The Painted Garden

Finding Inspiration

2012-01-25T16:05:00.000-08:00

Welcome. I am so happy that you stopped by. My garden gate is always open for you to come in and sit and relax while I share with you the inspirations for my art. We have had an unusually cold winter in Southern California - even though today it is in the 70's - over the weekend it was very cold with rain and wind. I love "using what I have and not what I don't have" in decorating my home. Recently I moved the yellow and red vintage Ralph Lauren pillows from my living room to my office. I love the bright colors and felt that they addded warmth to my office - especially on such a cold day - and they were calling for a new painting to go with them.

The day was so cold that Bentley, my Studio Assistant, sat in the living room by the window where the sun was barely streaming in to try and keep warm.

The inspirational pillow.

Since I don't have any flowers growing in my garden I looked through my photographs to find inspiration for the painting that would go with the colors in my office. I have a day bed in my office with old Ralph Lauren fabrics - blue denim - red check and red stripe and the repurposed yellow pillows with a blue stripe and red and blue flowers.

My blog is The Painted Garden and I wanted the painting to represent all things that I love - Sunflowers, purple and red flowers, my garden hat, and my love of blue and white china, and of course my favorite tea set in blue and white.

Finding inspiration . . . . . .

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Everywhere . . . . . . .

I used my phoptographs for inspiration for the painting with all of my favorite colors and objects.

The completed painting in my office.

Thank you for stopping by. I love hearing from you and sincerely appreciate your visits, comments,

e-mails, and those of you who follow my blog. Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to see me paint something special.

Have a lovely week. Blessings, Erin

"Sing to him a new song." Psalm 33.3

Small Space Organizing Winner

2012-01-20T07:35:00.001-08:00

Welcome. I am so glad that you stopped by. My garden gate is always open for you to come in and sit and relax with a cup of tea. Last week I shared with you some of my personal organizational tips that I have learned over the years from Kathryn Bechen's book,Small Space Organizing, and today I am happy to announce the winner to my giveaway:

The winner of the $50.00 Target Gift Card and book, Small Space Organizing, is Elaine of Sunny Simple Life.

Kathryn advised me in view of the positive responses to her book in the form of comments, e-mails, facebook, twitter, book reviews, etc. for the needs of so many of you for small space organizing that she was donating THREE autographed copies of her book to add to my giveaway.

In view of this I had another drawing and am pleased to announce that the following won an autographed copy of Small Space Organizing: HOGNART, PAULA, TRACY.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE WINNERS - please send me an e-mail with your name and address to erinsart@ca.rr.com so I can mail you your prize.

Bentley, my Studio Assistant, wanted me to share with you his organizing tip.Kathryn's book tells us to find creative ways to arrange furnishings and accessories to maximize space and bring harmony and style to our home.

When Bentley is not in the garden looking for inspiration for me to paint he is usually in his favorite spot on the stairway landing - playing with his toys.

At the end of the day his toys are neatly stored away in the vintage green tin container.

Thank you for stopping by. I love hearing from you and sincerely appreciate your visits, e-mails, comments and those of you who follow my blog. Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to see me paint something special.

Have a lovely week. Blessings, Erin

" Hold fast to what is good." Thesssalonians 5:21

Small Space Organizing Review and Giveaway

2012-01-14T16:02:00.000-08:00

Welcome. I am so happy that you stopped by. My garden gate is always open for you to come in and sit and relax with a cup of tea. I am delighted to share a book review with you of my friend Kathryn Bechen's fabulous new book - SMALL SPACE ORGANIZING and combine it with something special just for YOU - a GIVEAWAY to help you use some of Kathryn's great organizational tips. .. details after the review.

By now you have probably read that the month of January is National Organizational Month and the perfect time for releasing Small Space Organizing. Kathryn Bechen is an award winning journalist in the San Diego. California area, She specializes in lifestyle feature articles and has published several organizing and decorating ebooks. She blogs about timely lifestyle topics at http://www.kathrynbechenink.com/ . I met Kathryn in 2008 through her blog and am delighted to call her my friend. She introduced me to blogging and encouraged me to start my blog.

When I met Kahryn I was working ten hour days as a busy Human Resources executive in the Aerospace Industry and trying to find time to pursue my passion and hobby - Impressionist painting. I started following her blog and using her tips on small space organizing. I learned that by rethinking and organizing my small art studio space it would free up lots of time that I normally spent trying to find things and that I could use that time to paint. I thought - WOW - Kathryn is really on to something - she should write a book and share all of the information I was learning with more people. Well- thankfully she wrote a book.

Relax - have a cup of tea and I will share with you a few things in my art studio that I learned from Kathryn and that you can learn from her book. My art studio is half of my garage. Kathryn says that "we don't have to live in rambling estates - but we can enjoy an organized, beauty-filled life no matter what the size of our space." That is what I set out to do in creating my little studio in half of my garage. I previously faux painted the floor so I had something beautiful to work with.

I purchased wooden storage bins from Joanne's Fabric to store my art books, supplies, etc. in so it would be easy to find them. I also purchased some baskets from Target to use to organize my paints and stored them according to colors. Kathryn said to "make the most of existing storage space and find clever ways to add more." I was able to go up with the storage bins and make the most of my small space.

Kathryn said "find creative ways to arrange furnishings and accessories to bring harmony and style to the home." Since I am a gardener I decided to use garden containers and totes to store my paint brushes, supplies, etc. in keeping with my "Painted Garden" art studio.

Have another cup of tea - I am so excited about sharing things that I learned from Kathryn and that you can learn from reading her book - I want to share one more thing I learned!!! I love books and for years stacked them up on the floor in my living room. I refer to the room as "the reading room" as I do not have a TV in the room and everyone loves to sit in the room and curl up by the fire and read and listen to music.

I had the floor refinished and the carpet removed .After reading a section in Kathryn's book about using wicker baskets for storage a light went off. I collect vintage wicker picnic baskets and store them in the living room - why not store some of the books in the vintage baskets!!!!! After all - Kathryn teaches us to live in an organized, beauty-filled home and from the looks of the photo of my living room it could use a little organization.

My newly organized living room using tips from Small Space Organizing

Whether you are an empty nester who's downsizing, a newlywed setting up your first nest, or someone who just needs some creative new ideas, you'll love Kathryn's book and the strategies, tips and solutions to maximize space and enhance your quality of space. I can personally recommend how helpful her tips have been to me in helping me organize my small space since 2008.

Her book can be purchased on Amazon.com or by visiting her website at

http://www.kathrynbechenink.com/ to learn about all of the ways to purchase her book.
You will love her FREE e-newsletter where she posts excerpts from her book the first of every month.

THANK YOU GIVEAWAY FOR MY READERS

As a special thank you to all of my readers and to celebrate Kathryns' new book and National organization Month - The Painted Garden is giving away a $50.00 Target Gift card and a copy of Small Space Organizing. To enter to win - simply leave me a comment that you want to learn more about small space organizing, A drawing will be held and

the winner announced on Friday - January 20, 2012

Thank you for stopping by. I love hearing from you and sincerely appreciate your visits, e-mails, comments and those who follow my blog. Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to see me paint something special.

Have a lovely week. Blessings. Erin

"I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go." Psalm 32:8

Painting Flowers

2012-01-05T13:20:00.000-08:00

Welcome. I am so happy that you stopped by. My garden gate is always open for you to come in and sit and relax with a cup of tea while I share with you the inspirations for my art. I receive lots of requests asking how I design my paintings and what I use for inspiration. I am inspired and paint the beauty of God's everyday creations - flowers - gardens - blue skies, and the ocean. I love flower markets and little road side stands selling fruits, vegetables and flowers, picket fences and window boxes with geraniums spilling over the edge. I am photographer and have a large collection of photographs to use for inspiration during the winter months when the garden is bare.

Let's join Bentley, my Studio Assistant, and I will share with you some of my photographs that I will be using for inspiration for a flower painting.

Finding Inspiration . . . . . .

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"May he grant you your heart's desire, and fulfill all your plans." Psalm 20:4

My completed painting using inspirations from some of my photographs of flowers.

Thank you for stopping by. I love hearing from you and sincerely appreciate your visits, comments, e-mails and those who follow my blog. Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to see me painting something special.

