As coordinator, I was asked recently to include the work of Don Ivan Punchatz in the themed "Spooky Art Show",  a  Maine Illustrator's Collective art show featuring "scary art" by the members. I only vaguely remembered his work until I looked him up, and then it hit me!... Don was one of the really interesting fantasy painters that I admired in the 70's-80's. His paintings are incredible and you

Wonder Woman vs Robot Bugs © 2009 Judith Hunt Got done with the Wonder Woman IV contribution art and shipped it lickety split to Andy Mangels... then blasted off to mofga's Common Ground Fair in Unity last Friday. The CC Fair is important as it is a good way to exchange information... meet other organic growers and alternative energy companies and builders. Johnny's Seed's display  in photo

The pesky heron has been returning almost every morning very early. I heard him land on the greenhouse this morning with a whack and crackle of plastic. He then scouted all around ....flew  to the pathway and sauntered over to the ornamental  pond to partake of some fishy treats. Apparently, blue herons are so large they are fairly unafraid of humans and so let me get pretty close before he

....showed up on my doorstep...the first of many frightful paintings for the MEIC Spooky Art Show.As show coordinator I must confess to being thrilled with both the art and the enthusiasm for the show! Poe's Raven © Leticia Plate                                                                            Bigfoot © Mike Gorman Coleman's Bigfoot! The True Story of Apes in America Bats © Wade

Honeybees love the farm's cutflower gardens especially at the end of the season when the sunflowers and asters bloom. I do not know where they come from....possibly a wild hive as we are bordered by old woods with plentiful old hollowed out trees. The nearest beekeeper is a mile or so away across the river. Seems a long way to fly to get pollen and nectar but then I am not a bee. To get really

Early this morning when walking the beach with the farmpug, Bean,  I spied an incredibly tiny reddish brown shrew. Upturned nose, longish tail scurrying out in the open on the sand. The dog, of course, wanted to play footsie with it. But the poor creature, being quite small, unusually cute, and an insect eating rodent, I thought it would be unfortunate to let Bean tromp it to death. Eventually

I never realized how complex the decoration on the White House was until I had to do the reference for a book on it.Just the ornate door alone will take me quite sometime to paint.  rough sketch of White House door and Roosevelt I also got to find  how it was built. The masons and stone workers were Scotsmen (probably one of my ancestors in the lot). The granite was quarried from the State of

Early this morning when I went down to the pond to feed the insatiable goldfish (all 69 of them)..                      I  found the critters all riled up and some missing.  I was smart enough to look up in the trees and 'lo there was one of our annual visitors,  a sneaky Great Blue Heron, who had been partaking of the farm's fishy pond snacks before flying south for the winter. I regret he

Hummingbirds seem to abound this time of year along with bees, butterflies, and goldfinches all partaking of the gardens before they must migrate or hunker down for the winter. This little guy decided to check inside front enclosed porch just in case he'd missed a flower or two. Goldfinches and rosy breasted finches love the cut flower gardens as the farm has plenty of sunflowers, cosmos, and

 Beech Woman © 2009 Veritas Press Judith Hunt I am crediting my art director, Ned Bustard at World's End Images  for ginving me the opportunity to create this tree woman. Thank you Ned!  It was an interesting assignment.

A few months ago I had a drunk driver careen through my farmhouse's gardens in the wee hours leaving a messy mess of smashed up ornamental trees and shredded plants in it's wake (see earlier post-Could be Worse). The farm's spectacular cottage garden borders have been written about in the Maine Sunday Telegram (Portland Press Herald) and border a small town bypass road with a very tight hairpin

A quick layout reference for feeling and color values for a painting for a Memorial Day bookIt seems with every project I must have a feeling for the work...a passion for creating something unique or true.Researching about how Memorial Day evolved made me realize how much was sacrificed early on in sheer human numbers during the U. S. Civil War. The war that started the need by families to

Said the spider to the fly...I think that is how it goes... I love the big colorful garden spiders that show up at the end of summer in the gardens. Classic storybook spiders.

