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“That’s me, on the swing. My real life swing is actually a rather cheap, much smaller, version of this, but I enjoy my time on the patio. The morning glory vines along the top were real, but we later yanked them out because birds were perching on it and pooping on the swing! The birds don’t usually come around all at once, but all of these do visit our patio in the places I’ve painted them. The bluebirds visit seldomly, while the cardinals and hummingbirds are here every day and I’ve begun to think of them as my friends!

The potted red roses and wisteria are real, as are the plants in the white trellis/planter combo my husband made for me (lavender and a grape vine). The pink vines I painted aren’t there, but were planned to be- ditto for the potted Gerber Daisies. The white roses in the foreground aren’t there- that’s where my patio door is. I’ll explain the rest of this painting over the next two pages (refers to physical book- here on website, just scroll down).

My real life patio is about half this size, and there’s no path leading off to a secondary garden (no hedges or white picket fence either). The forestry is real. It surrounds a lagoon (man-made retention pond that isn’t in this painting, but is in the Blue Heron and Savannah Snow paintings). Our yard ends very near the patio.

Years ago, we owned a hobby farm in rural Minnesota, but the company my husband worked for moved to Canada and ghosted the town. We sold our house and started a new life. It’s been a long, uncertain journey. We are finally rebuilding our lives, although it means renting a small house with a tiny yard for a few years.

While I no longer have our Babydoll Southdown sheep, hens, or other animals, the wild birds keep me company. My garden patio is full of life, and I am content to wait for our lives to take off once again. We will have our own home again one day. For now, this is my home- home is where our heart is.

More about the painting: The tree on the right is the butterfly tree that I showed you in a previous painting. The shepherd’s hook is there, with the bird feeder below it. The cardinals sometimes pose exactly like this. We’ve changed things up a bit since I did this painting. We’ve added a red tower for smaller birds, that’s supposed to attract the elusive migratory Painted Bunting I showed you earlier. We’ll see, come spring!

This type of flower is called a Cherokee Rose. I’ve been told that it can take up a lot of space, so I’ll need to wait until we have a bigger yard before adding this flower to my real life garden. It is the state flower of Georgia, so I painted it separately as well (next painting).”

List of Oil Paintings in this Collection, linking to their pages here on the site, and also citing physical pages in the hardcover book:

1. City of Savannah
   1.1 “City of Savannah” page 6-7
   1.2 “Natalie at the Fountain” page 8-11
   1.3 “House in Savannah” page 12-13
   1.4 “Guardian Lion” page 14-15
   1.5 “Autumn Angel” page 16-17
   1.6 “Steamship Savannah” page 18-19
   1.7 “Boiled Peanuts for Sale” page 20-21
   1.8 “Bulldog” page 22-23
   1.9 “Serenity Piano” page 24-25
   1.10 “Painting Colors” page 26-27
2. Tybee Island
   2.1 “I Love Life” page 30-31
   2.2 “Living Sand Dollar” page 32-33
   2.3 “Matthew the Sea Turtle” page 34-35
   2.4 “Fungie the Dolphin” page36-37
   2.5 “Angel Releasing Dove” page 38-39
   2.6 “Flag on Tybee Island” page 40-41
   2.7 “My Kids at the Beach” page 42-43
   2.8 “Lighthouse near Tybee Island” page 44-45
3. Birds, Reptiles and Amphibians
   3.1 “Gator and Snake” page 48-49
   3.2 “Tree Frog” page 50-51
   3.3 “Lizard” page 52-53
   3.4 “Blue Heron” page 54-55
   3.5 “Hummingbird” page 56-57
   3.6 “Painted Bunting” page 58-59
4. Flowers and Trees
   4.1 “Pink Flower” page 62-63
   4.2 “Porch Flowers” page 64-65
   4.3 “Clover” page 66-67
   4.4 “Butterfly Tree Flowers” page 68-69
   4.5 “Savannah Tree” page 70-71
   4.6 “Dancer in a Floral Forest” page 72-73
   4.7 “Come to the Garden” page 74-77
   4.8 “Cherokee Rose” page 78-79
5. Faith and Food
   5.1 “Floral Cross” page 82-83
   5.2 “Lenten Flower” page 84-85
   5.3 “Celtic Cross” page 86-87
   5.4 “Mary of God’s Favor” page 88-89
   5.5 “Lion and the Lamb” page 90-91
   5.6 “Breakfast with Friends” page 92-93
   5.7 “Peaches in a Bowl” page 94-95
   5.8 “Peach Cookies” page 96-97
   5.9 “Peach Pie” page 98-99
6. Seasons and Weather
   6.1 “Pumpkins and Mums” page 102-103
   6.2 “Autumn Cottage” page 104-105
   6.3 “Spring Lambs” page 106-107
   6.4 “Peach Tree Hurricane” page 108-109
   6.5 “Eye of the Storm” page 110-111
   6.6 “God’s Promise” page 112-113
   6.7 “We Gather Together” page 114-115
   6.8 “Savannah Snow” page 116-117
   6.9 “I Believe in Santa” page 118-119