Tag Archives: house

Moving Day!

See this oil painting of a house in Savannah come alive in just over 1 minute (time lapse)

This looks nothing like the house we’re closing on, but our house IS in Savannah. I had no idea when I painted this several years ago that I’d be living nearby. This painting seems almost prophetic or foreshadowing now.

I’m looking forward to setting up my new art space and digging my paintbrushes back out. Until then, I’ll try to keep up with my daily blog talks with you, but I don’t know how soon our Internet connection will be up and running. I may be able to hotspot with my phone. If you don’t hear from me for a few days, assume I’m not set up yet.

Today will be a very busy day of moving and closing. I’m nervous, and excited! We are going HOME! After more than a decade of temporary living, we’ll finally be home!!

  • New Painting – “My Home”
    My front garden is almost finished so I decided to paint it yesterday. I took some creative license with it. First of all, I wanted to show you more than one perspective that, in real life, can only be seen if standing outside and turning your head to look at different angles. The mailbox isContinue reading “New Painting – “My Home””
  • Happy Father’s Day!
    The painting in the 2 minute video above is a special family moment I first captured in a photograph when it happened. Then years later (in 2022) I painted this memory of my husband carving a pumpkin for our son. It’s times like these that make fathers so special. HAPPY FATHER’S DAY to all whoContinue reading “Happy Father’s Day!”
  • Happy Mother’s Day!
    Our church had a wonderful photo op display for Mother’s Day this morning [above photo]. My two daughters posed with me (Cassie in the blue striped dress on my right, Savannah in the white and navy dress on my left). My son wasn’t there but if he were, he’d have towered over me, as he’sContinue reading “Happy Mother’s Day!”
  • “Jesus in the Garden”
    Here’s the short (2 minute time lapse) version of my latest oil painting of Jesus called “Jesus in the Garden”. If you missed the full length video, or want to see it again, the Easter show is posted here. The lighting effects you see- where it looks like cross shapes of light or other washesContinue reading ““Jesus in the Garden””
  • Happy Easter
    Blessings to you on this day! Today I’m sharing things that are stripped bare and honest. No formal gowns. Nothing fancy. Just authentic sharing from the heart. First, a clip (in the video below) that I’ve shared here before of a regular day at home when my daughter agreed to sing the hymn “In ChristContinue reading “Happy Easter”
  • The Old Rugged Cross
    Sharing a few clips of favorite Easter shows and events from the past few years – the above was from Easter show 2021, singing beloved hymn “The Old Rugged Cross” with my two daughters. Scroll down for highlights and short clips of previous painting and singing specials. 2 minute time-lapse in the above video (movesContinue reading “The Old Rugged Cross”
  • EASTER SHOW 2023! New painting of Jesus
    My Easter show is done early this year (the video above), plenty of time for you to please share it with your family and friends. The new oil painting is called “Jesus in the Garden”. The hymns my daughter and I are singing have the lyrics on the screen and you’re invited to sing withContinue reading “EASTER SHOW 2023! New painting of Jesus”
  • Easter Painting Show
    I’ve started working on the 2023 Easter Show. The painting is planned, the music is chosen, and I’ve ordered this year’s dress. The art will be powerful. I hope you will remember to tune in. Here are my past shows: Painting Shows if you’ve not already seen them, or if you want to watch themContinue reading “Easter Painting Show”
  • Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
    Watch my Irish art oil paintings come to life in 2 minutes or less (time lapse videos), or watch my full St. Patrick’s Day show with live painting and surprises. Three of these paintings were inspired by living in Ireland, and one of them was painted while I was there. Click the images to seeContinue reading “Happy St. Patrick’s Day!”

BAD DAY

See this oil painting of a wolf come alive in 1 minute (time lapse video)

Well, there must have been a bad moon a’rising because today was a horrible day. The close on our house was cancelled, and then thankfully rescheduled, but it has caused a big mess- the moving pods and truck had to be rescheduled, the clothes and kitchen stuff that was packed needed to be unpacked, and so much more. Now the truck and the POD will be at the house at the same time and there is only room for one in the driveway. We will have to walk much farther with heavy oversized things. All of the careful planning to ensure a smooth and safe move has been destroyed.

It has been an extremely stressful and emotional day. It does not look like the next few days will be any better. I cannot wait for this to be over.

Happy Day!

