Happy New Year!!

May you be blessed with a happy, healthy, peaceful, joy filled New Year!

"Snow Birds"-Original Watercolor Painting

Yankeegirl Watercolors and Photography Wishes You a Merry♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪ Christmas♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪We Wish You a Merry ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪Christmas ♥ ♥ ♥We Wish You A Merry ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪Christmas ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪...And A Happy New Year!♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪...

Madison's First Snow

We have a 9 month old Golden Retriever named Madison. She is the third Golden we have had in our lives and she is just a joy. Last February, we lost our beautiful Amber suddenly at 12 1/2 years old and about 2 weeks later we had our only big snow fall of the winter. Amber loved the snow so much and we loved romping around with her in it so when we had that storm after she died, I didn't have the heart to go out and enjoy it. I remember staying inside all day feeling very sad and alone.

We woke up to almost TWO FEET of snow this morning and because of our precious "Maddie Magoo" I feel like I can love the snow again. She wasn't sure what to make of it at first but it didn't take long before she was pouncing up and down in it, helping Daddy shovel and playing with the boys next door in their front yard.

Madison, thank you for coming into our lives and for helping me love snow again...

Holiday Sale!!

I'm having a sale in my Etsy shop!!

Reduced prices on all of my watercolor prints and photography prints now until Christmas Day!!!

Watercolor prints were $30, now $25. Photography prints were $15-20, now $12-18!! All come matted and ready to put in a standard size frame.

Convo me with your choice and I will refund thru PayPal or set up a reserved listing for you...your choice!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/yankeegirl

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday...

Facebook Fan Page

Now that I'm fully entrenched in the whole Facebook craze, come visit my Fan Page and become a fan!!


Click on the link to the left and check it out. Thanks for looking!!

Facebook Newbie...

So....Wasn't I the one who said she would NEVER join Facebook. Just this past Labor Day as I was traveling on a bus to Yankee Stadium I declared to some friends who were on the trip with me that I would NEVER join Facebook. I said "I don't need one more thing to keep my butt in my desk chair in front of my computer"! Being the outdoor girl that I am...I REALLY don't need one more website to look after and keep me inside.

Well...A week ago Saturday (5 days after that fateful bus trip), I came home from work and checked all of the afore mentioned websites PLUS my email and what do I find??? An invitation from a friend (you know who you are!) who has once again invited me to join Facebook.

Hmmm.....maybe I should just take a peek at what all of the hoopla is on this silly website. Just a peek mind you.

Well....before you know it, 3 hours have gone by (mind you it was a crappy day outside) and I have my FB "Wall" set up and have "friended" who knows how many people!! I'm listing my paintings and my photography, posting "My Life" photos, getting friend requests from people who I never would have believed would be on Facebook (can you say Firefighters???) and generally just enjoying the whole FB experience!!!

Well....today after being on FB for two weeks exactly, I infected most of my FB friends computers with a virus. Now mind you, it was not my intention to do this but I opened a link that a "friend" sent me (you know who you are) that spread like wildfire across my FB friends list. Never mind that it was a link to a porn site!!! LOL Some of my friends commented that they rather enjoyed the link (you know who you are) but didn't enjoy being screamed at by their anti virus software!!

Anyway...I think all of the computers of my friends are safe and sound tonight but I bet they regret sending me my Facebook invitation (you know who you are!!) one last time!!!

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday-Painting from a Photograph

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

My newest venture

Thought I would jump on the ACEO bandwagon a little more and offer prints of my original photography and watercolors in miniature form. For those of you who don't know...an ACEO is a 2 1/2" by 3 1/2" piece of artwork. They are like the trading cards of the art world. Very small and very affordable. So please visit my two shops for your chance to own a teeny, tiny yankeegirl ACEO!!

See the links to the left.

Today is the start of the 2nd annual Yart Sale on Etsy and for me the first time I have participated.I am offering 10 % off of anything in my entire shop (excluding shipping) and on top of that, free shipping off of all of my photography prints!!

The watercolor above is one of the many paintings I have listed in my shop that is included in my Yart Sale. Just convo me and I will adjust the listing just for you!!

So visit Yankeegirl Watercolor and Photography and take advantage of my first annual Yart Sale!!

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5453185

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday-I know you're sick of her already....LOL!!

