A Christmas Gift, Beautiful Music and Song "Christmas Canon"

Today, I had just pulled into a parking area that was facing snow covered rolling hills, when this beautiful "Christmas Canon" by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra came on the car radio. I just love this beautiful Christmas song... so I turned up the volume. Flooded with joy, my spirit began to soar. I felt transported over the hills, beyond the tree line to green fields under a star-filled sky in another place and time. In an instant, I could imagine being in the fields with the shepherds on that most Holy Christmas night, as the heavenly angels sang and proclaimed Glad Tidings to all. Tears ran down my face as my heart was filled with overwhelming joy.

Glory to God! Merry Christmas!

Collie Sheltie Christmas Star Winter Landscape Hand Painted Christmas Ornament

This is my most favorite ornament for 2009.
A Collie/Sheltie gazing at a Christmas star in a pretty winter landscape with a beautiful sunset sky.
10% of final sale to support Save the Children.
SOLD.

Collie Sheltie Hand Painted Heart Christmas Ornament Art

10% of final sale to support Save the Children
SOLD.

Border Collie Pup Hand Painted Christmas Ornament Art

Border Collie Pup Ornament
SOLD.
10% of final sale to support International Fund for Animal Welfare

Collie Sheltie Hand Painted Heart Christmas Ornament Art

New 2009 Collie Sheltie Christmas Ornament. I hand painted this heart shaped ornament and added a gold cord for hanging. As with all my ornaments, it is signed and dated on the back. A great one of a kind gift for Collie or Sheltie lovers.

10% of final sale to support International Fund For Animal Welfare
SOLD.

Wildlife Winter Rabbit Hand Painted Sled Christmas Ornament

10% of final sale to support Woodlands Wildlife Refuge
SOLD.

Snowy Owl Sled Hand Painted Wildlife Christmas Ornament

10% of final sale will support New Hampshire Audubon.
Sold.

Whimsical Forest Cabin Woodland Cottage Decorative Christmas Birdhouse

I love birdhouses. Sometimes I just can't resist painting an interesting birdhouse. I saw this unfinished birdhouse, and immediately thought of a cabin or cottage in the woods all decorated for Christmas! So, I brought it home, sealed and painted it. I embellished with a some iridescent snow flake sprinkles and fine glitter. It is signed and dated on the bottom and coated with a clear acrylic finish for protection.

Sold.

Starry Night Sailboat Hand Painted Christmas Ornament

Starry Night Sailboat Christmas Ornament

Hand painted, one of a kind, signed and dated on the back.
10% of final sale to support Bluewater Team of Friends of the Earth.
Sold.

Alpine and Saanen Dairy Goats Hand Painted Christmas Ornament One Of A Kind

Saanen Dairy Goat Christmas Ornament
10% of final sale to support New Hampshire Food Bank,
a program of New Hampshire Catholic Charities.
SOLD.



Alpine Goat Christmas Ornament
10% of final sale to support New Hampshire Food Bank
SOLD.

Harp Seal Pup Hand Painted Christmas Ornament

I painted this wooden ornament with a baby Harp Seal in a snowy, starlit background.
50% of the final sale will support International Fund For Animal Welfare, a non profit organization that works to reduce the commercial exploitation of animals, protect wildlife habitat and assist animals in distress. I hope in some small way to help stop the inhumane killing of these innocent babes in the commercial hunt for white coat Harp Seals, especially on the neighboring eastern coast of Canada.
Sold.

New Fox Wildlife Hand Painted Sled Ornament

Raccoon Wildlife Sled Christmas Ornament
10% of the final sale will support Woodlands Wildlife Refuge.
SOLD.

Hand Painted Christmas Ornament Raccoon Wildlife Art Sled

Miniature wooden sled ornament hand painted with a furry raccoon in a winter background with evergreens and snow and a gold cord for hanging. Signed and dated 2009 on the back.
10% of the final sale will support Woodlands Wildlife Refuge.
SOLD.

Chickadee Hand Painted Wildlife Christmas Ornament

This little sled is one of my newest Christmas Ornaments for 2009. I painted each wooden ornament with acrylics, signed and dated the back 2009, coated it with a varnish or acrylic finish for protection, and added a gold cord for hanging. This makes a lovely one of kind Christmas gift or keepsake.
10% of the final sale with support New Hampshire Food Bank, a program of New Hampshire Catholic Charities.
Sold.

"Full Moon Reflection" Lake Trees Original Acrylic Painting

"Full Moon Reflection"
Acrylic
ACEO (2.5"x3.5")
Sold. $26.
My inspiration for this painting: The full moon last week, rose behind my pond. It was so beautiful and amazing how clear the reflection was in the pond! It looked like there were 2 moons.

