A lobster shack is a humble, oftentimes rough-and-tumble establishment located close to the water which serves fresh-cooked lobster and often a variety of other seafood. Lobster shacks offer no-frills dining with a sea view and food that was pulled from the sea just hours before it lands on your plate. They’re an essential part of […]
Category: Watercolor
To Know ME is to Love ME
To know ME is to love ME. (ME as in the state of MAINE, that is!) The Schoodic Peninsula, Winterport, Maine Ah, Maine! That dreamy place where I cast aside all my cares, to-do lists, and obligations and just relax and absorb the wonder of it all. Merryspring Gardens, Camden, Maine We just returned from […]
Painting a Bird’s Nest
My friend Teresa is hosting a garden party in a few weeks. Her gardens are filled with old-fashioned roses, lush perennials, and towering trees. Picket fences, birdhouses, and quirky garden sculptures act as accents, and a beautiful greenhouse built from recycled materials sits in the middle of it all. This won’t be just any garden […]
Looking Back
My husband tossed a key on the kitchen counter and said, “I guess we don’t need this anymore.” It was a key for Summerhill, our hilltop home for the past twenty-two years. I picked it up, and a flood of memories washed over me. Sunrises and sunsets, summer evenings on the porch, birthday parties, Christmas […]
Biding Their Time…
Do you remember the beautiful gardens I had at Summerhill? I do. I’m reminded of them every day when I look out the windows of our new house and see nothing but a sea of mud in every direction. The contrast to the views I had last spring is hard to ignore. I remember the […]
Daffodil Days
After a long winter that seemed like it would never end, I had a chance to welcome spring this week at Joe Hamm’s Daffodil Hortus, a daffodil farm set amidst the rolling hills of Washington County, PA. I met up with some of the Summerhill Sketchers for a garden tour and painting session. (Yes, we’re […]
New Lesson! How to Make Floral Monograms & Cards
I’m excited to announce that my new lesson on making floral monograms is finally READY! It’s taken me weeks to put this together for you. What started as a brief tutorial turned into a 41-page package filled with step-by-step instruction, actionable information, and creative inspiration. It’s a one-of-a-kind resource you won’t find anywhere else. This […]
Floral Watercolor Monograms – Part 2
In my last post, I showed you the floral monograms and cards I made for my sister and mother for Christmas. For the past several days, I’ve been putting together a tutorial for you about the process I used to create the monograms and print the cards at home. I’ve taken pictures, scanned images, edited […]
Floral Watercolor Monograms – Part 1
We all know the challenge of trying to find a gift for the person who has everything. How do you find something that’s personal, useful, beautiful, and/or different from anything they already have? Well, here’s a great idea that I came up with for my mother and sister this past Christmas. This project was inspired […]
Step-by-Step Watercolor: Blackwater River Sketch
It was the final afternoon of my painting getaway at Canaan Valley and I had gone for a short hike with my friends Jane and Elaine to stretch our legs and grab one final sketch before the sun set. We found a beautiful spot beside the river, quickly set up our stools, and got out our art gear.
