Art by Niki Hilsabeck

Now that I've gotten a little better handle on gardening (or at least not killing my plants), I find myself doing "plant checks" throughout the day.  I check first to see what's been munched on by the gophers, squirrels, bunnies, hornworms, or whatever else helps itself to my plants.  I also check to see what needs to be deadheaded, what's sprouted, and what needs water.  Sometimes I just like to pull up a gardening mat to sit on and observe the plants.  This is especially fun when new things are sprouting-- if we're not in the middle of a heatwave or a cold snap (rare here in Fallbrook), I usually have new seeds going somewhere. This morning was wet and foggy, so I also got to go out early and look for unique spiderwebs.  I haven't tried painting one yet, but having grown up a fan of Charlotte's Web , I take pictures of the more intricate ones.  The kids and I also do a "wellness check" on our current crop of entertaining bugs and reptiles...

Been working on a night scene for a while... "Luminous Night" 12 x 16 pastel on paper Click here to view on my website "Luminous Night" is a painting of a night view of the Grand Tradition in Fallbrook, California.  The popular event destination features stunning grounds, complete with a small lake.  The gazebo is a popular spot for dancing, especially at the annual Fourth of July celebration. I painted the piece above using wet pastel sticks on Canson Canva-Paper, layered with dry pastel for a textured, impressionistic effect.  I've often been inspired by Van Gogh's night Cafe scenes, and enjoyed creating the reflected light using abstract shapes and contrasting lights and shadows brightened with color.  I've learned that although light and shadow are important in painting a night scene, it's the color that really brings it to life in a pastel painting. I've also been busy filling my website and Etsy shop with smaller pastel painting...

What is "birdwalking?"  My understanding of the word is that it means to stray off topic.  As you can imagine, creative people are often drawn to all types of activities and forms of expression.  This is not great for marketing, I suppose, but as one of my favorite former art teachers would say, "So What?" I did a couple of collage pieces back when I was recovering from a few months of morning sickness, and knew I had found a fun way to create art that appealed to my sometimes child-inspired view of life.  After having another baby, there's been precious little time to do much of anything artistic, and for a while I was struggling with the frustration of never being able to really focus on my paintings for more than a few minutes at a time. With these pieces, I could pick them up and put them down as time allowed, and even do a little work with a baby in the wrap and a preschooler yapping in my ear.  The following three were inspired by the children's s...

"Herbst" 9 x 12 Chalk Pastel on Paper Click here to view large or purchase original "Herbst" is the German word for fall.  It seemed to fit this picture better than the English word for some reason. The bird is a bit large for a dove, but it was a dove that inspired this painting.  I took a quick photo of this bird relaxing in my driveway as the sun was heading for the horizon a few weeks ago, on a rare day where it had cooled off somewhat. Fall is usually my favorite season. The days have been so hot these last two months, it's been difficult to remember that summer's been over for a while.  The best part of the day for me this year is when the brutal sun sets, and the air takes on a mild chill.  We have a variety of birds who visit our property and seem to enjoy the evening cooling as well. It was nice to sit down and make a spontaneous painting that didn't turn into hours of hesitating and overthinking e...