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!

A New Wild Turkey. A Pencil Drawing.

December 5, 2024 Natalie Wargin

I want to get back to painting but the Roxbury show tired me out some. I decided to do this pencil drawing to get back into the swing of things, pencil drawings being less demanding than the detailed acrylic paintings. Here’s where I landed.

The wild turkeys have been very wild this fall. The antics they get up to in my yard are noisy and crazy and Tilly and I race from front window to screen porch to watch them as they pass through. There’s a group of eleven that appears most evenings around six, just as we’re sitting down to dinner making my table manners less than appropriate. I just can’t help myself. Neither can Tilly. The birds talk and pick at each other, feathers flying here and there, launching themselves over our stone wall and back again.

This is one of them. A beautiful female, looking like a dancer. They are the most fabulous creatures.

“Wild Turkey”
9 x 12 inches
Prismacolor pencil on black Fabriano drawing paper
$200.00

This piece is available in my shop where I’m also running a sale.
20% off any purchase, including this drawing, today through Saturday, December 7.
Here’s a link to this drawing:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1822543532/original-colored-pencil-drawing-wild?click_key=4603d584729f8a48b3dd77b8620dad71119edecc%3A1822543532&click_sum=e4516f47&ref=shop_home_active_1&sts=1

Thank you, as always for your interest in my work.
I wish all of you the happiest of holidays!

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.

New work! Portrait 4 - Barred Owl

May 9, 2024 Natalie Wargin

One morning, a while back, I was walking peacefully on the trail with Maggie, my faithful companion at that time. There were wild roses and a barn and a tree with a swing. We were minding our own business, looking and sniffing, when a barred owl dove down right smack in front of us, inches away, grabbed a chipmunk, and darted off. We stopped short, shocked and dumbfounded to say the least. Did we really see that? Maggie looked at me, I looked at her and nervously shook my head. Even the wild turkey was upset. What can you say? What can you do? We continued on our way but it was a different kind of walk after that.

Since then I have seen a number of things like this, one animal preying on another. This is the way of it and while I don’t enjoy seeing it I have to accept it. I also know that it’s not my business to interfere.

Here is a small depiction of that event. Perhaps you remember that I painted this story several years ago in a much larger piece. I’ll never forget it. I wish you’d seen it too.

“Portrait 4 - Barred Owl”
6 x 6 inches
Acrylic on claybord
Framed and wired
$400

I’m offering free domestic shipping on any order from May 9 through May 12.

This painting is available in my shop here:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1712634544/original-acrylic-painting-barred-owl?click_key=882a9f8517b80ecc53dd4fe47815dcc479bf4a45%3A1712634544&click_sum=0b5f0c79&ref=shop_home_active_1

Prints of this image are available here:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1726807481/art-print-portrait-barred-owl-chipmunk?click_key=afe08e645f7ee8dcd69be29fae7e9f1da6c6583f%3A1726807481&click_sum=09050b09&ref=shop_home_active_2

Thank you for reading along!

Small Portrait #3 - Wild Turkey

February 29, 2024 Natalie Wargin

This is the third piece in my series of portraits, a second wild turkey. Turns out I’m enjoying these small paintings. And you know I love wild turkeys.

Here’s a quiet country road on a moonlit night. She passes the barn then stops and turns her head, wary, careful. There are other turkeys nearby but she’s heard a strange sound, maybe unfriendly, that stops her short. We see her here, her head catching the light, feathers glowing. She’ll be moving on shortly.

“Portrait #3 - Wild Turkey”
6 x 6 inches
Acrylic on claybord
$450.00

If you’re interested in this small painting please leave a note below in comments.
My Etsy shop is still closed but will be reopening soon in March

Thanks for taking a look!

