Tag Archives: country living

Sage Cottage

Posted on October 9, 2016 | Comments Off

Sage Cottage, Adairsville GA Watercolor / pen and ink, Kit Miracle

We were in Georgia last month for a wedding at the Barnsley Estate. We stayed at a wonderful bed and breakfast a few miles away called the Sage Cottage. Owners, Jim and Sharon Southerland, were such gracious hosts and made us feel welcome in every way. The house is actually quite large with really beautiful grounds. Another wedding party had taken over most of the remainder of the rooms. There was plenty of space to roam so I decided to use my time to make this watercolor / pen and ink sketch of the main house. It was difficult to choose a view as the grounds were laid out so well, with hidden nooks, statuary, and gardens.

This was painted in a Pentalic Aqua Journal which has really thick pages, almost like cardboard. I use a couple of clips to hold the pages open but otherwise, there is no buckling from watermedia. I only wished later that I had used a larger sheet of paper, maybe an 11 x 14. This is 5 x 16 (5 x 8 landscape notebook).

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Posted in pen and ink, plein air, plein air painting, watercolor

Tagged country living, kit miracle, pen and ink, plein air, watercolor

Capturing the Moment

Posted on August 24, 2016 | Comments Off

After the Harvest, oil on canvas, 12 x 24, Kit Miracle

I do not ever text and drive and rarely speak on the phone while I’m driving, but I am guilty of another distraction. I am frequently guilty of taking photos out the window as I drive. Sometimes there is just one fleeting moment – a ray of light, a cloud formation, whatever – that I must capture. The photos are usually not very good but they capture enough of the effect to jog my memory and be translated into paintings in the studio.

This is from a photo I took on my road (sparsely traveled) that I took last November. It grabs the early morning light on the cornfield after the harvest. I was attracted to the contrast of the golden cornfield, the patterns of the rows, the cast shadow of the valley and the darkening sky. Rain is on the way.

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Posted in art, oil painting

Tagged art, contemporary impressionist, country living, kit miracle, oil painting

Sometimes you’ve just got to paint

Posted on June 26, 2016 | Comments Off

When pigs fly. Watercolor / pen and ink, 12 x 16. Kit Miracle

We’ve all heard the admonishment that you need to create art every day. But…life gets in the way. Jobs, family, gardening, etc. Sometimes I find all my have-t0′s overwhelming my urge to create. This weekend I just had to paint.

Yesterday, before I could get overly involved in the rest of the home tasks, I trucked my painting gear out to the front yard and painted this flowerbed which has been calling me for weeks. It seems to be a symphony of purples, mauves, and yellows this time of year. The heat was oppressive. The humidity was drenching. But I had a great time.

For you gardeners out there, you’re looking at purple cone flower, bee balm, weigela, daylilies, lambs ear, and a giant yucca. The flying pig is a bit difficult to make out but he’s one of my favorite yard statues, as he bounces on his spring in a strong breeze. Symbol of not-quite-lost causes.

Giant Moth Mullen Watercolor/ pen and ink, 16 x 12 Kit Miracle

Then, this morning I decided to capture this weed, Giant Moth Mullen. It is already 5 feet tall and will probably top 6 or 7 feet. It has fuzzy leaves, similar to lambs ear and the most interesting curly-type leaves and stalk. It will eventually have a tall spike of yellow flowers which in turn, will produce seeds that the goldfinches love. Probably how it came to be growing near my cellar door. Majestic!

BTW, I was inspired by a blog challenge by James Gurney, who held a recent competition of people who paint weeds. This painting is not entered as it is past date, but I thought it was a perfect subject.

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Posted in art, country living, pen and ink, plein air painting, Uncategorized

Tagged art, country living, gardening, kit miracle, painting, pen and ink, plein air

Plein air painting

Posted on May 21, 2016 | 2 comments

Irises by the Woodshed

May is a very busy time here in the country. Cleaning up winter debris and preparing and planting summer crops. However, I have managed to find some time for some plein air painting, mostly sketching really.

The first three paintings are just around the yard. I try to catch the spring flowers before they’re gone. I particularly like watercolor with pen and ink overlay. These were all painted in a Pentalic Aqua Journal, 5 x 8, landscape format. The double pages really are challenging but, as you know, artists always like trying new things. The watercolor is actually a small travel set that I’ve had for years (decades?). And the pens are Micron in various sizes .01 to .05, mostly black but I am experimenting with red and burgundy.

