Pansies and "Tea Cup Flowers"

Welcome.  I am so happy that you stopped by.  My garden gate is always open for you to come in and relax with a cup of tea while I share with you the inspirations for my art. Pansies and Violas are very special to me and remind me of the "tea cup flowers" my sister and I planted as children.  Our Mother  taught us how to plant bulbs and Pansies/ Violas in mismatched or chipped  tea cups that she saved for us to use for planting. Every day we could not wait to stand on a stool to watch them grow on the kitchen window sill.  This year I decided to plant Pansies in old chipped tea cups and try painting them.

Let's join Bentley, my Studio Assistant, in the garden to look for Violas and Pansies.

This year I planted Pansies in the old rusty funnels and love they way they turned out.

Chipped tea cups make wonderful containers for plants and remind me of the "tea cup flowers" my sister and I used to plant when we were children.

                       It makes me happy to see my "tea cup flowers" blooming . 

I am in my studio painting Pansies and Violas and will share some of the finished paintings with you next week.

Thank you for stopping by.  I love hearing from you and sincerely appreciate your visits, e-mails, comments and those following my blog.

Have  lovely week.   Blessings, Erin

"When they call to me, I will answer them . .. I will rescue them and honor them."  Psalm 91:15

Daffodil, Geranium and Pansy Inspirations

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.  The Daffodils are blooming and are so inexpensive and easy to find in the markets this time of the year that I only plant a few pots to have to paint and purchase most of the cut ones at the market.

Let's join Bentley, my Studio Assistant, in the garden to look for inspirations for a new painting.

                        I love the color combinations of the red, yellow and purple.

                    The old vintage mirror in the garden reflecting the flowers on the table.

                    I brought the plants inside to paint in the studio since it is starting to sprinkle outside.

Thank you for stopping by.  I sincerely appreciate your visits, e-mails, comments and those following my blog.

Have a lovely week.   Blessings,  Erin

                  "This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."  Psalm  118:24

Grow Your Blog Party 2015 Winner

Welcome. I am so happy that you stopped by for a  cup of tea.  It was so much fun and such a pleasure participating in Vicki's Grow Your Blog Party this year and getting to meet and visit so many new faces and beautiful blogs as well as sharing information about myself with my readers and followers as well as new readers and followers.Thank you to everyone who left such nice comments and entered the drawing - I wish I had a prize for each one of you.

The winner of the pink bicycle is Jean Tuthill of A Romantic County Home www.aromanticcountryhome.blogspot.com.  Jean please email me your address so I can mail you your painting at erinsart@ca.rr.com.

The Roses in the painting were inspired by the Our Lady of Guadalupe Roses in my front yard - the photos were taken last Spring when they were in full bloom.

A very special thank you goes to Thearica Burroughs from the amazing blog Stitch and Quilt www.stitchandquilt.com who donated her beautiful hand made quilt -  "Fight Loud - Fight Proud"  (she named it after the bright colors in the batik fabric) to be used to raise money to find a cure for breast cancer at the annual Team Think Pink fundraiser that I am involved with.  I donate my "pink" art  during Breast Cancer Awareness month to Team Think Pink (a non-profit) to help raise money to find a cure and 100% of the funds they raise are donated to the Susan Komen Foundation. Thearica read about the fundraiser on my GYB party blog post and reached out to me and donated her quilt.

The words "Fight Like A Girl" are embroidered in the pink heart on the quilt.The quilt is lined in black and is exquisitely stitched by Thearica.  You can see more of her lovely stitch and quilt art on her blog at www.stitchandquilt.com

Thank you to Vicki  of 2 Bags Full for hosting the 3rd annual Grow Your Blog 

Party.  Vicki has a wonderful blog where she shares her beautiful knitting, gardens that her husband tends,writes about her fabulous travels and shares amazing photographs, as well as hosts various philanthropic gathering on her blog over at vicki-2bagsfull.blogspot.com. 

Thank you for stopping by.  I love hearing from you and sincerely appreciate your visits, e-mails, comments and those following my blog. We are having unusually warm weather in Southern California and the Spring bulbs and flowers are starting to bloom early.

Have a lovely week.  Blessings,  Erin

"May he grant you your heart's desire, and fulfill all your plans."  Psalm  20:4

Behind the Picket Fence

Welcome.  Today we are leaving my garden and I am taking you with me to BEHIND THE PICKET FENCE a delightful and charming Vintage and Handmade Marketplace in Costa Mesa, CA to look for vintage treasurers for my garden.

My friend Marilyn and I got there early and yes it is true at flea markets - the early bird gets the worm.  The first thing I saw was this wonderful old metal cart with the flowers sign.  The vendor, Ruffles and Lace, had some fabulous rusty garden items and I did not hesitate to make an offer as I knew the charming cart would sell quickly. 

                        This delightful sign set the tone for the marketplace and we were off and running after my first purchase of the day.

The old set of drawers were perfect to plant Succulents in and was very tempting! Great idea for the garden.

                          This sign kind of sums up how I feel about  using old treasurers in my garden. Marilyn found a fabulous old metal plant stand for her garden at a great price.  She is a photographer and was looking for props for her photography and with so many treasures we kept forgetting what we originally came to buy!

Far Away Hood was a fun shop run by a charming Mother and Daughter team who were using  power tools like pros making charming signs to order.

You could buy already made signs or pick out an old piece of painted barn wood in all sizes along with cuts outs made out of old metal and these talented ladies would make your custom sign on the spot.

Just a few of the many metal cut outs available - really something for everyone!

Marilyn had them make a custom Jardin sign with a dragon fly - by now she was beginning to get hooked on this "junking" thing.

Some of the cute custom signs. I could not resist buying one of the metal bicycles, a dragon fly, heart, and oh - did I say a flower - I love rusty metal and could not resist even though I had to budget my money since I spent most of it on the metal cart first thing in the morning!

 

                                   Another adorable shop in a vintage travel trailer.

                                        Petticoats and Parasols - how adorable!

                            Lots of vintage items. The tricycle would be fun in a garden.

Marilyn found a wonderful old wood box with chippy yellow patina to us as a light box for her photography and I forgot to take a photo of it for you. With so much eye candy we were in junk heaven!

Thank you Jennifer and to all the fabulous vendors for putting on this amazing Market Place. I can't wait until their next show. Behind The Picket Fence is on Facebook and Instagram - for future show information or information about contacting any of the vendors please call Jennifer at 714 486-8049.  

Thank you for stopping by and welcome to my new followers.  I sincerely appreciate your visits - e-mails, comments and those following my blog.

Have a lovely week. Blessings, Erin

The Grow Your Blog winner of the pink French bicycle will be announced on February 15th.

                        "May mercy, peace, and love be yours in abundance".    Jude 1:2