A Small Portrait and a Holiday Wish

December 27, 2023 Natalie Wargin

I wanted to paint but Christmas was consuming most of my time and energy. I thought I could squeeze in a small piece while dealing with all of the holiday fun and obligations and this is what I managed. It’s a little painting but I like the size and think it will be the first of a series of portraits. Here is a wild turkey in the woods. She’s just taken flight, moving from the dim woodland into a brighter spot where the birches and wild flowers grow and where a small frog lives. Have you ever seen a wild turkey take off flying? They are so ungainly it seems they will never get off the ground. But they do.

“Portrait #1 - Wild Turkey”
6 x 6 inches
Acrylic on claybord
This piece will be part of the Active Members Small Works Show at the Woodstock Museum.

I hope your holidays have been fun so far and I send you the warmest wishes for a Happy New Year! Thank you for your interest in my work. It means so much.

Definitely Something New -- My First Lino Print

November 27, 2023 Natalie Wargin

I began this linoleum print a while ago and as the process got more complicated for me, a first timer, I put it on hold. Recently I came back to it. This is the finished print, the only keeper out of ten attempts. It has several ‘mistakes’ but you might never notice them. I’m fairly happy with the result.

This meteor shower image is one I’ve painted before and I’ll admit that it’s one of my favorites. Everything you see here is true. This is my house, my garage, my front yard. Yes, there was an impressive meteor shower and yes, the deer do come in the night and help themselves to whatever appeals. Wild turkeys definitely sleep up in the trees. As for the piece itself it should have been a reduction print but the image is fairly large (14 x 18 inches) and I didn’t want to destroy the block. I thought I might want to use it again so rather than cutting the linoleum away I cut masks to cover the areas that I didn’t want to print.

I have prints of this piece in my Etsy shop here:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1590540268/art-print-original-linoleum-print-meteor?click_key=f1ac736c397eebd3b1d0f14dafe313b95eaf3d66%3A1590540268&click_sum=b0e38b78&ref=shop_home_active_1&sts=1

From November 27 through December 1 I’m running a sale. 20% off any purchase.
My shop will be closing on December 8 and won’t reopen until early March.
Thanks so much for looking at my work. It’s much appreciated.
Happy Holidays!

Masking an area. “Meteor Shower” linoleum print.

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.

Smoke. A new painting.

November 25, 2022 Natalie Wargin

One morning, very shortly after I moved to the Hudson Valley, I looked out a second floor window and saw a flock of wild turkeys. I was entranced and delighted, as I still always am when I see turkeys, but there was something odd about this group. One of the birds was practically white. Knowing absolutely nothing about the wildlife in these parts I guessed that perhaps this group had welcomed a white hen or some sort of duck. Nope.

I came to find out that the light gray, practically white bird, was a smoke phase turkey. Not a true albino it retains some of the natural coloring of a wild turkey but its feathers are primarily a soft gray. I painted a watercolor version of this flock. It was one of my very first paintings. I positioned the birds in front of one of my favorite barns, the one with the gray and oxblood paint. This is a reconsidering of that early painting and a retelling of what I saw way back then.

Here is the flock on a glorious autumn day traveling through a field. The grasses are fading to parchment, as are the ferns. The buttonbush has turned red. Trees and bushes are wildly colored. Woodsmoke from the chimneys fills the air with that lovely smell. The sky is moody. There may be a hint of snow in the air. The turkeys are restless, the smoke phase stops to groom herself. A little frog observes.

“Smoke”
Acrylic on birch panel
20 x 16 inches
$1600

This painting is available in my shop here:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1340474200/original-acrylic-painting-of-wild?click_key=c0562f837032618839743f4c8e7db56a09ebc416%3A1340474200&click_sum=d431ec44&ref=shop_home_active_1

Prints of this image are available here:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1354447555/art-print-original-acrylic-painting-of?click_key=0dbd2844f029a3e56c9717ccd08849c9394aaf0f%3A1354447555&click_sum=a537c3b0&ref=shop_home_active_1

Everything in my shop is 20% off through Tuesday, November 29. No code needed.
Get things while you can because my shop will be closing indefinitely on Wednesday, November 30.

Thank you for following along. Thank you for your interest in my work.
I wish you all the very best of holidays!