“There’s a big Irish community in Savannah, as many Irish immigrants settled here. Savannah has one of the largest St. Patrick’s Day parades in the world, second only to New York City. I attended a St. Patrick’s Day parade in Cork, and it was ironically much smaller than the parade here! Savannah also holds an annual Irish festival and has a strong Irish dancing and music community.
The Celtic Cross that this painting was inspired by is in Emmet Park. It was handcarved in Ireland, and presented as a gift to the Irish of Savannah. According to Visit Historic Savannah:
‘Dedicated in December, 1983, the Celtic Cross of Irish limestone from the County of Roscommon, in West Ireland, honors Savannahians of Irish descent, a reminder that their history was one of religion as much as it was about ‘hard work, suffering and endurance.’ The monument faces Bay Street, and every year a wreath is laid at its pedestal, right before St. Patrick’s Day.'”
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“This is the beautiful and elegant state flower of Georgia. It is an Asian plant that does well in tropical climates.
I look forward to one day adding this special plant to my garden. I think it would work well in front of a fence row. I’ll do more research on this plant before making a commitment to it. People claim it’s quite a sprawler!”
Cherokee Rose oil painting by Natalie Buske Thomas
List of Oil Paintings in this Collection, linking to their pages here on the site, and also citing physical pages in the hardcover book:
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Cropped section of Come to the Garden oil painting by Natalie Buske Thomas
“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).
Right section of Come to the Garden oil painting by Natalie Buske Thomas
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!
Bottom section of Come to the Garden oil painting by Natalie Buske Thomas
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).”
Come to the Garden oil painting by Natalie Buske Thomas
List of Oil Paintings in this Collection, linking to their pages here on the site, and also citing physical pages in the hardcover book:
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“One of the most identifiable features of Savannah is its trees, many of which are covered with Spanish moss. The moss truly changes the shape of trees, and if simplified- like in this painting- the effect is almost umbrella like. When many trees align the city streets, the effect is dramatic and romantic.
These trees appear in the landscaping of many parking lots, making even a simple trip to the grocery store a beautiful experience. This is more true of the island shopping areas, but overall there are more trees in commercial zones in the Savannah area than I’ve seen in other parts of the country, and when so many are flowy and lightly billowy in a breeze, there’s a calming effect to what could be stressful errands. It is the trees that slow the pace down, a Southern sedative.”
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“Our first year here, I was so excited to have a vibrant garden on my little patio. I can see it from inside the house, and we bought a compact 2-person swing that fits on the patio so we can sit outside among the flowers, birds, and butterflies. One of our first investments was in an inexpensive “butterfly tree”.
The small tree has butterfly shaped flowers that really do attract butterflies and hummingbirds. That’s how I was able to train the hummingbirds to visit our home. I put a sugar-water feeder in the same pot as the tree. It worked almost instantly!
Best of all, the tree blooms nearly continuously for most of the year! It’s such a lovely gift to our family. I looked it up for you just now, and I was happy to learn that it’s easy to propagate and share this plant! I will definitely do that. The tree is apparently actually a “bush”. It is called Clerodendrum Ugandense (Blue Butterfly Bush). Mine is outdoors, but others consider it an “everblooming houseplant”, so I could try starting some indoors as well. I wouldn’t enjoy hummingbirds or butterflies inside, but it’s a pretty plant on its own. Now that I know how easy it is to start new plants, I’ll soon have many more of these, indoors and out!”
Butterfly Tree Flowers oil painting by Natalie Buske Thomas
List of Oil Paintings in this Collection, linking to their pages here on the site, and also citing physical pages in the hardcover book:
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“Year round vegetation is so lovely! Even the “weeds” are appreciated. I saw a sprig of clover growing through the cracks in the patio block. The shadow those cheery leaves cast was a reminder of how blessed we are when the sun shines upon us, when Light is above, while shadows are beneath our feet.
Such moments remind me of this Irish Blessing:
‘May the road rise to meet you,
may the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
the rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
may God hold you in the palm of his hand.
May the Lord bless you and keep you,
may the Lord cause his face to shine upon you,
and give you peace.'”