Azaleas and Hostas by the Woodshed

On the Patio, watercolor / pen and ink, Kit Miracle

At the Riverwalk, Jasper IN, watercolor / pen and ink, Kit Miracle

Riverwalk, brown ink, Kit Miracle

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Posted in plein air, Uncategorized

Tagged art, country living, kit miracle, painting instruction, pen and ink, plein air, watercolor

Gardening with Scottie

Posted on February 10, 2016 | Comments Off

Gardening with Scottie, 20 x 20, oil on canvas, Kit Miracle

I recently completed this winter still life painting. That is, when it’s cold outside, I usually paint inside. The theme for this painting is planning my spring garden. There were many challenges, especially all the circles and ellipticals as well as that dang ceramic dog. I’m not sure I’m done with this yet as I keep tweaking it every time I walk past it in my studio. Check out the demo for Gardening with Scottie.

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Posted in art, garden, oil painting, painting instruction, still life

Tagged art, books, country living, gardening, kit miracle, oil painting, painting, painting instruction, still life

Ode to Van Gogh

Posted on July 20, 2015 | Comments Off

Sunflower, 12 x 12, oil, Kit Miracle $175

Ode to Van Gogh, 12 x 16, oil $225

We have a very large garden and I always plant flowers in it for cutting. Each year, I also plant a variety of sunflowers. The tall Mammoth grow to 12 feet or more. We save their large heads for the birds. I also plant multi-stemmed and many colors ranging from orangey red to deep maroon.

Needless to say, I’m drawn to painting their cheerful faces and usually tackle a few sunflower paintings each summer. Here are two of my recent works. I will probably paint several more which I’ll show on my website. KGMiracle.com Check them out.

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Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged country living, flowers, kit miracle, sunflowers, van gogh

Plein Air Painting In the Neighborhood

Posted on June 15, 2015 | 1 comment

Mentor Road, Birdseye, Indiana, oil on canvas, 18 x 24, Kit Miracle

Writers are often advised to paint what you know. I believe that this advice holds true for artists, too. You know your own neighborhood best, the most attractive features, the back roads, and the best seasons to view the scenery.

My neighborhood, as the title of my blog implies, is a rural one. This time of year the farmers are baling hay. Those big round bales often remind me of the wonderful haystacks of Monet, and their rotund forms litter the fields until they’re tidied away in neat rows.

A couple of days ago, I rode around the neighborhood looking for likely painting spots, especially with an eye to catching some hay bales still lying in the field. Other criteria for me are where can I park and will I need permission to go onto someone’s property. Most people are very gracious about allowing artists to venture on their land but it’s always best to ask if you can.

Today I returned to a likely spot. Actually, I had intended to climb into the field but found that I liked the view from the road better, especially with the roof of a house showing which added an interesting focal point. The painting went well and I came away with a pretty complete piece. Some challenges were the wind so I had to improvise a weight for my portable easel. Also, the flies were ferociously biting me. Glad to have brought bug spray which is always in my travel bag. And finally, I am positive that the manure spreader which passed my position three times, intentionally spilled a bit on the curve on which I was painting. Really!

Anyway, here is the final product and a few preliminaries. It was painted on a toned canvas, 18 x 24, and took about two hours. Feedback is always appreciated.

Hay bales, one potential view

Final view chosen. Loved the overhanging tree, the shadows and the contrasts.

First laying in on toned canvas

Final painting with scene behind. About two hours.

Improvised weight to hold my portable easel in the breeze.

Car studio. Easier than packing everything and a lot roomier.

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Posted in art, oil painting, painting instruction, plein air, plein air painting

Tagged art, Birdseye, country living, hay bales, indiana, kit miracle, Mentor Road, oil painting, painting instruction, plein air

Bobcat – Making a comeback

Posted on November 30, 2014 | Comments Off

As I have mentioned in a previous post, we have great fun observing the wildlife in this rural area. Our house sits in the middle of 90 acres (thus, My90Acres), and is a good mix of fields, streams and woods. The county I live in is very rural and has an abundance of wildlife.

