Spring Giveaway Winners Announced!

“It is spring again!

The earth is like a child

that knows poems by heart.” 

~ Rainer Maria Rilke

Spring Has Sprung

 • SOLD

The winners of my Book Giveaway

and my original Tree Painting Giveaway

were chosen today by Random.org.

Go to: SandySandySpiritart

to see who won!!

Winners have 24 hours to contact me

to claim their prize!

Happy First Day of Spring!!

He's Back! / Our Resident Chipmunk Returns

Jerry and I  had another "Signs of Spring" Surprise! We hadn't seen our chipmunk, Chippie, since the fall and feared the worst. He had become quite brazen with his food gathering expeditions.  Considering the cats and all the other critters that routinely patrol our property, it's a miracle he actually did survive last season. Jerry had built him a canopy over his hole by our deck so that it wouldn't get flooded out when it rained. He also reinforced it with P.V.C. pipe, so that the landscaping stones wouldn't keep tumbling in on him. The last we saw of Chippie was in November, but as of last week, he's back! He is just the cutest little thing and I'm afraid the cats think so too. He seems more cautious now, though. Maybe he had a close call and learned his lesson. Let's hope so, anyway!

"Chippie's Back!"

Signs of Spring #7 - $45.00

5" x 7" Double Matted Original Watercolor Painting with pen & ink

This piece ships with a foam core backing in an acetate sleeve

and is ready to fit into a standard frame.

*SOLD

Magical Crow ~ SOLD

I am feeling a little better today, although I'm still moving pretty darn slow. Jerry has been a doll and is taking care of the ranch while I recuperate from Sunday's mishap.  Since my chores are now minimal, I spent most of the day painting. I am 2/3 of the way through my color studies for Father O. and I am fairly satisfied with how they are turning out. That's a good thing. Perhaps I am starting to see some light at the end of my long commission tunnel.

I've been wanting to do a crow portrait as a part of my "Signs of Spring" series, so I also did this painting today. Our crows disappear over the winter. I don't know where they go. Crows don't migrate, but they sure don't stay around here. As soon as Spring rolls around, they all come back. We've got a dozen or so now and they really love to make a ruckus. I know some people don't like them because they eat other birds' eggs and offspring, but I like having them around, talking to me whenever I go outside.

"Magical Crow"

Signs of Spring #6 - $45.00

5" x 7" Double Matted Original Watercolor Painting with pen & ink

This piece ships with a foam core backing in an acetate sleeve

and is ready to fit into a standard frame.

*SOLD

Bluebird Bliss

"When nature made the bluebird she wished to propitiate both the sky and the earth, so she gave him the color of the one on his back and the hue of the other on his breast."  ~ John Burroughs

We have a half a dozen bird houses up on the property and over the past week I have seen the bluebird couples courting. Another sure sign of Spring! Around here, they make their nests out of pine needles. The male impresses his sweetheart with his nest building skills, taking needles into various homes. Once she settles on a spot, he lets her take over. It's no different than with most human couples, where it's usually the female that takes charge of the home and its' interior furnishings. He can offer his opinion and feedback, but the final decision is almost always hers. In this painting, a smitten Ms. Bluebird is dazzled by Mr. Blue's nuptial gift and amorous overtures.

 

"Bluebird Bliss"

Signs of Spring #5 - $45.00

5" x 7" Double Matted Original Watercolor Painting

This piece ships with a foam core backing in an acetate sleeve

and is ready to fit into a standard frame. 

 SOLD

Today's painting was done using the same three primary colors that I used in my last painting, "Spring Mare". All colors were mixed by using only Red Rose Deep and Gamboge by DaVinci and Turquoise by Lucas. Limiting your palette like this insures a harmonious color scheme. Here you can see the primaries with their shadowed primaries. You can read my previous post's comments if you would like more technical information.

Thanks again for reading, friends. I'd love to hear from you! Have a wonderful weekend and enjoy the beautiful (unseasonably warm here) Spring weather!

"My favorite weather is bird-chirping weather."  ~ Terri Guillemets

Spring Has Sprung!

Happy "official" FIRST DAY OF SPRING! 

"Spring has returned.The Earth is like a child that knows poems."  ~ Rainer Maria Rilke

 

"Spring Mare"

Signs of Spring #4 - $45.00

5" x 7" Double Matted Original Watercolor Painting

This piece ships with a foam core backing in an acetate sleeve

and is ready to fit into a standard frame.

