NIGHT DREAM SERIES ~ HEART'S DESIRE ~ A WOOD OF MY OWN

There is nothing wrong with dreaming a wish your heart makes. 

My heart's desire ~ own a woodland.

Heart's Desire ~ A Wood of My Own ~ Anna 2024

Inspired by the book I was reading, 'The Hidden Life of Trees', and my dreamscape, I wanted to paint another woodland. 

I began the painting with tall trees and a path. A hidden spring rushed from behind the tall branchless trees down to a velvet green meadow where violets secretly were beginning to bloom in early March. Hearts followed me with every brush stroke, popping up in the most unexpected places. Even when I took my blood sugar this morning, one flowed out of my finger in a heart. And the angel #4, well, that too magically appeared only I extended the cross line.

Illuminated by a starry night sky, the woods show their secret hearts in Spring.

LOVELY ARE THE WOODS IN SPRING ~ THE HIDEOUT

 LOVELY ARE THE WOODS IN SPRING ~ THE HIDEOUT
One month is past, another is begun,
Since merry bells rang out the dying year,
And buds of rarest green began to peer,
As if impatient for a warmer sun;
And though the distant hills are bleak and dun,
The virgin snowdrop, like a lambent fire,
Pierces the cold earth with it's green-streaked spire
And in dark woods, the wandering little one
May find a primrose. Hartley Coleridge
I believe I'm done. 

 

 

 

 

Vintage Wood

“If you have never had a garden you cannot understand, and if you have had a garden you will know that it would take a whole book to describe all that came to pass there.” 
We saw a deer yesterday; I think she brought us good luck
Poor thing couldn't find a way out of the maze. I sure hope she found a way to her home.

I miss the trees, the birds, and the wildlife. 

WIP 20 X 14 OVAL

“Perhaps it is the key to the garden!” 

― Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden

MY HAUNTED HEART

Becoming old isn't all bad. There are perks like spending your retirement years searching the beyond and wondering about your next life. 👀Will we have a home like here on earth with a willow tree and a pond? A pet or two, maybe a cat and a dog or more? Will the afterlife be the heaven God promised us? One day will have the answers.

BAT @batandmaggie

MAGGIE @batandmaggie

When I was very young, I was unaware of death. And when I did discover the sad truth about life ending one day, that we didn't live forever, the afterlife started haunting my heart. Since then, I've fallen in love with ghosts and cats, the living ones. Of course, books about ghosts/ cats are a favorite. Why not write one of our own? So, here is the next installment of our Ghost Book illustrations. 

Bat, Maggie, and their ghost are in their Victorian cottage hidden in the secret woods no one knows.


"Maybe, we do go home, finally " - Anne Rice


"Believe nothing you hear and half of what you see."

As I mentioned before, these paintings are almost complete. If I feel something I've missed in the process, I will return to it and add in hopefully, removing nothing else from the illustration. Editing not only the writing but the illustrations as well. Some may never make it into the book.




A mother/daughter Ghostly Adventure, writing together for the first time about their favorite subject, the supernatural.

♥️ Annabelle & M ♥️ 

© 2023

The Road So Far iWIP

The Road So Far ... WIP oil painting ... still some details to add.

Remember I did say it takes me forever to do a painting but In the end I have to be happy with it. 

This painting has been a long time coming. My aunt who lives in Little Rock loves wolves and asked me to paint her one like 2 years ago ; the wolf happens to be her spirit animal. Anyway, I finally tackled the project. Never painted a wolf but so far I like him. I didn’t like the witch in the cloak so I removed it and gave her a dress. Still need to work on her hands ( a first again for painting hands) and shade her dress , face and shading the baby wolf and papa wolf. Hope you like the painting so far, Pat. Oh, and yes , Supernatural has inspired me in many ways as well as my daughter’s stories she is writing for Supernatural Fan Fiction. So proud of her. My writer in residence🎃♥️@BATANDMAGGIE

