plant watercolor

  • Made my Day

    Moment When Light Equals Dark

    • by

    Spring potted plant painting by Hand-Painted Weddings

    The Spring Equinox was completely off my radar this year (clear by the fact that I’m so late in posting this mini blog post). I got a beautiful little email from a good friend this morning with this article about the Spring Equinox in it.

    A little snippet from the article by Teo Bishop:

    “Here in the Northern Hemisphere we observe the Spring Equinox, the moment when the light of day and the darkness of night are equal. Today, if but for a single moment, there is perfect balance.

    And there is meaning in the balance.

    The Equinox is more than just a scientific fact, an observable reality; it points to the shift that we are making toward a time of new growth and new life.”

    The message has been sitting with me all day. I’m struggling with my own growth. In literal terms this means bone growth. In psychological and spiritual terms this growth is manifesting as patience and faith, both of which I’m struggling with on this Spring Equinox. I’m adjusting to a new contraption around my broken leg which is causing pain, coming to terms with disappointment about how slow this recovery is going to be, along with some hard decisions of canceling trips and classes due to the slowness.

    However, I want to thank the Spring Equinox for giving me hope. Hope for new life, a shift towards light, and most importantly growth.

    Painting by Hand-Painted Weddings.

  • Inspired by

    Inspired by Colorful Leaves

    • by

    Last year around this time I took a watercolor class at one of my favorite places, Terrain at Styers, with my wonderful friend, Matt, the designer behind Wyndetryst Design and Photography. It was one of those influential moments in my life that I couldn’t quite comprehend the impact of until months later.

    During that class, I tapped into my passion for watercolors. While I did grow up loving my fine arts classes, I had sort of lost touch of it. I went to school for Graphic Design and have been fortunate enough to be working in that industry for the past 8 years. But I always felt as though I was missing something with Graphic Design. Now I know it was the loose quality and unexpectedness that comes with painting.

    At the time I took the class at Terrain, I had already been brainstorming starting a business in the wedding industry, but hadn’t quite figured out what I could bring to it, and in what form. It took about 6 months to put the pieces together in my head. Watercolor, weddings with a personal touch, and graphic design (finally) became my vision for Hand-Painted Weddings on a full moon in December. I am so happy it did! I couldn’t be happier doing this work!

    The painting that I did that inspiring day in Terrain was of some potted Begonias (see above). Ever since then I have had a soft spot for colorful leaves. I soon purchased myself a pot of Caladiums (the green and pink leaves) which I also painted. The Caladium plant sits by our bedroom window and is by far the happiest plant I take care of.

    Begonia Wedding Invitation and Caladium Wedding Invitation now available in the Hand-Painted Weddings Invitation shop.