New Painting: Festive Wishes-Christmas Floral Art

My"Festive Wishes" Christmas floral
painting

Hello there

Just popping in to show you "Festive Wishes", a gently Christmas/seasonal/winter/holiday/ whatever-you-call-it-in your part of the world, painting that celebrates Winter Anemones (the flowers are also known as "Christmas Roses").

Seasonal but natural, I have to confess that I'm a bit in love with this one, and hope you will be too.

Update on Nov 12th: If this grabs you too, it's now available as part of a download here.

In any event, hope this brings some floral joy to your day, and there'll be more about it (with extra downloads) in my next post.

In any event, thanks so much for being here.

More soon.

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A New Floral Painting (And A Very, Very, New Option)

"Euphorbia River" Painting by Clare Walker
Available at Pixels.Com

Hello there

Hope all's well and happy for you.

Here, as you see, there's a lot that's new here. Firstly, the "Euphorbia River", above.

The story behind it

I have to give huge thanks to my friend and very-talented-photographer-in-her-own-right, Marilyn Doyle, that this painting ever even happened.

She shared tales of a happy afternoon. And I was so transfixed by her photograph:

Photo by Marilyn Doyle, used here
and as a reference with her permission.

that I immediately asked if I could use it as a reference...and found myself with a completed painting in an afternoon, pretty much, (if you come here often, you'll know how rare that is).

So, just enormous thanks to Marilyn for such an inspiring photo, and for the use of your photo here on the blog too. (I would link to her as well, but she doesn't have a website as far as I know).

I mention this all here because I really want Marilyn to get the credit she deserves. And because it's an unusual story behind the "Echinacea Euphorbia River" painting...And because I've already wondered whether these are echinacea (coneflower) or rudbeckia flowers...Or even something else...

Going on their cone shape, and the large prickly seedheads in the middle...I'm sticking with the Echinacea/Coneflowers. But the debate is on, if you want it to be...I'm about to start it on Instagram.

Update on Aug 9th: Have just remembered a great thing about the new shop for your browsing and buying pleasure ;-)...You can *comment* below images. Yay! If you have an idea about what these are, please comment here. Many thanks!

Update on August 10th 2025: Have just discovered that the original flowers may have been Euphorbias.
Really not sure what to do about this yet. Update on September 13th: The title of this painting is now..."Euphorbia River". You live and learn :-).

Hang on a minute. What about this new option thingy?

Ah yes, the new offerings via Pixels.Com/FineArtAmerica. Just in case you're thinking that I may have gone out of my mind to launch this idea on a Friday evening in August at the bottom of a post about something else... Well, yes, I might.

But this isn't false  modesty or anything. It's just the softest possible "launch" (those quotation marks are working particularly hard, there :-) ), so that I can keep everyone whose been such a support in the loop, whilst still being able to correct inevitable mistakes as we discover them.

There will be more on this, I promise. And with that, thanks as ever for reading this far, and for your support...and have a lovely weekend.

More soon.
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A Poppy Thank You, And Changes Afoot...

"Thank You" Poppy Planter Sketch

Hello there

Hope all is well, safe and happy with you. It is here-but have been so busy, that this thank you (originally created as thanks for some lovely birthday gifts)  has been just about the only new design I can share with you.

But it is also meant as a thanks to you, both for being here, and in advance, for your patience.

Basically, the time has come to move to a better platform for newsletters (so that you don't have to be bothered by any pesky adverts for who-knows-what, for one thing. Many apologies if you've already been affected by this. Please know that change is coming).

However, to get this right, it's going  to take some research, adjustments, and thought. So please bear with me whilst I work this one out.

In the meantime, thanks again for being here. Please feel free to share the image above too, if you find it useful, and have people you'd like to thank (especially online, as I've sized it more for that here...). Note, am hoping that the new solution will make such sharing waaay easier :-).

Take care, and more soon-including some summery tales...

P.S. Update on 13th September 2025: A variation of this image (minus the text) is now available as a print and on all sorts of goodies here.

