Here is a garden full of pink and golden flowers. There are Daylilies, Stargazer lilies, Black-eyed Susans, and Coneflowers. Behind the gate is a Rugosa rosebush and to the right of it, a butterly bush with butterflies flitting about it. If you look closely, you will see a goldfinch perched on the left pillar of the gate. I had fun doing this painting. It is bursting with summer color and activity. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed painting it!
It's hard to believe the purple coneflower is still blooming. The trees are turning yellow and red and the leaves falling to the ground. I have some raking to do. But there are still some butterflies around and they love this flower. The tiger swallowtail is one of my favorites - large and striking with its black on yellow stripes and pretty blue spots on the lower tail. I love how it swoops and glides and sits on the cone flower slowly opening and closing its wings. This painting seems almost to be dancing as the butterfly lands light as fairy breath on one of the flowers.
THIS PAINTING IS #57 OF THE ZEH BERMUDA COLLECTION
Here is a beauty for those of you who love lighthouses. St. David's Lighthouse is located on St. David's Island in the parish of St. George's on the northeastern tip of Bermuda. It overlooks the Bermuda south shore. Built in 1879, it has a fixed white light which was originally a kerosene lantern and is now petroleum vapor. The tower stands 55 ft. high to the lantern.
I loved painting this one with its attractive red band. I got this view of the lighthouse from way across the bay and I added the ocean in the background. The reference photo I took was a good test for my new camera's zoom feature. Happily, for a little camera, it is quite powerful! In this scene, the warm ocean breeze rustles the trees as the sun appears from behind clouds to light up the this magnificent lighthouse
This painting has been sold, but you can order a print or custom painting. Just contact me by using the link in the sidebar or at the bottom of the page.
At the outdoor art show last weekend, some ladies who had been to the new library in my town came into my booth. They had seen the large acrylic painting of poppies I'd done for the library which is installed over the front desk. It is quite impressive and everyone who enters for the first time remarks on it. I told them the head librarian had been after me for years to paint peach poppies, but it wasn't until a kind donor gave a large sum of money to the new library for original artwork that the commission actually went through. This is a smaller watercolor version of that piece.
There's something about these fancy pansies that makes me want to paint them. This must be the third time I've painted them although I've switched their colors around. I love their bright faces among the soft green of the leaves. I think you will love this painting too.
This is probably the most colorful bird of North America. As one would expect, it is found in the warmer parts of the US, in southern states and along the Gulf of Mexico. There are two distinct populations of Painted Buntings: the western population from Mississippi and Kansas south to the Gulf Coast and eastern population found along the Atlantic coast from North Carolina south to Florida. Birds of the western population start to migrate south for the winter before they molt. They will molt in stages along the way. This is unusual for songbirds. Birds of the eastern population, in the Florida area, molt first before they migrate. Here I've painted one of these colorful male finches in a mesquite tree.
I think I took the reference photo for this painting from a boat out on the water. In any case, the turquoise accents caught my eye. The colors are SO Bermuda! Can you picture yourself in this scene? I've put two turquoise chairs on the patio behind the hibiscus hedge. You're facing the ocean so you and a good friend can sit and sip your afternoon tea, or a glass of wine, or a Marguerita, whatever you desire, while watching the ocean sparkle in the sunlight and listening to the surf roaring in. Hmmm.... you know, I think I'll pull up another chair and join you!
If you ever want to give yourself a drawing/painting challenge, draw a close-up of a double peony blossom. Once you've got all the pieces of the puzzle drawn in, pick up a brush and paint each puzzle piece. Trust me, it's challenging! In this painting, I've zoomed in close. Filling up the paper with flower like that can almost give the effect of an abstract painting.
These are delicate, fragrant spring blooming bulbs that grow in my garden. The flowers are mostly in shadow, lit by the sunlight only along the petal edges. I've taken some liberty with the shadow color on these, using a mix of turquoise and rose. The effect, I think, is quite nice. Many times at the outdoor shows I do, people look at some of my large acrylic flower paintings and ask if I was inspired by Georgia O'Keefe. In fact, I am a fan of that artist who painted many flower close-ups. This particular painting reminds me a bit of her style.
Canals in the US Southeast such as this one are full of wading birds including the striking Great Egret, a large slender white heron with black legs and a yellow beak. I saw this scene on a trip to Florida last spring. You can see the new green of the grass filled with daisies in the foreground. I love how the soft greens and browns set off the bright white bird in this painting.
Here is a lovely summer scene, the picture of garden perfection! A sparrow flits to alight on the birdhouse as morning glories and foxglove bloom with all their bright color. In front of the foxglove is sedum that will turn red in late summer and some yellow coreopsis. This is a painting that will bring you memories of warm summer days all year!
Wild violets bloom here and there in the garden in springtime. I thought of them while weeding and trimming back spent flowers the other day. The summer went by too fast. I don't want to think of the first frost and having to wait until next year for the garden to bloom again. So here I've painted some violets to keep springtime just a glance away!
This is a scene from one of my favorite drives in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. The Kancamangus Highway is a mountain road that twists and winds up and through the White Mountain range from its farthest east to west points. On the eastern half of the drive, this very stony stream winds and twists alongside the road affording spectacular views in autumn when the maples turn fiery red and golden hues. When I was a child, I'd love to find a spot where I could hop on the rocks to cross the water without getting my feet wet. Despite all the stones, it could be challenging. The rocks can be loose and/or slippery and the water in a mountain stream is frigid!
Autumn is on the way now that it's September and in a few weeks, the marshlands will be turning golden and rusty hues. I was looking through some photos I'd taken last year one warm autumn day and couldn't resist painting this marsh. You can see the early morning mist rising off the water in the distance. A lone Great Blue Heron stands sentry. What a peaceful scene this is!
The flowers of this warm climate vine are really very tiny white blooms in the middle of colorful bracts. The bracts on this one are in shades of red and magenta - very pretty! The plant is native to South America and is found in warm climates all over the world. I saw this particular specimen at the Bermuda Botanical Gardens.