WELCOME SPRING ~ AND ALL THE BIRDS AND BLOOMING THINGS!

"It is so small a thing to have enjoyed the sun, to have lived light in the spring . . ." ~ Matthew Arnold

Here I am with my mother, Sally and sister, Marilee enjoying lunch in La Conner, Washington after a morning in the tulips fields.

This festival draws folks from all over the Pacific Northwest by the carloads. There is SO much to see and do at the Tulip Festival ~ from the photo ops at Roozengaarde's (see my "Touring the Tulip Fields" painting below) to shopping for goodies in local boutiques to finding the perfect place for a bite to eat before heading home.

How can anyone not be inspired by this season!?!

A NEW SERVICE

I'm now offering personal portraits. Click on my Commission page to see the painting of my granddaughter, Addison Lee, and learn more about it!

20 PAINTINGS (5 NEW!) WITH THREE THEMES:

Click on the images below to see larger views. Beneath each theme are photos and stories for that group. To order prints, cards, magnets, etc. visit my Ordering page. ENJOY!

HAPPY HEARTS DAY (4 Paintings ~ 2 NEW!)

NEW! "Hippity-Hoppin' at the Hill House" ~ (SNOHOMISH, WASHINGTON • FEBRUARY 2009 • ACRYLIC ON CANVAS • 8x10-INCH)

You can find this pretty, single-story cottage on Avenue A in the historic district of Snohomish, Washington.

When I painted it, it was the prettiest shade of buttery yellow, the perfect color for welcoming in spring ~ thus the proliferation of tulips and hyacinths.

Dressed in our best Easter frocks and feeding carrots to the half dozen rabbits who are peppered throughout the scene, are my nieces, Isabell Simpson, Brooklynn Barton, and me.

See two more Snohomish paintings below in the "Birds, Blossoms & Blooms" grouping.

To learn more about this remarkable quaint and charming community, visit www.ci.snohomish.wa.us.

"The Liepins' Easter Garden" (ISSAQUAH, WASHINGTON • APRIL 1999 • ACRYLIC ON CANVAS • 8X10-INCH)

The lovely gardens surrounding this charming, whimsical gazebo are the pride and joy of my friends, Zeke and Jessica Liepins.

Every year this couple hosted an all-day Easter event that rivaled most families’ Christmas celebrations ~ complete with a traditional Easter egg hunt for the little ones, an enormous buffet, and other fun festivities taking place throughout their expansive property in Issaquah, Washington.

The view of this pretty scene is through the grape leaves of their nearby arbor.

"Ninth Avenue ~ Springtime Celebration" ~ (THE SOUTH HILL, SPOKANE, WASHINGTON • MARCH 2003 • ACRYLIC ON CANVAS • 8x10-INCH)

Eastertime in Spokane!

This artwork pictures my family celebrating this favorite holiday when I was very young. All of us Simpson children are dressed head-to-toe in new Easter outfits made by my mother, Sally.

Just home from church, we're all focused on finding our Easter baskets and, of course, chocolate bunnies. Lent is finally over . . . bring on the sugar!

The home featured here is one of four “sister” houses (very similar homes next to each other on 9th Avenue) constructed in the early 1900s for the Comstock-Shadle families, located on the lower part of Spokane's South Hill..

"Springtime Comes to Simpson Street (Detail)" ~ (THE SOUTH HILL, SPOKANE, WASINGTON • MARCH 2007 • ACRYLIC ON CANVAS • 16x20-INCH)

This is a detail of a large 16x20-inch painting on my Commission page. Click there to see it.

It’s Easter time for my sisters Marilee and Peggy and my baby brother John. My cousin Jim is pictured on the front porch with candy-laden Easter baskets in his hands, while all of us Simpsons are lined up on the sidewalk in front.

Easter was a big holiday for our family ~ an excuse for us to get dolled up in our Easter finery. There were new bonnets and patent leather shoes for us girls, and a suit for my brother. Mother sewed matching robin-egg-blue jumpers for us and we wore these with rosebud-print puffed sleeve blouses. We felt like little fairy princesses.

You'll see Boots, my mother's favorite kitty, and our beagles Jigs and Jigger in the scene as well, as they were part of the family.

I've painted this home five times now, and needless to say, it was my favorite growing up! We spent nearly ten years here.

BIRDS, BLOSSOMS & BLOOMS (12 Paintings ~ 2 NEW!)