Clover oil painting by Natalie Buske Thomas
List of Oil Paintings in this Collection, linking to their pages here on the site, and also citing physical pages in the hardcover book:
“A strikingly beautiful blue heron appeared at the lagoon one day. I quickly took its picture to paint later. This is a different style from how I usually paint. It looks like a watercolor because I was trying to get away with using cheap paints that turned out to be watery and hard to work with. This was a happy accident, because the watercolor-like effect captured the mood.
He has only made one more appearance that I know of, but I hope he will return next spring. On the day he arrived, he just happened to be standing at the water’s edge when the light reflected the colors of the trees in a streaky wave of color. He was all alone, with no other birds or creatures in sight, which only added to his mysterious presence.”
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“We get gators in the lagoon behind our house. Trapper John came out and removed a big alligator using a pole, his bare hands, and duct tape. I watched the adventure from inside the house, through the glass patio doors. When the gator was safely bound and loaded onto the back of his truck, I went outside and asked if it was OK to take pictures. Trapper John moved the gator so that I could get a good shot. The gator’s tail felt like an underinflated tire- rubbery, squishy, and oddly soft.
The police officer on the scene said- after I touched the gator- that he was surprised the alligator was being so docile. The officer was amused by my photo shoot. He said, “Welcome to Georgia.”
Besides gators, we also have snakes. There was a small one inside our house, which gave me a phobia of lying on the floor. No more yoga for me! There was a large one outside our house, which gave me a phobia of mowing the lawn. Now I wear boots or ask my husband to do it. One day I was filming a cute little toad and my husband pranked me by pretending to see a snake. He laughed about that for entirely too long. Well, a few weeks later, he came in from mowing with a sheepish look on his face. He thought I’d seen him jump a mile when he saw a snake in the grass. No, I’d missed that, but I can imagine it and it’s a safe bet that I’ll have another opportunity to see it.”
Gator and Snake oil painting by Natalie Buske Thomas
List of Oil Paintings in this Collection, linking to their pages here on the site, and also citing physical pages in the hardcover book:
Watch Natalie paint this art, and all 50 oil paintings in this collection (menu below)
“My dad’s one and only painting in his life was of a lighthouse. Decades later, I was inspired to paint one, after seeing this lighthouse both from the road on the way to Tybee Island, and then later from the sea while on a dolphin boat tour.
This lighthouse is located two miles west of the tourist attraction, Tybee Island Lighthouse, and is actually on Cockspur Island. The first Cockspur Lighthouse was built in 1849 to mark the entrance to the south channel of the Savannah River. Because it wasn’t working adequately, it was later rebuilt in 1857. To preserve this historical marker, the lighthouse isn’t open to visitors.
What do you feel when you look at this painting? Hope, above a sea of unknown depth & profound sadness? Do we focus on what lies beneath, or look to the Light? Art says something different to me, depending on the moment, even if the painting is my own work. So, my answer to how this lighthouse makes me feel will be different depending at where I am in life’s journey, or what my mood is at that time.”
Lighthouse near Tybee Island oil painting by Natalie Buske Thomas
List of Oil Paintings in this Collection, linking to their pages here on the site, and also citing physical pages in the hardcover book:
“This is a special roadside American flag on the only way to/from Tybee Island. It was saved from flood waters by police officers after Hurricane Irma, on the anniversary of 9/11 known as Patriots Day. The flag, attached to driftwood, had been a familiar landmark on that stretch of Highway 80 since the 1980’s. The officers knew that evacuees returning home after Hurricane Irma would find their beloved flag to be a comforting sight. They were especially grateful to residents who took care of the weary officers with coffee and encouragement, while first responders were working 12 hour shifts before and after the storm.
I had no idea of the history of this roadside flag when I was inspired to paint it. All I saw was our homeland’s flag waving on that stretch of highway, and I was stirred with emotion. I imagined someone had put that there with love and passion for our country and our people. It was only later that I learned about the story behind this flag. Now it is even more special and I’m happy to have painted it.
Flag on Tybee Island oil painting by Natalie Buske Thomas
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