Sea Spray-Original Watercolor Painting

Meet my latest watercolor painting titled "Sea Spray". I just love the look of an old rustic looking rowboat and paired with my love of the beach and the ocean...a no brainer idea for a painting. I had a little bit of a problem tying the beach, boat and water to each other. The boat looked as though it were just kind of floating in air until I made my shadow more prominent and incorporated the spray from the ocean. It also gave me the name of the painting!

This painting can be purchase through my Etsy shop. It comes unmatted and unframed but I will custom mat it to a standard size if you would like. Thanks for stopping by!!

Wordless Wednesday-Meet Madison!!

Little tiny paintings

So what's an ACEO you may ask...I know I did when I first joined Etsy and saw them listed everywhere!! After doing a little investigating, I learned that they are miniature pieces of art that only measure 2 1/2" by 3 1/2"...the baseball trading cards of the art world you might say. They are any medium from paint, glass, textile, photography, I could go on and on. Since I am a watercolor artist, I decided to try my hand at creating my own ACEOs. After all, how long could one little painting take!!! Well....I soon discovered that it isn't as easy as it looks, at least for this artist. I'm used to painting on anything from 1/4 to 1/2 sheet of watercolor paper and to hand me a piece of paper that only measures 2 1/2" by 3 1/2" and tell me to paint on is challenging!!
After many tries I think I have finally gotten the hang of these little tiny paintings. I have even sold quite a few and decided I enjoy the process that goes into making them. I love the fact that people that may not be able to afford or don't have space for the full size pieces of art, now have a wonderful option. Here are two new watercolor paintings that I have listed in my Etsy shop. In this format they look the same size, but the single blackeyed susan painting is just a little tiny painting....an ACEO.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday A Little Late!!!

Wordless Wednesday

Cottage Hydrangeas-Original Watercolor Painting

This is one my newest watercolors called "Cottage Hydrangeas". It is another in a series of paintings of my favorite flower that seems to be a favorite of many people. It's such a peaceful, old fashioned flower that reminds people of their mothers or grandmothers gardens.

This was one of those paintings that went well from start to finish. I got the desired look and feel without having to mess around with it too much. It's done on Masa paper which is soaked in water and crumpled up, then painted on. I usually crumple it up again at this stage to get a wonderful mingling of colors that is just perfect for hydrangeas.

Wordless Wednesday-Amber-1996-2009

Spring ACEO-March BBEST Challenge

My Etsy team, Boomers and Beyond Etsy Street Team unveiled our March Challenge today. It is to create an ACEO of any medium to swap with a fellow team mate. The only criteria is that it somehow pertains to Spring...isn't that a pleasant thought!!

Since I am stuck at home today because of the snowstorm in the Northeast, I had plenty of time to create my ACEO. It was nice to think of something springy as the snow was piling up...one foot to be exact!!!

After laying down a background of some colors on a very wet paper, these little daffodils emerged. I'm pretty happy with the result and I hope which ever team mate receives this will be happy too!!

Wordless Wednesday-My sick of winter photo!!

My friend Mary from Colorless Green Ideas has bestowed upon me the Kreativ Blogger Award and I couldn't be happier!! Being new to this whole blogging thing, I was quite surprised but honored that she felt my little blog is award-worthy!! I write about things I love and what matters to me and to think that others are interested in what I have to say, well.....I'm thrilled!! Thanks, Mary!! Off to hand out some awards of my own....hmmmm...who shall I pick.

Meet my new friend!!

I have a life long love of horses. It started as a little girl who collected horse statues, took riding lessons and went to visit the horses that lived on a farm around the corner from my childhood home all the time. I would always ask my parents "if we lived on a farm, would you buy me a horse?" and of course they would always say yes knowing we were NEVER going to live on a farm!!

While we were out taking a drive this morning looking for photo ops, we came across a pretty little farm with a fenced in area right next to the street. All of a sudden, there he was...the most adorable, fat little pony you ever saw!! My husband started to slow down even before I screamed to stop....he knows me so well!! We had our two dogs with us and of course they started to bark at this strange looking thing...The poor pony galloped away and I thought my photo op was gone forever but as soon as I approached the fence and started to talk in that strange baby talk we use only for our furry friends, it came racing back to me!! I took its picture, scratched his muzzle and talked to him...he was more dog than pony. If I stopped petting him long enough to take his picture, he would nudge me with his nose as if to say "come on...you're not done petting me!!" Oh, I wanted to take him home!!

