Tinsel Santa

 

For several years now, I have explored Diamine's Inkvent Calendar as Christmas approaches.  It is a treat to use glass dip pens and sparkling new ink to create the magic of Christmas!  I've got the 2025 one on order, and I can't wait to open each little door containing the gift of a new ink!  Come see this miniature Santa Claus painting in person, now showing at Powell Gardens!  Painting number 4707 in 4707 days. 

Chapel in the Snow

 

The chapel at Powell Gardens is such a peaceful place to visit and paint. The walking trail that meanders to this place is lovely, with many painting spots along the way.  Winter is just a breath away, and the snow only makes this place more beautiful. This is painting number 4701 in 4701 days. Now Showing at the gallery in the visitor center. 

Swallowtail and Pumpkin

 

Butterflies and pumpkins are showing for a few more days at Powell Gardens. The butterflies have been plentiful in my garden, so I sketched as I waited for another to fly by.  Then, I would capture their form and color as fast as I could before they moved on to a new bloom.  The mums and cosmos keep them coming, but it's only a matter of time before a frost comes our way.  I am working on new paintings to go into their gallery space next week, so come see them for the holidays! Painting number 4684 in 4684 days. 

Pumpkin Chick Mini

 

There's always time for a quick sketch with the chickens!  I've introduced a few pumpkins to the girl's run, and they don't quite know what to think!  Little Beans kept popping her head in, as if trying to figure out what I'm doing.  She's very nosy - and sassy - so she draws my eye quite frequently.  It's so fun to spend time with them, whether sketching them or holding them, rubbing their backs!  This painting is Now Showing at Powell Gardens and is my 4646th painting in 4646 days. 

Goats and Sunflowers

These sweet young goats are irresistible as they help clean up various areas on the farm, and I am enjoying them so much!  They have the funniest calls whenever they see me - or any other person who might feed them. I toss weeds in, and they love them! The bonus is that I don't have to take them to the burn pile.  I want to paint them near the barns, too.  I can already see the paintings in my head, if I can just get to them!  This one is now showing at Powell Gardens until November, and is painting number 4644 in 4644 days. 

Sunflower Butterfly Impressions

We have some amazing Red spotted purple butterflies in the garden today, and I captured one in paint as it flew by!  I used my Artistic License to bump the color, to push the butterfly forward a bit.  I look forward to painting sunflowers all year long, and it's a joy to lay on that heavy paint!  This painting is now showing at Powell Gardens and is painting number 4641 in 4641 days. 

Sunflower Swallowtail

 

The garden is the perfect place for painting sunny blooms and butterflies! I've had so many butterflies in the garden lately, and these wild sunflowers are a magnet for all the pollinators.  I only wish they'd stay put a little longer, so I could study their marks.  This rainy day sure opened up to clear blue skies.  This painting is number 4634 in 4634 days, and is headed for Powell Gardens next Tuesday. 

Monarch and Sunflowers

 

I don't think I shared this painting, and it already has a new home!  I have enjoyed seeing and painting the flurry of monarchs that have arrived. With so many chores to be done in the garden, I really treasure the moments I can actually paint what I've been tending!  This painting was briefly on display at Powell Gardens and is number 4630 in 4630 days, and now I'm getting ready for the first Chiefs game of the season!  

Sunflower in August with Monarch

 

As I work in the garden, I listen to gardening podcasts that cover all things garden related.  I've heard in the last few years of the drop in numbers of the monarchs.  I was amazed, because we had so many around the flowers, and we leave stands of milkweed in the pastures.  Well, this year, I have noticed a drop in numbers.  I live out in the country with plenty of open land and native plants, so I felt like our numbers would never drop. I'm thrilled each time I see one, and I try to do a quick painting in the moment.  Perhaps they are a little late this year, one can only hope they are on their way! I just dropped this painting off at Powell Gardens!  Come see this and more when you visit this beautiful place! Painting number 4601 in 4601 days. 

