Peach and Raspberry Sorbet Tulips!

6"x6"x7/8" deep oil on wood panel

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Wow, the garden has been great inspiration this year! These two varieties of tulips have been really interesting as they've matured over the last two weeks. They light ones start out a very peachy color (like peach sorbet) and the darker ones quite the raspberry color. As the days have gone by and turned in to weeks.....each of these colors have changed!  The lighter ones have gone to a bright pink and the darker ones to a deep bluesy burgundy! And the blossoms are nice and BIG!

For my fellow gardening friends, we ordered our tulip bulbs in the fall from Colorblends, they ship them to you when it's the right time to plant them.  We've ordered daffodils, Spanish bluebells, and other tulips as well as these.  They've all been very beautiful, but these 2 colors have been spectacular!

Early Morning Spring Color - SOLD!

8"x6" oil on linen mounted on archival panel

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This Spring the garden has been so incredible. The thousand tulip bulbs we planted last fall have come up in colors of "Peach and raspberry sorbet"!  And the purple-blue blooms of ajuga (or bugleweed) luckily timed out just right to come into full bloom with the tulips!

Clear Autumn Morning, Variations & Improvisations

6"x6" oil on gessoed masonite artboard, $110

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I like to take some of the small studies I've done and make small color variations of them. Hence, the "Variations and Improvisations" series! It's a fun way to take these familiar views of my favorite hiking spots and try out different brushwork/techniques or color variations. Sort of like musicians take familiar tunes & musical phrasings and do the same with those. 

To help me remember which ones are which,  the plein air scenes done on location are the 6x8 size, and my variations/improvisations are in the 6x6 size.

Sure Sign It's Spring

8"x6" oil on linen mounted on panel

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These are the first things to bloom in our year when Spring decides to show up! Two weeks ago they were bobbing their lovely blossoms around reminding me of the day I painted this. It's still one of my favorite paintings (and looks lovely framed in gold by the way)!

Spring Skies and Artist's Garden Tour Video!!

8"x6" oil on linen mounted on archival panel

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My first plein air painting of Spring, painted on Monday the 8th, before I took some time off for surgery (on the 10th).  Spring has finally arrived in our corner of New England,  and I wanted to take time to "paint now, talk later".  So now I have some catching up to do.  Each Spring I look forward to getting back outside to nature! Getting to watch the colors of this marsh area of Barn Island over the span of a year is a wonderful thrill for me. 

Now, the moment I've been waiting for all winter - getting back to my garden! I'd love to share some of what I get to see each growing season, some of my favorite painting views. My hubby (aka Garden Guru) and I planned planting for painting, wonderful views that are in a small manageable space.  Garden Guru's main goal was having a minimal amount to mow, with a maximum visual impact. Both of us wanted an organic lawn with NO chemicals! We're so happy with the results! I'll take you through our growing season, starting with the views this weekend.

I'm so glad to take you along, come back often and see what's growing....what's becoming worthy of being painted, some helpful organic gardening tips, too (from my personal Garden Guru).

For a little preview of what this may look like in just a few short weeks, take a look at the home-page of my web-site, I've got a photo of a painting in that space from the first Saturday in May (yes, Kentucky Derby Day!).  www.roxannesteed.com

Peonies Bouquet

6"x6" oil on gessoed masonite artboard

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As Spring shows itself a bit more, I'm so excited for the 'full-fledged' reality of it, I've been going through old photo files finding things to paint. Trying to remember what blooms when, my peonies aren't even showing nubs out of the ground yet! I'm amazed that all that energy stores up under ground each winter, just waiting to burst forth in fragrant, fluffy glory!! Bring it on Mother Nature, I'm ready for Spring to be here!!

Roses In Amberglass ACEO - sold

3.5"x2.5" oil on fine canvas board

Bidding starts at just $1 

(this link goes live at 5pm EST today)

  Lots of painting going on lately, just not much blogging. From super small (like these ACEOs) to super large (the 40x30 that's almost finished on my easel), to some sketches for a commission, and yesterday's first plein air of Spring, the paint is flying, now the fingers on the keyboard need to keep up! Thanks for having a look. Spring is finally making its way to New England, and for that I'm so happy! For my northern hemisphere readers, I hope Spring has reached you by now, or signs of it are showing up!

For those of you not familiar with the acronym ACEO, it stands for Art Cards Editions and Originals.  The miniature paintings are the size of a baseball trading card, 2 1/2 inches by 3 1/2 inches.  This category of art has become increasingly popular on eBay the last couple of years.  These can be displayed on their own, or with a tiny little easel (like the kind you can find in Michaels Arts & Crafts type stores) on a display shelf, or these beautiful gems can be elegantly matted and framed with perhaps a mat of 4 inches wide.  ACEOs also make wonderful gifts!