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A New "Digital Gouache" Style and Nature Journal Illustrations

Hello there

First of all, hope all's well with you. Second, thanks so much for hanging in there and waiting whilst the blog has been...sporadic, shall we say? :-)

"Yellow Gorse Flowers"
Nature Journal Page

Now though, I'm feeling (a bit!) happier and less nervous to unveil a new (to me) art style, that just turned up without warning and definitely seems to want to stick around. (AKA, I can't seem to do anything other than this at the moment). It started when I wanted to draw the flowers from a recent trip to Cumbria...And resulted in the gorse nature page above...

And these more dramatic Welsh poppies (also plentiful on the roadside in Cumbria a few weeks ago) that turned into a card for a friend.

"Welsh Poppies on Blue"

What is this style?

I'm not even sure how to describe this style yet. So instead, I'll just tell you how it appears to want to be done. It isn't gouache (ie completely opaque water paint). No, this is digital, using just a fat ink brush in Krita, few layers, and a tiny bit of blending.

As for what to do with this new style, I don't have a clue about that either, (yet). 

But as it does seem to want to stick around, I thought it only right to share what I know, so far.

So, please watch this space as things evolve. And thanks again (soooo much) for your patience.

More soon.

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The Flowers Are Coming...(Work-In-Progress)...

Wild Tulip Sketches: Work-in-Progress

Hello there

How are you doing? Up here in the northern hemisphere at least (for I know I have other readers too-hello, and I see you...and can you send some sun, please?!) it feels as if things have been rather grey and cold for a looong time, as I type this.

But in this post, am doing my best to remind both you and myself that the flowers will be here soon.

The first signs of it are in the flower and leaf buds on some branches...

(OK, I exaggerated their progress somewhat in this Daphne bush sprig, but you get the idea...)

"Sprig of Daphne Flowers"

All of which is to say, spring will be arriving soon (rather like an upcoming collection, of which these are my some of my first, tentative, ideas). 

So far, it's mostly my wanting to evoke that *feeling* of walking around a garden in spring, when all the buds are beginning to burst into life, a gentle breeze is blowing, and the first warm sun begins to kiss your face again...

If that sounds good to you, stay tuned to see what becomes of these flowers, and in the meantime, as ever, thanks so much for being here, and for reading down this far.

More soon.

PS. Update on Feb 27th 2025: If you want to see how the final mini-collection turned out, tap or click to this post...

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A New Month by Month Illustrated Floral Calendar

Click or tap here for details...

**********
Update on Oct 2nd 2024: This calendar didn't go into the shop as it was supposed to in 2023.

 You can read the whole story here,  and/or buy the version updated to start on Jan 1st 2025, here).  (All links in this post have now been updated to point to the 2025 calendar).

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Hello there

Briefly as ever at this time of year, thought you might like a look at something that can take you through, not just the year, but any year you might choose.

My new watercolour floral calendar, features the best loved and most popular of my floral images, And, as it can be made to start in any month of any year, *any* time you're reading this is a great time to grab a copy for yourself, or as a thoughtful gift for a friend.

Click or tap here for details

What I particularly like about this calendar is that you can also personalise it to reflect the important dates in your own country or culture. National holidays can vary so much that this is a *really* welcome feature.

Click or tap here to see more...

And just to say...

If you're reading this around the time it goes out, the first thing to send you is my love and good wishes for any festivities you may be diving into, and for a brighter 2024 for the entire world.

On a practical note, this  will be my last post until well into January 2024. After taking a complete break, (including some art retreats) I'll be renewing and re-building things around here...Something which, if you've been around here in the past few months, you'll probably already know is long overdue :-). 

In the meantime though, thank you so much for having been with me in all of this, and I look forward to saying hello again in a few weeks.

Have fun, and see you soon!

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Guess Where We Found Cornflowers...

"Happy Blue Cornflowers," by Clare Walker

Hello there, and hope all is well for you.

And yes, as you'll most likely have guessed, this post is all ,about how the cornflower illustration above came to be.

The inspiration

They were inspired by these  beauties...

Photo of Cornflowers and Bee by Jim Fernbank

(And though The Computer Man's photo is wonderful as always (thanks Jim!) even this doesn't really do justice to how bright these flowers were (despite having been a little beaten around by the rain)).

So naturally, I set about giving them all that extra vibrancy in art-and-digital-land. After all, one of the reasons I paint and design is to highlight all that is brightest, happiest and best in the world at large, and nature especially.

The really surprising thing...