Original Painting Sunlit Meadow "Summer Tree"

"Summer Tree"
Original ACEO (2.5"x3.5")
Acrylic
Sold. $21.

"Egret On The Beach" Original ACEO Painting

"Egret On The Beach"
Acrylic
ACEO

"October River" Original Acrylic Painting

"October River" Original ACEO
Acrylic
Sold.

Original Painting "Summer Field With Juniper"

Original ACEO (2.5"x3.5")
Acrylic
Golden sunlit fields with tall conical Junipers.
Sold.

Work In Progress "Swift River" New Hampshire

This is a work in progress of a commissioned acrylic on canvas painting that I am currently working on. There will be some birch trees on the right I think, and the water falling over the rocks as well as the rocks still need some work.

Original Painting "Windowsill Geraniums"

ACEO
Acrylic
Sold.

Original Acrylic Painting "Apple Tree Hill"

Original ACEO (2.5" x 3.5")
Acrylic
SOLD. $15.50

Original ACEO Painting "Dancing Trees"

Acrylic
ACEO 2.5" x 3.5"
I saw these trees one morning and loved how the pale yellow light was breaking through the dark blue cloudy sky from behind them. The trees had grown curving rather than straight which made them appear to be dancing and swaying....joyous to see the morning light. :)

Original Painting "Stillness" Stacked Rocks, Water, Pond, Nature

"Stillness"
Original Acrylic Painting
ACEO 2.5" X 3.5"
Sold.

In this painting I have tried to depict the contrasting textures of the grass, the rugged rocks, the smooth water and graceful willow branches; bringing them together to covey the perfect peace, tranquility and stillness of the scene.

Stacked rocks have been cropping up all over the landscape lately. While I was vacationing Bar Harbor, Maine, we saw stacked rocks in gardens, on trails, along property lines, in the mountains and in the towns. When I returned to New Hampshire, I started noticing them here too. We stopped at country art gallery on Mt. Desert Island. They had several along the edge of their parking area. I asked what they signify. I was told they use them as markers on trails to guide hikers. I was also told that they are suppose to ward off evil and bring good luck. I read that stacked rocks represent balance.

Whatever the meaning, I find them intriguing. I especially like the contrast when they are standing in front of water. I think I will paint a larger version of this one too.

"Porch Garden" Hanging Baskets, Flowers, Vines Original Painting

"Porch Garden" SOLD
Acrylic Painting
2.5" x 3.5" ACEO

"Summer Hill" New Hampshire Countryside Meadow Apple Tree Wildflowers Original Painting

"Summer Hill"
Original Acrylic ACEO Painting
SOLD $30.
Prints Available


This is another scene of New Hampshire's beautiful, scenic, countryside. I drove by this just this morning, on Tilton Hill and felt inspired to paint it. Painting an art card is a great way to get my frequent inspirations onto paper right away and get some practice with the subject. I'll do a larger painting later. I think I'll do this more often.

Original ACEO Painting "Mountain Path"

"Mountain Path" SOLD
Acrylic

2.5" x 3.5" ACEO

I painted this little ACEO as a vignette for a larger painting.
A shaded path seems to lead to the mountain. This was the beautiful view of Mt. Chocorua, from where I stayed while I was in Conway, New Hampshire.

Autumn in New Hampshire "Albany Covered Bridge" Original Painting

Albany Covered Bridge
8" x 8" Acrylic Painting
Commission

I now have prints, framed prints, canvas prints, and greeting cards available of this painting, on my website: Sandra Estes Fine Art .

This is the 4th of 5 commissions depicting New Hampshire.

The last 2 commissions are for specific places along the Kancamagus Highway, the covered bridge and the river along the Kanc. I did a bit of research and found that it is the Albany Covered Bridge that is just off the Kancamagus on Dugway Rd., and the Swift River that runs along the Kancamagus. I decided to take a field trip to the Kanc to get a better feel for the subjects and take my own reference photos.

These are my reference photos of the Albany Covered Bridge:





Unfortunately, I went in the late afternoon/early evening so there were long shadows. Another challenge was to change the season from summer to autumn.

The couple who commissioned the paintings are from New Hampshire, but now live happily down South and do not miss our long, cold New Hampshire winters. They have a fondness for white birch trees, which do not grow in the South. So, I used a bit of artistic license and changed the trees to the left of the bridge to birch trees.

New Hampshire's "Old Man Of The Mountain" Original Painting

"Old Man Of The Mountain"
Commission SOLD
8" x 8" Acrylic on canvas

"Secret Garden Papillon" Original ACEO Miniature Painting

2.5" x 3.5" ACEO Acrylic
"Secret Garden Papillon"
SOLD

Original Painting "Goldfinch In The Garden"

2.5" x 3.5" ACEO
Acrylic on matboard
A miniature painting of a bright yellow American Goldfinch perched on a branch in the garden.

