Tribute to a canine

May 23, 2025 Natalie Wargin

Here is another memorial to a beloved lost canine. Or maybe to all beloved lost canines. I let myself run with this one. Lots of color, lots of flowers, no spare space. A big, wild tribute. Here the tomb is very close to the house. If the weather’s inclement you can see it from a front window. Or, coffee in hand, you can wander over in the morning or maybe in the evening thinking thoughts of a special friend whose amusing antics or gentle ways made your life richer. This is the third Memento Mori to a dog that I’ve drawn. The others have been more restrained but this, as it’s turned out, is a memorial and a celebration.

“Memento Mori #3”
14 x 12 inches
$220
Available in my Etsy shop.

Free Domestic shipping through May 27.
Follow the link below to find the original drawing.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/4306276939/original-colored-pencil-painting-memento?ref=shop_home_active_1&logging_key=4ba841777903cb8750eeb52232eb7806cd605c3f%3A4306276939

Little Watercolors. Springtime!

April 29, 2025 Natalie Wargin

I like watercolors and I haven’t done any for quite a while so here are two little paintings. One dark, one bright. I don’t grow poppies because my garden is very shaded and poppies need sun, as you probably know. They are interesting and showy and I’ve paired them with the least showy birds. Sparrows. I’ve heard disparaging remarks about sparrows so I always try to take their side. They are tough little birds that stick around all year and if you live in a northern climate like I do that’s saying something. The wild roses and honeysuckle in the second painting are flowers that I do grow. The little brown wood frog was a recent discovery. I’d never seen one before this year. A bit like the sparrows he is simply brown and unassuming. I liked this fellow immediately.

“Sparrows and Poppies”
Watercolor on Fabriano Hot Press Paper
6 x 6 inches
$275

”Wood Frog”
Watercolor on Fabriano Hot Press Paper
6 x 6 inches
$275

These paintings are available in my shop where I’m running a sale.
20% off any purchase from today through May 2.
You can find them here:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/4296893568/original-watercolor-painting-sparrows?ref=shop_home_active_2&logging_key=29a50e8cc240af728eee5fd889414710beb378e5%3A4296893568

Thanks for taking the time to take a look!

New work. More Wild Turkeys.

February 14, 2025 Natalie Wargin

A few months ago in autumn Tilly and I had the pleasure of watching the wild turkeys dance. Nearly every evening for a time they flew over the fence into the yard, walked and pecked and fooled around, then flew up into the trees and out of the yard. It was a show we looked forward to and we’d race from window to window to see all of the action as the birds circled the house.

I wish I knew more about what makes wild things do the things they do. It didn’t seem as though the birds were settling some dispute, no feathers flew. They flapped and surged upward then came back to earth, all in a fairly tight group. Happy hour? If you’ve seen wild turkeys you know that they’re not small birds. They are impressive. This evening’s display was a pleasure to behold even if we hadn’t a clue about what was really happening.

Here they are cavorting in the side yard. Wild roses, lilac, cyclamen, hydrangeas all around. Looks like the grass needs cutting. The swamp is busy too with all the little turtles. Other birds watch as the sky turns to evening with moon and stars. There’s a bluebird sleeping above the porch and a nest over the garage door. Babies soon. A small frog plays it safe. You can see Tilly in the window. My mother’s quilt is on the wall behind her.

“Wild Turkeys”
Acrylic on claybord
18 x 24 inches
If you’re interested in this painting please contact me.

I will be running a special sale on all greeting cards and note cards in my shop.
30% off all cards and notes.
Sale runs from today through Sunday.
After Sunday I will no longer be selling any cards.
https://www.etsy.com/shop/NatalieWargin

Thanks for reading along!

New! A Wild Stampede!

August 15, 2024 Natalie Wargin

Tilly and I were on our way home from a walk at High Falls. You can see the falls in the upper right. I had just turned the corner at the food co-op to come on to our road when I saw some deer about to cross right in front of us. They were running hard. I slammed the breaks and was treated to a rare sight. Nearly twenty deer stampeding. I had never seen so many all together. They passed the red barns and the pretty houses and continued across the grassy field. Why, I wondered? Where were they headed? Did something frighten them? Were they simply having fun? I think if I had gotten out of my car I would have felt the earth shake.

Naturally I have embellished a bit. I don’t know who that woman is but she has my dog. And she’d better hang on. The black birds are startled. The smaller creatures at the bottom are running opposite to the deer. Smart. The white cat seems to have been rudely awakened. And the appearance of the gardener surprised me. Early on I tried to get rid of him but he started to remind me of my father, an avid gardener himself, so he stays.

