Today was a horrible day- seeing a painted bunting was one of the few good things about it, so I’ll focus on that. Painted buntings are migratory birds so their presence is relatively brief. It’s always a delight to see them! See the 3 short videos I took of a painted bunting from past seasons. Ours is smaller and rounder than the one I painted. The last video shows him with his buddy a red cardinal, and a hummingbird flits in at the end.
Tag Archives: hummingbird
They’re Back!
The hummingbirds are BACK! LOL, I’ll tell you how I encountered their return. I was preparing for our unexpected move, and taking down the garden hose holder by unscrewing the hose clamps with a screwdriver, while wearing bright colorful floral gloves. Well, the hummingbird must have thought my hand was a flower and he tried to land on me. I didn’t see him until I moved my hand and he blitzed away making a loud buzzing whirring sound that I thought was a bee’s buzz. So I jumped a mile and yelped, as I saw the little bird flit away, seemingly annoyed at the drama and disappointment that I was not the flower he was looking for. đ
Do you remember when I shared this video I took last year of a hummingbird in our tiny bird swing? I always feel happy looking at this. Here you go! Happy Sunday!
Small Signs of Hope
When I painted the double rainbow painting, I was disappointed that I didn’t paint it in a more realistic way, but it was meant to be a fast project. It was somewhat experimental, using a paper towel to blot and remove some color for a fading effect. It worked to some extent, but not to the level I expected. I could have done it better with a paintbrush. But that really wasn’t the point of that particular project. It told a story, which means it met the objective. I had to drop my personal disappointment and move on to the next painting as it was a heavy painting schedule that year.
Well, it was this painting that someone criticized as “a five year old could have done it”. In isolation, this particular art doesn’t represent the kind of work I’m capable of, or the body of work I have done. I thought about removing this from my collection, but I told myself that if I cannot remain humble enough to show my failures and disappointments, then I have lost my way. So every now and then, when I need a double rainbow painting to tell my story, I will dig this one back up even though I know that it doesn’t impress people who judge my art (and me).
Today I was feeling down because the house we inquired about renting had already been promised to someone else. We were too late, and it was upsetting because I’d reached out to the property management and they didn’t answer me. It is like I don’t exist and don’t matter, when it is their company who has managed the house that is pushing us to vacate- you’d think they’d care a bit more about our situation. It brings up a lot of times in the past when I was forgotten, abandoned, not noticed, rejected, and left to fend for myself. These aren’t happy feelings, but I’ll have to push hard and make myself (my family’s situation) noticed.
So, the stressful ordeal continues. We have two months to find a solution to our housing problem. I was stewing about this when washing our outdoor furniture today, preparing it to sell next weekend during a yard sale. I hope to raise enough funds to cover some of our moving costs, and also let go of things to reduce the load we have to move. It’s just stuff. We’ve let go of our possessions before and we can do it again. At least we get to keep more this time. But even so, you can image that my mood while cleaning our things, for others to take for very little, was not exactly joyful.
I scrubbed the furniture down with a bleach solution made with dishwasher pods and hot water, which worked very well to remove pollen and dirt. Then I hosed everything down while listening to music through my headphones (a luxury I don’t often have because I need to be always available and listening to the household while multi-tasking, but this chore was outdoors and I was alone). As I was spraying the water, I felt the sun on my face and realized that I was relaxed. I was enjoying myself- the beautiful weather, the exercise, the music, and the solitude. Everyone was either inside or at work. It was just me and the water, and my music.
This song was playing by MercyMe. The lyrics in particular at that precise moment were “You were made for so much more than all of this” You’re beautiful, just as a rainbow formed from the spray of water. The rainbow, even though easily explained as basic science- water from the hose was caught by the sun- felt like much more than a random event. The rainbow seemed to float in front of my face because it was windy and the water spray was spraying back at me. It was like it was my personal rainbow, almost ON my person.
I will take this serendipitous experience, the water spray rainbow as the MercyMe song played at that same moment, as a small sign of hope. Everything will turn out OK. We’ll weather through the challenges. And if you are going through a difficult time- may you too feel hope that your situation will soon change for the better.
May God bless you and keep you, may His face shine upon you, and give you peace.
The Journey
I saw this double rainbow above the trees behind our house. You will see these trees and a rainbow in the video I share next. My painting is symbolic and simplistic, and in the end, I felt insecure about it. I really wanted to make the rainbows faint and more realistic, but in the end, I kept them bold and childlike. When I received a very unkind comment about this art I stopped sharing it, as it confirmed my own misgivings and regrets about this painting.
However, I have since said to myself that the journey is where the joy is. I hung a new lawn flag with the inscription “Joy is in the Journey” just today. I put it near my dormant rose bush, knowing that in the early spring the roses will bloom and the inscription will be beautifully metaphorical.
I painted this with the intention in my heart of sharing the beauty and joy that I saw. If others see only what I saw in it (the failure to create a masterpiece, and instead it “looks like a five year old did this”), then they are missing the love I tried to share. They are not seeing the language, only the literal paint on the canvas. What that rude person didn’t know, is that I have painted over 100 paintings (or more, I’ve lost track), since this rainbow art. I am a special person who he has dismissed.