We move our deer cam around and I check the SD card every couple of weeks. It’s always great fun to see what we’ve “caught.” Its latest location is near our drive where it crosses a creek on a culvert. Animals are a little lazy and will take the easy path across the culvert rather than wade through the creek so this location gets them going both across the creek and along the creek. The cam is triggered automatically and records both day and night with the infrared part. The animals can’t see it flash at night but they can hear the camera click. Some of them come right up to the camera and I’m as likely to get a closeup of a deer nose as a flock of birds in the day.

This past month the camera recorded all kinds of deer, foxes, two cats I’ve never seen in daylight, turkeys, squirrels, coyotes, rabbits, possums, birds of all kinds, my dog, and cars entering and leaving the property. To my delight, I also recorded this large male bobcat this month. I haven’t seen him since last year so was glad to observe him again. Based on comparing him to the size of my dog, I guess he’s about 30-34 pounds which is about tops for a male. Bobcats have been protected in Indiana for a while now but they may come off the protected list soon as their population has grown. They eat rabbits, possums, rats, and other small animals. Oh, and chickens. Not so good. Nevertheless, it’s so nice to know nature is thriving in the not quite wilderness. On the other hand, I really don’t want to record a mountain lion or bear in this area – as has been reported. That would be a little too scary for my taste.

Bobcat in southern Indiana

Bobcat – arrow points to stubby tail

Third photo of Bobcat

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Posted in country living

Tagged bobcat, country living, deer cam, indiana, wildlife

Simplify your backgrounds

Posted on June 25, 2014 | 2 comments

Often, when we venture into the great outdoors to paint, we are assaulted with visual overload. There’s just too much out there! I find that a good way to approach the problem of too much is to simplify my backgrounds. In this recent plein air painting of June lilies, I could have added a lot of trees and stuff in the background but decided to emphasize the flowers instead. I chose to do this by painting the background with a muted variety of purples and blues. As you can see, this really makes the flowers pop. By the way, the orange day lilies grow wild in great masses along the country roads this time of year.

June Day Lilies, oil on canvas, 12x16, Kit Miracle

June Day Lilies, oil on canvas, 12×16, Kit Miracle

The original area with a busy background.

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Posted in country living, garden, oil painting, painting instruction, plein air, plein air painting

Tagged art, country living, garden, kit miracle, oil painting, painting instruction, plein air

Felling a giant

Posted on June 14, 2014 | Comments Off

Memory of a giant

Several years ago, I did a painting called “Saturday Morning.” It basically depicted men working together on, yes, Saturday morning. This is what people do here in the country. You cannot do everything yourself so you pitch in and help the neighbor, or he you when you need it.

This morning we had to say goodbye to an old friend. We have a giant elm which was here since we bought the place over 25 years ago. Everyone marveled at its beautiful shape and how it had magically escaped elm disease. Unfortunately, it began dying last year and we had to take our old friend down today. It was very close to the house and would have been a real danger during the next big storm.

Taking down the elm which was leaning one way while we wanted to fell it in another was challenging and not without risk. Fortunately, these two guys have felled many trees but anything can happen. I documented this not only for my old tree friend but to let you know of some of the dangers. If you don’t know anything about taking down a tree, hire an expert.

: Giant elm on its last morning

: Making the first cuts

: Elm is very hard. It already wore out one chain on the saw.

: The tree has been notched in the direction it “should” fall. Now making cuts on the other side which will release it.

: Driving the wedges. This takes some real muscle.

: The elm starts to go but gets hung up in the surrounding trees. This is really dangerous and is called a “widow-maker” for a reason.

: Next step is even more dangerous. That is pushing the tree over with some heavy equipment.

: The tree is off the stump but still not down. The danger here is it could kick back, knock other branches down, etc.

: Finally, the tree crashes to the ground with much cracking and popping.

: There she lays.

: Sawing it into manageable lengths in order to drag it out where it can be worked on.

: Dragging out a log. This, too, is dangerous. If the log gets hung up, it can cause the tractor to tilt back over the driver. Or the chain can snap, injuring or killing the driver. Always need a spotter for this step.

: A well-deserved break. Unfortunately, now the rest of the work begins with the clean-up, log splitting, stacking, etc. Nothing will go to waste for this old friend.