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

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!

Eleven pieces and a pre-show sale

May 13, 2022 Natalie Wargin

This is the final piece for my show at the Woodstock Artists Museum and my third Peaceable Kingdom. You may have heard my sigh of relief when I finished it. Below are all the pieces I will display along with details and prices. If you want to buy a painting before the show let me know. Any work purchased before May 20 will be discounted by 15%.

Peaceable Kingdom #3 - All Around Us
Acrylic on claybord, 24 x 18 inches, framed
$2200

There are 32 creatures here, all sharing the woodland, existing nicely, just as it really is. The birds are busy, bluebirds and sparrows and owl and woodpecker. The black bear dozes while a pair of squirrels chatter, the turtle looks surprised by the snow, the fisher heads for her underground shelter, the coyote is almost invisible. The dancing horse feels the excitement of the cold. There’s a little fox next to the stone wall where a chipmunk sleeps and a crow complains as crows do. Deer rest, so does a cow. A raccoon gets cozy, and turkeys, geese, and a single pheasant scatter. In front of the house, where welcoming lights shine, a bunny rests. There’s a goat there too. A woman, who might be me, walks the snowy lane, watching the dog who is certainly my Tilly.

Tomato Garden
Acrylic on claybord, 24 x 18 inches, framed
$2200

Porcupines At Mohonk
Acrylic on claybord, 24 x 18 inches, framed
SOLD

The Letter
Acrylic on claybord, 24 x 18 inches, framed
$2200

Red Fox And Barn
Acrylic gouache on birch board, 18 x 12 inches
SOLD

Foxes At High Falls
Acrylic on claybord, 24 x 18 inches, framed
$2200

Maggie And The Goose
Acrylic on birch board, 24 x 18 inches
SOLD

Donkeys And Pears
Acrylic on birch board, 20 x 16 inches
$2000

Memento Mori
Prismacolor pencil on Stonehenge Drawing Paper, 28 x 18 inches, framed
$650

Meteor Shower And Bouquet
Prismacolor pencil on Stonehenge Drawing Paper, 22 x 18 inches, framed
SOLD

The Fight
Acrylic on birch board, 18 x 24 inches, framed
$2200

Two Stories, One Pencil Drawing

April 21, 2022 Natalie Wargin

I feel the show in May nipping at my heels. This is the penultimate piece for my exhibit. It’s a colored pencil drawing, another sampler, that combines two of my favorite stories, the meteor shower and the weed bouquet. I’ve contained them within a floral border.

A few years ago, at 2AM on a very cold morning, my husband and I carried blankets and quilts out to the front yard where we laid down to watch a meteor shower. The dog took one look at this and went back in the house. Her loss, though, because it was a sight to see. I’ve shown it here with deer instead, under the shooting stars, helping themselves to my garden. The inset bouquet is actually a bunch of dried weeds, Queen Anne’s Lace and other things that looked pretty but made me sneeze so badly that I could not keep it. The floral border is adapted from samplers that I’ve admired.

“Meteor Shower and Bouquet”
Sampler #3
22 x 18 inches
Prismacolor pencil on Stonehenge Drawing Paper

I’ll be closing my Etsy shop indefinitely while I get ready for my May show and another show that will come on it’s heals. Before I do I will run a final sale.
20% off any purchase from April 21 through April 24.
Here’s a link to my shop:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/NatalieWargin

Thank you, as always, for your interest in my work.

A Sampler In Colored Pencil

May 7, 2021 Natalie Wargin

This piece began as a colored pencil still life based on photos I took of a birthday bouquet. I didn’t intend for it to resemble a sampler but I think the color of the paper I was using (Canson drawing paper, Oyster) pulled it in that direction. I didn’t put up a fight. I love samplers, have stitched a few myself, so I went along for the ride.

The flowers are reds and pinks, large carnations, tulips, and other unidentified things. I have tried to bring my rural landscape into my floral pieces on several occasions and here I did that in a couple of ways. Right and left of the vase are small scenes with little houses, fences, wildlife. There’s that black dog again, dear Maggie I think. And when it came to the illustrious little blue vase I added a barnyard scene with cows and one little calf. I like to think the vase resembles chinoiserie with a Hudson Valley twist. Once I was certain that this drawing was truly a sampler I added the border of little black dots. Think lots of French knots.

“Sampler #1”
20 x 24 inches
Prismacolor pencil on Canson drawing paper, Oyster
$375.00

I’ll be running a sale from today, May 7 through Sunday May 9.
20% off any purchase.