Have a lovely week. Blessings, Erin

Winter White Garden

2011-12-29T07:12:00.000-08:00

Welcome. I am so happy that you stopped by. My garden gate is always open for you to come in and sit and relax with a cup of tea while I share with you the inspirations for my art. I like to plant a few pots of Paper white bulbs each week starting in early November so I will have some blooms throughout January until my garden flowers start waking up. In spite of the unusually cold weather and frost we have had in Southern California - my white Iceberg roses are still blooming (they will be cut back in January and seem to want one last bloom before they are cut back).

Let's join Bentley, my helpful Studio Assistant, in the garden and we will share our Winter White inspirations with you.

"A glad heart makes a cheerful countenance." Proverbs 15:13

Wishing you and your family Peace, Joy, and Happiness in the New Year.

I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to each and everyone for your visits, comments,

e-mails and to my loyal and special followers. Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to see me paint something special.

Blessings, Erin

Cottage Christmas

2011-12-16T10:46:00.000-08:00

Welcome. I am so happy that you stopped by. My garden gate is always open for you to come in and sit and relax with a cup of tea while I share with you the inspiration for my art. This year Bentley, My Study Assistant, was the inspiration for my Christmas card.

Let's take a little tour of my Christmas Cottage and garden and I will show you the inspiration for my card.

"And the angel said to them. "Do not be afraid I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people." Luke 2

Wishing you and your family all the joy, the hope, and the wonder of Christmas.

Blessings, Erin

Legend of Christmas Poinsettia

2011-12-09T06:27:00.000-08:00

Welcome. I am so happy that you stopped by. My garden gate is always open for you to come in and sit and relax with a hot drink. We are having unusually cold weather in Southern California and today I made you hot chocolate to warm you up while I share with y0u a beautiful experience that I had yesterday involving Poinsettias. First let's join Bentley, my Studio Assistant, in the garden and he will show you our Poinsettias.

I volunteer at my church to take care of the flowers that people leave at the little stone grotto with a statue of Mary( the Mother of Jesus) outside our Catholic church. I arrange and straighten up flowers that are left. It is a simple and joyful task. Yesterday, December 8th, was a special day honoring Mary . I previously read a little notice on the church bulletin board that suggested ways to celebrate Advent - such as helping the poor and decorating your home with lights and Poinsettia. It said that legend has it that a poor child in Mexico having nothing to give the Christ Child on his birthday gathered some weeds into a lovely bouquet, the only gift she had to offer. When she brought her gift to the manger the simple weeds were transformed into a brilliant red bloom - the Poinsettia - now known as "The Flower of the Holy Night".

I loved the legend and decided to take Poinsettia's to decorate the grotto to go along side of the flowers that others had placed there. As I was placing my Poinsettias, a woman came up carrying a branch of pine greenery. She appeared to be very poor and said that she had never seen the grotto look so beautiful as it did with the red Poinsettias . She said that she had no money to buy beautiful flowers and felt that her pine branch was not worthy to be placed by the beautiful flowers. I assured her that the pine branch was lovely and would be the perfect compliment to the red flowers. I asked her if I could arrange the branches for her and she reluctantly gave me the branch and stood in the background. I broke off the green pine from the branch and placed the greenery among the Poinsettias along with pine cones that another person left. It was amazing how much beauty the greenery added to the flowers. I looked at the lady and she was smiling - we both hugged each other and I said - "look at how beautiful the flowers look with the addition of your pine branch" and she said "yes - together we made something beautiful". I could not help but thinking about the Legend of the Poinsettia .

"They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share." Timothy 6:18

Let's Paint A Gingerbread Man Stocking

2011-11-29T12:58:00.000-08:00

Welcome. I am so happy that you stopped by. M garden gate is always open for you to come in and sit and relax with a cup of hot tea while I share with y0u the inspirations for my art. This time of year I receive lots of requests from beginning artists on how to paint a very simple little Christmas painting. We painted Snow men and Snow ladies the past two Christmas seasons and you can visit my December posts in 2010 and 2011 if y0u want to see how to paint one of them. This year we are going to paint a stocking with Gingerbread men.

My cookies have been baked and the cookie jar filled.

Let's join Bentley, My Studio Assistant, in the garden to

Finding inspiration . . . . .

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Everywhere . . . .
I wanted to use burlap in some of my Christmas decorations this year and thought the Gingerbread men with brown lettering would be nice. You are welcome to copy my simple drawing. I paint on a cotton canvas board and varnish with 3 coats of matt acryic to protect my sign from the weather. You can paint on a wooden board, slate or whatever material you choose. Once you have your drawing done simply paint the colors of y0ur choice. I painted my stocking red. Do not be afraid to get started - painting is as simple as coloring in a coloring book - only you use a brush and acrylic paint.
I added some greenry and the Welcome sign is ready to hang on a picket fence, gate or front door. Have fun.

Have a lovely day. Blessings, Erin

Thanksgiving Blessings

2011-11-18T14:22:00.000-08:00

Welcome. I am so happy that you stopped by. My garden gate is always open for you to come in and sit and relax with a cup of tea during this busy week before Thanksgiving. I like to get a head start and bake pumpkin bread and freeze it. When unexpected guests stop by I just slice the frozen pumpkin bread and pop it in the toaster and serve with a cup of hot spiced tea. . . easy and yummy.

"There is harmony in Autumn, and a lustre in the sky, which through the summer is not heard or seen, as if it could not be, as if it had not been." Shelley

Let's join Bentley, My Studio Assistant in the garden to enjoy the Autumn harvest and relax for a few minutes before the Thanksgiving Holiday rush.

"Thanks be to God for his incredible gift." Corinthians 9:15

Thank you for stopping by. I love hearing from you and sincerely appreciate your visits, e-mails, comments and those of you who follow my blog. I will be back after Thanksgiving and we will paint a Christmas "door greeter"stocking filled with Gingerbread Men suitable to hang on your front door.

Wishing you and your family a Happy and Joyful Thanksgiving.

I would like to take this opportunity to say Thank You to our Servicemen and Women who have given up so much to protect our freedoms both here and abroad and are away from their families during the holiday season.

Thanksgiving Blessings, Erin

Completed Sunflower Painting

2011-11-09T08:40:00.000-08:00

Welcome. I am so happy that you stopped by. My garden gate is always open for y0u to come in and sit and relax with a cup of hot tea while I share with you the inspirations for my art. Several weeks ago I shared with you a Sunflower painting that I was working on in my garden on a sunny Fall day. The sun went down before I finished and I promised to show you the completed painting.

Now it is raining and cold in Southern California and we need to bring the Sunflowers inside. Let's join Bentley, my Studio Assistant and go inside.

My kitchen has lots of light and is one of my favorite places to paint inside. I picked the last of the Blue Saliva, put the Sunflowers in a blue and white vase and added some red Roses and one of my vintage tablecloths to the new setup. The previous painting had a pot of ivy and two pears that I decided to paint out.

Finding inspiration . . . . .

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I painted the scissors handles red to add a touch more of red to the painting and decided not to add the pattern of the vintage table cloth as it was just too much color. I added the blue and red stripe instead.

The completed painting.

Since so many of y0u ask to see where the paintings end up in my home I took a photo of the room where it ended up. The room has some vintage white wicker furniture and red toile, red check and red stripe with old Ralph Lauren florals.

"The light of the eyes rejoices the heart, and good news refreshes the body."

"Proverbs 15:0.

Thank you for stopping by. I love hearing from you and sincerely appreciate your visits, comments, e-mails and those of you who follow my blog. Now that we are moving into the Holiday season I will be busy painting Christmas paintings for a fundraiser for one of our local charities and will share them with you. Since we painted Snowmen and Snow ladies together the past several years - I am thinking that we can paint a simple Gingerbread Man of Lady together.

Thank you for all of your e-mails and comments about the fact that I can not leave any of you comments - I have tried everything that you suggested and so far nothing works for me - when I click on preview the comment I wrote disappears and shows "anonymous." I will keep on trying as I miss not being able to leaveyou a comment.

Have a lovely week. Blessings, Erin

Fall Colors In The Garden

2011-11-03T14:37:00.000-07:00

Welcome. I am so happy that you stopped by. My garden gate is always open for you to come in and sit and relax while I share with you the inspirations for my art. Let's join Bentley, my Studio Assistant, in the garden to enjoy the Fall colors.

I love the red/orange color of the last of he Zinnias.

A few Nostrums are still growing.

Orange and yellow Pansy plants are perfect Fall colors.

Grasses are wonderful as background filler during the Fall months.

