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!

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!

A Story of Three Bears - A New Painting

March 20, 2024 Natalie Wargin

Tilly and I are in the garden when we hear some loud rustling in the woods right behind the house. Usually rustling means chipmunks or squirrels which are really nothing special but this was extra loud rustling. We had to take a look. We see black bears from time to time and know to stay calm and still when we do. Fortunately Tilly was on her leash just in case. Here were three adolescents, romping while in a line, heading north towards Kingston. They move beside the swamp which is beautiful as always. The recently built beaver dam is masterful. There are birds, turtles, a squirrel, and a red eft. Bumble bees hum in the hydrangeas. There’s a fisher too, giving me a shiver. I figure the mother bear is up ahead somewhere, keeping an eye but letting go a bit. Her babies are nearly grown.

“Three Bears”
Acrylic on claybord panel
18 x 24 inches
This piece will be exhibited in November at the Roxbury Arts Center.
It is spoken for.
Prints are available. See below.

My Etsy shop is open again and I’m running a sale. 20% off any purchase from March 20 through Sunday March 24.
You can find prints of the “Three Bears” here:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1684296836/art-print-of-original-painting-three?click_key=3cb2c1fa6eb0c01f12ac0b7261e760259e9ab84c%3A1684296836&click_sum=0a13be6a&ref=shop_home_active_1

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

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.

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.

Ghosts of Christmas Past - A New Painting

March 10, 2023 Natalie Wargin

It’s been a while since I sent out a newsletter and this painting is to blame. Would you look at all the people? Nine. And because I’m not well practiced or particularly good at painting faces they took hours. However, finish I did and here you have another scene featuring Emily, my grandmother, and Christmas Eve at her house.

It all started innocently enough when I found a bit of the wallpaper that had been on Emily’s living room walls. Then things got out of hand. I redrew the wallpaper pattern. It’s bold, don’t you agree? I remembered the olive green sofa and paired it with a club chair that in real life was deep red, one of a pair, but here it’s become green too. Our point of view: we’re in the dining room looking past the built in bookcases into the living room where Santa stands next to the tree handing out one gift each to the Christmas-crazy kids.

So many details. An uncle straightens a painting of the Polish mountains that Emily and Felix love to remember. An aunt drinks her coffee beneath a painting of a pretty house set in an equally pretty garden. Each of the boy cousins has an agenda. We’ll keep tabs on the one with the key who has been eyeing the gifts in the locked bookcases. The two girls might be me and my sister Cheryl. Emily, who together with Felix, has been laboring over the Christmas Eve traditions and meal for days and days, is still in her fabulous apron. She’s watching Felix, the man beside her in the Santa suit she made, making sure the right gift goes to the right grandchild.

Until I was working on this painting I hadn’t given much thought to my grandfather in the Santa suit but the fact that he dressed up like this says some lovely things about him. Felix spoke very little English and, along with all the other grandchildren, I never learned Polish. This made for a narrow relationship. I never doubted that he loved us all but he was a quiet, reserved man. Now, here I am, painting him in this outrageous outfit and it’s a revelation. This was a man who had a sense of humor, who loved children, and who definitely loved his wife. Sometimes it takes a very long time to see what was right before your eyes.

“Emily’s Dream #3 - Christmas Eve”
24 x 18 inches
Acrylic on claybord
$2200

My Etsy shop is open and I’m running a sale starting today and running through Sunday, March 12.

You can find this painting here:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1434143983/christmas-eve-family-memories-original?click_key=66be8873377802b174829d66edeb003d76a8b1f0%3A1434143983&click_sum=7eeded9f&ref=shop_home_active_1

You can find prints of this image here:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1419951996/art-print-original-acrylic-painting?click_key=47a0166967f15d3426f4e09d1857438998751e90%3A1419951996&click_sum=00e231a7&ref=shop_home_active_1

Thanks for taking the time to read this story. Thanks too for your interest in my work.
Merry Christmas!

“Emily’s Dream #3 - Christmas Eve” detail.

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!

