"Fall Grapes" original watercolor 14h x 11 (framed)

In the spirit of shalom from an earlier post I’ve donated this original framed watercolor for an auction to benefit a family with medical bills who are also in need of community support and encouragement.

I painted this watercolor from a photograph I took of grapes growing in my brother’s yard. I remember the warm grapes shining in the sun and their sweet, tart, dusty taste on my tongue. Grapes need support and care in order to not only survive but to produce. It is somewhat symbolic to have this painting generate a small blessing for my friend and her family.

If this is a painting you would like to bid on, please let me know. The bidding begins tonight at 5:30 and ends May 5 at 3pm, Alaska time. I’ll post bids in the comments. If you want to follow more closely, you may look on my Facebook page

Some of you have told me that you are unable to post comments. Drat. I’ve made all the changes I can. If you want to contact me, please email me at suziepaints @ yahoo.com. I would make it a link for you, but apparently that is like a spam magnet. Thank you for your understanding. Just eliminate the spaces and it will work.

We celebrate Easter differently in Alaska. There is almost always snow on the ground for the holiday so Easter egg hunts include boots and coats. One of my friends commented that she would wear flip-flops with her dress, but didn’t think blue toes would match her outfit.

What we have in abundance now is sunshine…when it isn’t snowing. It is light until almost 10 pm now and the sun is already up by 6:30 am.  My tomato plants and herbs are thriving in the windows. Today I’ll plant more seeds and soon it will feel like a jungle in here until we start heating the greenhouse at night. It was 14 degrees here last night and that’s too cold to keep the greenhouse warm.

On Good Friday morning, I climbed up our stairs to this view. The mountains were broody and ominous, but so beautiful with just a hint of sun.

Last week I experimented with watercolor and pastel (chalk) on top after it dried. It was enjoyable to mix the two mediums, but I had to use a paper with fairly smooth texture because the pastel would latch on to the pattern in the paper and not look like clouds.  Here is what I came up with. The view is up by Gunsight Lodge on the Glenn Highway.

With the longer days, snow is crashing off roofs and icicles are forming great sun-catchers.

Last week someone complained to me how colorless and dreary Alaska is during this season. Well, I guess it is if you look down at the melting snow and mud, but I choose to look up and enjoy the sun on the mountains. I chuckle at the magpies taking their first bath in the first pool of the melting stream. I see the whisper of a pink blush in the birch and willow trees signaling that spring has indeed arrived.

It’s a good thing  I love snow because there is now at least two feet of it on the ground. Unfortunately the snow is starting to look dirty, old, and tired. Most Alaskans and particularly the moose are ready for it to just go away.

I’m part of an artists group where we post images from our sketchbooks. Lately there have been sketches of beautiful spring flowers growing where the climate is much warmer. I must admit that a sigh escapes me when I see budding rhododendrons, daffodils, tulips, petite crocus and grape hyacinth. Our wildflowers will be here in May and June and it will be a riot of color here then. So in order not to feel left out, I sketched a pretty little flower that grows rampant in our area. It is the tough little Twin Flower. It creeps along the ground in the open and under trees, sending up delicate little pairs of bell-shaped pink flowers.

Twin Flowers