I’m not much of a gardener, but I sure do appreciate the efforts and magic of others … and mother nature. I stumbled upon this garden in Hallowell, Maine, once upon a time, and it was such a feast for the eyes that I knew at some point I would paint it. So many colors, so many flowers–so much beauty. This painting evokes pure joy and sunshine to me and I hope it does to you as well. This was a fun one to paint! Enjoy this eternal summer garden.
I’ve been meaning to do something with this poppies linoleum block I carved last month and I thought this week’s tiny tuesday was the perfect opportunity to make it happen. I just let myself play with color, paper, printing and painting too, and it was really fun! I tried all kinds of things … there are some single color block prints, a few 2 color block prints printed from 2 blocks and then some hand colored variations too. I love how each one is different and I love the imperfections in them all. They tell the story of the process and that each one was made my hand … from the carving to the rolling of the ink and the placing of the paper and the burnishing of the paper on the inked block. I made a video that shows a little bit of the process as well as the inspiration from the neighborhood poppies–check it out.
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Here’s a little oil painting inspired by an evening walk on the Ship Harbor Trail on Mount Desert Island at Acadia. The light was perfect and the low tide landscape exquisite. Such a peaceful and gorgeous walk through the trees and along the pink granite shore. More moments like this, please! 🙂
I went up to Acadia National Park for a few days last week with a friend and just soaked up the beauty and the trails all over Mount Desert Island. I squeezed in a lot of outdoor time in a short amount of time … from a sunset hike to an early morning paddle, a day of bike riding the carriage trails and a rainy day walk around Great Head. Magic! It does wonders for the soul to spend time in the woods and on the water.
I’ve been curious about trying gouache, so I used this getaway as my inspiration for diving into a new medium. Gouache is beautiful, rich, opaque and really quick drying. The quick drying part was the hardest thing for me to get used to, but after 7 little paintings and a few sketches in the sketchbook, I felt like I was getting the hang of it and had lots of fun doing them. These little paintings are done on some very thick cold press watercolor paper with deckled edges. Paper is approximately 6×6 or 6×5 inches and the paintings themselves are about 4×4 or 4×3 inches. Here’s a video reveal of the tiny tuesday acadia series.
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I had such a good time in the peony garden at Gilsland Farm a couple of weeks ago that I just couldn’t resist some tiny peony paintings. Why not keep peonies blooming all year long. They are pure magic and smell sooooooo good. Ooooo, and so luscious in paint!
These little paintings were done on 4×4 inch birch panel–a new surface for me. I put a couple of layers of gesso on them, sanded them down and got busy with paint. Here’s a little tiktok reveal video of the peony love paintings. :-).
We took a gorgeous walk in the Willard Beach area last weekend and of course I got inspired by the shacks. I can’t resist these beauties perched on the bluff. I love the way they sit so proud and exposed while keeping tabs on all of the happenings in the channel. So magical!
This painting is done on a wood panel, click the purchase link to see pictures of the panel
We took the pups over to Pine Point last week for a gorgeous early morning beach walk (watch the video here). It was sunny when we left Portland and really foggy and a good 12 degrees cooler when we arrived at the beach. It was such a treat to stroll the misty shoreline at low tide. We had the whole beach to ourselves! As we headed back home I couldn’t resist stopping to admire the Scarborough marsh looking back towards Ferry Beach and Pine Point. There is something so peaceful about getting lost in a marsh view.
Here are 4 Fort Gorges “tiny tuesday” paintings, inspired by a recent early morning paddleboard excursion on Casco Bay. I circled the fort and took in all of the cool angles and the mesmerizing reflections on the water, before going inside for some more amazing views. I hope you can feel the magic of my outing on the water and my love for the fort.
I sketched out the compositions of these paintings in paint and then gave myself a 30 minute time limit for each one. I’m really pleased with them and the energy they capture.
You can purchase them as a set or individually. :-). Here’s a video of my paddle excursion!
Now is the time to visit Maine Audubon’s Gilsland Farm for some peony cheer. The peonies are in full bloom and they are exquisite! The colors, the smell, the shapes … just gorgeous. I love peonies sooooo much and I got to spend my morning immersed in them with my plain air setup. So much fun. Click here to see my video of my outing and painting.
I’ve been enjoying my neighborhood dog walks and all of the poppies that are in bloom right now. So gorgeous! Watching poppies dance in the breeze is so mesmerizing. I just can’t get enough of them. If you want to see my tiktok inspiration and process video, click here. I hope your spring is bursting with color and joy! Sending much love your way.