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

Porcupines At Mohonk - New Work

February 24, 2022 Natalie Wargin

This is a retelling of a story from a few years ago when I went for a hike at the Mohonk Preserve with my friends Mary Grace and Raedel. If you’re unfamiliar with the Mohonk Mountain House and the Preserve it’s worth checking out. The hotel alone is fairly mind blowing. I digress. It was a perfect spring morning — flowers blooming, bees buzzing, birds and little frogs too, the roof tops of the hotel visible in the distance. We chose an easy trail, a good walk and conversation being our intent. We were talking and laughing and we rounded a bend and Mary Grace almost stepped on a porcupine.

I’d never seen a porcupine outside of a zoo and it was all I could do to get my phone out of my pocket and start taking photos. I got several decent shots. The porcupine didn’t seem especially concerned about me nor did she seem at all put out about almost being stepped on. You see her here, ambling along the path, and once she reached an overgrown spot she stopped to grab and eat a bunch of leaves. She was gorgeous. I did wonder about those quills. Do they shoot them in self defense? Later I looked it up and learned that they do not. Instead they charge and impale a predator with multiple barbs.

I mentioned that this is a retelling. A while back I did a small watercolor based on this story. Here is a larger representation in acrylics, with more details of the porcupine and the day. This is the ninth piece for my show at the Woodstock Museum in May.

“Porcupines At Mohonk”
Acrylic on Clayboard
24 x 18 inches

I’m having a sale in my Etsy shop running from today through the 28th.
20% off on any print, any size.
Prints of this image are available in my shop here:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1182549973/art-print-of-original-acrylic-painting?click_key=e5175985330b1f06b173ee16d2f1970725b24287%3A1182549973&click_sum=bfa80afd&ref=shop_home_active_1&sts=1

Thank you for following my work and reading my tales.

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.

A little story about my grandmother

March 30, 2021 Natalie Wargin

This painting tells a little story about my grandmother, Emily Koscielski. Emily was a creative person who was a good cook, an excellent baker, a skilled embroiderer, a successful gardener. She loved flowers and birds, but especially flowers. She told me stories about gardens in Poland where there were only flowers, not a single blade of grass. Emily had a long narrow workroom in her basement where she made things like crepe paper flowers. You can see her at work here, looking serious and determined, busy adding to a wild paper garden of her own creation. There are ferns, lily-of-the-valley, wild roses, white tulips, frilly poppies and poppy seed heads, daffodils. I've given her room a cathedral door and centered her beneath sun and rain, night time and lightening to add emphasis to her conjuring powers.

As with the Peony drawing you saw last month I should credit the virus with the idea of this painting and the urge to make it. Like many of you I’ve been conversing quite a bit over the past months with family, including a cousin who has shared many of his family memories. I had fun correcting his misremembered stories but he did get me thinking a lot about my grandmother which has resulted in this painting.

“Emily’s Dream #2”
Acrylic on board
24 x 18 inches

You can find prints of this image in my shop here:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/974871306/art-print-original-acrylic-painting?ref=shop_home_active_1
Also, I’m running a little sale, 15% off any item.

There are some detail images below. Thank you for reading along!

A Firefly Metaphor. A New Painting.

December 4, 2020 Natalie Wargin

Yes, I know. The Fourth of July isn’t on anyone’s mind right now. But this is a timely painting although I didn’t realize it until I was almost finished. Let me explain.

I set out to do a night time painting of Circle Avenue, a little neighborhood near my house that’s strung along a semi-circular road. You may have seen that I’ve painted this street before. I’m drawn to the neighborly feeling I get whenever I drive through. I also wanted to do another night scene.

While painting the trees I kept remembering all the fireflies that I see each summer lighting up the forest behind my house. The tall dark trees and all the tiny insect lights. On and off. It’s magical. I don’t need to tell you. So in the end I decided to add some fireflies. And a thought occurred to me. Here was some light in a dark landscape. Something I suppose, in a way, we’re all waiting for. I do not paint political statements or protest pieces. I believe that the beauty all around us will save us. Perhaps it’s my protest not to paint a protest. But I think I did paint a metaphor.