Watching the last season with my daughter and husband. Amazing show🧡🎃🧡🎃

LILIES OF THE VALLEY

When at the end of spring I pick for the last time
My favourite flowers— a yearning fills my breast,
And to the future I urgently appeal:
Let me but once again look upon the lilies of the valley.
Now they have faded. Like an arrow the summer has flown by,
The days have grown shorter. The feathered choir is still,
The sun more charily grants us its warmth and light,
And already the wood has laid its leafy carpet.
Then when harsh winter comes
And the forests don their snowy cover,
Despondently I roam and wait with new yearning
For the skies to shine with the sun of spring.
I find no pleasure in books, or conversation,
Or swift-rushing sledges, or the ball's noisy glitter,
Or Patti, or the theatre, or delicate cuisine,
Or the quiet crackling of smouldering logs on the fire
I wait for spring. And now the enchantress appears,
The wood has cast off its shroud
And prepares for us shade,
And the rivers start to flow, and the grove is filled with sound,
And at last the long-looked-for day is here!
Quick to the woods!—I race along the familiar path.
Can my dreams have come true, my longings be fulfilled?—
There he is! Bending to the earth, with trembling hand
I pluck the wondrous gift of the enchantress Spring.
O lily of the valley, why do you so please the eye?
Other flowers there are more sumptuous and grand,
With brighter colours and livelier patterns,
Yet they have not your mysterious fascination.
Where lies the secret of your charms? What do you prophesy to the soul?
With what do you attract me, with what gladden my heart?
Is it that you revive the ghost of former pleasures,
Or is it future bliss that you promise us?
I know not. But your balmy fragrance,
Like flowing wine, warms and intoxicates me,
Like music, it takes my breath away,
And like a flame of love, it suffuses my burning cheeks.
And I am happy while you bloom, modest lily of the valley,
The tedium of winter days has passed without a trace,
And oppressive thoughts are gone, and in my heart in languid comfort
Welcomes, with you, forgetfulness of trouble and woe.
Yet now you fade. Again in monotonous succession
The days will begin to flow slowly, and stronger than before
Will I be tormented by importunate yearning,
By the agonizing dream of the happiness of days in May.

And then someday spring again will call
And raise the living world out of its fetters.
But the hour will strike. I shall be no more among the living,
I shall meet, like everyone, my fated turn.
And then what?—Where, at the winged hour of death,
Will my soul, heeding its command, soundlessly soar?
No answer! Be silent, my restless mind,
You cannot guess what eternity holds for us.
But like all of nature, drawn by our thirst to live,
We call to you and wait, beautiful Spring!
The joys of earth are so near to us, so familiar—
The yawning maw of the grave so dark! ~ PYOTR LLYICH TCHAIKOVSKY

Spring is late this year but on a good note, it gave me a chance to pick my favorite flower...LILIES OF THE VALLEY and I was ☘️ to find this painting "Lady of Shallott" by Waterhouse.

“What I like about photographs is that they capture a moment that's gone forever, impossible to reproduce.” ~ Karl Lagerfeld

These are the memories we will never let go. It seems like it was just yesterday we were treasure hunting with Grace. We discovered Geocaching and M and I went on some wonderful outdoor adventures around our region like Merrickville and Kemptville searching for the secretly hidden geocaches. Grace helped us find them all. Although there are mixed views on the game and I understand the dangers associated with it, we still love playing the game. The clues, the puzzles, the mystery and stories, the thrill of the adventure of finding the cache in the most unexpected secret location are all part of the fun of geocaching and besides that its a wonderful excuse to take a walk in nature, breathe in the fresh air and bring your dog out for a walk, sadly we will miss having Grace on our next hunts.

“Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal***From an Irish Headstone” Richard Puz

Merry Christmas 🎄

Wishing All A Very Merry Christmas 🎄Happiness, Health, Love and Peace


"There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humour." 

~ Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol 

Anna and Family