How do mice know it is time to start moving into your house, garage, barn? Suddenly it's scurry, scurry, mouth pouches bulging full of seed, they frantically start a nest inside; unpacking their groceries for the long winter season ahead.I love to draw mice for they really are cute and, of course, we inevitably raise a tiny squeaky youngster or two rescued from the cat or discovered inside a

Cicada Lifecycle © Treasure Bay & Judith HuntAwwwh the end of summer is heralded!.... outside the studio windows the cicadas in the farm's big trees are filling the shimmering hot afternoon stillness with their high pitched whine. These big bugs emerge every 13-17 years in August climb the trees, mate, lay eggs, and die. Their circle of life to begin anew.Amazing critters!Got to love

The farm's gardens are like an art gallery...as each plant holds such exquisite detail, color or perfect composition. I am always amazed and never tire of the show.From top to bottom:Casablanca Oriental LilyThese are somewhat less attractive to Lily leaf beetle. I think it is because they grow extremely fast in the spring. Plant with bulb fertilizer and add bulb fertilizer every year. They

Being discovered as an artist rarely happens in your lifetime. Having helped sort through the incredible art at several artists' estates after they had passed on, I was left wondering why they were never discovered and died unknown and impoverished.It's a crapshoot if you become so popular that your work is sought out by art directors and agencies, you get a book or two a year, sell enough

I have been picking blackberries and suffering from the thorns since I was old enough to be told, " Go outside and pick a pie'!I did and came back with a bucket lickety-split. That was beginning of my baking affair with berries.The farm's blackberry canes grow wild in a border of the property watered by an old runoff ditch. They are over 8 feet high. Due to the thorns, picking them is never

The greenhouse is in full production mode finally; sweet and hot peppers, eggplant, and tomatoes. I grow them in buckets with manure and compost added. I do not grow in the ground in the greenhouse as the ground's nutrients get used up or infested with insects eventually. Buckets or pots allow me to throw the old used soil in the compost heap for renewal.They are easy to maintain, just don't

Evangeline "Hate Boat" page 21 art © Judith HuntArt and fear go hand in hand. And, yes, illustrators are afraid of failing: of being misunderstood, not being good enough, not understanding or meeting their clients needs, their work/style becoming old news...passe.It is bad enough to have to produce art on deadlines that even Superman would have trouble meeting, juggling children's needs,

A portion of a poster for the Maine Wildlife Conservation Dept.Another frantic back-to-work Monday has finally slid by.The weekend began with the unhanging of the Working Artists Show in Kennebunk and ended with the summer Maine Illustrators Collective meeting in Downtown Portland. Collective ideas were batted about ....with group ads and promotion agreed on and plans made!We tackle upgrading

The new rebar/pvc greenhouse has been finished for months and in tomato, egglant, and pepper mode (too hot for much else except the heat loving tropicals.) One of the farmhands eyeing her "catch of the day".... farm raised goldfish. Refer to the earlier "greenhouse" labels as to how to build the greenhouse or write me for the details.See what you can do once you have a greenhouse! Pretty

Photo from thedoorgarden.com.A site that is for the seriously devoted homesteading farmer.*Whatever is ready now in the garden for harvesting you can throw into this recipe!It is easy and fast and light, perfect for hot summer evenings eatin' out on the farmer's porch.Cook a bunch of egg noodles or cute little animals noodles or anything you got in the cupboard noodles. Do not overcook! Rinse

Death on the Nile © Veritas PressI got a request to do a color study of Hercules Poirot from "Death on the Nile" an Agatha Christie character. I have never followed this particular detective character. My favorite bad-guy catchers are Sherlock Holmes and Michael Connelly's Detective Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch and Lee Child's Jack Reacher.However, it was a good introduction to Hercule Poirot by

Occasionally someone is kind enough to request & link when using my artwork! Smart too, as it gets cross-promotion happening.Philip Elmer-DeWitt, a writer for CNNMoney.com's online site Fortune Brainstorm Tech had an interesting use for my "shot across the bow" painting from the "John Paul Jones" series of illustrations I did for Harcourt. He put it into an article about a present battle