As promised I have been painting up a storm this January. This dragon was inspired by the dragon used for a Welsh soccer team, one that is featured in a favorite TV show, "Welcome to Wrexham." The team was bought by two American actors, who have created a TV series and brought success to this small town team. I looked at fantastical landscape painting to guide my background scene. This is watercolor painted on tan paper.

Ellen Hamilton

We visited a botanical garden full of wonders! I started this in the hotel room and finished it up at home.

Scene from my window during the big snow of January, 2026. Using the white of the paper for the snowy bits. I did a light wash over the background so the tree would stand out.

Painting from the Van in Winter

How do you do plein-air (outdoor) painting in Winter? You take your van out for a spin, and you paint from the van! That is what I did in early January when we had a warm day.

I have been reading a watercolor book that I got at a Del Ray Artisans event. The author, Kathy Johnson writes about plein-air painting. She mentions using a van as shelter in the outdoors - which seemed like a great idea! The result is two versions of this bucolic scene along the Potomac River. A couple walked right into my scene, happily for me. The second version is with colored pencil along with watercolor - to capture the chaos of branches. The challenge with painting in nature is to interpret the endless detail - to make it comprehensible to the eye.

I have a fun new cookbook section in my traveling van bookstore. It is an eclectic collection of new and used, from cakes to Annapolis seafood to Europe. The Hebridean Cookbook is new with recipes from the isles of Scotland, and is signed. The France cookbook is a Time Life book. They used to be headquartered in Alexandria. It's a gorgeous book, and has some great fish dishes, and great photos of France. The Captain's Table is one of the little Salmon books which I love, but are no longer published.

My regular Book section has also grown with new books on art, tech and more.

During this cold season I have been working on the collections for my return to outdoor markets soon.

New Painted Cards

How opaque is gouache, really? Testing it out here, with a slightly hidden birthday greeting in the design.

Being a fan of trains, and a customer request, I painted this steam train in watercolor.

I was loving these colors together, burnt sienna, brown and gray. So I did a playful calligraphy card with it.