"Winter is an etching, Spring a watercolor, Summer an oil painting and Autumn a mosaic of them all" Stanley Horowitz

"A cheerful heart is a good medicine." Proverbs 17:22

Thank you for stopping by. I love hearing from you and sincerely appreciate your e-mails, comments, visits and those of you who are following my blog. Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to see me paint something special.

I am still having problems leaving comments on some blogs in spite of the fact that I have turned off my log in on blogger and have heard from some of you that you are still having problems leaving me comments. My computer person feels it must be a problem with blogger.

Have a lovely week. Blessings, Erin

Painting Fall Sunflowers

2011-10-27T15:59:00.000-07:00

Welcome. I am so happy that you stopped by. My garden gate is always open for you to come in an sit and relax with a cup of tea while I share with y0u the inspirations for my art. I just made pumpkin spice bread and would love for you to have a piece with y0ur tea.

The Sunflowers are in full bloom and I want to paint them. Let's join Bentley, my Studio Assistant, in the garden to look for inspiration.

We are having beautiful Fall weather in Southern California and I want to paint outside. My neighbors Sunflowers are lovely and are peeking over the fence - the sky is blue without a cloud in sight and it is a glorious day.

Finding Inspiration . . . . . .

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"May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us." Psalm 67:1

My easel is set up in the garden and I am painting and enjoying the day.

The Fall days are short and the sun is going down and I will have to finish my painting another day. I will show you the completed painting when I finish. The vase will end up blue and white . I decided to add Fall pears instead of the pumpkins. Until next time -- have a lovely day.

Have a lovely week. Blessings, Erin

Fall Tour of Roger's Gardens

2011-10-13T04:52:00.000-07:00

Welcome. I am so happy that you stopped by. Today Bentley, My Studio Assistant, and are going to take you on our annual Autum garden tour of Rogers Gardens located in Newport Beach, California. The gardens are on 5 acres divided into outdoor gardens, art gallery, gift gallery, florist, outdoor furniture and gormet foods.

All kinds of grasses.

Pansey plants in beautiful fall colors.

Fall Zinnias.

Beautiful living wreaths .

Love the heart planters.

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The garden is filled with beautiful water elements.

"In the day you will make your plant to grow". Isaiah 17:11

Thank you for stopping by. I love hearing from you and sincerely appreciate your visits, e-mails, comments and those who of y0u who follow my blog. Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to see me paint something special.

I will be taking off a little time to spend with my family and will be back on October 28th.

Have a lovely week. Blessings, Erin

Let's Paint A Scarecrow Together

2011-10-05T06:10:00.001-07:00

Welcome. I am so happy that you stopped by. My garden gate is always open for you to come in and sit and relax with a cup of Apple Spice tea while I share with you the inspirations for you to paint your own Scarecrow Welcome sign for your front door or picket fence.

My Scarecrow painting posts have been some of the most googled and viewed of my Fall posts and I thought it would be fun for us to revisit two of them.

Let's join my Studio Assistant, in the garden to look for inspiration.

Finding inspiration . . . . . the Mums have been planted.

Here . . . . the pumpkins have been harvested.

Few things are as endearing and represent the image of the harvest season as well as the scarecrow.

There . . . . .

Everywhere . . . . .

This adorable grouping belongs to one of my neighbors. Don't you love the "Tin Man" with the "Scarecrow".

Scarecrows have been used for centuries - literally to scare away the Crows during harvest
without harming them.

"The Lord will indeed give what is good, and our land will yield its harvest." Psalm 85:12

Now that we have our Fall and Scarecrow inspirations - let's get started painting.

I have provided two different repeated drawings for you to copy. You can paint your sign on a wooden board that can be purchased in lots of sizes from most craft stores - or paint the sign on a canvas that can be purchased from most craft stores.

Base coat your canvas or board in a color of your choice and them draw the scarecrow. I use water based acrylic paints.

Next paint your scarecrow in the colors of your choice - painting is as simple as coloring in a coloring book - if you make a mistake with acrylic - you can immediately wipe off the paint with a damp cloth and start all over again. Fill in all of your colors first - painting from dark to light. After you have painted your scarecrow you can add some light highlights to finish the painting.

The painting below has been highlighted with lighter colors to add a finished look. An example of highlighting is adding a little white to the black on the hat to indicate light and adding touches of white to the orange on the painting - this will give you a more natural look.

Below is another repeated version of a scarecrow that you can copy.

Another example of highlighting is adding some yellow to the brown straw hair and lighter brown mixed with yellow to the top of the hat. Good luck and have fun with your painting.

Thank you for stopping by. I love hearing from you and sincerely appreciate your
visits, e-mails,comments,and those of you who are following my blog. Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to see me paint something special.

Have a lovely week. Blessings, Erin

Happy Fall

2011-09-28T17:01:00.000-07:00

Welcome. I am so happy you stopped by. My garden gate is always open for you to come in and sit and have a cup of tea and relax while I share with you the inspirations for my art. As much as I love Summer I really look forward to Fall and the beautiful bright colors of the new season and Fall flowers. There is so much to enjoy. What about you? Is there something special about the season that you love?

I have been on little blog break getting ready getting things in order in my garden.

Bentley my Studio Assistant has been out in the garden looking (sniffing) the new fall plants and looking for inspiration for me to paint!!!

I stopped by our local Garden shop, Roger's Gardens,www.rogersgardens.com, to pick up some Marigold plants and thought you would enjoy a few shots of this beautiful garden shop.

I picked up some falls leaves to decorate my front door with and pots of Marigolds. Roger's always has a wonderful special on small pots of seasonal flowers for $1.00 a pot - the best price in town. I picked up lots of pots of them for garden.

I filled my little vintage wagon with pumpkins and planted the Marigolds.

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven." Ecclesiastes 3:1

The red bicycle, Mums and pumpkins looked like they would be the perfect inspirations for
a new Fall welcome sign.

The completed Welcome sign.

Thank you for stopping by. I love hearing from you and sincerely appreciate your visits, comments, e-mails and those of y0u who follow my blog. Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to see me paint something special. I have had many requests to revisit my blog post a few years ago on how to paint a scarecrow WELCOME sign for fall. Next week I will share with you some scarecrow inspirations and we will paint together.

Have a lovely week. Blessings, Erin

Painting Pink Roses

2011-09-08T15:20:00.000-07:00

Welcome. I am so happy that your stopped by. My garden gate is always open for you to come in and sit and relax with a cup of tea while I share with you the inspirations for my art. Many of the flowers are fading now that Fall is fast approaching, however, the Roses are still blooming. Let's join Bentley, my Studio Assistant, in the garden to look for pink Roses to paint.

Finding inspiration .. . . .

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The pink Roses were the inspiration for the painting.

"Art In The Garden"

"Let all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you." Psalm 70:4

Thank y0u for stopping by. I love hearing from you and sincerely appreciate your comments,

e-mails, visits and those of you who are following my blog. Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to see me paint something special.

I will be taking a little blog break to work on some Fall paintings and will be back on

September 30th.

Have a lovely week. Blessings, Erin

Painting the last of the Zinnias

2011-09-01T11:06:00.000-07:00

Welcome. I am so happy that you stopped by. My garden gate is always open for you to come in and sit and relax with a cup of tea while I share with you the inspirations for my art. I always have mixed feelings about Summer ending as it means the flowers in my garden are starting to fade - yet I am looking forward to the beauty of Fall. Let's join my helpful Studio Assistant, in the garden to look for inspiration to paint.

The Zinnias are on their last bloom. This year I planted a seed packet of Heirloom Zinnias -
they were supposed to be extra large blooms in mixed colors, however; almost all of them came up in various shades of pink. The little orange ones were very hearty and are still blooming.

Finding inspiration . . . . . .

I love picking the Zinnias and arranging them in various containers. Did you know that in the Victorian times flowers were associated with symbolism? Zinnias were associated with thoughts of absent friends, lasting affection, goodness and remembrance.

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Needless to say . . . . I decided to paint a small painting of Zinnias to put in the garden.

"Art In The Garden"

"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things".

"Philippians 4:8

Thank you for stopping by. I love hearing from you and sincerely appreciate your visits,

e-mails, comments and those who follow my blog. Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to see me paint something specials.

Have lovely week. Blessings, Erin

A Garden Day Painting

2011-08-25T11:18:00.000-07:00

Welcome. I am so happy that you stopped by. My garden gate is always open for you to come in and sit and relax with a cup of tea while I share with you the inspirations for my art. Do you feel that Summer is quickly slipping away? I certainly feel the days are passing too quickly and try and spend as much time in the garden painting as I can while the flowers are still in bloom.