The really surprising thing though, is where we found both the large and happy clump of cornflowers, and the selection of (equally happy sounding) bumble bees...

 Next to a bucolic cornfield? No.

By a quiet country lane? Great guess, but, no again.

These flowers were right next to our local covered reservoir, intertwined with the very sturdy metal bars that keep people from tampering with said reservoir...As you can see from this photo (thanks again, Jim)...

Photo by Jim Fernbank

Yes, people do usually go up there for a view of the London skyline. But so mesmerised and surprised  was I by the cornflowers instead, that I've generated more art as a result than I can talk about in one blog post.

So the second instalment will be next week (though there is a  downloadable background here, and even a card design if you want to see what became of the illustration at the top of this post right this minute...)

Which just goes to show...

Which goes to show that if you keep an open mind, it really is possible to find inspiration literally anywhere.

And on that note, will leave you to your day, but will be back next week to show you more.

Thanks so much for being here, and for reading down this far.

More soon.

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Roses, Lilies, and Christmas in July...

Hello there

Just popping in quickly, as know that lots of people are busy with all things summer right now.

"Roses and Lilies"

Firstly, thought you'd enjoy this sketch of roses and lilies. It came from some flowers that *felt* like they flew in through magical means.

 Yes, OK, though unexpected, these flowers arrived by a very human-and kind-route outside our door. But still, it felt pretty magical on a wet Saturday afternoon. (Especially as I had just been thinking..."It's a shame my birthday flowers are finishing...and I need something new to paint...," but hadn't shared that thought with *anyone*.).

The original flowers

And just in case you're thinking, "No vase would match flowers like that," here is a photo of the flowers on the day they went into the jug (please excuse the dust-art comes first!):

Photo of roses and lilies in a jug, by Jim Fernbank

(Confession: I'd been waiting *30 years* since buying that vase for some flowers to come along that would match it quite as well as that ;-) ).

Christmas in July

And yes, though the festive red, white and green did catch my eye, though for later in the year. 

Which reminds me, that if you're a crafter, I'm running a Christmas in July sale on all my sheets and kits from July 28th 2023-July 31st 2023 inclusive. Click or tap this link to see it.

And...

But whether you're a crafter already making items for later in the year, or just enjoying all the beauty and flowers of summer (or cool of winter, elsewhere in the world)...Thank you so much, both for being here, and for reading down this far.

Have a lovely weekend, and more soon.

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Lupins in a Cottage Garden

Hello there

Hope you're well and thriving OK (sending thoughts of calm, cool breezes and rain to everyone who might want this in various parts of the world).

Click or tap here for more info...

Keeping things calm, just thought I'd pop in to share these lupins, (available as prints and on various other lovely things in the shop). They're a digital watercolour, painted stroke by stroke (in a *lot* of layers-22, I think...) in the Krita 5 digital painting app/software.

May they bring you happiness, peace, calm, and a joyful sense of summer, whenever and wherever you're reading this.

More soon.

PS. If you're a crafter, click or tap here to see this painting adapted into a printable patterned background.

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A Re-vamp and a Ceanothus

Ceanothus, by Clare Walker (Update 10th June: Now available here).

Hello there

Just popping in quickly to let you know that am revamping parts of the blog at the moment. So if things look odd for a little while, (eg, no logo)  please bear with me. (The end results will, am hoping, be simpler, sleeker and easier for everyone to visit and use).

It also seemed like the perfect time to share this little (digital) watercolour in Krita. It's of the beautiful blue bush belonging to another neighbour. The bush is bright blue, and beloved by butterflies and bees. I *believe* it's a ceanothus, (or California Lilac). But please don't quote me on that...You know my track record on such things...

And with that in mind, will leave you to your weekend. Hope it's a happy one for you

More soon(ish).

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A Cute Teapot, and a Welcome Return...

Hello there, and I hope life's treating you well.

"Teapot and Roses" by Clare Walker

This week, as you can see from these cute flowers coming out of a teapot, am sharing the latest in my  "Flowers and Containers," series. 

In the meantime, by the time this gets to you as a newsletter, there's a strong chance that this particular design will already be for sale as a teapot-shaped card sheet in my Craftsuprint shop, and this will be a live link to that if so. (Update: the link is now live).