I wanted to give this pony another workout using the glazing technique.  Starting with an under-painting of spring colors, yellow, red and blue, I first wet the paper on both sides, like my usual wet-in-wet approach. The background wash was done at the same time as the first glaze of pastel colors on the horse, as illustrated in step one of my previous post. I let the paper dry and then followed the advise of my friend and accomplished watercolorist, Carmella Tuliszewski. You can read her very thoughtful and informative comment on my last post. I mixed my primary color's compliments into the base color, using only the original three colors, for the shadow areas and eliminated the neutral grey wash entirely. This was actually done in only two steps. It is much closer to my vision for the piece and I am considerably happier with today's results.

"Science has never drummed up quite as effective a tranquilizing agent as a sunny spring day." ~ W. Earl Hall

Mare with Spring Colors Turns into Midnight Mare

I've been getting inspired by all the great artists and different techniques that people share here online. I decided to try a different technique today using glazing. This is totally different from my usual wet-in-wet direct approach. I decided to try to figure this out. I wanted to use an under-painting of spring colors for my "Signs of Spring" project this month.

Step 1

I admit that I am flying by the seat of my pants here. It started off OK with this somewhat random under painting of pastel colors in step one.

Step 2

In step two, I added some facial detailing and darker values using a neutral grey.  I think this is where I started to go wrong. Too dark too soon?

Step 3

In step 3, my background really got away from me. It is way darker than I had wanted. Then I started darkening the values of the horse more than planned. This didn't come out how I had envisioned, but I learned a lot today. Yes, I'm going to give it another go, Kathryn! As photographer, Mike Wallace said;  "You have to try to figure things out. You have to fail with a purpose."

Any critiques, suggestions, instructions or comments on this would be greatly appreciated, thank-you, friends!

My "Rabbit with Spring Colors" that I posted on March 6th,  just got accepted into the iStock collection, so I thought I'd add a companion piece today. I call this one "Bunny Buddies".

I went to A.C. Moore yesterday and purchased six new MICRON fine tip pens. I'm really impressed with their performance. They are much better than the old Rapidiograph pens we used to use in college!

 

Signs of Spring #3 - "Bunny Buddies"- $45.00

5" x 7" Double Matted Original Ink and Watercolor Painting

This piece ships with a foam core backing in an acetate sleeve

and is ready to fit into a standard frame.

SOLD

 

More Warm Weather and Longer Daylight Hours

As the days grow longer, more daylight is a major sign of Spring! While sleeping last night, we essentially skipped over the 2:00 am hour!  Shifting from 1:59 am to 3 am, our satellite powered clock changed to Daylight Saving Time completely unbeknown to us. I didn't even realize it had happened until I began working at my computer!  So if you haven't done so yet, be sure to set your clocks ahead one hour today. YAY !

The Magic of Spring -SOLD

My Daffodils are starting to bloom!

The wild turkeys are constantly on parade here now. The males have become somewhat of a nuisance. There is a lot of fighting and jockeying for position going on. The most annoying behavior however, is the frequent pecking at the chrome on our vehicles and at their reflections in our basement windows.

The toms are prime examples of raging testosterone and all the females seem quite impressed.

 

The Easter Bunny - A Sure Sign of Spring

Signs of Spring #2 - Spring Rabbit - $45.00

5" x 7" Double Matted Original Ink and Watercolor Painting

This piece ships with a foam core backing in an acetate sleeve

and is ready to fit into a standard frame. 

SOLD

 

Welcoming March and Signs of Spring

Welcome March, welcome Spring!! I know the vernal equinox and the official start of Spring is still a few weeks off, but here in the North Eastern U.S., Mother Nature definitely has other plans! Meteorologists generally define the seasons in sets of three months. March through May are defined as Spring, the season after Winter and before Summer. In the Northern hemisphere, it is the time of year when vegetation begins to reappear, hibernating animals emerge and birds pair up and become more active.

My Daffodils think it is Spring. They will be blooming very soon, most likely before the official start of the season.

 

The resident bucks are shedding their antlers early. Some are done. Others now sport only one.

Signs of Spring #1 - ROBIN - $45.00

5" x 7" Double Matted Original Watercolor w/ backing

sold •

To celebrate the kickoff of this wonderful season, I'll be doing some "Spring Influenced" original watercolors and offering them here at a special price this month. They are ready to fit into a standard frame and make unique gifts for Easter, Mother's Day, Father's Day, graduations, anniversaries and birthdays. Requests to render your special subject are always welcome.

