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.

I find the most interesting plants growing in the woods and along the wetland edge. Here are small watercolors of two that I see, depending on the season: Bloodroot and Buttonbush. Bloodroot gets its name from its red orange roots that resemble carrots. Yes, I pulled one up so I could see for myself. The roots can be used to make ink or dye. The leaves are big and curvy, the flowers are smallish and white. In the spring, in the woodland shadows, this plant spreads and beautifully fills a lot of space. The second plant, Buttonbush, grows in wet areas and also appreciates shade. In the spring the blossoms are like little green balls that each open into dozens of tightly packed small white flowers like the globe you see here. The foliage is dense and dark and in the fall the “buttons” become red and copper colored. Both of these plants are quite dramatic.

I haven’t done any watercolors in a while and it was a pleasure to work on these two. They are small, as I say, and working on small pieces was also a nice change. I’ll be back to larger work soon.

Both of these originals are available in my Etsy shop where I’m also offering free domestic shipping on all orders through Sunday, October 9. Here are the links:

“Bloodroot”
5 x 6 inches
Watercolor on Fabriano Hot Press
$90
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1318491625/original-watercolor-painting-bloodroot?click_key=6d824a8df84af158ef00b08fb3a00f0133c480d6%3A1318491625&click_sum=7bca4747&ref=shop_home_active_2

“Buttonbush
5 x 6 inches
Watercolor on Fabriano Hot Press
SOLD
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1318500245/original-watercolor-painting-buttonbush?click_key=f24f7649d7317fc42c19a9d7951b9b5884f25ffb%3A1318500245&click_sum=d04f1daa&ref=shop_home_active_1

You can also find prints of these paintings in my shop here:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/NatalieWargin?ref=seller-platform-mcnav

Thanks so much for taking a look at what I’ve been up to.
It’s most appreciated!