A warm welcome back

In any event, it's definitely time to give a warm welcome back to the blog to Marion Kimberley-Scott, who has already been busy making and crafting cards from the sheets featuring previous paintings and designs in this series.

Here's her take on the Lavender Cascade:

Photo by Marion Kimberley-Scott, and used with her permission
Click or tap here to see it on Craftsuprint.Com

And "Wellies and Flowers"...

Photo by Marion Kimberley-Scott, and used with her permission
Click or tap here to see it on Craftsuprint.Com

Not forgetting the  "Purple Planter":

Photo by Marion Kimberley-Scott, and used with her permission
Click or tap here to see it on Craftsuprint.Com

Thank you so very much Marion. I really appreciate both you *and* your awesome crafting skills.

And if you'd like to see more of Marion's work, please click or tap here.

That's all for now from me, but thanks ever so much for reading down this far, and have a lovely weekend.

More soon.

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Pink "Bizzie Lizzie" Craft Sheet and Other Goodies

Hello there

Yes, it's January and even though this *really* means that every day is getting lighter (or that you have *summer* in full swing in the Southern Hemisphere) it can still feel in need of some brightening up.

 And what better way to do that than with cheerful summer flowers?

Grab this craft sheet at Craftsuprint

(By the way, yes, if this design has a familiar feel...you're right. It's a 2023 update/add-on to the "Bizzie-Lizzie Shaped Card available here, now that my pattern design skills are more evolved than they were back then).

What was lovely, and quite unexpected though, was how the pattern turned out to look uplifting and jolly on lots of lovely things over at Redbubble too...

Click here to see these on Redbubble.Com

And even as part of a pink floral wrapping paper pack on Zazzle.

Click or tap here to see this on Zazzle

So there you have it. There can be a profusion of pink flowers, even in January, and hope you enjoyed them.

Take care, and more soon.

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In the Lavender Garden...

Hello there

Hope you've had a lovely week, and are coping with the heat/cold/other weather oddity (delete as applicable) in your particular part of the world. Here in London, it's seriously warm. So, where better to take you, than a lavender garden?

Click or tap here to see the full version of this design

This is a digital watercolour of mine in Krita, and it's based upon a trip we took to see the Fawcett Garden in Vauxhall.

As you can see from these photos, the garden is smaller than the mythical place in my imagination :-) (isn't that always the way?). But it is beautiful, and we got there at just the right time to see and smell, the lavender. (As ever, the Computer Man and I went together. Most of the photos are his, as he's much niftier with a camera than me).

Happy bees abounded...

And there were roses, too...

Photo by JimFernbank

As well as a general feeling of "Cottage Garden-ness"...

Photo by JimFernbank

Which is all the more amazing, when you consider that Vauxhall Park is just a stone's throw from the MI6 building in central London. 

The thing I loved best though, is that the park's lavender (which also featured in rows like these)...

Photo by JimFernbank

is harvested every year, by volunteers, with proceeds from the resulting oil being used to fund the ongoing upkeep of the lavender garden.

You can't beat a situation so full of win-win aspects for everyone, can you?

And on that note, I'll just wish you a happy weekend (or week, depending upon when you're reading this).

And thank you for reading down this far into a long post :-).

More soon.

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A Watercolour Daisy Painting, and Card Design

Click here for more info about this painting

Hello there, and hope you've been having a good week.

I don't know about you, but it's felt like a week for exploring new things (at last-hurrah!).

So I took the time to look into a new watercolour technique, by following this tutorial, by Joanne Boon Thomas.

With grateful and genuine thanks to Joanne (it's a super tutorial), I then proceeded actually to paint something completely different and the watercolour daisies you see above are the result.

Regular readers of BoundingSquirrel will know that I have form in this area: one day I will actually follow the steps outlined in a tutorial, I will, honestly ;-).

Found myself liking that which actually emerged enough to imagine it as a print, though,  and also to turn it into this printable greeting card:

Click here to see/buy the Watercolour Daisy
quick card printable sheet

Could proper, pre-2020 levels of mojo be returning? Are you feeling this too, in your neck of the woods?

We shall see, but at least there's something pretty for me to post and you to look at this fine Friday.

Hope you have a lovely weekend, and more soon.

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Digi-Watercolour Art Journaling "Let Little Things Spark Joy"

You are welcome to share this, "as is," including the watermark.