Let's join Bentley, my Studio Assistant, in the garden to look for inspirations to paint a Garden Day painting filled with the flowers in bloom.
Finding inspiration . . . . . .

The Black Eyed Susan are in bloom and I want to add them to the painting.

Red Geraniums are always nice.

Here . . . . .

I love using the little bird cloche in my paintings and this one has been in lots of them.
There . . . . .

It is not unusual for my white wicker furniture to end up in a painting.

Everywhere . . . . . .

The white Ice Berg roses are still in bloom - they have been cut back three times this year and still look beautiful

My garden gloves and shears also end up in a lot of my garden paintings.

The last of the Zinnias are blooming - I will have to paint them next!

"Happy is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates." Proverbs 8:34

The completed Garden Day painting with white wicker chair, Black Eyed Susan's, hydrangeas, bird cloche, garden gloves and red Geraniums.

Thank you for stopping by. I love hearing from you and sincerely appreciate your visits,

e-mails, comments and those of you who follow my blog. Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to see me paint something special.

Please visit www.designgivesback for a list of the prize winners in the Design Give Back Miracle Makeover party and for the final results. Again, thank you to everyone who participated.

Have a lovely week. Blessings, in

Red Roses to Thank You

2011-08-18T15:52:00.000-07:00

Welcome. My garden gate is always open for you to come in and sit and relax with a cup of tea. Normally I share with you the inspiration for my art. TODAY is a special day to say thank you to the wonderful and caring people from all over the world who left over 5,450 comments, 550 Facebook posts, 200 side comments and over 150 blog posts to help make the DESIGN GIVES BACK MIRACLE MAKEOVER PARTY a big success. DGB will donate $1.00 for each comment to Friends of Kids With Cancer. The comments are still coming in and the final results and prize winners will be announced on August 26th - stay tuned for the results.

THANK YOU . . . . . THANK YOU . . . . . THANK YOU . . . . . THANK YOU . . . . THANK YOU . . .

Bentley, my Studio Assistant, and I are sending you red roses to say thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your participation in helping make the miracle makeover project a success and for the outpouring of love and prayers for Charlie and his family.

For The Love of a Child

Charlie and "The Grady Bunch" you will always be in our hearts and prayers.

May God Bless you and continue to heal you.

"And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me." Matthew 18:5

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Miracle Makeover Party. It was truly an outpouring of joy and for the Love of A child.

Thank you for stopping by. I love hearing from you and sincerely appreciate your comments,

e-mails and those who follow my blog. Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to see me paint something special

Have a lovely week. Blessing Erin

Calling All Blog Angels to the Miracle Makeover Party

2011-08-09T14:40:00.000-07:00

Welcome. I am so happy that you stopped by. Some days it seems like there is no news but bad news with events going on around the world and in our country. AND then, we have a day like today when an incredible group of volunteers lead by Kelee of Design Gives Back came together to help Charlie and his family "The Grady Bunch". The volunteers created and re purposed fun, happy and joyful bedrooms for all of the Grady children.

TODAY IS THE MIRACLE MAKEOVER BLOG PARTY AND VIDEO REVEL OF THE HEART WARMING STORY OF CHARLIE GRADY, WHO HAS LIFE THREATENING BRAIN TUMORS.
You will meet Charlie, his brother and sister and the entire Grady family. Mr. and Mrs. Grady are Navy Veterans and you will fall in love with the "Grady Bunch". Design Gives Back re-decorated and re-purposed all the children's bedrooms.
YOU WILL HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO BE A BLOG ANGEL AND RAISE MONEY FOR A FUTURE DESIGN GIVES BACK MAKEOVER FOR KIDS WITH CANCER.

Santa Charlie - you will learn how he earned his nickname in the video.

Brother Liam - you will fall in love with him.

Kelee with Charlie's sister - she is truly an Angel to her brothers.

*****TO ATTEND THE PARTY - PLEASE GO DIRECTLY TO*****

WWW.designgivesback.com

There will be many places for folks to help earn donations by JOINING - COMMENTING - LIKE-ING OR POSTING.

Please visit the following Angel Bloggers Who Are Also Hosting the event to earn even more money for the next Design Give Back Makeover for Kids With Cancer.

http://www.countrywingsinphoenix.blogspot.com/

http://www.bloggerspirit.blogspot.com/

http://www.howsweetthesound.typepad.com/

http://www.betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/

As an added bonus for participating by leaving comments to raise money, Design Gives Back is having a Giveaway and The Painted Garden is giving away an original Bicycle Welcome sign and a $50.00 Master Card Gift Card.

PLEASE VISIT WWW.DESIGNGIVESBACK.COM TO WIN ANY OF THE PRIZES.

Giveaway Prizes by Sponsors:

Gift Subscriptions to Guidepost Magazine

$100.00 Gift Card to Hobby Lobby

$200.00 Gift Card to Lowes

" I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me." Matthew 25:40

Thank you for being a part of Design Gives Back Miracle Makeover Don't forget to go to http://www.designgivesback.com/ to the party and see the heartwarming video and leave your comment to raise money for the next project .

May God Bless Charlie and his Family and Everyone participating . Blessings, Erin

Angels and a Little Boy Named Santa Charlie

2011-07-31T13:47:00.000-07:00

Welcome. My garden gate is always open for you to come in and sit and relax with a cup of tea. Please sit in my garden with Bentley and my Garden Angels for a few minutes as I would love to share with you a little bit about a wonderful heart warming Design gives Back project. Design Gives Back is run by interior designer Kelee Katillac and their mission is to help those in need to have more positive living conditions. Hope comes when walls turn from cracked and peeling to smooth and colorful, and a belief that the ability to see life differently is prompted by a change in one's surroundings.

Last year over 250 Bloggers participated in a Design Gives Back project for Cancer patient Colette in changing her bedroom from a depressing and ugly room to one that was beautiful and uplifting as well as healing. We are happy to report to those of you who followed Colette last year that she is doing well and has gone from Stage Four breast cancer to being cancer free and she is thriving. Planning a brighter new future and healing is easier when renewed homes provide a place for rest, healing and hope

This year Design Gives Back is having a Miracle Makeover party and sharing the story of a little boy who is probably a lot like your son, grandson or nephew: he loves cars and trucks and trains . He is different from most little 8 year old boys -- he has two brain tumors and has gone through extensive chemotherapy since he was 5 years old- Charlie did not let let this stop him - he started his own toy drive in order to help other children going through chemotherapy to have a happier Christmas. His nick name is Santa Charlie. This is the reason that Santa Charlie was chosen for a miracle makeover.

Design Gives back is having a huge blog party from August 12th through the 18th. You will be able to be a Blog Angel" and raise money just by leaving an uplifting comment on the blogs that are hosting as well as be entered to win lots of fabulous prizes. Last year 250 bloggers posted about the Miracle Makeover and over 15,000 views to the makeover video.

Santa Charlie has chosen FRIENDS OF KIDS WITH CANCER as the recipient of the money that we raise in BlogLand for the next Miracle Makeover Project.

In the meantime, Please take a look at a sneak peak of the video and come back on August 12th to see the entire video, leave comments and raise money for a future projects for FRIENDS OF KIDS WITH CANCER.

Please be a "Blog Angel"

SANTA CHARLIE

Please be a "Blog Angel" and keep Charlie and his families in your prayers and thoughts. There is power in united prayer.

Jesus said" For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them". Matthew 18:20
Thank you for stopping by. I love hearing from you and sincerely appreciate your visits, e-mails, comments and those of you who follow my blog. Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to see my paint something special.Have a lovely week.

Thank you and Blessings to All Blog Angels who plan to help make the Miracle Makeover Project a success. SEE YOU ON AUGUST 12TH

Please come back on August 12h for the party, makeover reveal and prizes.

Blessings, Erin

Garden Inspirations

2011-07-28T11:55:00.000-07:00

Welcome. I am so happy that you stoppeded by. My garden gate is always open for you to come in and sit and relax with a cup of tea while I share with you the inspirations for my art. The breeze is blowing in from the ocean and it is a lovely day to sit in the garden and look for inspiration.

Let's join Bentley, my helpful Studio Assistant, to look for inspiration.

Can you tell that I collect BIRDHOUSES? I just love them as they remind me of little mini cottages. Does anyone else in Blogland land collect them? I almost feel like a "hoarder" as there are 6 of them in this photo.

I also like Adirondack chairs. Hmm - I am starting to see some inspiration already.

