Indoor Garden With Orchids.....

Being that nothing is really growing outside right now, it is fun to fuss over and photograph my orchids that are blooming at the moment.  Right now I have 5 plants that are in bloom and I have to say, I like photographing them at their different stages of growth from spike to buds to flowers.  The orchid above is a great bloomer for me and when the plant started producing buds this time, there were 3 that initially formed.

While these 3 blooms were putting on a nice show for me, you can see from the above photo that 2 more buds formed on the spike, waiting patiently for their turn to bloom.

In this photo, only one of the original blooms remain and you can see that the 2 buds have gotten very big and will burst into bloom at any time.

I love this little red Phalaenopsis, it is the second time it has bloomed for me and this time it formed 2 buds which turned into beautiful flowers.

It was a happy surprise when the Phal above started forming a spike as it had just stopped blooming and I was amazed it started again so soon.

The above Phal I have had for years and I have not had any luck getting it to rebloom for me.  I decided that it was now or never so to speak and if it wouldn't rebloom for me it was getting left behind when I moved.  I spent a lot of time with it over the past months trying to coax it into action and imagine my happines when the spike above first started to appear.

It formed 7 buds on this particular spike and now of course, since I have gotten it to bloom for me, it will be a regular bloomer without any special effort involved and it will also be moving with me, sitting with the other orchids on the front floor of my car. 

I've had this plant for so long that I had actually forgotten what color it was and to my happy surprise, it is yellow with a red center.  Yellow is a color I have been wanting in my orchid garden so I was thrilled.

Tile Trivets & Late Summer Swallowtail Butterflies

Beyond my frenzy of late to create cards from my artwork, I've also been making 6" x 6" tile trivets or I know, as lots of people like to call them.....hot plates.

These are 3 or 7 different varieties so far, that I'll be adding to my ETSY site little by little.  Along with cards though, I'm really looking forward to selling the trivets at crafts fairs when I relocate. 

I cannot wait to have tile murals of some of my painted pieces, I think they will be very dimensional and fun.  My husband will be my grout and frame man, piecing everything together, grouting to connect the segments and finally, finishing with a custom made frame.  Think of one of the above images much much larger and broken into smaller segments, connected to make a larger, ceramic piece of wall art.....and if you can imagine that, you will have imagined what I would like to create. 

These are all late season swallowtial butterflies that have been visiting my garden in the last few weeks.  I'm actually creating a painting now with 4 different kinds of butterflies and two of them are swallowtails so these beauties couldn't have fluttered into my garden at a bettter time.  The inspiration they gave me has been amazing.

I hope you find some lovely inspiration in your end of the season garden as well.

Inspirations From The Rose Garden

My time away from blogging found me getting quite a lot of work done.  I've been creating some new pieces and working on revamping some of the older ones as well.  These are all past photos of my garden from years ago, I've taken lots of nice rose photos over the years that I've saved san stored on my computer.

You never know what some of the photos you take will inspire down the road, what ideas they might spark.  These roses got me thinking of a sketch I did in charcoal years ago, which is sitting just below.  I had totally forgotten about it but found it by chance last week as I was cleaning my studio.  Laurie from the licensing agency had asked if any of us had black and white sketches and after I found this, I sent it into her on a whim.  It was received well and she mentioned that I might consider doing a colored version down the road to add to my portfolio.  In the upcoming months, I plan to do just that, revamp this older piece and give it color and with that, a new life.

Many time for a painting I combine several things to create my pieces.  I use ideas from photos I've taken, not just one photo but many, ideas from real life, things I've seen and loved and I store them away in my memory until just the right time.  I also use  "the present" real life world that I can see going on around me outside my window at this moment.  Whip all those things up in one pot and it makes a healthy serving of creativity.

Pink Hibiscus In Bloom & The Wonders Of Photoshop

**I'm taking a blogging break for a week or so to finish enjoying some of my vacation time**

This week in my perennial garden the pink hibiscus have started to bloom, they are a summer favorite of mine as they always put on such a pretty show for about 4 weeks during the season.

I use a lot of my black eyed susans that have started blooming for cut flowers to bring in the house and sit on the living room coffee table.

With the black eyed susans, I like to cut them to bring them inside after a good rain or after I have watered, that way I find they will not wilt but will last for many many days.  I also run freezing cold water over the ends of the cut stems, which also seems to help.

The hibisucs I cannot cut and bring in, they wouldn't work as a cut flower but they sure are pretty to look at and photograph each year.

I hope you have beautiful blooms in your own garden each week to look forward to and photograph as they put on their summer show.

Ok, on to wonders that don't have anything to do with nature, this particular one centers around the amazing things that can be accomplished by using Photoshop.  This past week when I submitted "Fair Weather Friends" to my licensing agent Laurie, she asked that I change the types of birds in the painting to better suit what they are needing to make the image more usable for them.  

To keep my original painting in tact I decided to create the chickadee, goldfinch and wren that Laurie asked for on loose sheets of unstretched canvas and insert them into the orginal image by using photoshop.  Above is the goldfinch, I painted this bird leaving out the areas that would be in front of him in the painting, so he could just be slipped in behind  the purple climatis petals.

