Etsy Front Page Treasury List!

I am in shock. I got a little message from Sara saying that I made it to the front page of Etsy today. Of course they change quickly so when I went back to look again it was a different front page but here is the Treasury List that made it there:
 View an Etsy Front Page Treasury List - The Vault on Craft Cult

It is interesting that the image that "WhiteOwl" selected just happens to be the top favorite of all my paintings! I am chuffed as they say across the pond!

Addictions (Updated)

I would be remiss if I ignored my recent re-entry into the knitting world. It all started at Christmas when Santa brought me a set of circular knitting looms. I went a little crazy making hats. It is surprisingly easy and fast. I can make a hat on one of those in a little over an hour and the come out really nice. Needless to say our grandkids got a lot of hats recently. But then I decided I needed to branch out a bit. I have known how to knit since I was a kid but had some big gaps in my knitting history. Plus, I was never very confident about what I made and had a hard time figuring out certain aspects. Enter the internet. And YouTube. And most of all Staci Perry and her brilliant website VeryPink with her great knitting tutorials. I now feel like I can knit anything. Trouble is it's addictive. Very addictive. So addictive that its nearly all I want to do. I even dream about knitting. But the good thing is that I am actually making things that are turning out! Amazing. I just finished a sweater for Don which actually fits him. And it isn't even ugly!

    

So, just in time for a new project (not that I don't already have lots of yarn in my stash) my order of Malabrigo Rios (Zarzamora color way) arrived today.  Take a look: 

I bought one hank of this luscious stuff at a local yarn shop JUST BECAUSE. I took it home and gazed at it not knowing what I wanted to do with it but thought maybe some socks. I knitted up a swatch and fell in love. I tried to resist but it was useless. I had to make myself a sweater out of this that contains all of my favorite colors. So I went online to see if I could find it cheaper and I ended up ordering more. I can't wait to start on it. Trouble is I need to wind it into 'cakes' first. I hope Don's arms aren't too tired tonight because I do not yet own a swift or a ball winder. *hint hint*

The other thing about knitting that I am thrilled about is that it is very relaxing and almost like therapy. Which I may need if I can't stop knitting. 

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there. I hope you ll have a great day!

And if you find that you are not busy this evening come on over and join us at the first Etsy Conversations Listening Party on USTREAM. Angela Holden (AngelaHoldenDesign) and John Ballou (from JackBearStamps) and I will be there talking about Etsy and you will get to hear all about John's shop. I'm looking forward to hearing about John's stamps and hope to see some friends there on chat.

Feast or Famine

I seem to be painting in waves here. No pun intended. Here are two more that were completed yesterday and luckily Don was in the mood to shoot them last night.

"Summer Storm" Watercolor on Arches 140# CP (11x17)

"Summer Storm" is inspired by another image from our 2007 trip to England. Same road as Greener Pastures. The trees behind the barn were not planned but as is often the case with watercolor, you get happy accidents. At first I was upset that my sky appeared to be marred when the green field bled into it but now I like it.

"California Edge" (Title pending)

If I'm going to be honest I have to tell you that this one started out a lot larger. I intended it to have Bixby Bridge on the left but for some reason it was distracting and didn't seem to fit with the natural coastline and led the eye away from the water and cliffs. Funny thing, that. The bridge IS awesome though. We will always refer to it as the "Bronson Bridge" because it was used in the ancient and short-lived TV series Then Came Bronson starring Michael Parks in which he drove his motorcycle across it in the opening credits. It's located on the Big Sur highway and is quite impressive—just not so much in my painting.

I'm a little behind in listing new work but these will also be added to my Etsy shop.

New works

We are back from our wonderful trip to Yosemite and Bodega Bay. It was much too short but we had a great time anyway. I found it gratifying to show off our favorite places to someone who'd never been there. Yosemite is truly California's best National Park and in my eyes all others pale in comparison.  My brain it loaded with new inspiration for paintings but I have not started those yet.

For now I would like to show you the paintings I have been working on for a couple of weeks. They are all unrelated subjects but they've all been fun for me to work on.

This one was a lesson in light for me. I wanted to show the warm glow in contrast to the darkening evening. The castle is also significant as it is Tulloch Castle in Scotland. Our daughter is now a Tulloch and she and her husband actually spent the night at this particular castle on a trip to Scotland a few years ago so I thought it would be fun to paint this. The title is still pending but I'm thinking it will probably be "Castle Moonrise". Suggestions are always welcome though.

The next one is of another favorite place. The path through the trees leading to Pfeiffer Beach in Big Sur is something of a delight when you finally make it through the long winding (and somewhat hidden) road off the main highway. There is no indication of what lies ahead when you first make that turn—if you are lucky enough to know where to turn. Once you get to the parking lot you walk a ways through the arching cypress trees which have been bent and beaten by the relentless wind and are rewarded by the expansive beach and massive rocks. I will paint THAT later.

Not sure what to call this yet. "To the beach"? " … "Almost There"… "Secret Path"?  Again, suggestions are welcome. 

And finally a new one of our local haunt La Jolla Shores. I think this one will be called "Shorebird Convention".  I am hoping this one might become a card as well.

That's it for now. I will be listing these on Etsy this week. Thanks for stopping by and supporting my work. I appreciate it more than you know.