Finding inspiration . . . . . Here . . . .

There . . . . . . .

Everywhere . . . . . . .

I ended up painting a little garden painting using the Adirondack chairs and bird houses for inspiration.

"And the time of singing of the birds has come". Song of Solomon 2-11-12

Thank you for stopping by. I love hearing from you and sincerely appreciate your visits, comments, e-mails and those who are following my blog. Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to see me paint something special.

GIVE-AWAY AND MIRACLE MAKEOVER BLOG PARTY NEXT WEEK

PLEASE STOP BY MY BLOG FOR DETAILS ON AUGUST 5TH FOR THIS INCREDIBLE DESIGN GIVES BACK MAKEOVER OF CHARLIE'S ROOM and DETAILS ON RAISING MONEY FOR CHARITY and WINNING GREAT PRIZES

WHO IS CHARLIE??? - Charlie Grady is 8 years old and has life threatening brain tumors and just started a grueling course of 60 weeks of chemotherapy. His first round of Chemo started at age 5. Does this stop Charlie ???? - NO - he started his own Santa toy drive so he could help the children of St. Louis Children's Hospital - he received so much media attention that he has been able to help supply the hospital with toys ALL year long.

Please come back next week for the partyand to learn more about Charlie. Blessings, Erin

Roses and Lavender

2011-07-20T11:36:00.000-07:00

Welcome. I am so happy that you stopped by. My garden gate is always open for you to come in and sit and relax with a cup of tea while I share with you the inspirations for my art. The Lavender is in bloom as well as the Roses and Lavender Saliva and bring back memories of time spent in Provence in the South of France where the scent of Lavender is in the air and the sky is blue.

Let's join Bentley, my helpful Studio Assistant, in the garden and look for inspiration for a French welcome sign with Roses and Lavender.

This is a painting that was inspired by the beautiful Lavender fields in Provence.

The Spanish lavender is blooming now that the weather is hot

Dried French lavender.

Lavender Saliva

Pink Our Lady of Guadalupe roses.

I

The completed French welcome painting.

"For the Lord gives wisdom". Proverbs 2:6

Thank you for stopping by. I love hearing from you and sincerely appreciate your visits, e-mails, comments and those of you who are following my blog. Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to see me paint something special.

Thank you to everyone who visited me for the Where Bloggers Create party.

Have a lovely week. Blessings, Erin

Where Bloggers Create 2011

2011-07-09T06:18:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Where Bloggers Create Blog Party. I am so glad that you stopped by. My "Painted Garden" gate is open for you to come in and sit and relax with a glass of ice tea while I share with you my creative spaces.

I am a decorative modern day impressionist painter and my paintings are an expression of my love for the beauty and simplicity of God's creation. I am inspired and paint the beauty of everyday life -flower markets, roses growing on a fence, geraniums spilling over a window box, Sunflowers, lavender fields, white wicker on a porch, blue skies and blue oceans and my cottage garden.

My painting career began long before I picked up a paintbrush, when I developed an eye for capturing the beauty of my garden on film by deliberately shooting out of focus to create the feel of a Monet or Renior painting. I became interested in painting after divorcing when I bought my new home and planted a smaller garden. I have traveled throughout France and fell in love with the charming small French gardens with pea gravel surfaces and went to work creating my own version in my new garden. I visited Impressionist Painter Claude Monet's garden in Giverny, France and fell in love with his garden and the way he mixed colors in his garden.

I added old iron furniture picked up at Flea Markets and planted the basket of a vintage bicycle with Geraniums and Nostrum - just like Monet's garden. I designed a garden where I could create and paint. The blue bicycle has been a subject in lots of my paintings.

I created different rooms in the garden so that I would have a variety of spaces to paint depending on the subject matter. The garden off my kitchen has an arbor with a red Mandavilla vine growing up it and white wicker furniture. I use this area all the time for inspiration in my beach cottage paintings.

Meet Bentley, my very helpful Studio Assistant. He loves being in the garden to help find inspiration for my art. I use the every day objects in my garden in my paintings such as garden hats, bird houses, vintage bicycle, pillows, etc.

I love painting Sunflowers - this time of year I do not have any growing in the garden and purchase them at the farmers market for a few dollars. Looks like Bentley found some inspiration for me to paint.

The Geraniums are beautiful this time of year and remind me of the ones growing in The South
of France.

I use my little paintings to decorate my garden and call it "art in the garden". Are you ready for a cup of tea?

This is one of my favorite photos of Bentley smelling the Geranium. He actually smells the flowers in my garden.

I pant seasonal flowers in pots so that I will always have them for inspiration. The Zinnias ended up in a small painting.

Roses are planted in my front yard as they get sun all day. Most of them are Iceberg and they bloom profusely. The front is my English Cottage style garden with lots of pinks, rose, blue and white flowers. My side garden is behind the white gate.

I also have a portion of my side garden planted in typical English Cottage style with lots of pinks, blues and whites.

Let's leave my garden and go inside so I can share more places where I find inspiration and create.

Would you like to take little break and sit and relax in my living room with a cup of tea? I made hot muffins for you.

When I purchased my home I knew the minute I saw the red Dutch door and light filled rooms with high vaulted ceilings and French doors in the living room and kitchen that it would be the perfect home where I could create my art.

I am very fond of white wicker furniture as it reminds me of happy childhood times spent with my family staying at my Grandparent's beach cottage in North Carolina . I love to open the French doors in my living room and let the outdoors come indoors while painting. This is a spot where I also create my "beach cottage" style paintings

I paint the beauty and simplicity of every day objects . I use my napkins and table runners in my still life paintings.

I love books and seashells and they often end up in my paintings.

I spend a lot time painting on the little patio off my kitchen or in my kitchen where the morning sun shines beautifully and the ocean breezes blow the blue and white check curtains. Bentley is out on the patio looking for flowers to smell.

My kitchen curtains were inspired by a trip to France where I visited Monet's home and garden in Giverny. I loved the blue and white check curtains in his kitchen as well as his collection of blue and white china and was thrilled to find blue and white check curtains by Martha Stewart at the K-Mart. Fortunately I bought two sets since K-mart no longer carriers her line of linnens. I have collected blue and white china for years and have it displayed throughout my home. My collection of roosters in the kitchen along with the old blue painted furniture remind me of Provence in the South of France. You may have noticed that most of my large paintings have a piece of blue and white china - usually a vase or tea set. Blue and white china has become a signature in my large art.

You will find me in my kitchen painting roosters and reminiscing of trips to Provence on sunny days when a gentle breeze is blowing from the beautiful Pacific Ocean just a few miles from my home.

Now let's leave the kitchen and visit the indoor/outdoor studio in my garage. I wanted to create the feel of always painting outdoors even when the weather is bad and I have to stay inside (which is not to often in sunny Southern California). I have a very large two car garage with lots of built in storage. About ten years ago I faxu painted the garage floor by tracing flag stones on the floor with chalk and painting them with patio paint. I also used a stencil and painted brick trim around the garage - sealed it with a sealer and it has held up remarkably well.

When I first started painting I met a fabulous artist, Penny Dermand , who painted beautiful flowers and roses. She gave me some great advise -"paint only what you love, and always connect with the flowers by smell, touch and feel". I follow her advise as much as possible by bringing in pots of real flowers from my garden when painting inside. I find that you can get great prices on flowers from florist or the market by asking to purchase flowers that are no longer sellable - flowers that are in full bloom - especially roses are great to paint - and usually the market starts pulling them off the shelf at their prime as they will only last a few more days.

I nailed old white curtains under the storage cabinets to create space to hide messy garage things, Christmas decorations, etc. I hung a long curtain (the one behind the easel) to hide hot water heater, and used old white shutters to divide the space. Paints are stored in the white cubbard.

This shot shows the curtain nailed under the storage cabinet and part of a white shutter

I purchased stacking bins from Joanne's at the end of the season for around $10. each and use them to store art books and supplies. You can see a little of the brick stencil. The curtain to the left of the storage bins conceal the washer and dryer.

I found a large white cabinet in the trash and use it to store mis-matched china, etc. found at flea markets that I use as props in my still life paintings.
I use the white umbrella at art shows and store it in my garage studio. The old green work table was picked up at a garage sale. I white washed the inside garage doors (shown behind the unbrella) so the space woudl have the feel of an old barn.

The table is used to arrange flowers for painitngs, mix paint, etc.

