Looking for Spring?

My mother in law called on Monday just as I was out in the yard, phone in pocket, camera in hand, taking some photos of the amazing things happening in my yard. She said that in Pennsylvania, there had just been new snow and it was sleeting. Eegads... I sure felt blessed to be out in the sunshiny 70 degree weather of North Carolina and enjoying the first day of a promising spring season. And it made me realize that so many of my web friends are still in the throes of winter. So I decided to share some of those photos I took the other morning, as well as a couple from over the weekend. Hope it brings cheer and hope to those of you who still are experiencing the cold weather of winter.

                                               Apple Tree Blossoms

The Many Faces of Daffodils

Our Peach Tree, still hanging on with one branch of blossoms

Pear Tree Blossoms

Our Much-Loved Home

And what would March be without kite-flying on a Sunday afternoon?

Here's to spring, rebirth, colors, and hope!

Paintings in the Studio

In various stages, there are 5 canvases in progress in my studio. Here's a glimpse of four of them in their current state...

My Mountain Home, 18 x 24


Leaves of Love, 12 x 12

And here's the inspiration for Leaves. I'm not sure what kind of shrubbery this is, but it resides just beyond the back fence, near my husband's tobacco-barn-turned-shop, and I've always loved its heart-shaped leaves.

Carolina Wren, 18 x 24

And a little as yet untitled 8 x 10 landscape which could very possibly change quite a bit...

Wordless Wednesday: Early One Morning

Sunlit Sunday

Last night when I climbed into bed, it was still snowing. It'd been snowing on and off all day, sometimes with a little sleet mixed in, sometimes hard, sometimes gently, but it was definitely a grey, stormy day through and through. Though I was hoping for some clearing so that the full moon would shine and light up the night, that didn't happen... not until some time in the middle of the night.

This morning dawned cleared and cold... about 15 degrees when I got up at 7. What was the first thing I did, after dressing? Go outside in the ten-inch snow and try to get a few photos. So here you go...

Looking into the woods towards the lake...

Moore's Wall...

Our heavy-duty brake-rotor windchimes...

Amd just for a little artistic measure... a black and white...

Of Trees and Birds

Living here in the NC woods definitely influences my art. All these trees, so beautiful in each season, and the birds which alight, sing, and nest in them... they fill my landscape, my soul, and now my canvases. It's not just the colors that I love, but the lines, the rhythms, the textures. It seems to be what I am painting these days. I finished a couple this week, which I listed already on Etsy. There's one 24 x 36 in the studio still in process... trees in the rain. And I'm thinking there's many more to come.

Some, perhaps from these photos taken yesterday, which was an absolutely perfect day... temps in the low 70s, sunny with a slight breeze, and oh that blue blue October sky! My son had come up to collect his dog, whom we'd had here "at camp" for about 2 1/2 weeks, and while he was here, he washed my car and his dad's truck... a chore neither my husband nor I enjoy! But I enjoyed the sun and Jesse's company, and got out the camera too.

This is Empi, my grandpuppy, named for a VW parts manufacturer...







And here are some oil paintings completed in the last couple of months...
After the Fire... 24 x 48

Waxwing Memories... 16 x 20... newly posted on Etsy

Morning Has Broken... 12 x 16 of a Wood Thrush... newly posted on Etsy

October Fire... 16 x 20... recently posted on Etsy


There's much goodness in country living. Y'all come!