Leaden Beauties

A collection of leaden beauties with a hint of green.

Visit some of these amazing artists from Etsy.

1. Polarity 2. AliciaBock 3. ChristineKaiser 4. Gretchenmist

5. Ottoman 6. charmfoundry 7. kariherer 8. royalbuffet

9. maryosmundsen 10. LuxuryMarleyProd 11. joepapendick 12. squidwool

13. dsbrennan 14. kathiroussel 15. ThePeachTree 16. goodliving

Peony

I clipped this beauty right before it stormed.

A good thing as we had such a deluge of rain.

The delicate petals are so fragile.

Most of my peonies are shades of pink.

They are so fragrant and lovely.

Retail Therapy

Everyone needs a little retail therapy now and then.

I do have a penchant for handbags and shoes.

However, if you've been following along, 

you know how much I love natural history.

I found these delightful specimen at a new home and garden shop in town.

A beautiful ruby red stag beetle and a red eyed mantid. 

They are perfectly encased in lucite and simply amazing to look at!

I can't get enough of my new little friends!

They will be a great reference for insect studies.

I had to show them to you!

Aren't they incredible?

Seedlings and Sprouts

Two new watercolor paintings in my series of jars.

Jar of Seedlings. Little Sprouts. A garden in a jar.

I love the stratum of dirt, rocks, and moss.

It reminds me of the book,

The Map That Changed the World by Simon Winchester, 

which tells the story of the birth of modern geology.

Click here to see more of my jars and cloches.

Are you a collector of curiosities and wonders?

What would you collect in a jar?

Modern Nature

Golly Bard + Polarity = Two NEW fabulous lockets!

This locket, called Rustic, features North Country Lamb & Spiral Fence

A whimsical combination that will look fabulous on ewe!

This locket, called Nature, features a Log and Hornet Moths.

Flora and fauna from the woods to take with you wherever you roam!

A modern look for the naturalist. I just adore these new additions.

It has been a wonderful collaboration working with Cat from Polarity!

Click here to view Polarity's Etsy Artist Series of lockets.

Spiraling

I'm back from my trip to New York City!

The National Stationery Show was a success!

While there, I stayed in my sister's apartment.

Her art deco style apartment building was financed by the 

Vanderbilt family at the turn of the 20th century and

has a fascinating history.

The building has the most amazing spiral staircases!

Each day I climbed up to the little tree house apartment on the top floor.

Needless to say, I had my share of exercise and it's great to be back home!

These are pictures of the stairs looking down and looking up. 

Looking over the edge makes me dizzy.

Honey

Meet my sweeter side: The Beehive Press.

As promised, pictures of my booth at the National Stationery Show!

I had such fun creating the whimsical little paper bees for the back wall.

I hung the stationery samples with miniature wooden clothespins.

It's a little bit of honey "beehive" style.

Tunnel Vision

A little tunnel vision.

Arrived in New York City yesterday!

Took this photo inside the Lincoln Tunnel.

Love the energy of this great city.

Such a contrast to our sleepy hamlet,

which we affectionately refer to as Walnut Grove.

(Little House on the Prairie reference)

Which reminds me of the book Little Stalker.

A hilarious read. Ah, but I digress. 

It's great to be back! 

Full of It

I feel like that song by The Ditty Bops:

Your Head's Too Big. It grows just like a balloon. 

I'm just a wee bit full of it today! All kidding aside, 

I am so full of gratitude and appreciation 

for two fabulous sisters, Heather and Susan,

who wrote such a charming article about me! 

These two super stylish women know how to live life to the fullest!

Read more about them as as they share their 

amazing designs and gab about Living the Good Life.

Side Show

I thought these images were fitting.

I'm getting ready for the National Stationery Show in New York City.

I'll be exhibiting my sweeter side, The Beehive Press.

This week has been a flurry of preparation and packing.

The curtain will go up on Sunday! I'm very excited.

Stay tuned for pictures from the show floor!

Little Seeds

I keep a small sketch book. I don't use it very often.

I like to turn back the pages every once and a while.

It helps me remember what I was thinking.

These are from a few years ago.

I find little seeds of ideas.

Some developed, some not.

I often make lists of words.

This page reads: hanging curtains, drapery, 

views, window panels, shades, obscured views, 

tented and covered, stage, patterns.

Papaver

My poppies are blooming!

One patch is blooming ahead of the other.

A little army of pods ready to burst.

The petals look like crinkled tissue paper.

So delicate, they only last a few days.

They color is just stunning. 

I had to share them with you.

Palm Beach Shells

As promised, some of my shell collection.

These shells are from Palm Beach, Florida.

The tiny orange ones are my favorite. 

They are hard to spot. You might find one a day.

They are are such a brilliant orange color.

I also love the shells with the plum striped patterns

and the texture of shells covered with barnacles.

I have such fond memories of my trips to Florida.

Shell Collector

Is it too early to be dreaming of summer vacations?

My favorite seaside activity is collecting shells.

I love combing the beach for tiny treasures.

One year, I only collected orange and purple shells.

I'm going to have to show them to you.

Maybe tomorrow.

Brush Collection

Tools of the trade.

All lined up and ready for work!

Mostly watercolor brushes, 

an awl and calligraphy nibs.

My favorite brush is the rigger.

I've trimmed off most of the hairs on one of them

to get an extra fine line.

Sneak Peek

I was invited to submit a picture of my studio to istudio,  
a project started by Etsy jewelry designers, Mod3rnArt.

This is just a sneak peek of my photograph. 

The behind the scenes pictures are so intriguing!

click here to visit istudio.

I have a tiny, tragically small, workspace in our cottage.

The truth is, I rarely work in one place.  

I sprawl onto every available surface. 

Including the dining room table.

This fairly neat girl makes a really big mess!

I often think of the painter, Alice Neel,

who worked in her tiny New York apartment.

She always cleaned up for company.

Pretty Green Planet

It has been pouring buckets of rain all weekend.

Everything is vibrant green in our corner of the universe.

I painted several of these fanciful, patterned worlds.

You can see more of them in my shop.

I think these patterns would be delicious on a set of dishes.

Don't you think?

Dogwood

My little Dogwood tree is blooming. It is the Virginia state flower.

I love watching the four petal blossoms unfurl.

I'm seeing some green drawings in my future.

Stay tuned.