It was a rather gloomy, overcast, day in late November, 2019. A bitter cold wind swept the frozen ground outside, and the family here on the homestead were hunkering down for another long, dark, cold, not to mention boring, winter in Colville, WA. Dad knew we needed something adventurous to get us through the next 5 months of winter blues. That year the answer came from water and paint.
Yes, Dad spearheaded a family journey of learning watercolor painting that day in November with talented and artistically minded Mother by his side. That journey would result in countless afternoons around the dining table as a family – even down to little Grace. Each person had their own individual, complete paint palette and set of brushes. A painting class centered around a tablet with a knowledgeable mentor on YouTube teaching the basics of color theory and the mysteries of blending somehow resulted in a mountain landscape. We all learned so much that year about the movement of water, and color layers. Art taught us to better look around at the marvelous beauty of God’s creation that surrounds us every day, and His wonderful natural layers of color and light that delight the soul.
After some months of afternoons spent in this manner as a family, our artistic ability had grown enough to at least produce cute watercolor cards to be given out to family and friends. I would say card giving was one of the main outlets for our new found enjoyment. Once the winter came to an end, the garden season arrived with Spring in full swing. Our little painting sessions also came to an end. However, individuals would still break out the palette and brushes on their own time for those special occasions that call for a card to give a friend. The family art attempt was laid to rest for a few years, commemorated by a collage with a contribution from everyone hung in the bathroom. But it was a wonderful learning experience and was still looked upon with fond memories as an inspirational winter!
After an exciting winter spent planning the beautiful wedding of the oldest daughter of Rosehaven (now Wildfire Ranch), another gloomy winter was on the horizon, as is known to happen in Colville… yearly. Once again our excellent Dad was looking for another idea to keep the winter blues away, especially for the highly susceptible girls in the house. Once again the answer came through art! But this time it was facilitating and teaching art. Dad, with Mother’s help, devised a plan to host what we called a “Mother Daughter Tea and Paint” twice a month all winter long. Dad had Mother paint a lovely flier which we handed out to all the moms and daughters in our church and home-school circles. After my sister’s wedding the year before and my brother’s startup of his tent and event rental business “Dominion Rental” we had dozens of lovely round tables to set up in the basement. Dad acquired complete watercolor set ups from Walmart (after much scouting and raiding several counties – during Covid, art supplies could be difficult to find). Pint canning jars held the necessary water. Tea was brewed, cookies and other tea treats baked, and us girls sat down with 30 other ladies to chat, sip tea, and paint together. Mom coached alongside the same YouTube videos we first learned on, and our little class painted birds, flowers, clouds, trees, seas, and mountains, we munched cookies and complemented each others work. It was a wonderful winter spent in the company of lovely christian ladies, learning to paint all over again.
Now, Mom still likes to get out the brushes and paint with the kids once in a while as a homeschool activity. The rest of the family has moved on, except of course for the occasional card.
Personally, I love art, and watercolor especially. My own painting journey has continued through the years, (going beyond winters, lol 🙂 ) watching videos, finding paintable pictures online and studying the beauty here on the homestead. Over the last years I’ve worked on my art technique, and color building. I’ve played with different subjects, but most of all I have enjoyed painting my own beagles.
This love of painting has begun to spill out beyond my own dogs and has started to touch others as well! Once again Dad sprung another fantastic idea: use my painting talent to start offering portraits of beagles in our Rosehaven puppy families! This way I can provide art to the wide world of pet lovers looking for ways to treasure the memory of past pups.
I am now offering hand painted, personalized, watercolor Pet Portraits, which you can find on Facebook-Rose Colored Pets and Website at Rose Colored Studios, Instagram page is coming soon!
If you are have bought one of our Rosehaven Beagles and have joined our Puppy Family page on Facebook, I plan on giving away a free Beagle portrait once a month! So please participate in the different drawings and competitions to win your own watercolor beagle keepsake!
Psalms 19:1 – “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.”
Here are links to the different art supplies we found inexpensive and helpful!
Watercolor Brushes
Watercolor Paper
Watercolor pallets
Watercolor paints
YouTube tutorials
Fun Kid watermelon – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OV-XPfPFDA
Color Wheel Practice- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPsIpeVmolA
Beginner painting ideas- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kojEoKgrTY
Boat painting –https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLCxVpPDvus
Silly, Fun Birds- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1H9Tnv2xUI
Brush strokes and flowers- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5k0wIPaHEQ
Mountain Landscape- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfVcG7FQWfI
Rosehaven Homestead 
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