the lilies are blooming...

One of my favorite parts of Summer is when my Stargazer Lilies bloom. Before blooming, it's a lot of waiting and watching the stalks of the lilies grow for the first half of the season. Then a few more weeks later the pod-like blooms begin to emerge and eventually get larger, and finally as the pods are turning from green to a whitish hue you know the lilies will soon be blooming. Once they bloom they are the most fragrant flowers. The hummingbirds and butterflies just love them. Between the vibrant colors, the fragrant blooms and the unique shape of each individual section of the plant, they truly are a miracle of Mother Nature.

(Just fyi: I did no enhancement in Photoshop to the images. The flowers are truly this gorgeous.)

spring blooms

I woke up really early today because we had the windows open and the birdies sounded like they were having a fiesta in all of the surrounding trees. While it was nice to hear them chirp, do they all have to chirp the same tune at once and really loudly too? Oh well, I'm not complaining because I'm really happy it's finally Spring!

Yesterday I snapped a few photos of some things starting to bloom from our yard and my neighbor's yard too!

dogwood series - multiple blooms - print available for purchase

This is the last of my 3 part watercolor series of Dogwood Blooms, with the last being called "multiple blooms." The print is now available in my Etsy store.

Paper size: 8 1/2 x 11"
Print sized to fit a frame for 8 x 10"

Printed on bright white matte, acid-free, 100% cotton rag Epson Archival Velvet Fine Art Paper on an Epson Stylus Photo R1900 printer using Epson UltraChrome inks

Print will be signed & packaged in a cellophane bag with backboard and certificate of authenticity.

just in time for spring...

Finally after a busy week, I have been able to sit down and begin work on a new painting. It will be a series of three. The subject is dogwood tree blooms. We have a dogwood tree in our yard, and when it blooms in the Spring, I wish flowers could last all Summer.

I started cleaning out my closet in my studio room, and I stumbled upon some frames that I purchased awhile back. They are an ornate, silver metallic, painted wood frame set. The first frame is a series frame, which will hold all three of my dogwood paintings once finished. The other two I'm still uncertain of the type of flowers, but the paintings will definitely be floral. The frames are for our bedroom walls.  It seems like I never get around to working on anything for "us" so, I'm finally doing something that we can use and that will decorate our home.

Below are a few photos of my painting in progress. I had to wait for some dry time, so I figured while I waited, I'd post a few pics and write a blog entry.