This concludes our tour of the spaces where I create. I hope that you enjoyed your visit. I would like to share with you one my favorite Psalms that is so fitting to the creative gifts that God has blessed so many Bloggers with:

May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us;
establish the work of our hands for us;
yes, establish the work of our hands. Psalm 90:17

Thank you Karen of My Desert Cottage for hosting the 3rd Annual blog party where bloggers share their creative spaces. You are in for a real treat and can visist many fabulous and beautiful blogs at http://www.mydesertcottage.blogspot.com/.

Thank you for stopping by. I love hearing from you and sincerely appreciate your visits, comments, e-mails and those of you who follow my blog. Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to see me paint something special.

Have a lovely week. Blessings, Erin

Where Bloggers Create Blog Party

2011-07-06T10:52:00.000-07:00

Welcome. Just a reminder that I will be posting on July 14th and participating in Where Bloggers Create Blog Party. I am looking forward to sharing with you some of the spaces that inspire me to create, and you will also have an opportuntiy to visit lots of other creative spaces.

Have a lovely week and I will see you on July 14th.

Blessings, Erin

Flags and Fourth of July

2011-06-28T14:55:00.000-07:00

Welcome. I am so happy that you stopped by. My garden gate is always open for you to come in and sit and relax with a glass of lemonade, and enjoy the flags and reflect on the true meaning of Fourth of July and what it means to our great country and the freedoms we are afforded here in America. I don't know about you, but Fourth of July is one of my favorite holidays. It is a day to share with family and friends. Do you have a favorite holiday memory?

Looks like Bentley, my Studio Assistant, is ready to show you how the addition of a few 99.cent flags can add a lot of festivity to home and garden.

My son gave me the adorable 4th of July door mat for my birthday and I love the touch of whimsy it adds to my front porch.

I love whimsy in the garden - the bee signs were purchased at a craft fair for just a few dollars and are so fun to place in the garden along with a few flags.

The parasols were purchased at the end of the season as few years ago - they do not completely open but I use them anyway for a touch of color and more whimsy.

I have had the vintage wooden flag for years and it just gets better and more worn and weathered each year.

Let's leave my garden and take a drive around the neighborhood to enjoy some more flags and a taste of Americana and see how our neighbors celebrate Fourth of July.

"Now may the God of Peace . . .make you complete in everything good." Hebrews 13:20,.21

Wishing you and your family a peaceful Fourth of July.

Thank you for stopping by. I love hearing from you and sincerely appreciate your visits, comments, e-mails, and those who follow my blog. Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to see me paint something special. I am still having problems leaving comments on some of your blogs and will start sending comments to you via e-mail.

I will be on a little blog break getting ready to participate in WHERE BLOGERS CREATE 2011 on July 14th and look forward to sharing with you my creative spaces in my home and garden. Looking forward to seeing you on July 14th.

Sending a big THANK YOU to our Service Men and Women and their families who sacrifice so much to protect out freedoms.

God Bless You and Your Families

Blessings, Erin

Painting Hydrangeas

2011-06-19T13:40:00.000-07:00

Welcome. I am so happy that you stopped by. My garden gate is always open for you to come in and sit and relax with a cup of tea while I share the inspirations for my art. The Hydrangeas are beautiful this time of year. The sun is shining and the birds are singing. Let's join Bentley, my Studio Assistant, in the garden to look for inspiration.

Finding inspiration . . . . .

Here . . . . .

There . . . . . . .

Everywhere . . . . .

I picked a basket of blooms to paint.

"Art In The Garden"

"Let all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you." Psalm 70:4

Thank you for stopping by. I love hearing from you and sincerely appreciate your visits, comments, e-mails and those of you are following my blog. Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to see me paint something special.

Have a lovely week. Blessings. Erin

Vintage Lady Garden Tour

2011-06-16T14:44:00.000-07:00

Welcome. I am so happy that you stopped by. Today my friend, Cathy, who owns The Vintage Lady, is going take us on a tour of her charming and delightful vintage garden located behind her equally charming and delightful shop. Her blue door is always open for you to come in and sit and relax and enjoy her shop and garden.

You are greeted by happy words in her shop as well as throughout the garden - both are alive with creative projects and provide a beautiful and peaceful sanctuary - Cathy feels laughter, music, flowers and prayer are essential and her Life Goals are to "dig deep - pray - expect". She will take us on a tour of her shop on another day.

One of my favorite signs in the garden: "When I grow up I want to be a little girl".
Everyone who tours her fun garden feels like a child again.

Cathy has all of her signs custom made just for The Vintage Lady and they are all unique and originals.

She is well known for her custom Fairy Gardens .

She also has fun "make-it-take-it garden container classes on special occasions.

Sadly someone just stole her vintage pink bicycle.

Love her old flower box with vintage iron brackets.

The garden is filled with unique and charming vintage items used as containers.

"Let all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you." Psalm 70:4

It is not unusual for friends to drop off old vintage items (to save them from the dump) for Cathy to give a new home.

Another one of my favorite signs.

I hope that you enjoyed Cathy's garden tour. You can visit her on her website at:

www.thevintagelady.com or better still visit her charming shop and garden at:

434 El Camino Real

Tustin, CA 92780

714 731-0422

Thank you for stopping by. I love hearing from you and sincerely appreciate your comments, visits, e-mails and those of you who are following my blog. Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to see me paint something special.

Have a lovely week. Blessings, Erin

Painting Sunflowers

2011-06-10T11:38:00.000-07:00

Welcome. I am so happy that you stopped by. My garden gate is always open for you to come in and sit and relax with a cup of tea while I share with you the inspirations for my art. Sunflowers have always been one of my favorite flowers to paint - I can't resist their happy and sunny faces .

The sun is peeking through the clouds and the birds are singing and it is a beautiful day. Let's join Bentley, my Studio Assistant, in the garden to paint Sunflowers.

Finding inspiration . . . . .

One of my favorite containers for Sunflowers is this old enamel French pitcher. I love to paint it and it has been in several of my paintings.

Here . . . .

There . . . . .

"Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadow. It's what sunflowers do."

Helen Keller

Everywhere . . . . .

"This is the day the Lord has made: let us rejoice and be glad in it" Psalm 118:24

Have a lovely week. Blessings, Erin

Painting from Memories

2011-06-04T11:10:00.000-07:00

Welcome. I am so happy that you stopped by. My garden gate is always open for you to come in and sit and relax with a cup of tea while I share with you the inspirations for my art. The weather is starting to get warmer in Southern California and brings back some of my favorite childhood memories of summers spent with my family at my Grandparent's beach cottage at Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina. Do you have a favorite warm weather childhood memory?

I have been working on a large painting for my office based on "childhood memories" Let's join Bentley, my Studio Assistant, and look for inspirations.

Finding Inspiration . . .

For me, nothing says summer more than a flag flying in the breeze.

Here . . . .

My outdoor white wicker furniture reminds me so much of my Grandmother's white wicker.

There . . . .

Everywhere . . . . .

My aunt, Maureen Riley, painted this watercolor of my Grandparent's summer cottage.

Wrightsville Beach is an island and my Grandparent's home was located on Bank's Channel which was always calm and a wonderful place to swim and sail. The ocean side of the island is located just a few blocks away so we had the best of all worlds.

Banks Channel

My cousin just sent me a copy of the old photograph of my Grandparents taken at Wrightsville Beach. My grandfather is the man in the bathing suit and my grandmother is the beautiful young woman to the left of him. The word Maa is pointing to her. We called her Maa as children and the name stuck.

The photo is of my Grandfather, PomPom, and my brother and cousin in front of their cottage.

I wanted to paint white wicker on the porch with a flag blowing in the breeze and lots of red roses. My grandparents were from Ireland and we always had tea in the afternoon, even during the summer months. . . so naturally I wanted to paint a tea set in my "memory" painting.

This is a little reading nook in my office where I like to bring the outdoors indoors with plants and fresh flowers. I wanted to paint lots of flowers in my painting so I would always have flowers indoors.

The completed painting.

"Childhood Memories"

"For the Lord gives wisdom." Proverbs 2:6

Thank you for stopping by. I love hearing from you and sincerely appreciate your visits, e-mails, comments and those who follow my blog. I read and cherish each of your comments.

For some reason Blogger will not let me leave comments and does not recognize me. I will keep trying to leave you back a comment.

Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to see me paint something special.

Have a lovely week. Blessings, Erin

Art In The Garden

2011-05-30T17:28:00.000-07:00

Welcome. I am so happy that you stopped by. My garden gate is always open for you to come in and sit and relax with a cup of tea while I share with you the inspirations for my art. The sun is shining and the birds are singing and it is a beautiful day to create art in the garden.