Body Clipping By SnapDragon Stables

My 31 year TB/Paint, Rudy, is one of those horses that looks like a Shetland Pony even after wearing a heavy blanket all winter long. Each year, his coat gets longer and thicker and it takes forever to shed out, despite his daily medication for Cushing's Disease. The past few years, he suffered with near heat stroke during those heat waves we experienced here on the East Coast. Two weeks ago, I decided to Google "body clipping in Southern NJ". Boy, we really lucked out when SnapDragon Stables came up in the search! Their prices are very reasonable, they are experienced horse owners and are only a few miles from my place!
Here's a photo of my good friend Betsy (his 2nd rider) and Rudy a month ago. He looks like a big fuzzy bear. Look at those stumpy legs!

The 16H Shetland, before the makeover.

Ginger and Lauren went right to work uncovering the horse beneath the hair.



OMG - His legs still have a shape! It was like getting a brand new horse.

The time goes quickly as the transformation continues.

If I didn't see it with my own eyes, I'd swear it was a different animal!!

Here's a photo of the horse I used to know! Just look at that big bucket of hair he was hiding under!

We've had some wintery weather since the clipping, but rest assured, he is kept warm. He's got three blankets on in this photo.


I was so happy with the great job the girls did, the next day they came back and I got Rita body clipped too. Not nearly as dramatic, but will save me a lot of work.

Lauren and Ginger, thank you for a GREAT job and for a shed-free, allergy and maintenance reduced riding season!!! We all give you a stellar recommendation!

Here's a photo of Betsy and Rudy last week with the new spring/summer look.

Happy Happy Shed-Free Spring!!

P.S. SnapDragon Stables also offers riding lessons and "Affordable Horseplay" for children and beginners in a fun, stress free environment. ♡

Spring Equinox, March 20th, 2011

FYI - This Sunday marks the Spring (or Vernal) Equinox. It officially brings the "First Day Of Spring" here in the northern hemisphere. Day and night will be about equal in length on March 2oth because the sun will be positioned above the equator all over the world.

Spring arose on the garden fair,
Like the Spirit of Love felt everywhere;
And each flower and herb on Earth's dark breast
rose from the dreams of its wintry rest.
~Percy Bysshe Shelley, "The Sensitive Plant"

Spring is Coming!

Here comes Kokopelli, the hunch backed, flute playing, Native American cultural spirit of Spring! He chases away Winter with song and dance and ushers in Spring and fertility. ☺ YAY!

I'm currently putting together a collection of illustrated design elements for iStock. Isolated on white, these "spot illustrations" will be easily arranged by designers. Colorful and hand painted, my Kokopellis are intended to show off the granulation of pigments with the contrast of rough, hard and soft edges. In transparent watercolor, there is often magic in translucent color transitions. High resolution photos of them can really show that off. Here's a small area of the image above. The possibilities are endless.

March, Springtime Gold And PayPal

See my Spirit Art Blog Post for today and check out Bill's poem, called March. I think you'll enjoy it. Today I spent most of the day sorting through my web sites and figuring out how to put PayPal buttons on my paintings. Gosh, I didn't realize I have so much inventory. I'm making a special springtime offer to my blogger readers! If you buy an original painting from me in the month of March, April or May, I'll send you an autographed copy of my Animal Spirits Book as a gift! I'm not mentioning it on my web sites, just here, so let me know via. email if you make a purchase and want take me up on my offer. :-D Here's a PayPal button to go with this painting. Look how official it looks! I noticed the Goldfinches are putting on a little color around here. They are starting to change from their drab winter attire into their bright summer finery. I'm posting a little original watercolor painting in their honor tonight that I call:

"Springtime Gold"

8" x 10" ~ Double Matted and Framed ~ $149.00

Spring In The Woods

The gnats are out! Oh no! They can make an otherwise beautiful day just miserable. I've got to go out and put Skin-So-Soft on the horses faces and ears. The migrating hummingbirds shouldn't be far behind! If possible, be sure to attend my hummingbird talk this Wednesday!

This painting is available at Rijks Family Gallery in Crested Butte, CO, where as I understand it, the snow is still falling!

See Sally Vennel's georgeos Colorado snow photos here!

Signs Of Spring

Today is my fifth day home after my trip to Colorado. I can't seem to get into the swing of things yet, however I did manage to paint today for the first time all week. Spring is definitely in the air here. Flocks of male Red Wing Blackbirds sing their hearts out as they congregate in mass all around my yard; while the male turkeys are constantly strutting their stuff and displaying their finery, trying real hard to impress the ladies.