"Touring the Tulip Fields" ~ (MOUNT VERNON, WASHINGTON • APRIL 2002 • ACRYLIC ON CANVAS • 8x10-INCH)

This artwork portrays the whimsical windmill at Mount Vernon’s famed Roozengaarde tulip fields. Click on the image above to see the entire painting.

At the entrance to this farm, visitors find a walking garden featuring every color, size and shape of tulip. The windmill is located near the entrance to the gift shop where guests can purchse all the tulips they want ~ and other gifts honoringthe annual festival.

An enormous favorite with visitors and camera buffs, this “picture perfect” setting features my mother Sally, chum Robin and me with our arms full of the fresh and fragrant blooms.

The Washington Bult Co. at Roozengaarde Farm is known all over the world, and ships bulbs of all varieties (tulips are their specialty) everywhere. We have lots in our own gardens!

This image was used courtesy of the Washington Bulb Co. Inc., Roozengaarde.)

Visit them on the web at www.tulips.com.

"Blue Birdhouse B&B" ~ (SNOHOMISH, WASHINGTON • MAY 2003 • ACRYLIC ON CANVAS • 8x10-INCH)

Snohomish, Washington is home for dozens of pretty Victorians like the one featured in this painting.

This pretty lovely three-story house, located at 430 Avenue B, was eye-catching with its expansive wrap-around porch and charming gingerbread-style detailing.

While walking the Tour of Historic Homes a few years ago, even though it was not part of the tour, I was so attracted to the character and grace of this beautiful old place that I was compelled to paint it.

“Blue Birdhouse B&B” is a fictitious name I created for this artwork.

NEW! "Fresh Flowers at the Wershing House" ~ (SNOHOMISH, WASHINGTON • APRIL 2009 • ACRYLIC ON CANVAS • 8x10-INCH)

426 Union Street is the address of this simple, but very charming Dutch Colonial home.

The clapboard and shingle Wershing House is one of a very few barn roof-style residences that I found in Snohomish. It’s a particular favorite architectural style of mine as I grew up in this style of home in Spokane, Washington.

The theme here is the fresh new season of “spring.” I’ve painted dozens of tulips and daffodils in the surrounding gardens and pots that line the front walkway of this pretty house. My sisters and I are the happy gardeners.

For more information about this charming community, visit www.ci.snohomish.wa.us.

NEW! "Browne's Addition Beauty (Page Ufford House)" ~ (SPOKANE, WASHINGTON • FEBRUARY 2010 • ACRYLIC ON CANVAS • 8x10-INCH)

Built in 1896 of shingle and basaltic rock, this three-story Queen Anne sits on Browne’s Addition’s west bluff overlooking Latah Creek. Alba J. Page and his wife Flora lived here first, succeeded a short while later by William and Ethel Ufford ~ thus the name.

When I painted the Victorian, it had recently been purchased and carefully restored by Katherine Fritchie, who transformed it from a down-on-its-heels apartment house to the classic single family residence painted here. The process was fraught with unique challenges at every turn, but Kathy persevered. After years of neglect, the house shines with its original integrity, and was approved for the Spokane Register of Historic Places.

It’s spring, and I’ve pictured my nieces and me with a huge pot of blue hyacinths for Kathy and her pal, Fachi.

"Roosting Robins at the Roberts' House" ~ (SPOKANE, WASHINGTON • FEBRUARY 2008 • ACRYLIC ON CANVAS • 8x10-INCH)

In the early 1950s, my family lived next door to the Bill and Marguerite Roberts’ family who owned this pretty, white Dutch Colonial home.

Marguerite is pictured on the front porch enjoying a cup of morning coffee with her sister-in-law, Jean McCarthy and my mother, Sally Simpson.

We kids have set up a “Birdseed” stand to welcome the robins back in springtime. Molly, Tracy and Mac Roberts are hauling bags of birdseed. Sally and Maggie McCarthy (Maggie was my best friend in grade school) are happily manning the booth, and my sister Marilee and I are putting up the “Welcome Robins” flag.

This two-story is still one of the loveliest residences on Spokane’s Lincoln Street.

"My Grandmother's Garden" ~ (SPOKANE, WASHINGTON • MARCH 2005 • ACRYLIC ON CANVAS • 8x10-INCH)

My father’s mother, Jessie Simpson, loved to garden. Although she passed away when I was only six-years-old, I remember clearly the beautiful grounds surrounding my grandparent’s home.

Built on a double lot not far from Rockwood Boulevard on the lower portion of Spokane’s South Hill, half of the property housed this beautiful “Arts & Crafts” style bungalow, and the other, my grandmother’s huge magnificent gardens. Filled with rockery, foot paths, little tucked away seats, a grape arbor ~ and hundreds of colorful blooms ~ Jessie Simpson’s gardens were a magical place for children.

