Next Year

The next year of my life is going to be interesting.  My husband Stephan just left for a year on Halloween.  He is in the middle east working hard and I am determined to not sit on the couch and get lost in my thoughts.  I am excited, because today I am having an art market day!  First time I have ever tried something like this.  I need to push myself this year and paint as much as I can.  So far since he has been gone I have created more art than I have all year and its only been a few weeks of working.  I am rather proud of this start, I just know I need to keep with it.  Thank you for the encouragement!  And Happy Birthday/Veterans Day Stephan, stay safe! 

Pancakes

Okay so I borrowed this idea to practice with...the original was done with markers but I wanted to see if I could do it in watercolor...but also I just love pancakes so I could not help myself.

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Fall

There is something truly special about the feeling you get when it starts to become fall.  Of course I live in South Texas...so we never get that amazing feeling of cool weather and leaves changing colors, but I sure do love pretending that I am home in Michigan loving the magic that comes with the changing seasons.  

Succulents

I have often said how I love the challenge of keeping succulents alive.  I also love the challenge of painting them.  I will be honest these are not my well kept succulents, but I loved the collection so much I had to practice painting them. 

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Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair

I had never been to California, but our two weeks there were incredible.  We enjoyed the good weather, family, and plenty of wine.  Monterey, Napa, and San Francisco are truly gorgeous parts of this fine country.  

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Sadly, right after we got home and were dealing with our broken fence issues, the Napa Sonoma area was dealing with their own natural disaster of wild fires.  It was good to hear once the fires had died out that some of the people we had met and places we had enjoyed were okay.  

Never had I ever dealt with a Hurricane

Down in Texas we very quickly went from a Tropical Storm...don't worry about it, to a full blown CAT4 Hurricane in a day.  We had to quickly get the boards down from the garage that I hoped we would never have to use and figure out how to secure our house.  It was quite the experience. We were told there was a mandatory evacuation for the military families.  Thankfully we were safe in Austin when it hit and the eye of it shifted and hit 30 minutes north of where we live.  We were very blessed where others sadly lost everything.  What I found was our car was rather empty as we headed away from the coast.  The most important things in the car were people, everything else can be replaced.  

Washington D.C.

I finally got out to D.C. to see my sister Katie and her husband Nathan.  Our dear friend Gina met up with us there also!  We have all been friends since middle school and had fun exploring our great nations Capitol.  

Wedding Gift

I am sad to say I did not realize what a Lunar Moth was until I looked it up, and then of course I have seen images of this large beautiful creature before.  My sister called me for a quick order of a moth for a shower gift for a friend that is getting married this summer.  I was more than happy to paint a watercolor for her and deliver it asap!  It was a lot of fun to take a break from my daily routine and do a rush order, I love a good goal.  

watercolor 8x10

Of course I painted these so fast and got them in the mail that I forgot to take photos.  Thanks for sending these Katie!  I love how you set the piece up.  Hope the bride to be loves it as much as I enjoyed painting it.

Succulents in Oil

My sister-in-law Gretchen took this beautiful photo of some succulents she had arranged on her wood floor and as soon I saw it I had to paint them.  Somethings do really inspire you.  

Oil on wood, 18x24"