You can find the original drawing in my Etsy shop here:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1014448185/original-colored-pencil-drawing-floral?ref=shop_home_active_1

You can find prints of this image here:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1014443715/art-print-original-colored-pencil?ref=shop_home_active_2

Thanks so much for following along!

"Tapestry" in Colored Pencil

August 28, 2019 Natalie Wargin

This piece started with some photos I took back in February of a birthday bouquet that I wasn’t overly fond of. The bouquet, not the photos. Of course I said “thank you” but the arrangement had just too many different colors, too many different things. Roses, tulips, ranunculus, little pips, scabiosa pods, lots of extra greenery (why do they always do that?), blackberries which were a surprise, sticks covered with greenshield lichen, also surprising. I took everything out of the vase, got rid of the greenery filler, spread it all out, added a mourning dove, and here it is.
“Tapestry.”
Prismacolor pencils on black Strathmore drawing paper.
25” x 19”.

I’ve been enjoying the colored pencils but this will be my last pencil piece for a while. It’s back to the landscapes for me. I’ve also closed my Etsy shop for a bit. It will be on an extended vacation and will reopen sometime in the fall.

I have a bit of news. My painting, “Ghost Story,” has been accepted to the Radius 50 Show at the Woodstock Artists Museum. The show runs from September 7 through September 29 with an artists reception on September 14 from 4 - 6pm. I’ll be at the reception so if you’re in the area stop by and say hello. I’d love to meet you!

Hope you’re all enjoying the end of summer and thank you for following along!

Peonies in Colored Pencil

July 26, 2019 Natalie Wargin

I may have mentioned that I have never had a green thumb. Garden success has always run in my family but I have had very little of it. My grandparents had a prolific flower garden behind their house. They also had a bountiful “Victory Garden” in a nearby plot shared with their neighbors following the second world war. My grandmother liked to tell me, as we toured her yard, about the beautiful gardens in Poland which inspired her. My mother always grew flowers. She got things to grow in the most unlikely places, a dizzying stand of purple irises right next to the garbage cans in the alley. My father had a postage stamp sized vegetable garden that gave an impressive yield. My sister has grown garlic commercially. And my brother in California, boastful thing that he is, loves to show us not only photos of his flowers and vegetables but also the system he designed that lets him water his plants from anywhere on the planet. By comparison I could get very little to thrive in my Chicago garden. But the times they are a-changing.

The Hudson Valley soil is rich. That must be a big part of it but my garden is definitely growing now. I have always wanted a peony hedge and when I found a sale a year ago, an offer I couldn’t refuse, I ordered ten roots. This spring I was rewarded. Not quite a full hedge yet but close and the blooms were impressive. Pinks and reds, including the color I love best, the pale pale almost white peony. This pencil drawing shows a bouquet of those flowers.

“Peonies.”
25’ x 19”
Prismacolor pencils on Strathmore drawing paper.
$275.

The original and prints of the image are available in my shop here:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/720837001/peonies-original-colored-pencil-drawing?ref=shop_home_active_3&frs=1
https://www.etsy.com/listing/720835595/peonies-art-print-of-original-colored?ref=shop_home_active_4&frs=1

In addition to the new drawing I’ve also added some new greeting cards. You can find them here:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/NatalieWargin?section_id=14952051

I have made some changes to my shop, now offering free shipping always on any order over $35.
In addition to this I’m running a sale, 20% off on any purchase of any amount from Friday, July 26 through Monday, July 29.

Thank you for following along!

Daffodils in Colored Pencil

June 21, 2019 Natalie Wargin

Shortly after I moved into this house in New York my sister, who lives only three miles from me, came over with a bunch of daffodil bulbs. Three varieties. I chose a spot which was easy because these would be the first things I planted here and there was plenty of room for planting. Now, eleven years later, they still come up in the spring, a reminder of where my garden began. This was the first small bouquet of the year. If you’ve been following me at all you’re familiar with the little blue vase. It really is a tiny thing and I chuckle at the absurd size it’s become. It did hold the daffodils but it’s simply not as large as it looks here. I’ve invented the table and the table scarf. I wanted some movement in this drawing and the blue linen cloth provided that. There must be a window open somewhere. The wallpaper pattern is taken from an older drawing of soapwort. The sparrows are there because I love sparrows.

“Daffodils”
Prismacolor pencils on Strathmore drawing paper.
19” x 25”

The original drawing and prints of the image are available in my shop.
All shop items are 20% off from June 21 through June 23.

You can find the original drawing here:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/714829157/daffodils-original-colored-pencil?ref=listing_published_alert

Find the print here:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/714826829/daffodils-art-print-of-original-colored?ref=shop_home_active_2

Thanks so much for following along!