Diana Card

Trick or Treat

Be cAReFuL OuT ThERe !!!!

Tin Flowers

I love these painted tin flower bouquets from The Owl's Nest. When I was in the process of closing the gallery in York Village, I couldn't bear to sell them. Now, fresher and more wonderful than before; they are currently on the mantle over the stone fireplace here at the New Jersey farmhouse, where they will bloom all winter.

Beautiful Maine Skies

There are almost always beautiful sunsets over Belle Marsh...

The Gardener's Cottage

Portsmouth, New Hampshire is a beautiful port town a few miles from our place in Maine. We did all our shopping there when we lived in Cape Neddick, and now, at our new place in South Berwick, it seems even closer. It's a town full of galleries, antique shops, small restaurants, bookshops and coffee houses. And, it has movement to it, as all larger towns do, of people coming and going, on urgent business and casual outings.

On an ancient street near Prescott Park, there was a shop called The Gardener's Cottage I would frequent whenever I had reason to go town. It was an oasis to me then, away from it all, a mini-vacation in the middle of the week, a place to go to forget about everyday life for an hour or so.

I still have the treasures I found there, wire baskets, glass cloches, books, decorative pieces of all types, Christmas ornaments, and wonderful objects of gardens past, and gardens that are still and may always be in the dream-stage. I have cast iron birds, antique French clay pots, tools, wonderful twine holders, shears, a lovely Sussex trug, and a hand-blown hummingbird feeder.

The shop closed one day, suddenly. I was shocked and very sad, as I'm sure all of the regular customers were. A few years later at my gallery in York, one of it's rooms was filled with garden-themed items of every kind, tools, books, faux flowers, notecards, vases and anything relating to the love of a garden.

Thank-you, Gardener's Cottage, for many dreamy hours spent in your shop.

Dreaming of the Ocean

The farm in New Jersey is a wonderful place; it's just up the road from the farm I grew up on, it's very quiet and remote...for being in New Jersey; beautiful, wild and scenic, everything a person could want in a farm setting. It would be wrong to want anything else, I think. But, I miss the ocean.

When I dream of a farm, that farm is always on the edge of the ocean. There are cows grazing in a pasture that ends at a rocky pebble beach, and a salt marsh nearby. A tall lighthouse stands watch over the harbor just down the hill, and boats sail on the horizon. There's a little white low-post Cape and just big-enough barn for the animals, a large garden and an apple orchard. Of course, there are blueberries scattered everywhere.

I've painted the farm I dream of, many times now.

For now, though, I have to be content with my "imaginary ocean", not an ocean at all, but the blue ridge that is quite a few miles away and directly opposite the ridge our farm is on.

Looking through the trees on a late-summer afternoon, and if you squint your eyes just a bit, the ocean-blue of the ridge in the distance can be a very beautiful daydream for a farmer missing her farm by the sea.

A Very LARGE Painting

We've been working on a large 'painting' here at the farm, involving very large paint brushes and cans of paint in the five gallon size, tall ladders, many plastic dropcloths, many cups of coffee, a large roll of masking paper, rolls of blue masking tape, and extremely tired bodies at the end of every day...what was this huge project?

Drum roll please...

The farmhouse has new clothes!

After many seasons of embarrassing shabbiness, and not the 'shabby chic' shabbiness, we finally found the energy, time and good weather to paint the house...the largest painting I've ever done.

Now, I have to give credit where credit is due, followed by many thanks to our son, John. He got the ball rolling early in the spring, scraping, grinding and cleaning the monster, and getting it ready. We have always been a 'WE CAN DO IT' family, but this was intense, even for us.

Thanks a bunch, John. I can hang Christmas wreaths on the front doors this year with true joy.

But, before that, I have to get to that porch railing...

 

In the Dirt

The house painting continues, and now the gardens need to get put to bed for the winter. This means quite alot of close to the ground digging, pulling and moving things. Over the years, I've unearthed beautiful pieces of glass and pottery from long ago, my own little archaeological dig right here on the farm. It's thrilling to find color in the form of long ago dishes and kitchen crocks; I immediately start inventing stories to match, and then bring in the treasure to add to my collection.

It's a welcome break to the job at hand...but for now, back to work. 

Waiting for the Full Moon

It's almost time for the full moon, again. I have to admit, I never get tired of this thrill of nature. How could anything be so wonderful, and completely free of charge to view? And, there's a new show every month.

As kids, we used to stay out on summer nights and "do things"...hide and seek, chase each other and in general, just try as hard as we could not to go indoors. Indoors meant bedtime, no fun at all in the summertime, or ever. Fireflies, crickets, the cows in the night pasture behind our house, and all under the full moon. It's one of my very favorite subjects to paint, and can be the starting point for many types of paintings, in any season.

Even now, on full moon nights, before I collapse for the night, I go out on the front porch and stare up at it for a few minutes. Then, every month, I look forward to the next full moon, which will, of course, be completely new and totally different.

Lucky, lucky us.

Report Cards

I started this painting in the spring, after thinking one afternoon about how terrified we used to be on report card day, and how silly that seems now. We all have so many bigger issues as adults. My heart would pound as the teacher handed the dreaded blue envelope out. Now I think they are sent through the mail. Does that take away the anxiety, or just delay it? 

My grades, at least until I got hopelessly lost in Algebra Land in grade 7, were top-notch, so I wonder now why report card day was so terrible. After all, outside the sky was still blue, the birds still sang, and a couple of bad grades would not be cause for your parents to disown you. A stern look, a reprimand, and a "do better next time", and you'd be off the hook.

That dreadful day was a big part of growing up. Looking back, and of course, now that I don't actually get a report card from a teacher, I'm happy to be able to paint this particular memory.

This painting is available for sale, shoot me an e-mail at dianacardpaintings@gmail.com and I'll get back to you with the details.

 

House Time

A piece of a new painting...and a hint of what I've been up to most of the summer, on the days when it didn't rain. It involves a much larger brush, gallons of paint, and a ladder. I'm sure you've guessed by now. 

Our New Jersey farmhouse has been white forever, and needed a new coat. Scraping...our son did that, and it seemed to be the worst bit of the job. I am going to get as much done as I can before calling in whatever troops will show up, before the snow flies, that is. Two years ago, we had snow before Halloween, so there's a need to hurry. 

One thing I know for sure as I'm out there balancing on the ladder while wielding a brush and fending off kamakazi bees, the "house painting" above was by far much more fun!