My sister, Marilee (who has inherited my grandmother’s “green thumb”), my mother, Sally, and I are pictured in the lower right hand corner of this painting, holding our plants and receiving a valuable bit of gardening wisdom from my grandmother.

"Springtime Comes to Simpson Street (Detail)" ~ (SPOKANE, WASHINGTON • MARCH 2007 • ACRYLIC ON CANVAS • 16x20-INCH)

With our eye on retirement, my husband and I purchased the old 1937 Father Buckley residence on 18th Avenue.

This detail of a large 16x20-inch painting with five homes on it that I've lived in and loved. It's featured on my Commission page, so click there to see it.

It shows some of the upgrades that we are working on to upgrade our this place before we move in ~ brick borders, shutters, new paint and landscaping.

This piece has a fun gardening theme. My mother Sally is lending a hand with the bedding plants, while my husband Doug "plants" a kiss on me!

"The Davenport Fountain at Duncan Garden" ~ (MANITO PARK, SPOKANE, WASHINGTON • MAY 1997 • ACRYLIC ON CANVAS • 8x10-INCH)

The Davenport Fountain was donated in 1956 by his family in the memory of Louis M. Davenport ~ longtime owner of the downtown Spokane landmark hotel that bears his name.

Located in the center of John W. Duncan Garden (named for the Manito Park superintendent), it is the “star” of the formal European Renaissance-style gardens that surround it.

This beloved setting has hosted dozens of weddings throughout the years ~ almost every weekend in the summer.

The fountain is filled with pennies tossed by “wishing” natives and visitors alike who are drawn to the colorful destination every summer.

To learn more about beautiful Manito Park and this remarkable formal garden, visit them at www.thefriendsofmanito.org.

"Flying Kites a Lopez Island" ~ (THE SAN JUANS, WASHINGTON • NOVEMBER 1994 • ACRYLIC ON CANVAS • 8x10-INCH)

This pristine grey frame building, Lopez Island’s Edenwild Inn, overlooks the harbor and offers lovely accommodations and wonderful cuisine in its gourmet restaurant.

A favorite with visitors to this jewel in the San Juan Islands, this inn was once owned by popular actor, Tom Skerritt whose screen credit include ”Top Gun,” “Steel Magnolias” and “A River Runs Through It” to name a few.

Now painted a sunnyyellow, visit the inn's web site at www.edenwildinn.com.

"Morning Walk at Roche" ~ (THE SAN JUANS, WASHINGTON • AUGUST 2000 • ACRYLIC ON CANVAS • 8x10-INCH)

Mornings at Roche Harbor are the perfect time for a quiet walk on the docks, the boardwalk, and especially through the gardens that flourish at this lovely setting.

The retired kiln factory building can be seen in the background of this piece. It’s the current home of the local green grocer and a cafe which serves hearty breakfasts to long lines of both locals and visiting guests at the resort.

For information on this picturesque setting, find them at www.rocheharbor.com.

"Puttering at the Peach House" ~ (PORT TOWNSEND, WASHINGTON • JULY 2006 • ACRYLIC ON CANVAS • 8x10-INCH)

This pretty little two-story peach house is one of my favorites.

This painting is my second effort at painting the home (the first one, “Apple Pickin’ at the Peach House” was completed years ago in 1978).

I’m pictured with my husband, Doug, in the front yard (along with a few bird houses) doing what I enjoy most~ painting!

I took a little bit of poetic license with the seaside background. Although the shore is a short walk from this house, this houseis actually located within a neighborhood of Port Townsend.

To learn more about this destination and their Annaul Tour of Historic Homes, visit them at www.ptguide.com.

"Springtime at the Shumway" ~ (KIRKLAND, WASHINGTON • MARCH 2006 • ACRYLIC ON CANVAS • 8x10-INCH)

This beautiful shingled mansion was built on a seven-acre lot in Kirkland in 1909-1910 by J.G. Bartsch for the Belchertown, Massachusetts Shumway family.

Three Shumway brothers arrived first, homesteading near Bow, Washington, and were followed by Carrie Holland Shumway, her mother and four sisters in the early 1800s. Carrie served very actively on Kirkland's City Council, being Washington's first woman to be elected in 1916 to such a post. Several organizations, such as the Kirkland's Women's Club, the Seattle Bicycle Club and the Seattle Camera Club owe their beginning to this remarkable women and her sisters.