Let's join Bentley, my Studio Assistant, in the garden to look for Pansies to paint.

Finding Inspiration . . . . .

Here . . . .

There . . . .

Everywhere . . . . . . .

I love painting tera cota pots of pansies and decided to add a little bird nest.

I like to display my little paintings in the garden.

"Art In The Garden"

"You show me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy." Psalm 16:11

Thank you for stopping by. I love hearing from you and sincerely appreciate your visits, comments, e-mails, and those of you who follow my blog. I read and cherish each and every comment you leave. Please let me know if you have any questions or if you would like to see me paint something special.

Have a lovely week. Blessings, Erin

Garden Gates

2011-05-17T12:08:00.006-07:00

Welcome. I am so happy that you stopped by. My garden gate is always open for you to come in and sit and relax with a cup of tea while I share with you the inspirations for my art. I thought it would be fun to share with you some of my photos of garden gates and show you the gate that was the inspiration for my painting "The Girl on the Blue Bicycle."

Let's join Bentley, my Studio Assistant, to look at some garden gates.

This is my side garden gate and you can see my blue vintage Rocket bicycle that has been "retired" to the garden. The bicycle has appeared in many of my paintings.

Let's take a look at some charming gates that I have photographed over the past few years. Do you have a favorite gate?

Finding inspiration . . . . .

The blue gate is my favorite gate. It is in front of a charming cottage on Balboa Island and is a popular gate for visitors to photograph.

Here . . . . .

There . . . .

Everywhere . . . . .This is the gate that was the inspiration for my painting "The Girl on the Blue Bicycle".

The gate is located in a charming neighborhood in Old Town Orange in Southern California.

Some of you may recognize the painting as I use it on my Google Account - The Painted Garden.

I fancy that the girl is me wearing a garden hat riding my vintage bicycle many years ago in 1958 when the Rocket bicycle was new.

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened for you." Matthew 7:7

I will be on a little blog break and will be back on June First.

Have a lovely day. Blessings, Erin

Painting Tulips

2011-05-13T10:48:00.000-07:00

Welcome. I am so happy that you stopped by. My garden gate is always open for you to come in and sit and relax with a cup of tea while I share with you the inspirations for my art. The Tulips were lovely this year due to the heavy rainfall we had in California. Let's go into the garden to join Bentley, my Studio Assistant, to look for inspiration to paint the last of the Tulips.

I love the purple Tulips I received for Mother's Day.

Finding inspiration . . . . .

Here . . . . .

There . . . .

Everywhere . . . . .

I decided to paint the pink bouquet of Tulips.

I love putting little paintings in the garden.

"Art in the garden"

"May mercy, peace, and love be yours in abundance." Jude 1:2

Thank you for stopping by. I love hearing from you and sincerely appreciate your visits,

e-mails, comments and those who are following my blog. I read and cherish all of your comments. Forgive me if I do not always leave you a comment back as sometimes time does not allow me to visit everyone.

Have a lovely week. Blessings, Erin

Sunflowers and Foxgloves

2011-05-05T15:12:00.000-07:00

Welcome. I am so happy that you stopped by. My garden gate is always open for you to come and and sit and relax with a cup of tea while I share with you the inspirations for my art. The Foxgloves are in full bloom this time of year and I am painting a large painting with Foxgloves and Sunflowers. The painting is not finished so I thought I would share another large painting with you this week.

Let's join Bentley, My Studio Assistant, to look for inspiration.

The gate leads to a small garden off my kitchen where I grow herbs.

This is an older painting with Sunflowers and Foxgloves and is still one of my favorites. The new painting will also have Sunflowers and Foxgloves.

Finding inspiration . . . .

Here . . . .

There . . . .

Everywhere . . . . .

"Your mother was like a vine in a vineyard . . .fruitful and full of branches." Ezekiel 19:10

Wishing you Blessings and a Joyful and Happy Mother's Day

Have a lovely week. Blessings, Erin

Seaside Cottage Garden Painting

2011-04-29T17:06:00.000-07:00

Welcome. I am so happy that that you stopped by. My garden gate is always open for you to come in and sit and relax with a cup of tea while I share with you the inspirations for my art. I love using the three-R'S - recycle- reuse - re -purpose. Last week I re -purposed a large painting and gave it a seaside cottage garden feel. Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of the before to show you. I planned to hang the painting in my office but things do not always turn out the way planned and it ended up in my living room.

Let's join Bentley, my Studio Assistant, in the living room to see the inspirations behind the painting.

Finding inspiration . . . . . .

Here . . . . .

The sail boats and flag were added to the painting.

There . . . . .

Everywhere . . . . .

The rusty red watering can, sunflowers and bucket of white roses ended up in the painting.

I also added the star fish and books to the painting.

The painting seemed to fit in the living room.

"May there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels." Psalm 122:7

I love my flag pillows and put them out during the Spring and Summer months. The rocker is from an old farm house and gets moved from room to room. It has an old Rachel Ashwell white pillow with a vintage button to give it an updated look.

You can barely see it, but I also have a flag pillow on the sofa.

Close up of the re-purposed painting showing the sail boats, books, and starfish.

Have a lovely week. Blessings, Erin

Painting Red Geraniums

2011-04-24T07:21:00.000-07:00

Welcome. I am so happy that you stopped by. My garden gate is always open for you to come in and sit and relax while I share with you the inspirations for my art. Goodness gracious - the weather all over our country has been so unusual this year - I hope all of you living in the areas hit by tornados are all right. The unusually cool and rainy weather in Southern California produced beautiful Spring flowers that seem to be larger than usual.

My Geraniums are glorious and the blooms are bigger than usual. Let's go into the garden and Bentley, my helpful Studio Assistant, will show you the Geraniums.

The blooms on the white Geraniums are as big as Hydrangeas.

The garden hat and red Geraniums are the inspiration for a new garden painting for my office.

The vintage blue windmill was from an old house that was torn down in Laguna Beach, California - it was 0n a fence overlooking the ocean and I have had it for years. It blew over in a recent windstorm and broke off some of the spokes - I still have them and am hoping that my Handyman can fix it. I decided to paint the ocean in the background of the Geranium painting as a tribute to the old windmill that spent years overlooking the ocean.

I have pots of red geraniums in my office and garden hats hanging on the wall and thought the painting would be the perfect addition.

"Happy is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates." Proverbs 8:34

I am "re-purposing" a large painting for my office with a seasside cottage garden theme and will share it with you next week.

Have a lovely week. Blessings, Erin

Garden Rabbits - Here - There - Everywhere

2011-04-18T14:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome. I am so happy that you stopped by. My garden gate is always open for you to come in and sit and relax with a cup of mint tea while I share with you the inspirations for my art. Since Easter is next week I thought it would be fun to share with you my collection of Garden Rabbits that actually look like Easter Rabbits. My collection of Rabbits started about fifteen years . I was newly divorced and just started creating my little garden. I purchased three concrete Rabbits for my garden - a friend stopped by and saw the Rabbits - she assumed that I collected Rabbits and gave me two more Rabbits as a house warming gift- you know what they say about Rabbits -well another friend stopped by and assumed that I collected Rabbits and gave me two more Rabbits as a garden warming gift. By this time I had a reputation of collecting Rabbits and the rest is history.

Let's join Bentley, My Studio Assistant, in the garden and we will share some of the "Easter" - Garden Rabbits with you.

How about you? Do you have any Garden Rabbits in your garden?

"I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you". John 15:11

Easter Blessings

Thank you for stopping by. I love hearing from you and sincerely appreciate and cherish your visits, comments, e-mails, and those who are following my blog. Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to see me paint something special.

Wishing you and your family many Easter Blessings. Erin

Spring Yellow

2011-04-10T15:18:00.000-07:00

Welcome. I am so happy that you stopped by. My Garden gate is always open for you to come in and sit and relax with a cup of tea while I share with you the inspirations for my art. Nothing says Spring more to me in the garden than the color yellow - the happy - sunny yellow faces of Daffodils always make me smile. We had a wild Spring storm over the weekend here in Southern California with high winds and hail. I decided not to leave the Daffodils outside so they would not be damaged by the wind and hail.

Bentley, my helpful Studio Assistant, was in the garden when the hail storm hit. He was not sure what to think of it and ran into the house to hide in his favorite spot on the stair landing. Needless to say he will not be escorting you into the garden to look for inspiration.