See this oil painting of a girl on a tree swing come to life in 2 minutes (time lapse video)

Today we had the opportunity to bring the kids to the house we’ll be closing on. Until now, they’d only seen the pictures and video. I was nervous that they wouldn’t like the house as much as we do, but they fell in love with it as soon as they saw it. They are now excited to move in. We had a happy day, exploring the rooms and the yard (the yard has a couple of really big mature trees and I’m wondering if we can put a swing in one of them!). They chose who would have each bedroom, and we took family selfies in the living room.

On the way back to this place we’re currently living in, we went out for a celebration lunch at Cracker Barrel, where we’d not taken them in years. We usually only go there when on a road trip vacation. We chose it today partly because of their fun gift shop. After we ate, we each chose a small keepsake item to remember the day by.

I just downloaded the photos we took, and I love them! I will cherish these always. I want to frame the last one we took, when I said, “do something silly for one last picture”. That was our best one.

Moving Soon!

See oil painting “Autumn Cottage” come to life in just over 1 minute (time lapse)

If you’ve been following our unexpected sudden move journey, and the way the housing crisis has caused a shortage of rentals and homes to buy, then you know it’s a tremendous weight off our shoulders that this house deal has progressed from accepted offer to the inspection stage. The inspection was today and looks like it has passed! We will get the official report tomorrow. Unless there is a nasty plot twist, all is on track for an early close and we’ll be moving soon.

BTW: our new house has a window box! That’s been on my dream wish list ever since we were first married and living in Germany in the attic of a house that had window boxes. So, I chose this autumn cottage painting for today’s blog post. It was a painting I did while just sort of daydreaming of a peaceful cottage with a fall seasonal theme, and the window boxes almost painted themselves.

I will be packing up my paintbrushes and paint, so it will be a while before I have anything new to share. But, I have 200+ paintings already filmed and my chatter will not cease. The daily blog will continue throughout this crazy time. I have many stories to share with you about everything that’s happened, and when I have a bit more time I’ll do that. There will be a day here soon when nearly everything is packed and I’ll be restless. I can tell those stories then. For now, I’m still in a packing frenzy!

Whirlwind Day!

Watch this campfire oil painting come to life in 2 minutes (time lapse)

Mellow music, marshmallows on a stick, and dancing flames – a fire can be welcoming and sentimental – childhood memories, family vacations, and warmth on a chilly evening… or, it can be devastating, ravishing, and life altering. Today’s was life altering, but in what looks to be a good way. Instead of a Dumpster fire, it was like a campfire on the last night of summer camp, when everyone sings sentimental songs and wishes they could be with their best buddies forever, but just around the corner summer will end, school will start back up, and the days toward adulthood will fly by.

A dear friend was thinking of me today and texted me. She has a spiritual gift of contacting me right when I’m going through a major life change, and is a calming force. I say “force” because her method of reassurance is helping me see a situation for what it truly is. This isn’t a passive kind of help, it’s the real kind that makes a difference.

Well, after some conversation about how things stand, a few things were meanwhile happening. One thing led to another and there was a flurry of calls, texts and e-mails between me, a realtor, and my husband. It all started when I got fed up with refreshing the rental listings screen yet again and finding nothing new. I wondered if the housing market in general was short on houses. So I checked homes for sale and found quite a few options. I wondered if we were too soon to give up on the possibility that we could buy a home sooner than planned.

I requested information about a house and was surprised to get a quick response. It turned out that this home had no garage, and my husband is a woodworker, so that’s a deal breaker for us. Of course if we truly had no where else to go, we’d do it, but we still have a short while to make something wonderful happen. It seems too early to give up and commit to a house that we don’t want. So, I explained this to the realtor who’d listed that house, and she started asking me what we were looking for.

I told her our situation, how disappointing the rental market is, and how we’d planned to buy next year (because my husband’s new job doesn’t start until June), but we have to vacate this rental by May 31. I said we can’t find a house to rent and we may need to see if we can buy a house earlier than we’d planned.

I’d imagined spending all of next year getting excited about the new house, saving money toward it, and organizing, packing, etc., then happily house hunting for as long as it took to find our perfect house. Because, every move we’ve ever made has been under a fast deadline with few choices and a fair amount of panic. I wanted a fun home buying experience. But, deep down I guess I knew that’s not how we roll.