This painting will be part of my Roxbury exhibit in November.
If you’re interested in purchasing this piece before the exhibit please let me know in the comments below or send an email from the contact page.

“Seventeen Deer”
16 x 20 inches
Acrylic on claybord

Prints of this image are available in my Etsy shop here:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1748185640/art-print-of-original-painting-seventeen?click_key=c96439a265502fb287f77a402fc30219d7c312c9%3A1748185640&click_sum=3e5f4249&ref=shop_home_active_1
My shop is running a sale from August 15 through Sunday, August 18.
20% off any purchase.

Thanks so much for your kind attention.

Midnight. A New Painting.

July 18, 2024 Natalie Wargin

This painting was a challenge. It was a commission, a continuation of a story I began in an earlier piece about the tomato plant that fairly took over my front yard. Maybe you remember it with the lovely girl in her front garden picking a basket full of ripe tomatoes. The assignment here was to place our tomato girl in her garden again but this time at night. I don’t have a lot of experience painting night scenes. This is where I landed.

It’s a mild full moon night, the lady of the house sits on the bench in her side yard holding her squirming cat. There’s no doubt about her green thumb. The wild tomato plant in the front yard was no fluke. In fact you can see it at the edges of the scene trying to find a place here too. The air is perfumed with roses, peonies, dogwoods, tulips, trout lilies, daffodils, and those little seedy things. There’s scarcely room for anything else, the gardening style here being one of wild abandon. The little stream adds soft background music while birds and animals rest. The house is welcoming, warm light from the open window.

This is only the third commission I’ve taken. The first one was a success all around, the second was a nightmare which made me hesitant to take this “Midnight” assignment. But the patron was happy to review a sketch and then let me run with it. I was grateful for that and we are both pleased with the result.

“Midnight”
24 x 18 inches
Acrylic on claybord

Prints of this image are available in my Etsy shop here:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1732756934/midnight-garden-art-print-of-original?click_key=88a21fe8b96e6e20b8bd45200102a90f8b7ee42c%3A1732756934&click_sum=70cc18d9&ref=shop_home_active_1

Thanks, as always, for taking a look!

Two Turkeys Crossing The Road, New Work

October 26, 2023 Natalie Wargin

This usually happens. Tilly and I are out for our three o’clock walk, we turn down Coxing Road and there they are, a line of turkeys crossing east to west. These days there are twenty one in this flock. We stop at a respectful distance to admire and let them pass and fortunately they move slowly, with only a slight flutter here and there, so Tilly is not inspired to chase them. I hang on to the leash just in case. On this particular day I focus on a pair who are caught in a shower of falling blossoms while they pass a garden in bloom. Hollyhocks and blue flowers. A few little houses too. Do I know the people who live in the house with the inviting red chairs? Up in the air are a pair of brilliant cardinals.

“3 O’Clock”
12 x 16 inches
Acrylic on claybord panel
$800.00

This painting is available in my Etsy shop. Find the listing here:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1578746348/original-acrylic-painting-of-two-wild?click_key=3e47223ca9dfeab484037b287d1874557f55f59a%3A1578746348&click_sum=bb1d62a3&ref=shop_home_active_1&sts=1

Prints of this image are available here:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1579252004/art-print-original-watercolor-two-wild?click_key=89067dafdb51eacc5ce805875e2c0153cafc1e93%3A1579252004&click_sum=fcfec72e&ref=shop_home_active_1&sts=1

I’m running a little sale for the next three days: 20% off any purchase from my Etsy shop.
Thank you for taking a look! I always appreciate it.

My Wild Dog - New Work

May 19, 2023 Natalie Wargin

I have featured black dogs in my paintings before. Sometimes I showed my own dog, sometimes the dog was a stranger to me. But this wild black dog is mine all mine. This is Tilly, doing one of her favorite things: tearing flat out through my garden in pursuit of an unfortunate squirrel.

I have asked myself if I would have taken this dog home from the shelter had I known about her tremendous prey drive. It certainly was a shock to me the first time I watched her catch and kill a squirrel. And another squirrel. And then the poor ground hog. I’d never seen behavior like this other than on nature shows and that was when I would turn the program off. But we fall in love, don’t we, and we come to accept even the parts we dislike.

So here she is, single minded, ignoring the bunny and the turtles, careless of the things beneath her feet. My wild roses and spider wort trampled, the lilac blooms scattered, the ferns bent and broken. Bad news about the squirrel.

