Well, my bags are packed and I'm ready to go! I leave tomorrow for a three (+) week trip to Ireland. I'm looking forward to seeing all my good friends there, hearing some great music.....playing my fiddle......eating great food.......seeing great sights.....and just enjoying myself in general. As my good buddy Dan O'Connell says. "All I have to do is 'show up!!'"

I have an exhibition during Writer's Week in Listowel (www.writersweek.ie) and then an art residency at Cill Rialaig (in the south of Co. Kerry) where I'll be working independently. Hopefully I'll come home with some interesting collage paintings!

I'll post again after my return on June 15th!

All the best.........Lillie

"The Gardener"

This was actually yesterday's painting......when I finished it, it was pouring rain!! My studio isn't attached to my house and my camera was IN the house so the photographing and posting had to wait til today. (I'll admit I couldn't refrain from 'tweaking' it just a little bit when I went down to my studio today to get it.)

This is Bill - - I took some photos of him last week when he was hoeing his corn..........With all the rain we've had it's looking really good. Let's just hope the deer don't discover it! So far they haven't touched it but Bill says they don't really care about the plants - - it's when the ears of corn start to develop that the deer are more likely to show up!

Nut on a Napkin

I did this little, and I mean LITTLE (4"x6"), painting this afternoon and spent way too much time on it. Sometimes the smaller an image the more inclined I am to tighten up in my work. Still, I'm glad I got it done. The past two days I've spent time in my studio getting ready for my trip to Ireland. While I'm at Cill Rialaig I'll be working in collage so I've been making my papers and organizing things in preparation for that!

PS. My husband, Bill, wanted to know if today's painting is a 'self-portrait'......what a guy!

Rose Campion

Several years ago a co-worker of mine was thinning out some of the perennials in her garden and gave me  a handful of Rose Campion. I planted some of it by the creek at our house in town and gave some of it to my mother-in-law who planted it up here at Whiteoak...........now, eight years later, it's about to take over!!

I'm fairly happy with the little painting I did today but anyone who's familiar with Rose Campion will spot right away that the color of the flower isn't exactly accurate.....I was on the right track initially, but I guess you could say I got carried away and never got it back. Oh well......I'll try again tomorrow. 

New Life! II

I  started this piece a couple of days ago and finished it up this morning. It's a companion piece to the collage I posted back on April 27th (the smaller of the two images in this post) called "New Life. I used the same type of fern and another wing of the same butterfly Bill found. 

POPPIES!!

I painted today with my plein air group,"Women on Paper".  We went to the home of a friend who lives near me (in the country) and plants wildflowers every year. With the rainfall we've had this spring her flowers are spectacular. Especially the poppies - - red, pink, white and orange. I did some small watercolor sketches and took some photographs. Hopefully I'll have a painting of them to post here soon.

Bill's Feather Vane

I couldn't think of what to paint this morning so I asked my husband, Bill, for a suggestion. About a year ago Bill started making what he calls 'Feather Vanes'......He takes a 'found' feather and attaches it to a swivel hook and wire then puts a few beads on for weight and embellishment. He hangs them in the trees and they dance in the breeze.....So this morning he suggested I paint one.....not just any feather vane......he made this one specifically for me to paint. What a guy!

Just Hanging Out

Yesterday my plein air group, Women on Paper, helped out at The Morris Museum during their 'Artrageous Sunday' event. My job was to provide an opportunity for the children visiting the museum to work with acrylics......I started this still life as a demo and finished it up this morning in my studio.......Haven't worked in acrylics for quite awhile - - it was fun!

A Cup of Sunshine

After seeing the roses in a new way I decided to paint a few 'weeds'........they're beautiful too! Bill is teaching at Cambridge College this weekend so I've had the whole day to myself and I figured I'd attempt to 'make up' for one of the days I missed this week due to the Undercover Artists event.......which, by the way, was a real success!!

Wine and Roses

We have a climbing rose on our deck that neither Bill or I has ever been particularly in love with. Bill said something earlier in the week about getting rid of it after it finishes blooming this year - - I didn't object when he said that but after finishing this morning's painting I've completely changed my mind.....it's not going anywhere! Sometimes you can look at things day in and day out and never really 'see' them.......hmmmm