Another Small Portrait

January 30, 2024 Natalie Wargin

Usually I work on paintings that are considerably larger than this, 24 x 18 inches is a favorite size. But I enjoyed doing the little Wild Turkey Portrait that you saw last month so I thought I’d try another. Here is Portrait 2: Porcupine. These portraits may become a series.

I don’t often see porcupines near where I live and I’m grateful for that because if I’m walking outside I’m nearly always with Tilly. She is a mad hunter and I would fear the outcome of a porcupine encounter. I’m certain it would be bad. However I have seen and photographed porcupines and I like painting them. Here is one in an autumn setting, beneath the surrounding plants that are going to seed, turning rust colored and orange. Two little frogs observe. A pale bird seems to have something to say.

Portrait 2: Porcupine
Acrylic on claybord
6 x 6 inches
$450

My Etsy shop is on vacation until March but if you’re interested in this piece you can let me know in the comments below.

Thank you for taking the time to take a look. As always, it’s much appreciated.

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.

Porcupines at the Mohonk Preserve

August 26, 2015 Natalie Wargin

I went for a hike at the Mohonk Preserve with my friends Raedel and Mary Grace. The Mohonk Preserve is in the Shawangunk Mountains or Gunks, as they are affectionately called around here. The Gunks are part of the long ridge of the Appalachian Mountains, known early on for logging and mining but now known mainly for recreation, most notably for rock climbing and hiking. As with many areas like this the trails vary in difficulty. We were on an a fairly easy trail, a good walk and conversation being our intent. It was a perfect morning for it. As we neared the end of our hike we rounded a bend and Mary Grace, who was in the lead, almost stepped on a porcupine.

I had never seen a porcupine outside of a zoo and it was all I could do to get out my phone and start snapping pictures. Although the porcupine was clearly moving away from me it wasn't running and I was able to get some decent shots. I doubt it was worried about me because once it got to an overgrown area it stopped to grab and eat a bunch of leaves. I thought it was very beautiful. I did wonder about those quills though. Do they shoot them in self-defense? Later I looked it up and found that porcupines do not shoot their quills but will charge and impale a predator with multiple barbs.

Here is my portrayal of the porcupine we saw, munching in the foreground and then calmly retreating. It really was an attractive animal with many many quills that almost looked soft. Almost. I've added the orange day lilies that line the roads here in the summer.

The painting is available in my shop here:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/243853269/original-watercolor-porcupines-at-the?ref=shop_home_active_1

And prints of the image are available here:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/243854559/art-print-original-watercolor-porcupines?ref=shop_home_active_2

Here's a back-to-school special: 20% off any purchase, good until September 3rd:
FALL20