Autumn Orchard

November 11, 2015 Natalie Wargin

There's a pretty apple orchard on River Road in Red Hook. It belongs to Migliorelli Farm. The trees are small and the many many branches reach dramatically straight up to the sky. Both of these things surprised me. Apparently it's important to keep fruit bearing trees small and tidy to get the best crop. I'm still not sure why the branches grow straight up though, instead of gracefully curving and bending like other trees. Anyway, I decided this fall to paint the orchard at harvest time. The trees were loaded with red apples, the leaves were so green; lots of color. I nearly always work from photos that I take and River Road is narrow and curved with no shoulder so where to put my car and how to get over the stone wall that separates the orchard from the road? I knew if I could get onto the orchard that I'd technically be trespassing. But the farm stand is way at the other corner and the lovely gray house is a bit farther still. And I wanted some pictures.

There's a driveway with fancy iron gates that leads to a handsome property right across the road from where I wanted to access the orchard. I have never seen anyone coming or going from this driveway so I decided to risk parking there for the shortest time possible. Flashers on, I left Maggie in the car, crossed the road, and scooted across the relatively low stone wall. I walked quickly through the high, wet grass to the trees, took pictures from different angles, all the while keeping an eye on my car and my dog in the forbidden driveway. When I got back to the car my pants were wet to the knee. I will confess. I picked one apple. It was delicious. Crisp, and tangy; a MacIntosh.

Why the pheasants? I didn't see them at the orchard but rather up the road at Bard College on another day entirely. But they fit here, as do the mourning doves in the tree tops.

This is a 10 x 10 inch (25 x 25cm) acrylic painting on board. It is listed in my Etsy shop.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/254514646/acrylic-painting-original-autumn-orchard?ref=shop_home_active_1

Wild Turkey on Leggett Trail

July 9, 2015 Natalie Wargin

This is an original acrylic painting of a lone wild tom turkey. I have placed him in the surroundings where I see him -- woodland with wild roses, chipmunks and a small stream. The painting is on a 9 x 12" (23 x 30cm) birch panel. I haven't done an acrylic painting since high school. This was fun and I will be doing more.

There's a section of the trail here that Maggie & I like to walk. We access it from Leggett Road. For the past couple of years we have been most fortunate to spot, from time to time, a large lone wild turkey. We saw him again recently. He was close to the edge of the trail and I guess we startled him. He made a fuss and moved off. I think that he lives in the wild woodland that borders the particular section of the trail where we are likely to see him. He seems robust and healthy but I wonder why he's always alone. I try to stop myself from anthropomorphizing but I'm afraid he's lonely or maybe being ostracized. I told my sister, an area native, about this Tom and she said that she thinks turkeys sometimes spend time alone. It's true that I don't see him very often so maybe he's usually with a flock. Fabia and I decided that he was in a Garbo phase. Not tremendously clever, I know, but it made us laugh anyway.

As I mentioned above I haven't worked with acrylics for a while and to me this looks so different from my watercolors. Often I don't know what to think when I look at a painting I've finished and that was very true of this turkey. There's something about this piece that reminds me of portraits that itinerant painters would do during colonial times. Of course this is a turkey and not a well-to-do dry goods proprietor but still. There's just something about it...

You can find this painting in my shop.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/239253709/original-painting-wild-tom-turkey-on?ref=shop_home_active_1

And you can use this code for free shipping on any order. It's active through July 18.
FREESHIP

Three Black Hens in clover

June 23, 2015 Natalie Wargin

Out for my morning jaunt I rounded a familiar corner and spotted what I thought were three crows. As I got closer to the birds I realized that they were not crows at all but shiny black hens with scarlet heads. I stopped for a moment to take a closer look. What beauties! Such colors! It's not so unusual to see groups of hens and roosters roaming around but I'd never seen any like this before. Now I see these three here and there, close to where I saw them first but never in the same spot twice. "Free range" I suppose. I wonder what color their eggs are.

I placed the hens in a barn yard which is fairly accurate but I added a very small image of a church that's not anywhere near where I spotted the hens. You can see it in the background on one of the hills. This particular church is Dutch Reform and very old & colonial in design. They tell me it's the most frequently photographed church in New York. I had the pleasure of hearing some scary organ music there a few Halloweens ago while waiting for the cemetery tour to begin.

The painting is 7 x 10 inches (18 x 25 cm). The paper is Arches 100% cotton watercolor paper, smooth finish. The painting is signed and dated on the front, titled on the back. You can find it in my shop along with prints of the hens in various sizes.

And please take free shipping on any order with this code: FREESHIP
The code is good until June 30.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/236594981/art-print-watercolor-painting-original?ref=shop_home_active_1

https://www.etsy.com/listing/236596301/original-watercolor-painting-black-hens?ref=listing-shop-header-1

A New Watercolor! "Riot"

May 29, 2014 Natalie Wargin

This is an original watercolor and gouache painting of a sweet little shed and a "Riot" of springtime growth in the woods.

There's a little structure that I can see through the trees as I run the trail in the morning. It's beyond the woods a bit in an open field that's just been planted with who knows what. These days, with all the springtime foliage, it's harder to see but I still love to catch a glimpse. Here's a picture of what I see: a lush green carpet, the amazing Jack-in-the-Pulpits, and, of course, all the trees that almost hide the little folly.

The actual paper size is 9 x 12 inches (23 x 31 cm) with the 7.5 x 9.5 inch (19 x 24 cm) painting centered on it. The paper is 140# Fabriano 100% cotton watercolor paper, smooth finish. The painting is signed and titled on the front.

You can find this painting in my Etsy shop:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/190807739/original-watercolor-painting-springtime

Use code SPRING15 for 15% off any purchase through June 15.