am still aiming to get it done so bear with me. 

I did get a sign painted along with a custom order one. A new Garden Therapy sign

Yellow Roses and purple pansies.  I love the color combo. 



I need to get it listed on my website and I will do so but first I want to run over to a neighborhood that has a street that I swear all the homeowners tried to outdo each other in Japanese Maple plantings. 

They are a glorious red right now (or were last week, lets hope they still are) and I want to get some photos to share. If they are post worthy I will get share them tomorrow.

Now this little Mister has been giving me fits.



This surface of vintage broken boards cried out for a rooster painted on them.  But I have started and stopped several times as I can’t seem to get him right. 

So I switched over to do the hen who came out right the first time around.



You can see I reworked his eye and I seem to have made it worse but sometimes I get into a painting, hate it and continue on anyways and it turns out just fine. 

Once I get Mister Rooster the way I want him I will decide if it calls out for words to be a sign or just leave it as a painting.  Or I can offer it plain and the customer can ask for custom wording on it.  Also I will sand the edges a lot to give it a rustic frame. I think…

I am off to photograph the trees.  I do hope the light is right.

Feel free to come visit my website.

My Garden Pruners

We have had fine weather the past week.  Lovely daytime temps in the mid 60’s or so with plenty of sunshine.  My garden was still blooming here and there…I did share a bit last week. These petunias were toughing it out despite the one snow storm we had already.



Being that I was afraid the night time temps would dip down to freezing I disconnected my Scarecrows and put them away.  I did not want them to crack. They did a great job of keeping the deer away from my prized plants and flowers.



So the deer thought that removing them was an open invitation to nosh on my garden.
 
I had not seen the deer in a while so figured they had migrated down the mountain for winter.

I was wrong.

This is what is left of my lovely petunias in the top photo.  The deer so generously pruned them back for me, along with most of my plants in both front and back gardens.

Being that it is November and the season is all but over I can live with it. 



My neighbor has a large apple tree that is dropping its overripe fruit and the deer are eating them up now that they have eaten everything they possibly can here.



They blend in so well, there are five deer but you cannot see them all in the photos.
 


When they feel threatened they jaunt across the street and act nonchalant.
 


They wait for me to go back inside so they can return and continue their feast.



I watched for them today to see if I could get a good shot of the baby, he is rather cute even if he is an accomplice in the decimation of my petunias. 
 
My, how dark it seems at 5pm now with the time change.  Dark days of winter are closing in.
 
And with that cheery thought I will bid you adieu.

A Taste of Winter in Fall

The first snow has fallen on this mountain and it was not a welcome sight for myself but I know many ski and snowboard enthusiasts were thrilled.

Here is my potting bench on the back deck and my poor bamboo bending under the weight of the wet snow.

With the leaves on the trees still it was a bit much for them, there was a danger of many limbs snapping even though we really did not get more than a few inches.

A lovely dogwood next door. If you look closely you can see the snow is still falling in this shot.

My Butterfly Bush was not holding up well either. It is really about 8 feet tall, I have made sure to cut it back to a mere 12 inches or so for the winter once the snow melted.  That prevents it from breaking and normally I don’t have to do it until late November.

The morning did provide some interesting subjects to photograph. My Spring Delight Japanese Maple looked a bit sad.

Thankfully the sunshine returned and so did the mild temps returning us to normal for this time of year.  Lovely views from my windows.. the same sad dogwood in the photo above now fully recovered and continuing her Fall display.

The oaks across the street at the feet of the tall pines and firs.

More dogwoods, these do not get as much sun so they do not turn as red as the ones that do.

The sun sits lower in the sky this time of year, you can barely make it out on the horizon as it rises for a new day. 

For those of you unfamiliar with how large these pines can get, this photo below is of the base of a huge sugar pine.  That trunk is 4 feet across.  Don’t you know it is pretty scary looking when these monsters start swaying in the wind.

My Happy Chappy rose is still blooming away.  Since the majority of the plants have quit for the year this guy stands out. 

I have been painting in the studio a bit.  I will be back to share what I have been working on and finally get another Learn to Paint post up. 

Until then, stay safe!