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...

Having taken up gardening as a bit of a hobby, I've become quite conscious of those elements of nature that cause trouble: weather, animals, and bugs. "Exposed" 16.5 x 20.5 inches Mixed media on paper Click here to view more details With moths, I'm still not sure which ones are harmless and which ones are going to cause me headaches.  The moth in the painting above arrived on a sunny afternoon, and sat perched against the outside of the house, periodically flexing its wings.  I took plenty of close-up pictures, fascinated by the textures and markings on the wings and body. I knew I wanted to paint this creature in a work using sand, so I felt confident enough to use a palette knife to slap down some paint with decorative sand mixed into it.  Of course, that confidence disappeared over the next few weeks, as I realized I had forgotten how difficult it can be to use sand as a texture in a painting.  I grew to dislike "the moth."  My son also seemed t...

After a busy couple of weeks, I'd only worked on a few small pieces-- as usually happens if I haven't painted in a few days, I got the painting bug last night and set up my acrylics. "Fire Flower" 14 x 18 inch acrylic on flat canvas Available on  Vango or email nicolehilsabeck@yahoo.com if interested in purchasing I don't often break out the acrylics and brushes-- usually I paint with acrylic and a knife to create texture for a mixed media pastel painting.  I was lucky enough to get a full painting session in last night, so all I had to do this morning was wake up and add a few finishing touches and sign it. I've painted this flower before with oil pastels and chalk, but I never felt that I captured the vigor of the flower in that painting, so I decided to revisit it with acrylic.  I spent quite a bit of time working the background of the piece, hoping to strike the right balance of color and contrast with the flower.  The colors were created with a...