Below is a video I took behind our house. The world is a wonderful place, and often it is the imperfect, childlike journey that matters most. This is the world that I see, and I try to share it with you the best that I can. God bless and keep you, this day and always, and may you always have hope.
- Want to go to Church?
- New Art Journey
- New Cardinal Friends
- I’m HOME!
- Moving Day!
- MOVING TOMORROW!
- S T R E S S E D
- BAD DAY
- Super Laundry!
- Happy Day!
- Bandits!
- Easy Going
- Joyful Memories!
- WOOT!
- Wild Days
- aww
- Nature’s Music
- Ooh, Pretty!
- LOL, Pumpkin
- Bearing Up
- Lead me HOME!
- Strawberry Mine!
- Moving Soon!
- HAPPY EASTER!
- Be Thou my Vision
- New Painting “Jesus at Calvary”
- HAPPY NEWS!
- New Painting “Easter Lily”
- Missed it?
- Show on YouTube
- Holy Week Begins
- EASTER SHOW LAUNCHED!
- Show Update
- Faith over Fear
- They’re Back!
- Packing Up
- Gator Tale
- Exceeded the Goal!
- What a Day!
- No Word Yet
- Whirlwind Day!
- Wasn’t What I Expected
- Wish me Luck!
- Resistant to Change
- They’re Back!
- Out of our Control
- Small Signs of Hope
- It’s a No
- Feeling Froggy?
- Spring of Hope
- Losing Hope
- First Day of Spring!
- 30 Seconds
- Letting Go – Again
- Painting Show: Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
- Losses
- Shocking News
- Here Today, Gone Tomorrow
- Losing Time
- Frozen!
- Not even Solomon
- The Unexpected
- Storm Rollin’ In
- Tired, Weak, Worn
- What can we do?
- Breathtaking Nature!
- Something Happy
- Singing to You
- Need a laugh? Goofy today.
- Season of Lent
- Never Before Seen
- Worry no More
- confrontation
- Early Spring!
- Message from Beyond
- Show Plans
- Almost Home
- New Painting
- Sour Grapes
- Special Dinner Invite
- Anniversary
- Let your Light Shine!
- Hymn Medley
- Planting Seeds
- Peace in Sadness
- HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!
- Quiet
Another Delight!
BEAUTIFUL Surprise for You!
I’ve Joined the Butterflies!
Patio Friends
Painting Diary
“Come to the Garden”

“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:
- City of Savannah
1.1 âCity of Savannahâ page 6-7
1.2 âNatalie at the Fountainâ page 8-11
1.3 âHouse in Savannahâ page 12-13
1.4 âGuardian Lionâ page 14-15
1.5 “Autumn Angelâ page 16-17
1.6 âSteamship Savannahâ page 18-19
1.7 âBoiled Peanuts for Saleâ page 20-21
1.8 âBulldogâ page 22-23
1.9 âSerenity Pianoâ page 24-25
1.10 âPainting Colorsâ page 26-27 - Tybee Island
2.1 âI Love Lifeâ page 30-31
2.2 âLiving Sand Dollarâ page 32-33
2.3 âMatthew the Sea Turtleâ page 34-35
2.4 âFungie the Dolphinâ page36-37
2.5 “Angel Releasing Doveâ page 38-39
2.6 âFlag on Tybee Islandâ page 40-41
2.7 âMy Kids at the Beachâ page 42-43
2.8 âLighthouse near Tybee Islandâ page 44-45 - 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 - Flowers and Trees
4.1 âPink Flowerâ page 62-63
4.2 âPorch Flowersâ page 64-65
4.3 âCloverâ page 66-67
4.4 âButterfly Tree Flowersâ page 68-69
4.5 âSavannah Treeâ page 70-71
4.6 âDancer in a Floral Forestâ page 72-73
4.7 âCome to the Gardenâ page 74-77
4.8 âCherokee Roseâ page 78-79 - Faith and Food
5.1 âFloral Crossâ page 82-83
5.2 âLenten Flowerâ page 84-85
5.3 âCeltic Crossâ page 86-87
5.4 âMary of Godâs Favorâ page 88-89
5.5 âLion and the Lambâ page 90-91
5.6 âBreakfast with Friendsâ page 92-93
5.7 âPeaches in a Bowlâ page 94-95
5.8 âPeach Cookiesâ page 96-97
5.9 âPeach Pieâ page 98-99 - Seasons and Weather
6.1 âPumpkins and Mumsâ page 102-103
6.2 âAutumn Cottageâ page 104-105
6.3 âSpring Lambsâ page 106-107
6.4 âPeach Tree Hurricaneâ page 108-109
6.5 âEye of the Stormâ page 110-111
6.6 âGod’s Promiseâ page 112-113
6.7 âWe Gather Togetherâ page 114-115
6.8 âSavannah Snowâ page 116-117
6.9 âI Believe in Santaâ page 118-119