Cushion Bushing

Have any of you heard of a cushion bush? When I saw a photo my daughters brought back from their trip to Australia, I couldn’t resist trying to paint it. She told me that you could actually sit in these bushes and relax, and that they are really comfortable. 🙂

12″ x 12″ oil on gallery wrapped canvas

Leucophyta brownii (also known as Cushion Bush).

Leucophyta brownii is a small, rounded shrub with tangled tomentose branchlets that give it a silvery appearance. It commonly occurs on the exposed faces of cliffs and dunes on the south coast of Australia. Although it can grow up to 1 metre high, it is more usually 0.2 to 0.7 metres high. It produces flowers during summer (December to February in Australia). These are white – yellow globular heads and about 1 cm in diameter. ~ Wikipedia

Incoming Storm ~ Bay of Fires

I didn’t participate in the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge for January 2017, but I did get a few paintings done in January. This one is for one of my daughters who took a trip to Tasmania in October. She loved this storm coming in over the Bay of Fires, so I tried to capture it for her in this painting.

18″ x  24″ oil on canvas

My Book Giveaway and Coupon Code

My daughter and I were going to write a book together, she being the storyteller and me being the illustrator. Well, as things turned out I illustrated, and she was not happy with her story, so I made an attempt to write a children’s book to be enjoyed by the very young….

 

 

My little grand-daughter LOVES this book and I bought her a little stuffed animal puppy to match…

 

 

I thought lots of little children would enjoy this book, so I’m going to GIVEAWAY a very limited addition copy of this book for my fourth giveaway in November. If you have a toddler, or grandchild, or niece or nephew, or a little friend who would enjoy a cute little book about a cute little puppy just leave a comment to win this sweet book.

Also, I’m giving a 20% discount in my Etsy Shop until December 1st. This includes my 2017 calendar, my note cards and original paintings. Just use the coupon code BEGIVING20 at checkout.

Thank you all so very much for all your encouragement this year. 🙂

 

Three Note Cards of Your Choice Giveaway

Zoe on Instagram was the winner of the Sunflower Postcard Giveaway. Congratulations, Zoe. 🙂

This third giveaway for the month of November is going to be a little different because the winner gets to choose three note cards from my Shop…

So to enter this one just comment below. The drawing will be next week on Sunday the 20th.  🙂

See all my note cards … My Shop and/or My Etsy Shop

 

Sunflower Postcard Giveaway

I loved painting these sunflowers from the Farmer’s market this past summer, and thought I would try a new type of card from Moo; they do my business cards. I love their work.

My goal is to do a “giveaway” every week in the month of November. This week’s giveaway is a set of three Sunflower postcards/notecards.  To enter just comment below. 🙂

Melinda was the winner of the calendar last week. Entries come from this blog, my website blog and my Instagram account. 🙂

2017 Calendar and a Giveaway

2017 is right around the corner, and I’ve sent off for the proof of my calendar. I think this is my best calendar yet. This has been a great year of paintings for me.

 

Here are the paintings month by month in thumbnail format that I have included in the calendar…

They are for sale on Etsy and  in my new Shop on my blog…

And I am having a GIVEAWAY….

Comment below if you would like to win a calendar.

Drawing will be on Thursday November 3rd… 🙂

1804 Coffee Haiti and the Hurricane

I painted a landscape of the coffee farms in Haiti for Eric at 1804 Coffee. While I was painting with a small brush each tiny coffee plant, I thought a lot about what a wonderful opportunity Eric is offering these farmers by helping them grow their coffee plants and giving them a place to sell their coffee beans. I really admire Eric for what he is doing to help these people get on their feet. Take a moment to look over these hills… Do you see the little man resting near the coffee plants?

Before I was able to send this painting to Eric… Haiti was devastated once again, this time by Hurricane Matthew. Eric has written an update as to what he has heard happened pertaining to these coffee farmers… You can read it here… 1804 Coffee Blog

If you find it in your heart to help these farmers, you can buy their coffee beans or donate by contacting Eric on his website. I love these coffee beans and I love what 1804 Coffee is doing to help these people.