Happy Easter!

Do-It-Yourself Decorating 

Easter Garden

May this Easter be a blessed time for all my dear readers! This little garden is a perfect reminder of the significance of Easter. And it was easy to make at home! It started with spray painting a little clay pot gray. Then we turned it on its side in a flat plastic pan and heaped potting soil all around. The crosses were made from little sticks broken and glued together, stuck into a piece of florist's foam behind the pot. Teasing out green moss to cover the dirt was a challenge. A small piece of white fabric for the grave clothes and a round stone rolled away from the tomb finished it off. It reminds us of the wonderful proclamation that first Easter Sunday:

 

“Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus Who was crucified. 

He is not here;

for He is risen, as He said.

Come, see the place where the Lord lay."

Matthew 28:5-6

Spring Bridge

Artist's Gallery

Spring Run Wild

 My last greeting card is another cheery spring scene. It was one of those leftover paint jobs as well--definitely blue and white run wild! I used a number of scrubby brush strokes to create all the trees, and used such brilliant oranges, yellows, and purples that I had to tone it down with white. At first it seemed it was going to be a fall scene, but I decided to make those brilliant colors into buds instead of leaves. And then the seeming blobs of red and blue in the grass are nice suggestions of tulips and hyacinths. The little white bridge and bench seem to add a personal touch--a much-needed calming effect. This would be perfect for any spring birthday or anniversary.

Birdhouse Card

Artist's Gallery

Bird Bath, Bird House

Pleased with my success on the first try, I attempted another painted card for a second pen friend. This one was a blue and yellow scene. After sketching in a brilliant blue sky and animated grasses, I nestled forget-me-nots into the greenery. I loaded the brush with various shades of brown to get the wood-grain look of the birdhouse, and then used a blend of the same browns for the fountain. It was fun to paint the water in the fountain, although it ended up looking more like an overflowing bucket of paint!

The birds were a bit difficult, but came out decently enough, though I've never actually seen any completely yellow birds! On this one, I used the same yellow paint to write my pen friend's name (rather than calligraphy pen), and then added color-coordinated plastic hearts again. I really like the free-handed look of the painting, with so many different colors each remaining a bit distinct. And best of all, it was so much fun to create!

 

Waterfall Card

Artist's Gallery

Spring Waterfall

Tired of painting greeting cards, I began to look for other ways to create a gift from a painting. The waterfall above was part of a sort of greeting card/postcard combination for one of my pen friends. For this one, I chose a sort of mottled, parchment-look card stock that I wanted to show through on the finished painting. I started with a pile of rocks and ran a waterfall down the front. Then I searched a flower seed catalog for suitable flowers to surround it. I don't know if the blossoms I used are actually a real type of flower, but they do look like trilliums turned pink and yellow. Once that was all dry, I used a calligraphy pen to write my pen pal's name in fancy lettering, and added a couple thin plastic hearts as embellishments. I was really pleased with it! It made a lovely gift one step up from a greeting card.

Cosmos Card

Artist's Gallery

Summer Farm

Now we move into summertime with another cheerful scene. The corn is tasseling and the summer flowers are in peak bloom. This scene came straight from my front yard, with the old barn and silos in the background. I used a liquid acrylic wash to paint the sky, grass, and barns and let it all dry. Then I used thick paint straight from the tube to create the bright spots of color in the foreground. This painting was a greeting card, but looks almost identical to a framed painting I had done a while before called "Summer Afternoon." You can check it out here. They're both the same size but I think this one has brighter colors.

Wind in the Trees

Artist's Gallery

Another Birthday Card

In keeping with our spring theme, here is another flowery, warm greeting card. It comes across almost as one of those flowing impressionist styles, you know, like Van Gogh's Starry Night. Of course, this achievement is, as usual, an accident. I started out by whisking some trees onto a blank card with paint left over from another project. Then I attempted to paint blue sky around the trees (never a good idea) and came out with the trees looking like cloud-covered mountain peaks. The bench emerged a bit lopsided and had to be covered by a scrub brush's generous dose of dabbed flowers. Incidentally, I adore those scrubby flowers - they are so easy and come in every color combination. I turned the card over to my mom to send for her sister's birthday; she tactfully suggested I add the straw hat for a personal touch. That really helped, and I am reasonably satisfied with the results.

Garden Rabbit

Artist's Gallery

Mmm, These Greens Are Good For Lunch . . .

Here's another adventure in the garden! This card was for the birthday of my pen friend from Georgia. She had a garden and liked animals so I think it was a hit. I used colored pencils for this greeting card, and made it up as I went along. The rabbit looks more like a stuffed bunny than a wild cottontail, but I think the plants came out pretty realistic. It was fun to add the gardening tools around the outside, although the scale and proportions do not match at all. I would love to have a garden with this much cabbage and broccoli (minus the rabbit), but I doubt that it will ever happen.

Spring Bird

Artist's Gallery

Birthday Bird

It seems that spring is finally here in the Midwest! Let's celebrate with a bright garden picture. I painted this greeting card a couple years ago for my grandma's birthday. She loves flowers. I think I just did the whole painting from my head. I like the blend of yellow and orange on the tulips. And the yellow and red blended in on the green leaves. I just dabbed the paintbrush in several colors at once and painted it all in one stroke. Then when everything was dry I put in the detailed bird and gloves. It was really fun to paint! I wrote a birthday poem for the inside; of course, now I can't remember it.

Possum Creek Metro Park

Ohio History

Lake View

Well, that's enough history for one morning. It was time to find a quiet spot for a picnic lunch. There was no better place than Possum Creek Metro Park, nestled in the heart of Dayton. Yes I did say Possum Creek, maybe not a picturesque resort, but certainly a nice peaceful lake and a pavilion! This park is part of the Dayton Metro Park system, and was thus beautiful and well cared for. There were probably a few hiking trails around the lake and through the woods as well.

The most interesting thing to me, however, was inspecting the neighboring farm and, more specifically, the chicken tractor. Yes, a chicken house on wheels, right off the page from the poultry books! It had exterior-opening nest boxes on the side, an access ramp leading up to a little door that could be closed at night, and I believe an electric fence to contain the chickens. It could be moved periodically to give the poultry new grass and/or prevent the decimation of a given patch of field. Did you spot the chickens in the photo? Yes, they are all hiding under the tractor . . . they don't seem to appreciate the new grass very much.

Dayton Chicken Tractor