Local Farm

Local Farm 2008
11 x 14
$450 with mat and frame

Local Farm is the real name of this Cornwall Connecticut Farm. My family visits every October for an apple pressing. I took many pictures in October 2007, including the two displayed below. (Jeff may have taken the one on the left.) In January, I took some cows from the photo on the right, and used the view of the barn from the photo on the left to help create this painting.

















Local farm is a wonderful place. As Debra Tyler puts it on the home page of their web site:

"Local Farm is a small raw milk dairy dedicated to providing fresh wholesome milk to our friends and neighbors in the Northwest Corner of Connecticut. Local Farm encourages developing a more intimate relationship with the food we eat, and backyard farming." Go to their web site at
http://www.rlocalfarm.com/ to find out more about their cows and the benefits of raw milk.


My family raises goats. It was my husband's idea. When there is a lot of work to be done they are "his" goats. I milk some of the time and so does Acacia. How I got wrangled in to milking "his" goats would be another rather long post. It is very nice having fresh somewhat organic raw goat milk to drink. We feed the milking goat organic grain, but she and the other goats eat hay that isn't organic, purchased from local farms. These "local farms" are not to be confused with Local Farm, but are just farms that happen to me near us. One of our goats is pregnant and due May 8. We also have chickens. The March 20 post shows a watercolor painting of Cha Cha, one of Jeff's original goats.

Our son, Leif, is six now. He has been drinking about a quart a day of goat milk for 4 - 5 years . He occasionally says "M-a-a-a--a-a", but is otherwise extremely strong and healthy. We sometimes make cheese and yogurt. I make LOTS of ice cream. I usually make a not very creamy, but super healthy and yummy vanilla ice cream using only: our raw goat milk, raw eggs from our chickens, maple syrup and vanilla. I just bought some maple syrup from our neighbor around the corner. If I could just grow some vanilla beans I'd be all set.


People often ask us if we live on a farm. Jeff has resolved the dilemma of answering that question by claiming the name Wanna BEE Farm for our homestead. (He will actually be getting honey bees next month.) Jeff was so proud of me when I started this blog last month. He must of thought, if Sharon can do it, it must be pretty easy. So now he has one too. http://wannabeefarm.blogspot.com/ He doesn't have any posts on it yet but there is a nice picture of him and the cat. He is too busy digging holes to plant more trees and preparing for his bees. He did find time to create a video and put it on Youtube, about milking a goat the Wanna BEE Farm way.

Hope you like the painting and now you know where to get your raw cow milk!

Western Tanager

Western Tanager 5 x 7

Sold

Giclee Print: $29.95

Reference photo by Elaine R. Wilson

April is bird month for me this year. I suspect that May and June and maybe the summer and fall may continue to be bird season! This is my first really obsessive series and I am enjoying it.

I finished this yesterday. Acacia (my 10 year old daughter and art critic), says that the orange should continue further down on his head. I am calling it done. Any birders want to put there two cents in? I may reconsider.

This is the third painting I have done using one of the Wilson's fabulous photos. Go to the More Hummingbirds post to see the link to their amazing web site. (Two posts ago.)

Coming soon: Rainbow Lorikeets

Barkhamsted Reservoir

Reflections

2007

11 x 14

Original Sold

Signed limited edition giclee prints:

11 x 14: $99 8 x 10: 65

Note cards: $2.50

The Gate House at the Barkhamsted Reservoir is on Lake McDonough. This may be the most often photographed and painted landmark in the area. I have seen many variations. I sold the above painting in 2008 at the New Hartford Festival of Arts and sold the below painting at the same festival in 2006. Both paintings were done using my own photographs.


Barkhamsted Reservoir
2005
12 x 16

Sold
Note card: $2.50

More hummingbirds

Just finished two more 5 x 7 hummingbird paintings. The top one is a male Costa's Hummingbird. I call him Pudgy. Reference photo by Alan Wilson.

Signed giclee print: $29.95
Note card: $2.50






The Broad-Billed Hummingbird doesn't have a name yet. He was the most challenging one yet to paint. I may like the photo better than my painting. Refence photo by Alan Wilson.


Both Photos come from an amazing web site by Alan and Elaine Wilson. They call it "Nature's Pics, A Guide To Amateur Bird And Wildlife Photography In Western North America". I have a hard time believing that they call themselves amateurs. They have hundreds of fabulous photos. Check them out at Nature's Pics. You are in for a treat.

These paintings are sold.

Hummingbirds

My paintings have been going to the birds lately! This is due in part to kind and generous photographers. Four very thoughtful men have allowed me to use their photos to paint these sweet birds.

I have completed four 5 x 7 hummingbird watercolors in the past week. I also have access to great photos for a Mountain Blue bird, Red Cross-bill, Western Tanager, Cardinal, more hummers, a pair of Rainbow Lorikeets and more! What fun!

The Rufous Hummingbird is the top one with orange and white. This photo is courtesy of William Zittrich. See his lovely photos at William's web site.

The Broad-tailed hummingbird with bright red on his throat is from a photo by James Ownby. Check out his marvelous photos at James Ownby.

Signed Giclee print: $29.95

This Anna's hummingbird is feeding on pollen from a California thistle. Reference photo courtesy of Chuck Peck of the Sierra Foothill Conservancy. Go to his web site and in addition to Chuck's beautiful photos you can see what looks to me like mating rattlesnakes. Sierra Foothills. Signed giclee print: $29.95

The bottom photo is a female Anna's Hummingbird feeding from a Crocosmia. The photo is courtesy of Matthew Field. I found it on Commons Wikimedia, a great web site that offers images and other media free for many uses. Visit Matt's web site for more great photos.

Thank you so much William, James, Chuck and Matt! I really appreciate your permission to paint from your photos. Maybe one day when I am a famous artist you will be recognized among those who helped and supported an unknown budding artist! (It can't hurt to be optimistic.)

These original paintings are sold. More birds coming soon!

Kayaking to a Commission

Loon Lake Camp

2006 Commission

18 x 24

My family and I took a vacation in the Adirondacks in July of 2006. Our friend let us use his camp on Loon Lake for a week. This is not a painting of his camp.

We spent many hours wandering around the lake in both kayaks and a borrowed Adirondack Guide boat. I usually had my trusty digital camera with me. Luckily my children were in the guide boat with Jeff when I stumbled upon this "camp".

There was a man sitting on the porch enjoying the lovely day. I thought his camp was beautiful and Jeff suggested I take a picture of it. Because I am obsessed with painting and therefore photos are only to be used as references and not entities in themselves, I wasn't going to take the picture. Then I got a great idea!

I kayaked up to the man and asked, "Would you like an original watercolor painting of your camp?" He said, "Yes". I just happened to have images of my paintings on my camera, so I clambered out of the boat and on to their deck and showed the man and his wife what my art work was like. About this time Jeff and the kids paddled away to another part of the lake.

Next, I got back in to my kayak and took about a half zillion photos of their camp from different angles and distances. The couple chose a photo and picked a size. I kayaked away with a check for half the painting. Pretty cool, huh? We are going back again this summer. I'll have to remember always to keep my camera and business cards in my boat!

I also took lots of photos of the Adirondacks when I wasn't in my boat. The painting below was originally called Adirondack Serenity but I shortened it to Serenity. The price includes the mat and frame.

Serenity

2007

16 x 20

$875