Up A Tree

"Up A Tree" 7"x 5" watercolor ©2014

This elusive black and white cat used to haunt the backyard of the apartment we rented in Dresden, Germany.  I loved to see her because she reminded me so much of the black & white cat that my parents had on their farm, her name is Silky.

Silky is a shy, temperamental stray that adopted my Dad.  He spent the time to get acquainted with her and she would often go on walks with him on the farm, complaining by meowing and sitting down if she thought he walked too far.  Dad often had some story about Silky's antics to share.  One of the most memorable is of he and Mom watching her hunt outside in the snow one winter and actually killing a pheasant.  Silky didn't seem to know what to do with it, so Dad went out and brought the poor dead bird in and prepared it for their own dinner.  Dad didn't like to keep animals in the house, but that didn't stop Silky from trying to convince Dad to let her in.  She would let them know it was time for her dinner every evening by standing up full length in the front window whenever she saw Dad in the living room.  He taught her to ride in the wheel barrow when he went to get wood for the wood stove and he even showed me how he got her to ride on the seat of the big swing he had put up in one of the trees for the grand kids.  Silky didn't seem too thrilled, but she did it for him.

Poor Silky was just as lost and confused as the rest of us when when Dad passed away so suddenly.  I'm so glad he shared with me his adventures with her, I'm glad to have those stories to remember.  He was so gentle with animals and people, I miss him so much.

I was sorry when the elusive black and white cat didn't visit our Dresden backyard anymore.   At least I did get this memorable moment of her peering up at us with her intense green eyes from her perch in the apple tree below.  I am reminded that it does us good to climb up and appreciate our surroundings everyday, right now.  Tomorrow can change everything.  Wise kitty.

 To purchase the original painting: "Up a Tree" at my Etsy shop

To purchase a print or card of "Up a Tree" click here.

Kaikoura Coast Inspiration

"Farewell" 7"x 5" watercolor ©2014

Part of our journey when we were traveling north from Christchurch to catch the ferry at Picton, involved driving along the Kaikoura coast.  It was a grey day, but the steep rocks on one side and the ocean on the other kept it quite interesting visually.

I don't remember if we saw the signs for seals or just saw the people gathered at one of the pull-offs at the side of the road, but we decided to stop and take a look too.  Looking down the steep embankment, we could see and hear mother seals and their pups on the rocks below.  So exciting!  I didn't know if I could get a good picture with a grey day and such a long distance, but I saw this young one looking up at us just before he turned to go down the rocks.

The look in that little seal's eyes captured me!  I knew if the picture was any good at all, I wanted it to be my first painting inspired by New Zealand.  Similar to how the swans captured my attention in Germany.  Since I had been painting so much in watercolor lately, I thought it would be interesting to try a watercolor painting before tried one with my oil paints.

This painting also gets the honor of being the first item I listed in my Etsy shop I just opened on-line.  Setting up an Etsy shop has been a goal for me for at least a year.  Thanks little seal for your inspiration!

My "farewell" baby seal turns to go.

"Farewell" at my Etsy shop

Thanks Again!

"In the Pink" 7"x 5" watercolor ©2014

One more post about the kind folks here in New Zealand.  Our landlady, Patsy, is next on the list.  After so many weeks of searching, we were so excited to finally move into our own apartment.  One of the things we definitely depend on is a good internet connection.  Everything seemed in order when we moved in, until we tried to sign up with an internet service provider.

One after another,  the different companies we chose sent their service people out here and couldn't locate the cable to hook us up!  Somewhere it was buried and possibly broken under a very long cement driveway. !!!  Patsy was so kind to let us come over and use her computer several times while we tried to figure out the puzzle.   She even shared with us "tea & biscuits" as they call it here.  Tenants before us had had internet and the apartment above us had internet, so there had to be a solution.

Patsy also lent us chairs when we needed extra ones and took us to the second hand shop to search for shelves for the used refrigerator we had recently bought.  She introduced us to some of her favorite places in the neighborhood like the local historic movie theater and the pie shop.

After several weeks, we finally found the one internet service provider that had a line to our apartment.  We were so relieved!  We were thinking we would have to move again if we couldn't sort this out.  This is why soon after I was back into the swing of painting I created a card for Patsy.

"Rose for Carol" 7"x 5" watercolor © 2009

You may have noticed a similarity to my "Rose for Carol" from 2009.  It is from the same photo in my files.  It is very fascinating to me to see how the same photo can evoke different interpretations of the same subject, that is why I sometimes paint the same subject over again.  I am also curious to see what I have learned over time.