Hello there. Hope you're doing OK in the still-strange times in which we seem to be living.

I've always been focused on "happy art," and to that end, have been darting about enjoying spring this week, and doing my best to record happy thoughts (like the one above) in a digi watercolour art journaling style.

Focusing on the budding flowers, bees, spring sunshine and a thousand other details has been a good plan this week. So that was the thought I recorded here, and hope helps someone else too.

This is a hand-drawn (stroke by stroke) digital watercolour of little white jasmine flowers, in Krita 5, with digi hand-lettering, also in Krita.

Let Little Things Spark Joy Pin/Badge

If you fancy this in your life, it's available on prints and postcards too, in my Redbubble shop. But for now, I'll leave you with it (and its "Happy Birthday," printable cousin in my Craftsuprint shop) 

and wish you a happy weekend.

More soon.


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A February Snowdrops Illustration Download...

 Hello there, and hope that you are thriving. It's almost the end of the month, so time to unveil the new February illustration...

Tap, click or right-click to download and save this 
"February Snowdrops," illustration.

Update on Jan 31st: After some howls of protest at my gentle attempt to sell this, I've decided that this, like previous monthly illustrations, should also be a freebie. (And yes, where a purchase has been made already, I've refunded it, though with many thanks).

Instead,  this illustration now makes beautiful greeting card, sticker, postcard,  and journal, over at Redbubble.

February Snowdrops art greeting card by Clare Walker 
at Redbubble.

Have a lovely weekend, and more soon.

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Free Winter Snowberries Illustration for the In-Between Time...

Hello there

Hope you're doing well, even if we have now gone into that strange time that isn't quite Christmas, and not quite New Year.

Which, by the way, gave me me the idea for illustrating and popping up these snowberries. The Computer Man looked over my shoulder as I was picking out an image for this post, and agreed that it was "wintery, but not Christmassy". So it should be perfect if you need it, to drop a hello or thank you to someone, online or off. Just click, right-click or tap to download it, and feel free to use it in any of the many ways you can under my angel policy.

Thanks so much for being here this year. More soon.

Update and PS: These snowberries are now available to buy as a printable card front at CraftsuPrint. Click here for details.

Free "Floral Joy" Flowery Printable Background Paper and More...

Hello there! Hope you're thriving. Spring has sprung (at least temporarily :-) here in the UK, and sharing this background (which started off as a doodle, then just grew...) feels like a great way to celebrate.

As ever, just right-click and save, or click and save, or tap and save, depending on your device, and it's yours to use pretty much as you like (see my angel policy for full details).

Attribution's always lovely, but never required, and if you do you use it, I always love to see what happens to my stuff "out in the wild" if you're up for that.

More than a background

If you're looking for even more though, this background has a card and insert to match over at Craftsuprint, and also looks rather yummy on some lovely things over at Redbubble. 

The choice is yours and Happy Spring(/Autumn in the southern hemisphere!) wherever you are.

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Free Periwinkle Printable Background Paper And More...

Hello there, and hope you're thriving. Something suspiciously like spring sunshine appeared here this week. Not only has it brought out periwinkle flowers in the park, but also in my artwork.

This is a full A4 sheet that you can print as a backing paper if you want to. (My angel policy is here). Just right-click, click or tap (according to your device) and save, to use it.

If you like the flowers, but fancy this cheery but soothing pattern on something else in your home or life, my Redbubble shop has you covered.

It's fabulous on everything from a laptop skin to a shower curtain, and even as a more detailed piece of art for your walls.

The full selection of items is here in the shop, if you want to have a browse and see what you might like.

Other than that-have a lovely weekend, and more soon.

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Pelargoniums (A Wet-Into-Wet Experiment for Day 22)

 

These pelargoniums are a mile stone for me. Have never "let go" and intentionally done "wet into wet ," watecolour happen after the penwork is done.

 (Translation if you're not arty: I've always been very controlled, painting on dry paper, and have only today intentionally changed that, just wetting areas of the paper, adding spots of colour, and letting them flow where they will).

At the moment it's "work in progress" because am not sure whether it'll end up as a pattern, a card, or something else. 

Let's see where this goes...

More tomorrow.

PS. Unusually, this developed into a pattern pretty quickly. Will let you know if/when it finds its way onto items etc.