About My House Dreams

I have always been fascinated by Miniatures... both in the Dollhouse world (see my other blog) and in the world of Miniature Medieval paintings.... so it is no wonder that the majority of my paintings are TINY! Executed in tiny books...(see the above picture) on scraps of paper.... even paintings for the dollhouses.... the average size has been about two inches square. The exception being my annual Christmas card which fills an 8 1/2 by 11 inches with Tiny illustrations. So it was really rather accidental that I started painting on a larger scale. It happened because I bought an unfinished wooden cabinet for my kitchen of my former house. I had been looking for a large hutch and found one that just needed painting. I had never painted furniture before.... so I jumped in and painted it Black on the outside. When that was done I decided it needed a red interior .... and perhaps some red detailing of the exterior trims.... and then maybe I should paint the date on it somewhere like they used to on antique hope chests..... Oh, and maybe I could paint some vines on it..... and some Roses.... and and .... and... before I knew it I was painting the whole cabinet in Flora and Fauna both Real and Mythical! I got a bit carried away!

Here is a picture of the hutch in my Old farmhouse kitchen.

This is it in my new house... squeezed into a corner where you can hardly see the details! I have had to go through all my old photos to find good pictures of the details to show you....

The side panels host a Heron in a small pond on one side........

Along with hollyhocks and bees......

And butterflies amongst the Thalictrum.....

And on the other side..... Foxgloves, Delphiniums and Roses....

and a Faun playing his pipes amongst the Violets and Columbine.......

And a rare native Lady's Slipper Orchid......

And on the inside there are some mischievous mice.....
Hiding in the teacups...... I know my painted one doesn't look very real...
but it was the first time I had tried any trompe l'oeil painting....!

And hidden in the leaves at the base are some elvish pixies......

And Flower Blossom Fairies.....

And more little mice...... amongst the roses......

It was such a revelation to me that I was painting the same images on both my Miniatures and the larger furnishings.... the only difference was in the Scale! And then I thought...

Why stop at the edges of the Furniture????

And so I started painting the clouds on the ceiling......

here in a room all of sky with a bed of Painted Roses......

And started a forest going up my stairway.......

But always wanting the Details to be as precise as when I painted the miniatures.....

Which takes Forever.....

I painted lots of other furniture....

experimenting and playing with the three dimensional nature of the "Ground" but always wanting it to be a Garden......

I did a series of chairs representing the seasons.......
Here I am working on the "Winter" chair.....

A detail... nuthatch and grapevines....

And more details.... milkweed pods....

Queen Anne's Lace seedheads..... Holly.... Snow....

Close-up of the Beech leaves that cling to the trees all winter......

This is an overview of the "Autumn" chair.....

A closer view of the seat.....

You can faintly see the spider's web spun across the middle......
(remember to poke the pictures to enlarge them)

More detail of the Goldenrod going to seed....
Rose hips.... Japanese Beetle....

And this is the "Summer" chair......

a Riot of Garden bloom....!

Details of the Roses and Queen Anne's Lace.....

Foxgloves on the Back spindles......

And Delphiniums too.....

While most of the furniture was commissioned work...

I painted a few pieces for myself.....
So I still have them...
And I could Please only myself......
And cover them with Exotic Naked Angels if I wished.......
This is my desk.....!

Did I mention that I ADORE BLUE?

Here is a closer view of this Angel.....
Not your ordinary angel.......

And another one on the side panel of the desk......

Here is a closer view.....

The other side features a more ordinary Garden selection......

Birds and butterflies in the Honeysuckle and Roses......

I LOVE to paint on richly colored grounds.....

playing off the contrasting colors.......
and the subtle variants of blue on blue......

As with the Campanulas above...

and the Delphiniums here....

And playing with the three dimensions...

wrapping the Roses around to the interior too....

And hiding secret Trompe l'oeil treasures within......

such as this key on the inside of the door.....

It's the "Key to Happiness"... don't you know...?

And always returning to the littlest details.....

The stamens of the Honeysuckle blossoms....

The falling petals of the poppies......

The tiny hairs on the bent stem of the almost open bloom.....

The buttercup.....
the grasshopper......

Even a Firefly glowing on a rose leaf....

not that you can see the glow very well.... but just wait til dusk......!

I just wish I could paint the scent of Roses.......

Painted Furniture

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In Worship of the Humble Crocus

The Winter that never really came is Gone!
Spring has Arrived with Such uncommon Vigor that it has taken Me by surprise!
I am Almost not ready!
On the First of March, we had eight inches of snow on the ground. On the eighth of March we had one inch of snow lingering in patches and hiding in shadows. The temperature had dipped briefly to 6 degrees F somewhere in between the arrival of the snow and its departure. Was THAT Winter?
It seems so!
This week it has been so HOT, temperatures in the 70's F every day!
My Garden is ready to be swept of last years dead leaves... a task we usually don't dare start until April... as the old leaves are a blanket for the tender plants in the cold weather.
Last weekend I bravely uncovered a few of the corners where I knew the crocus would emerge.... where they already WERE poking from the earth!

I LOVE the way the garden looks at the very beginning of Spring... all flat and Brown and empty.... with only the Bones showing.... the shrubs and stems and hard paving....

And the few brave bulbs sending up their leaves and stalks...

And if you look closely you can see the crocus huddled in the corner by the porch foundation...

Bare Rose canes and Clematis vines......

Hard to imagine the Color they will display so soon.....

And the crocus! So brave! So Beautiful! So Early!

And a closer view of the clump in the corner.....

I planted these close to the foundation knowing that they would bloom early there even on a harsh winter.... giving me HOPE for Spring..... when often it is still a long time away!