Folkloric

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie) — Fri, 15 Jul 2016 18:07:00 +0000

"Stargazer Lilies."
Get it?
Get it??
:)

A print of this painting
is now available in my shop!

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie) — Tue, 05 Jul 2016 14:00:00 +0000

Because sometimes
you just need the reminder
(especially these days).

A print of this illustration
is now available in my shop!

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie) — Wed, 29 Jun 2016 14:00:00 +0000

Fruit, fruit, fresh veg, more fruit, and a big ol' classic ice cream cone--
I don't know about you,
but this is pretty much what my menu looks like
for most of the summer!
Because when the produce is great
and the temperatures are hot,
what else do you need?

A print of this illustration
is now available in my shop.

Happy Summer!

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie) — Thu, 23 Jun 2016 14:00:00 +0000

"Keep a green tree in your heart,
and perhaps a singing bird will come."

A print of this painting
is now available in my shop!

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie) — Tue, 21 Jun 2016 14:00:00 +0000

I've been spotting
electric blue dragonflies/damselflies
in the garden lately,
and as soon as I saw them
I knew I'd have to find a way
to work them into a painting.

Paired with cheerful nasturtiums,
a bold lupine or two,
and some delicate rose geranium,
I think these garden visitors
are happy with their illustrated habitat.

You can find a print of this painting
now in my shop!

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie) — Mon, 13 Jun 2016 14:00:00 +0000

A wayside bouquet
seen on one of my walks
growing ecstatic and wild
and buzzing audibly with bumblebees.

A print of this painting
is now available in my shop!

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie) — Wed, 01 Jun 2016 14:00:00 +0000

A strong and bold lady Flicker,
looking out from her bower
of wild roses and blackberry blossoms.
She is a wildwood queen.

This painting is now available
as a print in my shop!

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie) — Tue, 24 May 2016 14:00:00 +0000

This painting was inspired
by the family of juncos
that have taken up residence
in the fuchsia basket
on our front porch.

When I first sketched the drawing
for this piece,
the two birds had scraps of grass and fluff
in their beaks,
caught in the middle
of building their new home,
and the nest was empty.
I struggled with the painting--
it just wasn't coming together--
so I set it aside for a few days,
unsure if it was worth finishing.
By the time I returned to it
I had discovered
the dearest,
most heartbreakingly tender
little clutch of eggs
in the real-life nest
on our porch,
and I knew what I needed to do
to complete the piece.

You can now find a print
of this painting in my shop!

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie) — Wed, 18 May 2016 14:00:00 +0000

We were given a bird box
as a housewarming gift last year,
and now this Spring
a couple of chickadees
have taken up residence in it!
I peeked in
and saw a nest
a little while ago,
so now I am
(trying to)
wait patiently
to see if baby birds
join the garden party.

This painting is now available
as a print in my shop!

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie) — Thu, 12 May 2016 14:00:00 +0000

"'There's some big clumps o' columbine in th' garden.
They'll look like a bed o' blue an' white butterflies flutterin' when they're out.'"
-The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett

A print of this painting
is now available in my shop!

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie) — Tue, 10 May 2016 14:00:00 +0000

It's May now,
and sunlight lingers
gloriously late into the evening.
I have been taking walks at dusk
to avoid the heat of the afternoon
and enjoy the blue twilight
in the woods by my home.
Darting rabbits seem to like this time of day too,
and they have kept me company
on enough walks lately
that I decided it was time,
again,
to turn one into a painting.

A print of this painting
is now available in my shop!

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie) — Wed, 04 May 2016 14:00:00 +0000

I was recently inspired to paint
one of the dearest little nooks in my garden.
Though I haven't found any real nests there,
my paintbrush can stretch the truth a little...

A print of this painting
can now be found in my shop!

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie) — Thu, 28 Apr 2016 14:00:00 +0000

A swirling mix
of land & sea--
trillium and seaweed,
salmonberry and mussels,
driftwood, barnacles, rocks polished smooth by the ocean,
Springtime sightings of wild strawberry and lily of the valley--
inspired again
by my time on the Olympic Peninsula.