In 1944 at age 86, Carrie sold her home. After several ownerships, in 1982 Richard and Salli Harris of Edmonds bought it and relocated it to a 3.4-acre setting overlooking Juanita Bay. The 24-room mansion was restored and re-opened in 1985 as a popular Bed-and-Breakfast, where it was a beloved setting for weddings and other special events for many years.

PRETTY PUSSYCATS & COZY KITTIES (4 Paintings ~ 1 NEW!)

NEW! "Kittiewinks at the Campbell House" (SPOKANE, WASHINGTON • JANUARY 2010 • ACRYLIC ON CANVAS • 8X10-INCH)

The Amasa and Grace Campbell House, part of the MAC (Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture) complex, overlooks the Spokane River.

Partnering with neighbor, John Finch, Campbell became wealthy enough to commission Kirtland A. Cutter to build this mansion in the late 1890s. I’ve always loved it ~ since my first visit in the ‘50s when it was the Cheney Cowles Museum to its remarkable journey of restoration.

You can glimpse the guest rooms and linens room (with its sewing machine) on the second floor; and the library, reception room and servant’s dining room on the main floor.

Our “kittiewinks” (bothered by some ladybugs) are about to tour the Campbell House with my husband Doug, me, and mother Sally. She introduced me to the mansion and supported my passion for it for over 50 years ~ this art is dedicated to her.

For information on the MAC, visit them at www.northwestmuseum.org.

"Fine Felines at the Finch House" (SPOKANE, WASHINGTON • SEPTEMBER 2005 • ACRYLIC ON CANVAS • 8X10-INCH)

Located west of the MAC (Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture)
in Spokane’s Brownes Addition, this beautiful four-columned mansion is a fine example of neoclassical architecture.

Designed by Kirtland K. Cutter in 1897-98 for John A. Finch and his wife, Charlotte, it is arguably the most imposing house on this street of
grand homes. John Finch was one of young Spokane’s wealthy businessmen, partnering with Amasa Campbell in several successful mining ventures.

In the foreground of this piece, I’m lounging on the lawn with my sisters, Marilee and Peggy, while my mother, Sally, is bringing us a plate of freshly baked cookies. This is a painting for cat lovers as 14 of them are sprinkled throughout the artwork. (Photo of the Finch house is courtesy of Sally Simpson.)

"Kittiewinks Castle" ~ (THE SOUTH HILL, SPOKANE, WASHINGTON • JANUARY 2005 • ACRYLIC ON CANVAS • 8x10-INCH)

It's a celebration for cat lovers! There are TEN kitties in this artwork including my dearly departed K.C., my sisters’ cats, Betty Kitty and Chloe, and our current "kids," Sophie and Andy, pictured in the lower left corner of this piece ~ PLUS five others!

It's a painting filled with love ~ down to the heart-shaped shrubbery in the garden on the front lawn.

Spokane is particularly noted for its picturesque, charming neighborhoods. One of the prettiest is the South Hill, a short ten-minute drive from downtown. This imaginative shingle- and basaltic rock-constructed home, with its unique castellated tower, is located just west of Bernard Street, not far from the city's famous Manito Park.

"Friendly Furry Felines" (IMAGINARY SETTING • AUGUST 2000 • ACRYLIC ON CANVAS • 11X14-INCH)

Kitties galore! My sisters, Marilee, Peggy and I are cat lovers. (If you look carefully in this piece, you’ll see my two sisters and me lounging on the window seat in the background.)

All of our kitties were very independent ~ each with their own special personality. Peggy’s was the calico named Chloe, who spent most of her time exploring out-of-doors. Marilee’s was the white one, Betty Kitty, who yearned to be outside as well, but lived her life as a “condo-cat.” My big black kitty, KC, was perfectly happy being a lazy “hot-house plant.”

Sadly, our three furry feline friends pictured here have all passed away ~ and we miss them! This painting is a tribute to all the happiness they brought to the three of us Simpson girls.

HOW TO ORDER ANY OF THE ARTWORK FEATURED ABOVE ~

If you'd like more information on purchasing prints or cards of any of the paintings featured in this collection (or any of the artwork featured throughout this site), please click on my Ordering page. There's a description of all of the available items ~ plus a convenient, easy-to-use fax order form.

QUESTIONS ABOUT THE ARTWORK?

TELEPHONE: Tel 425.868.9238

EMAIL: artist@pattisimpsonward.com

WEB SITE: www.pattisimpsonward.com