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“Love is the Sweetest Thing” Treasury on Etsy

Deidre at dedesbeads included my “Angels’ Kiss”, also know as “Peace and Love”, in her Etsy treasury “Love is the Sweetest Thing”. Thanks Deidre!

The print is available on our Ruffing’s site here, and in my Etsy shop. I imagined it as a heavenly reunion when I painted the original watercolor, and even when I’ve posted it as “Peace and Love” (white lilies for peace and red roses for love), I’ve been told it represented a heavenly reunion to someone else. It’s one of those paintings that touches some people on a very personal and private level, when they have a story of their own that ties into it. So I feel, in regard to the painting, saying less is more when talking about it.
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Cats On Bikes

I’m so glad I found these bikes. I had no idea how much kitten dolls enjoyed bikes until I got them. They actually got a bit rowdy.

They had a game of Chicken.

Their mama managed to redirect them.

Then they rode tandem. No hands! Er, paws.

Then they rode off on their own.

I’m not sure where they went.

If you see them, let me know.

They’re about, well, kitten-sized…several inches tall, and not considered dangerous.
Special thanks to Max Bailey’s cat Hedda for minding them as best she could.

From left to right, “Fiona“, “Ziggy“, and “Hedda“. Please visit our online doll gallery to see more of our original, one-of-a-kind, folk art dolls.

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“Fiona” the Calico Kitten

Here is “Fiona” my one-of-a-kind, original folk art kitten doll, finally all painted and dressed and photographed!

She looks very alert, mischievous, and ready to play, as a kitten should.

I put her with “Ziggy“, her little brother, on the handmade doll quilt I made for her. They played with Ziggy’s toy car.

Then they had a game of Patty-cake.

Fiona modeled her dress. Three-quarter view…

Front…

And back.

I took a better photo of her butterfly quilt.

And got a closeup of the hand embroidered butterfly I designed for the center block.

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Sick Days and Ducks in the Rain

In between sketching and resting, I watched the goings-on in our backyard. This is one of the first iris of the season. I ran out and got a photo just before the rain started here. It blooms faithfully, but I cannot remember its name. I will have to look it up sometime. I took some artistic license with the color of this iris for my “Jubilee” watercolor.

“Jubilee” was one of many paintings (and other projects) that I started and finished years later. I believe I had painted the iris in the upper left, and most everything else, except for the remaining matching two iris. There was something I didn’t like about the already painted iris, like the direction the light was coming in from, and so I intensified its color so I could move the shadows. The existing dark areas became the new light areas. With watercolor, you can’t just paint over what you’ve done, and so you have to get creative when you want to change something. That’s how all the iris ended up much richer in color than my model. I thought it looked quite joyous when I was done, which is why I named it “Jubilee”.

Once the rain started, we got some visitors. We used to have geese wandering through, and I was sad when they disappeared. This year, we have ducks on the pond down the hill, and they wandered up in the pouring rain to nibble on our unmowed grass.

I got a little wet photographing them, and my zoom lens doesn’t zoom as much as I might like. Still, they are awfully cute.

Not long after the ducks showed up, a pair of rabbits came to play leap frog, or leap bunny? I didn’t manage to get a picture of them, but they were very amusing, running and leaping over each other. At one point they each anticipated a charge by the other and leapt, simultaneously, straight up in the air.

Afternoon Delight“! That’s the name of the iris. It just came to me!