”July Fourth”
Acrylic on panel, 16 x 20 inches.
$1500.00
This painting along with prints of this image are available in my shop.

You can find the painting here:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/915868367/fireflies-on-july-fourth-original?ref=shop_home_active_2

You can find prints of this image here:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/901940178/fireflies-on-july-fourth-art-print-of?ref=shop_home_active_1

I will be running a brief sale from December 4 through December 6.
20% off any purchase.

I wish you all the very happiest of holidays, whatever they may be.
Thank you for your interest in my work. It means the world.

Hello again...finally!

October 1, 2020 Natalie Wargin

Well, it has been a while, hasn’t it? Like many of you I have been plain off kilter. Although, since March, I continued to paint and draw I felt myself lose momentum. There became fewer and fewer opportunities for artists to show and share work. My pace slowed. But I want to get back to this newsletter, to let you see what I’ve been doing. I hope you’ve all been faring well and will continue to do so while the situation gets sorted.

One morning Maggie and I were walking in the woods above our house, on a deer path near the Upper Filigree. The deer were still sleeping. You can see the chipmunks resting safely in the stone wall. There’s a red tailed hawk in the red tree waiting them out. Red efts watch the from the rocks along the stream. It was very early spring and there was a dusting of snow so I could see the fresh turkey tracks. I heard them before I saw them and when we rounded a bend I warned Maggie not to chase the turkeys up ahead of us. But how silly of me. How could she resist? I knew the birds would elude her and Maggie was so happy with her harmless rousting. Happy doggie, unharmed birds, nice little anecdote.
”Chasing Turkeys,” acrylic on panel, 18 x 24 inches.

I’ve been tidying up my Etsy shop, relisting many items that had expired. I’m offering free domestic shipping on any order from October 1 through October 7. You can take a look here:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/NatalieWargin

Thanks so much for your interest in my work. It’s truly appreciated.

Hello! The shop’s open with new work!

March 19, 2020 Natalie Wargin

Hello again! Little did I realize when I was working on this bright piece that a splash of bold color might be just what we all need. Especially this spring. I hope you’re all taking care and keeping well.

You may remember that last year I put in a peony hedge. Surprisingly it was kind of a success. I cut some blooms, red ones and white ones, and took some photos to work from. Here I've featured only the red and deep pink flowers in a bouquet, and I will admit that in this painting I got a little carried away with red. I thought for a minute that I'd use up all of my red paint. I really worried a little. In the upper corner I opened a window for some relief and there was a pink house with an impatient woman in the window watching a very happy black dog. The woman might be me. I don’t recognize the dog.

“The Pink House”
12 x 16 inches, watercolor on Fabriano Hot Press.

Here’s a second piece finished just a week or so ago. The little yellow building is a Quaker chapel in the woods next to a trail. The trail, you can see it on the right, starts with a rocky section that's not difficult to negotiate unless it's rainy. Then be careful please.

The yellow chapel is sometimes used for weddings and is beautifully simple inside with benches arranged on the square, an open area in the center of them. Here are all of the woodland creatures I've grown accustomed to along with spring flowers -- day lilies, daffodils, fragrant mountain laurel.

I've added several foxes, mostly red, one gray. The grays are unusual here and after eleven years I've only seen one. Foxes are true survivors and should we finally destroy this planet of ours cockroaches and foxes will live on. Foxes are supremely adaptable. Social in a skulk or solitary they can live practically anywhere and they can eat practically anything.

“Fox Chapel”
18 x 24 inches, acrylic on board.

My Etsy shop is open again. I’ve added some new prints and some new originals and from March 19 through March 26 all prints and original work is 20% off.

You can find my shop here:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/NatalieWargin

The “Red Peony” painting is here:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/770512022/original-watercolor-painting-of-red?ref=shop_home_active_4

And the “Fox Chapel” painting is here:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/785439255/original-acrylic-painting-woodland?ref=shop_home_active_7

Thank you for following along!