Crossandra and Butterfly

This painting is now showing with six others at Powell Gardens for the Butterfly Festival!  I hope you can come see this one in person and join in the fun! As an avid gardener, I am drawn to butterflies and flowers naturally.  If I'm not tending them in the garden, I am painting them - and sharing the beauty with all those around me.  This has been an amazing bloom season that just keeps going strong. I noticed just this morning that my tulip tree has started blooming again, too!! This painting is number 4579 in 4579 days. 

Fountain Impressions

 

It was a lovely afternoon to paint the splash fountain at Powell Gardens for Summit Art Plein Air!  I love painting here, and have never before seen  the splash pad running!  The streams remind me of the Nichols fountain when on full blast.  I only wish I'd had time to stay and paint all day!  Painting number in days. 

#artistlife #pleinairpainting #summitart #summitartpleinair #gardeninspiration #powellgardens #fountainpainting

Phlox and Swallowtail

 

There's always time for a quick sketch in my garden - especially when the phlox are in their glory!  All of our recent rain has pumped up the vibrancy on these lovelies.  My very first start was from Grandma Bessie's house on Olive, many years ago.  I've planted them all over the property through the years, and now, their heavenly fragrance fills the air, and brings back memories.  Those are the very best flowers to surround oneself with. This one is headed to Powell Gardens for the Butterfly Festival and is painting number 5093 in 5093 days. 

Missouri Barn and Silo

It was so fun painting the Missouri Barn and Silo at Powell Gardens!  I couldn't resist the challenge of all those geometric shapes, so I sketched them in ink and filled them with watercolor!  The closest beds were zinnias and Lantana, all freshly planted.  In a few short weeks this place will be in full bloom, and I hope to return to see the glory.  Painting number 3780 in 3780 days. 

To the Children's Garden

It was a perfect day to paint the entrance to the Children's Garden at Powell Gardens!  I loved talking art with the children walking by, and listening to their laughter while they played.  There was a piano in the other side of this entrance, and the notes wafted through the air.  I remember my own children play notes on our piano, one that has been in my family four generations.  Now, the grandbabies pick out notes, and I always love the sound of it.  This place was such a peaceful place to paint, and a place is wonder for all the children.  Painting number 3779 in 3779 days. 

Dock at Powell Gardens

 

I loved painting this special dock across the lake at Powell Gardens - a May wedding memory for a lovely couple today.  It has been so many years since I've been in this garden - I hardly recognized the place.  I don't remember this dock at all, but i hear it is spectacular when the daylilies are blooming.  I'm happy the flag iris were beginning to bloom along the bank for this one! Beautiful plein air day for Summit Art!  Painting number 3778 in 3778 days.

Lily in the Pond

I have wanted to try my hand at painting water lilies for years!  The lilies at Powell Gardens are so beautiful this year - I knew this was my chance!  Working from a wonderful photo I took at the paint-out, I set out with my oils on a small panel.  (With company here most of the day - small is all I could work in tonight!)  I actually had fun painting this - and I have always been intimidated by these little beauties!  I will be painting another landscape with a broader scope of the pond one day soon.  I couldn't get the blues to show true in this nighttime photo - so I will try to take one during the daylight hours tomorrow.  This is painting number 184 in as many days.  Now, I'm going to go out and watch some more fireworks!  That's the great thing about living in the country - 4th of July is a non-stop week of fireworks displays each night :)

Lily on the Pond
Oil on panel, 6x6
Powell Gardens Lily Pond

Nature Trail Pond

Nature Trail Pond
Powell Gardens
Kingsville, Missouri

This peaceful setting is in Kingsville, Missouri at Powell Gardens.  There is a nature trail - called the Byron Shutz - that takes you right past this pond and around the skirt of the whole property.  On such a warm and windy June day, this little place of solace was out of the hustle and bustle of the normal garden traffic.  I just love the landscapes that take me back to my childhood.  Visiting my great uncle's farm in Adrian, Missouri and my weekly trips to visit my dearest Grandma Frank -were places of pastures, woods and ponds.  I still love this time of year when the frogs are popping out, and their sweet music is lulling me to sleep each night.  Such is life in the country, and I don't think I could ever go back to the suburbs.  This is painting number 178 in 178 days.  Now it is time for a nice glass of wine :)