Garden Time!

I always find so much joy spending time in my garden and visiting gardens. As an artist, I love to study flowers and watch them grow. And now it's growing season! Our vegetable garden is taking shape. We planted carrots, lettuces, cabbages, beans, peas, squash, eggplants, tomatoes. The artichoke, chives and oregano are still thriving from last year, what a treat!

For Mother's Day, I took my Mom to the Hulda Klager Lilac Gardens,  A beautiful garden and historic home north of Portland, with many varieties of lilacs. Truly a sweet and magical place!

 

This weekend, I walked around the Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden, a beautiful and often overlooked garden in Portland. Everything was in full bloom.  

I will come back and paint here sometime!

What are your favorite gardens to visit?

Summer Dreams

Sun Spirit ©2011 Robin Phillips

It's been sunny this week, yay! And I can feel it, summer's almost here! Sun light so nourishes us and connects us to everything :) It helps us create and grow :) In our yard, lilacs are blooming. In the garden, the first lettuces have sprouted. Now to plant more soon, which is one of my favorite times of the year.

Sneak peek of a new painting in progress.... Awakening!

What's inspiring you lately?

V48CWG8ERJMQ

Fast Moving Days and Aloha!

Radiance © 2012

A busy time recently, first working on new websites, new paintings and an article/interview and then off to Hawaii for 10 days in April! Above is one of my new pieces, Radiance, and three more paintings I'm about to finish I will post soon.  I'm excited to unveil the new websites I designed for artists, and one for a non-profit...

www.heidedavis.com
www.donnasaurina.com
www.childfoundation.af

Also, I'm so excited to be featured in the May issue of Professional Artist Magazine. See the article on my website.

Our trip to Hawaii was absolutely incredible, we spent time on the Big Island (Hawaii), Kauai, and one day in Waikiki/Honolulu (Oahu). We went off the beaten path to see a lot of nature, animals, art and quilts, unique sites, and also to try local food, which is a delicious combination of asian/polynesian. My favorite was the poke, a raw fish and seaweed dish :)

condo in Kauai, oceanfront

Kauai, Waileua Falls

Kauai's Grand Canyon

Plumeria flower, National Tropical Botanical Gardens, Kauai

Many Hawaiian quilts feature flowers or breadfruit tree leaves, which symbolize abundance :)

Waikiki Beach, Honolulu

Endangered Nene goose, Hawaii's state bird

Pele's (Volcano Goddess) flower, the Lehua blossom

Pele's fiery caldera, Volcano National Park, Hawaii

Rainforest, Volcano National Park

And finally some Hawaii art/craft inspiration... I brought home this beautiful hibscus needlepoint canvas to stitch, quilt patterns in cross stitch, and art cards by visionary artist Francene Hart and Warren Rapozo, a contemporary hawaii painter.  When we got home, I started an ocean waves table runner in crochet inspired by the beautiful, mesmerizing oceans.  The table runner is small shell stitch, and the five shades of white and blues will repeat in rows. The pattern is from this book 280 Crochet Shell Patterns. 

And I found some gorgeous Hawaiian fabrics! Now to plan a hawaiian quilt with these.... I might use light yellow squares as spacers between the fabrics.

:)  Lots of Aloha to you!!  :)

Happy Spring Equinox!

Vortex of Attraction-Creation ©2012

It's officially spring! All things are now growing, as mother earth renews and awakens. It is so wonderful to feel the signs.

I am very inspired by Law of Attraction and my new piece above celebrates this! The vortex is a vibrational space we enter as we are joyful, grateful and align with our dreams,visions, and best feelings about life. Here is a nice uplifting video from Abraham-Hicks, enjoy :)

Sun and Sky, ©2005 watercolor

Bright wishes to you as spring begins :)

First Flower

So sweet to find the first flower of the season in our yard today! One little daffodil in a patch by itself, the others will be coming very soon. As spring begins to stir, this is the time of year to watch your dreams, wishes, and new projects start to grow :) 

New projects are on the horizon for me! I'm excited to announce that I am now creating quilt and craft sewing patterns for Connecting Threads, Designer Downloads.  I'll let you know when they are posted! Here is a sneak preview of my baby rosebud quilt for spring:

Also, I'm working on a new gift shop which will feature a wide range of my artwork, prints, and gifts with inspirational quotes, as well as printable designs for papers, invites and more. I plan to have craft patterns and some free downloads in the shop as well.  Stay tuned!! Update: The shop is finished! Visit www.robinphillipsstudio.com/store

Robin's Nest in the Sun ©2011, donated to Audubon Society

Warm Winter, Warm Heart

It's been such a nice winter here, warm and mild. I saw the first Camellia flowers this past weekend in our neighborhood!  WOW, I want to paint these.

In the studio, I have been working on my website, finishing up my painting 'Soulmates', as well as knitting and stitching. I plan to release cross stitch patterns based on my art this year!

I got a knitting book at Christmas, and I am excited that I have started my first knitted scarf! I've done lots of crochet, and I wasn't sure if it would be harder to knit, but I've gotten in groove now with knit and purl. It's so soothing and natural.

Soulmates, © 2012

I made this pillow several years ago, and I love bringing it out this time of year. The hearts are a simple 4 patch, three 1-1/2" blocks red or pink and one white block to complete the square. :)

Love is all around, so many sweet things to be thankful for in this world!