Let's Not Fight

December 18, 2019 Natalie Wargin

I heard a story from a hunter about two does who fought over an apple. How intriguing. The deer I see, and I truly see them every day, seem so docile and calm. I’ll occasionally hear one huffing a mild protest but an actual fight? I did some research and not only can you find photos you can also see fights in action. I was shocked and inspired. Here’s the result. It’s a blue sky day in autumn, the oaks are full of bright leaves and acorns. Chattering birds and a single leaping squirrel seem surprisingly uninterested in the situation below them. A quiet red fox walks out of the tree line. In the center two bucks are in a tangle. Is it a fight? Is it a dance? Do the two does figure into this situation? I’ll let you decide.

“The Fight.”
Acrylic on panel, 24 x 18 inches.

This image is available as a print in my shop. You can find it here:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/762761807/art-print-original-acrylic-painting-of?ref=shop_home_active_1
Receive 20% off any order from December 18 through December 20.
My shop will close on December 21. Any orders received by the 21st will be filled.

Thank you all for your continued interest in my work. I wish you the most joyful of holidays!
See you in the spring!

A Walk on the Farm. A New Landscape Painting

September 27, 2019 Natalie Wargin

Most likely I don’t need to remind you that my paintings depict things that have actually happened or things that I’ve observed. Occasionally I throw in a detail simply for effect and there’s one in this piece. The lights in the tree. But as for the rest of it, here’s the story.

My sister and I took her little dog, Riley, down to Davenport’s farm. We walked in the hot afternoon sun past the barn and the rattle trap truck, past the white duck who is actually part of a different story, down the dusty fields and we took a left, turning where we’d never turned before. What we saw surprised us. A secret garden. Lush cool greenery, ferns and shadowy trees, a couple of chairs beside a small stream. We would have lingered but Riley was running as usual, past the lettuces and corn, worrying the rabbits, startling a couple of wild turkeys. It was a good afternoon.

“The Walk.”
Acrylic on birch board.
20 x 16 inches.
$1800.

This painting and prints of this image are available in my shop which is now reopened. In addition to free shipping on any order over $35 I’m also offering 10% off any purchase from today, September 27 through Monday, September 30.
You can find the painting here:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/739384531/the-walk-original-acrylic-painting?ref=shop_home_active_2&frs=1
You can find the prints here:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/739385835/art-print-original-painting-the-walk?ref=listing_published_alert

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

A New Kingdom and a Podcast

May 30, 2019 Natalie Wargin

“Peaceable Kingdom. The Animals” detail.

This piece has taken it’s sweet time coming into being. I was sidetracked by several matters that took me away from my work. But here finally is the finished painting. It features the animals that I see almost daily. That’s me on a very good day, jawline tightened, with faithful Maggie in the center beneath a surge of blackbirds. In real life I was caught beneath that surge one morning on the trail with a flock of one hundred blasting above me, nearly touching my head. It was breathtaking. Here is a calmer version. I appear to be releasing a blackbird into the spiraling flock, insinuating myself I suppose, into this impossible scenario. Blackbirds, coyote, deer, black bear, fisher, turkeys, pheasant, squirrel, skunk, fox, rabbit, chipmunk. You’ll recognize my house in the background. The question remains, why are they all on the move? I could get political and say it has something to do with the damage we’ve done to our natural world and the list of soon to be extinct species I’ve been hearing about. But I actually think those crazy birds just got everyone excited.

“Peaceable Kingdom. The Animals.”
Acrylic on board
24” x 18”
$1500.

A reader made a suggestion that I add an audio feature to this newsletter. I kind of liked the idea so here goes. I wrote several versions of a script, all of which I tossed. They sounded too stiff and in the end I decided to simply talk about what I see when I look at this painting. Although I’ve called this a podcast it technically isn’t, not yet. You won’t find it on iTunes although, if this goes well, who knows?

ETSY SALE! Get free standard shipping on any purchase from May 30 through June 3.
The painting and prints of the image are available in my shop here:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/693860112/peaceable-kingdom-the-animals-original?ref=listing_published_alert

https://www.etsy.com/listing/693858252/peaceable-kingdom-the-animals-art-print?ref=shop_home_active_1