Daffodils before the rain storm.

I love the colors of yellow and purple side by side.

Now that the Daffodils are inside I have lots in arrangements around my house.

Here . . . .

There . . . .

Everywhere . . . . .

" You care for the land and water it; you enrich it abundantly." Psalm 65:9

I did not have time to paint something new this week, however, I do have a painting with Daffodils that I painted last year to share with you.

Have a lovely week. Blessings, Erin

Romantic Prairie Style

2011-04-04T08:31:00.000-07:00

Welcome. I am so happy that you stopped by. My garden gate is always open for you to come in and have a cup tea and relax while I share with you the inspirations for my art. I just received my copy of Romantic Prairie Style by Fifi O'Neil. . . . . oh my goodness - I immediately curled up in my garden with a cup of tea reading every word and enjoying the fabulous photography by Mark Lohman. The book is lovely and embraces simple pleasures, family, love, gardening , simplicity and harmony with the earth. . . .and all things old and worn, rusted, repurposed, recycled and reused. I loved Fifi's beautiful book and realized that Prairie Style is not about living on the "prairie" but is a style that says home wherever you live. Let's join Bentley, my Studio Assistant, and go into my garden looking for "prairie style" roses to paint.

First, here is a little peek into Fifi's fabulous new book:

Fifi is having a wonderful giveaway along with several other bloggers to celebrate publication of Romantic Prairie Style. Her bog is a real treat and you can visit her at:

www.fabulousfifi.typepad.com and her book can be purchased at" www.amazon.com

My Ice Berg roses are blooming and I want to paint prairie style roses with a soft and old and time worn feeling - somewhat different from the brighter primary colors that I usually paint.

Finding inspiration . . . .

Here . . . .

There . . . . "I will be glad and rejoice in you". Psalm 9:2

Everywhere . . . . .

The finished painting with a softer time worn look.

Art in the Garden"

Thank you for stopping by. I love hearing from you and sincerely appreciate and cherish your visits, comments, e-mails and those who are following my blog. Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to see me paint something special. I am going back on a little blog break to finish painting something new for my blog banner.

Have a lovely day. Blessings, Erin

Pink Roses and Blue Birds

2011-03-29T16:49:00.000-07:00

Welcome. I am so happy that you stopped by. My garden gate is always open for you to come in and sit and relax with a cup of tea while I share with you the inspirations for my art. Are you as excited about Spring finally arriving as I am? Southern California had a record rain fall this year and thank goodness our drought has just been declared over - we are still going to conserve our precious water supply and are happy that we can water our gardens this year.

We are so thrilled that the Blue Birds have returned to nest in our area and lots of people have put up "nesting" bird houses to attract the Blue Birds back to Southern California.

Nesting

Let's join Bentley, my Studio Assistant, in the garden to show you where our Blue Birds are nesting this year.

Finding Inspiration . . . . .

My pink Cecil Bruner rose is just starting to bloom - it climbed up over the fence and into a tree where a little Blue Bird house was placed and made the perfect nesting place for them.

Here . . . .

There . . . .

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This is not a real nest - just one that I put out for fun in the garden.

The Blue Birds and pink roses were the inspiration for the little " nesting" painting.

I painted the bench with Blue Birds last year to celebrate their return.

"Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young - a place near your alter." Psalm 84:3

Thank you for stopping by. I love hearing from you and cherish and sincerely appreciate your visits, comments, e-mails and those who follow my blog. Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to see me paint something special.

BLOG BREAK - I will be taking a mini break next week to work on a large painting for my new blog banner and will return on April 15th to show you the new work.

Have a lovely week. Blessings, Erin

Happy Spring Winner and Painting Zinnias

2011-03-23T14:05:00.000-07:00

Welcome and Happy Spring. I am happy to announce that the winner of my Thank You Spring Giveaway is: Kathi. Congratulations and please send me an e-mail with your address so I can mail you your present. Thank you to everyone who entered. I only wish that I could have given all of you a present.

Thank you for stopping by. My garden gate is always open for you to come in and sit and relax with cup of tea while I share the inspirations for my art. We have had lots of rain in Southern California this past week and everything in the garden is starting to bloom. I was so excited to see the Zinnias with buds and little flowers. I could not wait to pick a little bouquet to paint as they are one of my favorite "happy" flowers.

Lets join Bentley, My Studio Assistant in the garden to see what we can pick to paint.

Finding Inspiration . . . . . .

Here . . . . . . .

The orange Zinnias seem to be growing faster than the other colors.

There . . . . . .

My old vintage wagon is the perfect container for pots of blooming plants. I am very careful not to let water stand in the bottom of it so it will not rust out.

I love the little garden Bumble Bee signs and have them tucked here and there.

Everywhere . . . . .

I painted the little bouquet on a small canvas and "faked" the lavender Zinnias as I do not have any in bloom yet, but thought the painting needed some lavender. The two orange Zinnias look more yellow in the photograph of the painting .

Happy Spring

" See the winter is past; the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land". Song of Songs 2:11-12

Thank you for visiting and for entering my giveaway. I only wish that I had a gift for everyone who left a comment. I love hearing from you and sincerely appreciate and cherish your visits, comments and e-mails and those who follow my blog. Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to see me paint something special.

Have a lovely week. Blessings, Erin

Painting a Spring Garden Sign and Giveaway

2011-03-13T17:56:00.000-07:00

Welcome. I am so glad that you stopped by. My garden gate is always open for you to come in and sit and relax with a cup of tea. Today we are going to look for inspiration for a Spring Welcome garden sign that we can paint together. The weather has been beautiful in Southern California and it seems like everything in early bloom in my garden is pink.

Bentley, my Studio Assistant, is already in the garden looking for inspiration for us to paint.

I have several pots of pink Hydrangeas that are in full bloom. The blue and white Hydrangeas have lots of buds but are not quite in bloom.

The old fashion fragrant geranium has tiny pink blooms.

The pink Geraniums love the sun and are in bloom.

"The mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing". Isaiah 55:12

Hydrangeas are very easy for beginners to paint. Let' pick a few blooms and put them in a basket and get started painting.

Notice how many different colors there are on the blooms.

Here is a close up of the basket so you can get an idea of how to paint it.

I like to paint on an 8X10 100% cotton canvas as it will hold up out side, however, you can paint on a wood board or piece of slate that you can purchase at Joann's, Michael's or any craft store. I use acrylic paints. You are welcome to copy my drawing - in the past I have used my computer to print out sample font for the lettering - you can also purchase a CD with various samples of font to use for your lettering.

Notice that I drew the horizontal weave of the basket - it is important when you paint it that you paint the weave as shown on the real basket of Hydrangeas. I like to paint in the darks first.

I used Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna and Raw Umber. If you do not have these colors, don't worry - just use a light and dark brown. After I paint in the darks I go back with the same colors and lighten them up with a little white or yellow to get the look of the weave of the basket.

Notice how I painted the flowers in a dark color first - I used Alizrin Crimson and will later add white when I paint the actual petals. Your can use red and go back and add a little white to get the light colors of the petals. I also used a yellow/green mixed with white on some of the petals to get the variation on the petals. Hydrangeas have lots of groups of petals on the main flower - most have 5 per group of petals. I mixed my Crimson with white and highlighted some of the petal groups. Then I painted a little yellow/green center on the highlighted petals. Also add a little yellow or light brown to you leaf to give the look of the veins on the leaf.

The last step is to add a little shadow under the basket, varnish with 3 coats of non-yellowing matt acrylic varnish and attach screw hooks on the back and add a little ribbon and ENJOY.

SPRING THANK YOU GIVEAWAY

Giveaway -$100. Pottery Barn Gift Card and Welcome Garden painting of your choice.

To enter, please leave me a comment and let me know which garden sign you would like to receive with your gift card. You do not have to have a blog to enter - simply leave your comment under Anonymous. As a special THANK YOU to the followers of my blog your name will be entered twice. Just let me know when you leave a comment if you are a follower. The winner will be announced on March 25th.

If pink does not work in your garden, you can pick the other Spring garden sign shown below.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the people in Japan. There is power in united prayer. Jesus said: "For where two or three come together in my name, there I am with them." Matthew 18:20

Thank you for stopping by. I love hearing from you and sincerely appreciate you visits, E-mails, comments and those who follow my blog. I read and cherish each and every comment and e-mail. Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to see me paint something special.

Have a lovely week. Blessings, Erin