We went the other direction- instead of less pressure, we’ll do MORE this time around. LOL, well, maybe that’s how the best of me comes out. I thrive under pressure. Even so, I’m happy that my friend got in touch with me today- she was holding me steady when all of this broke loose.

The realtor put my husband in touch with a local lender who got the ball rolling for us. It looks like we will be buying a house!!!! I’ll know more tomorrow, but my fingers are crossed and my prayers are lifted high! After years of this long journey and several detours, we may finally be HOME!!!!! I can hardly keep up with how fast my life is changing. Now it looks like the GOOD kind of change! Isn’t it wonderful how I knew that all along, and was completely calm and cool the whole time? HA HA HA, if you’ve been reading my blog you know better. 🙂

Still, there’s a long way to go from “working toward financing” and being settled into our new home. We haven’t even started looking at houses yet. So, easy now. I’ll see what tomorrow brings (but it’s okay to shout out a WOOT!). 😀 Thank you for your thoughts and prayers. Let’s bring ’em on home, keep praying!

I hope all of you are doing well. If you’re also dealing with unexpected changes, stay strong! God bless and keep you. May His face shine upon you and give you peace.

Wasn’t What I Expected

Watch this abstract oil painting come to life in about 1 minute for the “Fred” storybook

Please ignore that website URL at the end, by the way- it’s old and gone. Today felt like that painting. It was a mess of chaotic and erratic emotion, balanced with calming, yet sporadic light and movement- it was quite the day. I was unfortunately NOT lucky, as I’d wished for in yesterday’s post.

We went to look at the house during our appointment time, only to find that several other people were there too! Turns out- without telling us- it was not a private viewing but an open house showing with many interested would-be applicants. The listing agent said that several had already applied before this particular showing! And there are two more showings before they’ll choose who gets to lease the house.

It’s a nice house, and we do want to lease it, but the experience was infuriating. Desperate renters competing for few houses on the rental market, all crammed into the private home at the same time. We had to squeeze past other keen house hunters to navigate our way through the narrow hallways and bedrooms. Why not just throw us peasants into a gladiator pit and let us fight for it, for the entertainment of everyone else?

And this too shall pass, but not today. Today we’re still in a bad situation. I’ll remain hopeful it will all work out. We got a lot of yard sale and packing work done. We plan to apply for that house we looked at today. Who knows, maybe they’ll choose us. We found another house listing and submitted the interest form- that might lead somewhere, but it seems unlikely that it isn’t already spoken for. This is a ridiculously competitive market in a very large radius.

It was a strange day. I’d tell you more about it but I’m tired. Maybe tomorrow, or maybe this is a day best not re-lived. At the end of it, my empty potting table, now light, was knocked over by the wind and landed directly on my new yellow rose bush that I’m keeping. A lovely branch broke off. I wanted to cry. I didn’t. It’s just a flower. Tomorrow’s a new day.

Different Perspective

See this oil painting of a house in Savannah, Georgia come alive in just over 1 minute (time lapse)

I remember the day that I wandered around a park in Savannah, the one where the iconic fountain I painted is located, and took extra pictures for painting inspiration. This is a house I saw nearby. I was captivated by the way the trees obscured the view. Now when I see this, I wonder how life has changed for the people who live in that house. Do they even still live there?

That street probably looks different. I don’t want to see it. I haven’t been to the city in a long while. 2020 wasn’t a good time to go. 2021 wasn’t either. 2022 doesn’t look good so far. When I see my pre-2020 art, I feel a touch of melancholy.

“House in Savannah”

Watch Natalie paint this art, and all 50 oil paintings in this collection (menu below)

“This house is near Forysth Park, the park with the iconic fountain featured in the previous artwork (Natalie at the Fountain). Most homes in the neighborhoods near the park are partially hidden by Savannah’s signature trees and Spanish moss. Many properties carry the greenery further with shrubbery, vines, and evergreens near, or even on, their homes. Window boxes contain large floral arrangements and topiaries.

Besides color and movement from the lush vegetation, the historic architecture in the area is artistic and flowing. Exterior iron spiral staircases, ornate fencing, spirals, angles, curved windows, and levels create a peaceful, yet intriguing, experience. There is a small town neighborhood feeling even in the heart of the Savannah metro area.”

House in Savannah 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:

  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

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