A print of this painting
is now available in my shop!

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie) — Wed, 27 Apr 2016 14:00:00 +0000

Some fairy flowers
in the magical evening light.
How could I resist?

----

Bird Song - The Wailin' Jennys

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie) — Tue, 26 Apr 2016 14:00:00 +0000

I recently spent a few days
on the beautiful Olympic Peninsula,
and look who followed me home!

A print of this illustration
is now available in my shop.

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie) — Wed, 20 Apr 2016 14:00:00 +0000

Laying bark
and pulling weeds
on my hands and knees,
gritty with dirt and sweat,
I looked up,
and this was my view.
Above my own toil
soared boats of magnolia petals
and stars of sweet-smelling Osmanthus.
I laughed with delight
at the surprise and beauty of it,
and realized
that I felt beautiful too--
hair in my face
and earth on my cheeks,
but strong,
and working hard,
and full of love,
for the living things around me.

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie) — Fri, 15 Apr 2016 14:00:00 +0000

The view
out the front of the house,
and the view
out the back.

--

Come Outside - The Melodic

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie) — Wed, 13 Apr 2016 14:00:00 +0000

Our blooming cherry trees!

We never really get any cherries--
the trees are small,
and the birds take any fruit before we do
(we've never bothered to fight them)--
but I don't mind at all
when we are treated
to blossoms like these,
illumined
by the early evening sun.

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie) — Tue, 05 Apr 2016 14:00:00 +0000

Is anyone else
excited for tulip season?!
I couldn't resist interpreting
a fading bouquet
on our kitchen table
into this swirl
of feathers and blooms...

A print of this painting
is now available in my shop!

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie) — Thu, 31 Mar 2016 14:00:00 +0000

You don't need much else
to celebrate Springtime
than this:
a graceful bouquet of seasonal blooms,
an elegant silver vase,
and a few petal-like winged visitors!

A print of this painting
has now been added to my shop!

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie) — Wed, 30 Mar 2016 14:00:00 +0000

It's hard for me to imagine,
but I once very much disliked
the whole Springtime season,
so much so
that I actually came to dread it each year.
I thought it was windy, and wet, and changeable,
tiresome and long;
at best it was a necessary evil
on the slide from Winter
toward glorious Summer.

The self who felt this way
could not feel farther
from who I am now.

Now, each Spring
I celebrate the return of the light,
the green growing things
where all was brown and sleeping,
the color and texture and pattern
that turns my garden
into a fairyland,
the birdcalls,
and scents,
and evening sunshine--
I want to hold all of the beauty to my face,
and drink it in.

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie) — Tue, 29 Mar 2016 14:00:00 +0000

This painting was inspired
by a recent hike.

The green haze of Springtime
had spread all throughout the wood,
and everywhere I looked
I saw delicate new growth
and cheerful signs of the season.
We listened to a bird trill,
with a noticeably long and sweet call,
and its beautiful voice echoed
in the spaces between the trees.

A print of Woodland Birdsong
is now available in my shop!

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie) — Thu, 24 Mar 2016 14:00:00 +0000

Hummingbirds!

About a year ago,
I bought a hummingbird feeder
for the backyard garden,
which hangs just outside
my kitchen window.
I have delighted in seeing
these fierce little friends
almost every day.

I watch them flit among the flowering plants
and then zoom in a blink
up to the window,
where they drink,
heads down, throats sparkling,
and I pause,
breath held,
until they shoot away.

A print of Hummingbird Garden
is now available in my shop!

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie) — Wed, 23 Mar 2016 14:00:00 +0000

The last few photos
of my dear hellebores.

They are truly fading now--
their nodding heads
hang even lower these days,
and their jewel-bright colors
have faded to silver, platinum.

Their dimming
makes way
for the next phase
of Springtime in the garden.

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie) — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 14:00:00 +0000

I don't know about you,
but I've never liked the phrase,
"kill two birds with one stone."
For years now,
I have instead been saying,
"feed two birds with one scone."

I thought it was high time
that I illustrated this saying!

You can now find a print
of this latest painting
in my shop!