Painting Sunflowers and A little Green Chair

Welcome.  I am so happy that you stopped by.  My garden gate is always open for you to come in and sit and relax with a cup of tea while I share with you the inspirations for my art.  My art is  inspired by God's beautiful creations and the simple and everyday beauty of flowers.  A bouquet of Sunflowers purchased from the market placed in an old rusty red watering can always makes  me smile.

                       Let's join Bentley, my Studio Assistant, to see what we can find to paint.


                                                                 Finding Inspiration . . . . . .

The cheerful Sunflowers in rusty red watering can are just waiting to be painted.

Here . . . . There . . . .

Everywhere . . . . .

I liked how the red watering can looked on the green chair and ended up painting them - added a little bird for an additional garden touch.

"Let your good spirit lead me on a level path." Psalm 143:10

Thank you for stopping by. I love hearing from you and sincerely appreciate and cherish your visits, comments, e-mails and those of you who follow my blog.  Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to me me paint something special.

Have a lovely week.  Blessings, Erin

Flags, Traditions and Memorial Day

Welcome.  I am so happy that you stoppped by.  My garden gate is always open for you to come in and sit and relax with a cup of tea while I share with you the inspirations for my art, garden, decorating and life in general.  Can you believe Memorial Day is almost here?  Growing up  in my family Memorial Day meant it was time to open my Grandparents beach cottage where we spent summers at Wrightsville Beach, N.C. . . raise the American flag . . . set up rockers and wicker furniture on the front porch and get ready for a glorous summer.

All of the children at the beach cottage had little tasks to help out and my favorite was setting the table and gathering little bunches of flowers and arranging them in a jelly glass.  My Grandmother kept miniature flags in a kitchen drawer to be used for special ocassions on Memorial day and Fourth of July . . . AND . . . . I still love picking tiny bunches of flowers and arranging them with little flags . . ,. AND I still love getting out my flags on Memorial day and leaving them out until Fall.

Let's join Bentely, my Studio Assistant, and we will show you our flags.

My vintage market basket is very seasonal - it is filled with Fall leaves or Christmas greenery or any number of things.

This year I decided to fill my vintage market basket  with flags.

Memorial Day for me means gettng out my flag pillows and using them until Fall.

This year I pared the flag pillows with the blue and white toile in my dining room and  love the contrast.

I also like paring the flag pillows with florals - guess I just plain ole like flags!!!

I hang a wooden vintage flag outside the living room window - you can just see a little of it in this photo. 

My guest room becomes "The Nantucket" room on Memorial Day with the adition of a few flags and a painting with a flag and will stay that way until I warm it back up with some golds and yellows in the Fall.

"For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvatin to all."  Titus 2:11

Even though Memorial Day is a time I  like to switch over to a more casual style filled with flags, whimsy and more color - I always  remember that Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day,  is a day of rememberences for those who died in our nation's service.  It is also a wonderful time to say thank you  to our  Service Men and Women who have given up so much to protect our freedoms both hear and abroad. 

THANK YOU.

Thank you for stopping by.  Wishing you and your family a Happy and Peaceful Memorial Day.

Blessings, Erin

Inspirations on Balboa Island

Welcome.  I am so happy that you stopped by.  My garden gate is always open for you to come in and sit and relax with a cup of tea while I share with you the inspirations for my art.  My garden is very often the inspiration for my art as well as the charming little island on the Newport Bay - Balboa Island. Today I want to share this charming island with you. I feel so fortunate to live just two miles from the island as it is a very special place for me -  that is where I got my start as a new artist about ten years ago when I started showing my work at the art walk.  Once a year there is a fabulous juried art walk featuring over 100 artists who show their art along the seawall on the bay. 

                                                       Balboa Island Art Walk -
                                                 http://www.balboaislandartwalk.info/

Above photo of my space taken several years ago before I was invited to show my art at the Heart of The Island Gallery.


                                     Photos of  the talented artists at the Art walk on the bay.

The Balboa Pavilion across the bay  is over 100 years old and is a landmark on the Newport Bay.  I often use it a a backdrop in my paintings.

The fairy boat takes you across from the island to the Newport Peninsular - I also use the Ferris wheel in the background of some of my paintings.

Some of my new paintings inspired by the island charm that are featured at The Heart of The Island Gallery.

 

I no longer participate in the art walk art show as my paintings are now at The Heart of The Island art gallery on the island - http://www.heartoftheisland.net/

 Let's take a little tour of the island.

Bentley' s favorite store on the island is The Barkery - a charming pet bakery and shop!

Parking is very tight on the island and little mini cars are popular means of transportation.

The yards are small and the sidewalk gardens are charming.

Love the blue and white plates hung over the door.

Thank you for stopping by.  I hope you enjoyed the little tour of Balboa Island where so much of the inspiration for my "Beach Cottage" art comes from.  I love hearing from you and sincerely appreciate your visits, e-mails, comments and those of you who follow my blog.  Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to see me paint something special.

                                                 Have a lovely week.  Blessings, Erin

                                        "To set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace".  Romans  8:6