"Storybook Garden Pig" Original Acrylic Painting

5"x7" acrylic on canvas
Prints available.

This painting reminds me of the illustrated storybooks of my childhood. A farmyard pig has found a cool shaded garden in front of a wooden fence. A chicken sitting atop the fence seems to be keeping a close eye on the pig.

"Rose Arbor Swing" Pastoral New Hampshire Countryside Original Painting

8"x8" Acrylic on canvas.
Commission. Original in private collection.
Prints available.

Yellow climbing roses covering an arbor swing in a pastoral, scenic New Hampshire setting, with mountains in the distance, birch trees, stone walls and flowers.

This is the 2nd of 5 commissioned paintings depicting New Hampshire. They requested that one painting have yellow roses. We discussed having the yellow roses climbing an arbor, so they sent a photo of their arbor swing. So now the challenge was painting the arbor swing with climbing yellow roses in a New Hampshire setting.


These are the reference photos I used. The 2nd photo is one I took while driving along a scenic road in the NH countryside.

"Lilacs By The Barn" Original Acrylic Painting

8"x8" Acrylic on canvas.
Commission. Original in private collection.
Prints available.

This painting is a typical New Hampshire scene in the spring. A sunlit path, through an old stone wall, leads you by a beautiful, Lilac bush in full bloom, and to an old weathered, cedar-shingled barn with a wooden door and granite slab steps. Wildflowers grace one side of the entrance and an old milk can adds to the welcoming.

This is the first of five commissioned paintings depicting New Hampshire scenes. I am very excited about this commission as it gives me the opportunity to paint something dear to my heart that I've always wanted to paint, but have not managed to get around to! :)

My Inspiration:
Lilacs are the New Hampshire State Flower, and were in full bloom a couple of weeks ago. It seems like every house has at least one lilac bush. There are Lilacs everywhere! While driving on a New Hampshire country road one morning, I spotted a barn similar to this with Lilacs nearby, which was my inspiration for this painting.

"Sailboats At Twilight" Original Pastel Painting

8" x 10"Original Pastel painting on pastel paper

In this calming pleasant water scene, three sailboats glide gracefully on the water. The reflections of the sunlit sails casts a warm yellow glow in the water as the sun is low in the sky. The scene is framed by overhanging branches, the warm path that leads to the shore edged in low growing bushes.

"Sunlit Pond" pastel painting water scene

As I continue to become familiar with my new pastels, I am enjoying the effects that I'm able to create with them. This began as a small "practice" sketch and became a miniature painting. I love the light from the sky, reflecting on the water. I've decided to try doing a larger version of this one.



Original Pastel Painting
2.5" x 3.5" ACEO

In this calm water scene, the light reflects on the water in this miniature pastel painting of a cool blue pond with a small tree island coming into the scene from either side of the painting. The trees are reflected in the water. In the foreground, the weight of the two rocks rising up through the water near the shore anchor the scene and give sense of stability and the feeling that this scene has been there for centuries.

"Sunlit Spring Meadow" Pastel painting

I was in the art store last week and spotted a small set of soft pastels. I decided to give pastels a try. Here's my first pastel painting.


5" x 7" Original pastel painting on pastel paper
A beautiful sunlit meadow with a small pond, young trees and flowering bushes, and purple mountains in the distance In the foreground, a partial stone wall with pink and white flowering azaleas under the shade of overhanging branches on the left and left top corner of the painting help to frame the meadow. Three Mourning Doves fly in from the right to enjoy the meadow.
I'd love your comments on this painting!
If you are interested in purchasing this painting, just email me. I will consider reasonable offers.

"Spring Moon Dragonfly" acrylic painting

Original painting 4" x 6" acrylic
A large dragonfly by a pond on a cool spring evening with a pale yellow moon reflecting on the water and pussy willows and grasses in the foreground.

"Misty Morning Dragonfly" acrylic painting

"Misty Morning Dragonfly"
4" x 6" acrylic painting on 140# watercolor paper.

This is my personal favorite my 3 recent dragonfly paintings. A large dragonfly with delicate gossamer wings against the background of a misty morning pond. The bright sun breaks through the mist and reflects on the water. A lovely bough of greenery with delicate white and purple flowers across the bottom and left side of the painting frames the subject. You can almost feel the coolness of the morning yet know the sun promises a warm day ahead.

This painting is available for sale.

"Summer Path Dragonfly" acrylic painting

"Summer Path Dragonfly"
4 x 6 acrylic on 140# watercolor paper.

This painting depicts a large delicate dragonfly against a glowing sun on warm summer day, with a sunlit path through lush greenery, and purple mountains in the background.

Sold to a collector in Chicago, Illinois USA.