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!!