The end result is a pretty cool variation on my original theme.  The original painting is left in tact and a second digital image is created using the newly painted birds.....the finished product is two very different bird house scenes.  These changes of course did not magically appear with the waving of a wand (I wish) I did the painting and Chris (the husband with the photoshop chops) created the new digital image for me.  He did a great job so thank you photoshop for existing in the first place and thank you husband for all your hard work on this image.

"Fair Weather Friends" & Hummingbird Visitors

Early this week I completed "Fair Weather Friends" and this painting is now sitting on my diningroom table having dried thoroughly and is awaiting a trip to the basement for it's protective spray coating.  At the moment it looks like another birdhouse painting is in the works but I'm still figuring out exactly what size it will be, the colors, the house iteself, bird/birds or even, will there be a bird.  Decisions, decisions.......  For now though, thrilled to be finished with this large piece, it is available on ETSY -  www.artfulcreations.etsy.com  .

I tried an experiment yesterday with the hummingbirds to see if I could get even better photos then I did last time (see my post from a few weeks ago) by trying to stand outside this time, rather then in the kitchen and having to shoot through the kitchen door.

I went outside on the back porch and stood very still, as close to the feeder as I thought I could dare go and to my surprise, the sweet little female I call the "percher" came right over, to spite my presence so near the feeder.

She was the first of the hummingbirds to arrive this season and the first to feel at home enough to perch while she drank.  She didn't seem to mind me being outside at all so I was able to take quite a few nice photos of her and it really did make a difference not having to deal with trying to shoot through the screen door.

She still comes by on a constant basis each day and at least once a day, stops by with her mate or her girlfriend and they sit on the feeder and have a drink together.  Hopefully one of these times I'll be able to capture the birds feeding together with the camera , I'll keep my eyes out anyway, you never know.  (click to make any of the photos larger)

Back Porch Hummingbirds

I got a really wonderful gift last Christmas from my Mother-In-Law, a hummingbird feeder that is now hanging on my back porch, right inbetween my flower pots.

This will turn out to be one of those "greatest gifts of all time" kind of things.  I had forgotten about it this spring until Chris reminded me of it and I read the directions, filled it up with sugar water (nectar as I call it) and hung it outside.

For about a week all was quiet and then hummingbirds started coming for a regular drink.  I'm starting to feel like the neighborhood bar but in a good way.  Everyone seems to be coming by for their daily, no, make that every 5 minute nectar fix. 

We seem to get a variety of  visitors but have two "regulars" as I call them that pretty much are here constantly.  As the weeks have gone by they are more comfortable and at home by the feeder.  They have become used to the kitchen door opening and closing, me standing with a camera to photograph them and just the regular noises of the kitchen, running of the sink etc.  The guy above (I'm sure he is a boy since he is so colorful) we call him "red neck".  He seemed very uneasy in the beginning but now actually perches when he is drinking.

I believe he might be the mate to this little hummingbird, we've taken to calling her "the percher" (I know, you are blown clear away by these super creative names I've thought up) because she is the first hummer that actually sat down and made herself comfortable at the feeder.  She perches constantly and drinks for long minutes as you can see in the photos below. 

These two are seen together all the time, which is the reason I think they might be mates.  Just the other day she was at the feeder and he flew by, came back around again and hovered near the feeder...then flew off to sit in the big tree in the backyard.  She watched him fly away and then immediately followed him.  Sometimes they visit the feeder together and both sit down on opposite ends to have a drink.

So this definately goes down as one of the best gifts I have received because I've been spending lots of time, with my camera, at the back door enjoying every minute of the hummingbird visits.  I plan to spend more time this summer getting some different shots of these sweet little birds.  If you want to see a more up close view of the hummingbirds, click each photo to make it larger and you'll be able to get a better look.

 

All this activity is not lost on Dudley and little Orchid who have been a bit ticked off that I've been spending so much time by the back door.  At first Orchid thought company way coming and she would bark as I was standing there with my camera.  I quickly shushed her so she wouldn't scare the birds away from the feeder.  They are a bit annoyed that so much attention is being given to the birds rather then to them.  After all, they are adorable, have beautiful hair, give mom lots of love and kisses (with the occasional bad behavior thrown in for good measure) and assure me they would drink sugar water if I bothered to make it for them so why they wonder, am I not just taking photos of them instead of spending all my time at the back door with the birds.  This photo shows them coming in to keep watch with me as I take my photos.  As I pointed out to them, they get plenty of photos taken and are not exactly lacking in love and attention.   If they weren't so short and had better eyesight, they could enjoy the back porch visitors with me.

Step Into My Garden.....

Every time I step outside with my camera , I continue to be amazed at all the new growth in the garden and the new visitors that stop by each day.  This butterfly sits atop some Lamb's Ear.

Lilies are exploding to life in a variety of colors.  The painting I'm working on now is a grouping of Lilies, although not this color.  I'm calling them "Electric Pink Lilies" so that might give you an idea of the color palette.

Irises of course are a favorite of mine, I have enjoyed painting them.  They are out of bloom in my garden now but, I couldn't resist this photo of one of my great favorites. 

 A beautiful Monarch on some newly blooming Cone Flowers. 

 Perennial Hibiscus always put on a colorful show.

Welcome to my back door.....come on in and see what is be created on my easel.