As a proud owner of an old New England house built in about 1840s, I have a soft spot for all things rustic farmhouse. We asked a local enthusiast to look into the history of our home and oh the treasures he found - I get to keep the photocopies of all the existing deeds on the house - first written in quill, then created on a typewriter, then the fax-type font from the 1980s and 90s, and finally, your typical Times New Roman of the new era.
In this Library of Congress 1878 map of Ashland, our house is present and today it looks just about the same!
Oh the stories of tenants we've uncovered! From the Spanish flu victims to the three sisters and their mother working at the renowned Dennison factory just miles away in Framingham, MA - that made the first American-made paper boxes and lots of gift tags for different uses, Christmas paper decorations including crepe and tissue paper. I feel a strong connection to history via my house ex-tenants as I drive by the formerly prominent manufacturing (that shut down its doors in 1990), my last in-house design job having been in holiday wrap that was 90% Christmas. History is just life flowing forward as a river, don't you think?
Dennison Manufacturing, 1844 - 1990
Back to the house story, ours is a simple home built for the workers of a shoe factory that used to be just across the street - not quite a sibling to upscale old, old New England houses from 1700s averaging a cost of a $1m - I get to peek at those in dedicated Facebook groups on antique home preservation and restoration - but a great example of simple rural living, just the way I like it.
I have dedicated my first original artwork collection to the topic of Rural Living - greatly inspired by my daily walks in the neighborhood and overall my 12 years in Massachusetts - you couldn't find a prouder and happier New Englander. While I wasn't born here, I got to love New England with all my heart and having traveled in the US and abroad quite a bit - there's no better feeling than coming back home to Boston, and then 30 miles west to our "swamps" as I call them! The ubiquitous water - ponds, rivers, lakes (and the Atlantic ocean just an hour away) is one of the things I love the most about living here.
Rural Living Original Watercolor Painting collection
What is a house without a garden? If you've been following me, it is probably no secret that I draw tons of inspiration from my little garden and flowers in general. I film "tiny tutorials" of painting my garden flowers in spring, summer and fall, and as winter takes over, I have to switch to store-bought florals.
This is how my kraft floral mini collection was born - I painted 12 flowers on kraft brown paper in January 2021, right after the New Year. I meant to paint a flower for every month of the year, keeping a (not yet) existing calendar in mind. I feel like the brown kraft paper brings in that very special rustic and cozy feel to home decor.
I am posting 5 of these paintings as limited edition art prints. Some of them correspond to birth month flowers (for example, Delphinium, a fan- and my personal favorite as well as birth floral, is a July birthday month flower.
I am adding 5 for now, but I have 7 more and am always open to adding them any minute, as well as painting more flowers in this style. Drop me a note if you are looking for a particular flower! Please feel free to reach out if you are interested in purchasing an original painting as well.
The giclee art prints come in 3 convenient and easy to frame sizes (8 x 10, 11 x 14, 16 x 20 inches) and are an extremely life-like reproduction of kraft texture, they are not printed on actual brown paper. In fact, this gives them an advantage over the originals as kraft paper itself is susceptible to color change due to sunlight exposure and easily picks up fingerprints, whereas the fine art prints are fade-resistant and vibrant. I myself have a framed 11" x 14" Delphinium art print and can't get enough of how well printed it is - all thanks to my state-of-the-art printing vendor in the USA that specialized in fine art printing.
All prints are made to order - please keep it in mind for delivery estimates. I have included a farmhouse Christmas wall art print with red amaryllis, white anemones and winter greens as well as more everyday and year-round options such as lily of the valley art, spring wall art with yellow daffodils and blue floral wall art with larkspur/delphinium and iris wall art. They make perfect rustic wall decor for living room, farmhouse wall decor for bedroom and so much more.