“Dog”
Acrylic on claybord
18 x 24 inches

Big sale in my shop!
Prints of this painting are available in my here:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1484937881/black-dog-chasing-squirrel-through?click_key=0b78c99c726c05e9de87c013b0f95fbfde31a5c6%3A1484937881&click_sum=44ae15b0&ref=shop_home_active_1&sts=1

Thanks for taking a look! I truly appreciate it.

A new Sampler In Colored Pencil

August 5, 2022 Natalie Wargin

I decided to do another colored pencil sampler, just to get back into the swing of things after my exhibit in Woodstock. These drawings done in the style of an old fashioned sampler are relatively quick for me to execute and they’re very satisfying when completed. I’ve titled this one “Everything.”

Just above the curve of the earth are the moon and stars in the night sky and the soft clouds and sun of a new day. In the hills white tailed deer graze, odd birds fly, a rabbit runs, a horse gallops. Somebody should repair that fence. The woman waters her wildly successful garden. Just get a load of the peonies. An old dog relaxes. I’ll bet the house is cozy. The shed seems in good repair and if you choose to sit and rest for a moment you can watch the turtle in the pond under the buttonbush. There’s a black bear near the tree. I have to think about him.
This is everything.

“Sampler #4, Everything”
19 x 22 inches
Prismacolor pencil on Stonehenge Drawing Paper
$400

I’m running a sale in my Etsy shop, 15% off any purchase. The sale runs from today, August 5 through Sunday, August 7.
This original piece of art is available here:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1278990519/original-colored-pencil-drawing-country?click_key=82736205cf8f36676c849f1f380c14b46f89819f%3A1278990519&click_sum=852e91ca&ref=shop_home_active_1

Prints of this image are also available here:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1265042630/art-print-original-colored-pencil?click_key=355b32be87acde1a1c3fa446a8713b5229ebfd6f%3A1265042630&click_sum=9f11c33f&ref=shop_home_active_1

Thank you for taking a look at what I’ve been up to. I appreciate it!

One Box Turtle, Coming Right Up

June 23, 2022 Natalie Wargin

This painting was a commission, a birthday gift for a man who has a soft spot for turtles. I saw this particular box turtle in my driveway and thought I'd paint her instead of one of the snappers that I usually see. Box turtles are especially beautiful and a little showy with bright orange markings. Unlike other wild creatures that I encounter turtles don't mind inspection or a nosey photographer getting close. That's my little house in the upper corner and the woods beyond. It's windy and the trees are getting tossed. And because they are blooming now I've added wild roses and hydrangeas. If you look very carefully you can see that the spiders have been busy too.

I’ve reopened my Etsy shop with a 20% off sale on any purchase through Sunday the 26th.
You can find prints of this turtle painting here:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1239661358/art-print-of-original-acrylic-painting?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=natalie+wargin&ref=sr_gallery-1-3

NOTE: For those of you who follow me on Instagram I have a new account.
You can follow me here to see me working on new things:
@nataliewargin2.0

And as always, thank you for taking a look at my work.

New Work and a PBS Interview

January 28, 2022 Natalie Wargin

Well, I’ve been keeping busy. This is a new painting featuring the monster tomato plant I grew this past summer. Just as I was finishing this piece I was contacted by WMHT, our local PBS station. Would I be interested in being featured on their show about the arts? Yes, I would.

First, a little about the interview. The producer/director and the camera woman came to my home, turned my living room into a sort of studio where the interview was filmed. Then we went to my work area in the basement where I was filmed while I painted. This was the hard part. The camera was almost literally on my shoulder. Good thing I’ve learned how to tune the world out when I need to. It’s a short piece and if you’d like to take a look here’s the link:
https://fb.watch/aLMWetGbjF/

Picture it, a single tomato plant that all but took over the front yard. She could never have known how perfect the conditions were for that little seed but all the warm sun, the good Hudson Valley dirt, and the careful watering created a wonderful monster. Here she is, her cozy house and peony hedge behind her, picking another basket full of tomatoes. There is abundant life all around. Birds are bickering, a chipmunk helps herself, a skunk has wandered in. And that very fast dog, who just can’t seem to help herself, is getting mighty close to that squirrel.

”Tomato Garden”
18 x 24 inches
Acrylic on Clayboard

I’ve reopened my Etsy shop and you can find prints of this image here:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1154168238/tomato-garden-art-print-of-original?click_key=72bba725ab2f741b717dc5019fcda0489281b3cb%3A1154168238&click_sum=25d605b5&ref=shop_home_active_1&sts=1

Thank you for reading along.
If you have any comments on the interview, or anything really, I’d love to hear them.