New Painting – “Frog in Garden”

Watch this frog painting come alive in just over 1 minute (time lapse video)

This project was inspired by my tree frog friend who would hang out in my garden planters, watching me and seemingly smiling (do frogs really smile or just look like they do?). He’d scare me the first time he’d pop up unexpectedly, but after he enjoyed hearing me scream in fright over such a tiny little thing, he’d stick around all casual like, leaning over the edge of the planter watching me work. I grew to expect him to be there, my little froggy friend.

“Frog in Garden” is part of the 2022 collection called “25 Oil Paintings Inspired by Seasons (of Life and Nature)“. I’ll be adding this frog to my new store soon. Another painting done toward my lifetime goal of 1,000 finished oil paintings!


“Osprey”

Watch Natalie paint this art in 2 minutes (time lapse video)

Fun, elegant, and snazzy art gifts available with this Osprey design!

“Osprey” is part of the 2022 collection “Seasons” (of life and nature). Paintings in this collection celebrate seasons of life (metaphorical, representational, or inspired-by-real-life scenes about milestones, rites of passage, and shared human experiences of love, aging, family, and beyond) as well as seasons of nature (literal scenes depicting autumn, summer, fall, and winter).

“Osprey” represents re-inventing oneself at different stages of life, new adventures along life’s journey, embracing change. It is part of the section called “Changes and Milestones” in the 2022 collection Seasons. [posters and other fun products available below]

“Osprey” oil painting by Natalie Buske Thomas

Enjoy Natalie’s art on fun, creative, and classy gifts for you and your family!

Tip Natalie to fund art supplies to reach her lifetime goal of 1,000 finished oil paintings, a series of live events, and surprising opportunities!

aww

See this oil painting of a living sand dollar come to life in 1 minute (time lapse)

My daughter brought me one of the boxes she packed herself for our move, for me to load onto the POD container. She said it was fragile, and she was concerned about other boxes crushing it. I assumed that she had wrapped up her special knickknacks but when I picked up the box it was nearly weightless. It turns out that she had saved sand dollars she’d found at the beach and those were the fragile treasures she cared about. Not something from the store, but a memory of a beautiful day and a special gift from nature. Aww, times like these make me feel as if everything I wanted for her has come true.

BTW: The pumpkin vine we plan to take with us is even bigger! We are really going to look silly carrying that into our new yard.


Out of our Control

Watch oil painting “Dove in a Forest” come alive in about 2 minutes (time lapse)

Tonight I’m disappointed that the houses we contact a listing agent about are already spoken for, before we even get a chance. Listings have dozens of contact inquiries after being freshly posted. So, it’s discouraging and I have to will myself not to panic. It will all work out, this unexpected move that we were blindsided by. The housing spike will hurt us, but we’ve been through worse things and we can get through this.

There are times in life when there are things that are out of our control personally, and also world wide. When those days are upon us, it helps to think of the consistency and stability of seasons and nature. They don’t worry. The animals and plants grow and thrive, while the sun rises and sets and the winds storm and calm.

A dove in a forest- if we don’t see it, does it not give us peace? We can imagine it. We can choose to be peaceful instead of anxious. It’s difficult. I’m not saying I’m getting it right every moment because I’m definitely not! I’ve already had some snitty tantrums and weepy moments. I have to work at the calm.

Whatever you’re facing, may you allow yourself to be human. But knowing that it’s not healthy to let adrenaline-pumping emotions surge for too long, be a little less human, and more like a dove in a forest. There we are, just gliding through the cool trees on a sunny day.



My Christmas Presents!

See 3 surprises in less than 30 seconds!

Sharing one of the presents from each family member of this theme: the nature that I love and share with you all here, through my oil paintings and stories. The above video shows the gifts my husband and oldest daughter gave me for my garden and the images below show the bird and butterfly related gifts from my younger two kids.

My son gave me this beautiful cardinal
It came with a very nice sentiment on the attached tag
And these special butterfly hair clips are from my youngest daughter

It feels good when the people we love understand who we are and what makes us happy. I loved receiving presents to help me enjoy my garden and beloved birds and nature. It is a Merry Christmas indeed! God’s world is a gift for everyone. JOY TO THE WORLD!


“Autumn Leaves”

Watch Natalie paint this art in 2 minutes (time lapse)

“Autumn Leaves” is part of the 2022 collection “Seasons” (of life and nature). Paintings in this collection celebrate seasons of life (metaphorical, representational, or inspired-by-real-life scenes about milestones, rites of passage, and shared human experiences of love, aging, family, and beyond) as well as seasons of nature (literal scenes depicting autumn, summer, fall, and winter). “Autumn Leaves” represents the change of seasons and the spiritual process of letting go.

Oil painting “Autumn Leaves” by artist Natalie Buske Thomas

Enjoy Natalie’s art on fun, creative, and classy gifts for you and your family!

Tip Natalie to fund art supplies to reach her lifetime goal of 1,000 finished oil paintings, a series of live events, and surprising opportunities!

New Painting

Watch me paint this “Autumn Leaves” oil painting in 2 minutes (time lapse)

No matter what is happening in the world or in our personal lives, seasons change. The beauty of nature reminds us that “this too shall pass”. May we feel the peace and tranquility of fall, the quiet hush before the darkness of winter. If you live in a part of the world where the seasons are different from ours here in America, I hope you don’t mind being pulled into autumn tonight.

New Painting – AND MORE!

Watch my new oil painting come to life! “Cardinal on a Tree Branch“, my latest painting that features a cardinal; a bird that is spiritually meaningful to many people and is simply delightful in nature, a truly peaceful and beautiful bird.

This painting will be the featured art in my new book and displayed on the cover. The book is now FINISHED! It is ahead of schedule by several months! The 2021 collection “50 Oil Paintings Inspired by Nature” is available as free time lapse videos, prints to buy, and soon a published book. It follows two previous collections (2019 “50 Oil Paintings Inspired by Savannah, Georgia” and 2020 “50 Oil Paintings Inspired by my Christian Faith“.

I also offer some fashion inspired by art from the previous collections. I plan to add some new designs from the 2021 Nature collection, and I’ll definitely include this cardinal. I know that some of you love cardinals and have been hoping for a new one. I understand because I love cardinals too, and they mean something personal to me and my family.

So the “and MORE” is the celebration that my 2021 art collection is FINISHED! WOOT!!! This feels awesome! I also wanted to announce that I’ll soon have the book and fashion parts of it done. But, I’ll hold back on the reveal of what the new collection for 2022 will be. I’ll be starting on the first painting of that series soon, so stay tuned!

Thank you for being a part of this journey. One more set of 50 done toward my lifetime goal of 1k finished paintings!

“Cardinal on a Tree Branch”

Watch Natalie paint this cardinal in 2 minutes (time lapse)

“Cardinal on a Tree Branch” is featured in the collection “50 Oil Paintings Inspired by Nature“.

Session 1
Session 2
Final Finished Painting
“Cardinal on a Tree Branch” oil painting by Natalie Buske Thomas

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Bad days

Watch this deer oil painting come to life in 2 minutes, and then see below for the real life video I took today!

Even when humanity is having a bad day, a dark day, a day of violence and unspeakable horror, nature goes on as if untroubled by the woes of mankind. Chaos and evil may rule our minds, yet the seasons pass undisturbed, giving us hope that we will feel peace once again. This is what I saw today. There is a magical moment at the end when eye contact is made. May you too experience this second, in which your breath stops, as you too make eye contact with peace on Earth, as fleeting as that beauty may be.