At last I said good bye to my new friend and got in the car....our dogs, sniffing away, were still trying to figure out what that strange thing was.

Wordless Wednesday

Finally bought an orchid!!

I went to an orchid show this morning with the intention of taking some photos and just enjoying the beauty of these flowers on this cold winters day. OK, not so cold...it's suppose to hit almost 60 today but it is February!! I wandered around taking some great captures and inhaling the wonderful smells that were in that greenhouse and then I saw it...this gorgeous miniature orchid that had to be mine!!! I've always wanted an orchid but always heard they were hard to grow, expensive, my cats would eat them, etc. The woman who was selling it explained to me what I needed to know about growing orchids (not so hard), it wasn't all that expensive (after all it IS a miniature!!) and I could put it somewhere the cats can't get to it!! Sooooo, this little beauty is now in the living room, on the desk near the front door looking very happy!! Enjoy!

The Evolution of a Painting...that is being stubborn!!

The two paintings that are shown here weren't the let the creative juices flow, everything going right, I love the way it looks paintings. They were the throw in a drawer for a year, oh I messed it up, it doesn't look right kind of paintings!!

The fish painting was the one in the drawer for a year..liked it but didn't know how to finish it off. It's done in Yupo (which I really don't like...) and since we covered Yupo in my last watercolor class, I decided to resurrect it and work on it in that class. For some reason, I decided to paint the fish some bright colors and call it a day and it worked! The dolphin ACEO was the one I messed up and didn't look right full size painting that I took the paper cutter to! Looks pretty cute as an ACEO!! It was hard to cut off everything but the dolphins but it served its purpose.

So now that I am happy with both of these paintings, they are posted in my Etsy shop for someone to purchase. If only they knew the journey they took to get there!

Wordless Wednesday

Scattered Leaves-A painting for friends

This is an original watercolor painting that was started while vacationing with friends in the Finger Lakes Region of New York State. Five couples, most of us friends since High School , decided to rent out an entire inn for a long weekend getaway. It was October, so the colors of the trees and the leaves laying on the ground were enough inspiration to start a painting. It became a game to see who could find the prettiest leaves for me. As we hiked through the beautiful Watkins Glen State Park, instead of looking at the waterfalls and gorges, I found myself scouring the ground for leaves!! By the time we returned to the inn and I got my paints out, I had all of the material I needed to create "Scattered Leaves".As I worked on the painting, my friends would come over and critic my work and ask questions. Not knowing the process of watercolor painting, some of them said "they don't look like leaves" or "the colors are too light". As the process continued, they realized the method to my madness and saw the painting come to life.

My friend Karen seem to fall in love with the painting as I worked on it. She said that she loved leaves and that the colors I was using would be perfect in their family room. I told her she could have it if I didn't proceed to mess it up before the painting was finished. After getting side tracked by a couple of art shows and the holidays, I finally completed the painting and gave it to Karen and her husband Tony on Super Bowl Sunday. We were with the same people we went to NY State with that day so it was very fitting that I gave it to them then. They told me they loved it and I believed them...Karen had that look in her eyes of someone who just received a special gift. It was a special gift to a special friend at a gathering of special people.

Latest venture~

I just started listing blank greeting cards of my original photography prints. I have been selling cards with pictures of my watercolor paintings on them but thought it was time to branch out with my photography. I hope you go to the link below and have a peek at this card of my About Face roses. I love the drops of rain still clinging to the leaves.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=20549626

Yankeegirl Watercolors and Photography
Artwork from both sides of the lens. Painting and photography go hand in hand for me since I use alot of my original photos as subject matter for my paintings. My love of nature and my surroundings is my inspiration and I love to paint from that inspiration.I use only the highest quality paints and papers for my watercolors and they are protected with an archival finish to protect the integrity of the colors. I do a variety of subjects-anything from landscapes to florals (my specialty!!). All my paintings come signed on the front, mounted on foamboard and wrapped in plastic vellum to protect them. They will come matted and I try to make sure they are a standard size so you don't have to have them custom framed which can be very expensive. So please log on to http://www.yankeegirl.etsy.com/ and www.1000Markets.com/users/yankeegirl to see my paintings, prints and original photography. Thanks so much for stopping by!!

My First Wordless Wednesday