Post 337: Harkers Island, Cape Lookout, Shackleford Banks, Marshes and the Ponies of North Carolina

Paintings of Harkers Island, Cape Lookout, Shackleford Banks, Marshes and the Ponies of North Carolina

In 2023 and already in 2024, my canvases have recreated some views and inspiration of the coasts of North Carolina. Here is a collection of paintings with the 'inspired by' of the several visits to my friend's new home in Harkers Island, North Carolina.

Big Blue Skies, Blue Water, Sand and More

Snapping pictures all day, that is what I did and do while visiting my best friend. Pictures of ponies on Shackleford Banks and in Beaufort, North Carolina. Pictures of ghost trees and marshes, Cape Lookout and across the water. The wildlife, the birds flying, the fish jumping, the occasional dolphin...I love it all. The iPhone or my other camera a FULL of inspiration. Upon getting home, the pictures get turned into paintings. 

Here is some of my inspired by the North Carolina Coast artwork.

"Lighthouse and Shackleford NC Pony" - 9x12 Acrylic on Gallery Wrapped Stretched Canvas. A lone Shackleford Banks pony looks across the water to Cape Lookout. Prints are available on Etsy

"Mom, I Don't Want to Take a Bath" - 9x12 Acrylic on Gallery Wrapped Stretched Canvas; Cape Lookout Lighthouse and Shackleford Ponies

"Harkers Island NC" - 16x20 Acrylic on Gallery Wrapped Stretched Canvas; the view from Beaufort, NC with Harkers Island across the water to the right. Notice the new bridge?

"Ponies of Shackleford Island" - 12x16 Acrylic on Gallery Wrapped Stretched Canvas; also known as Shackleford Banks

"Wading Shackleford Pony" (SOLD) - 9x12 Acrylic on Gallery Wrapped Stretched Canvas. Prints are available

"Harkers Island Magic" - 16x20 Acrylic on Gallery Wrapped Stretched Canvas 

"Sandpiper Beach Bums" (SOLD) - 4x12 Acrylic on Gallery Wrapped Stretched Canvas

"Beaufort, NC Marsh" - 8x8 Acrylic on Gallery Wrapped Stretched Canvas

"Bottoms Up" - 4x4 Acrylic on Gallery Wrapped Stretched Canvas; is a swan doing a dive, butt up.

"Cygnet Fluff Baby" - 4x4 Acrylic on Gallery Wrapped Stretched Canvas; is a baby swan. I call these 4x4 paintings "bookcase art" because they make great small paintings that can sit on a table or shelf.

"Sea the Turtle" - 4x12 Acrylic on Gallery Wrapped Stretched Canvas

"The Marshes of Harkers Island, North Carolina" - 16x20 Acrylic on Gallery Wrapped Stretched Canvas; with the ghost trees in the background. The view was toward the new bridge. The painting and Prints are available on Etsy

My Mini 3x4 stretched canvas in Acrylics mini paintings of the 7 (maybe) most popular NC Lighthouse Series - 

1. "Ocracoke Lighthouse

2. "Old Baldy Lighthouse" 

3. "Cape Lookout Lighthouse" (SOLD)

4. "Bodie Island Lighthouse" 

5. "Currituck Beach Lighthouse"

6. "Oak Island Lighthouse"

7. "Cape Hatteras Lighthouse"

"Last Light Lighthouse" - 24x24 Acrylic on Gallery Wrapped Stretched Canvas is a side view of Cape Lookout with Shackleford Banks across the water and Harkers Island and a sunset off to the right.

I had some other "beach" mini paintings of beach inspiration and Harkers Island inspired. The annual Decoy Festival in early December brought on some mini duck decoy paintings.

24 Mini Paintings and Counting

Many of these are on Etsy and some do have prints available. I do have a lot of pictures to still review but I hope to get back to visit my friend - as soon as I can and the weather is warmer!

My Etsy https://donnaliguriaart.etsy.com

__________________________________________________________________________________

Let me know if you like my paintings and if you need a handmade, original painting for yourself or as a gift for a friend or family member. If you want to commission me to do a painting for you, please contact me through this blog, on Facebook, My Website at https://DonnaLiguriaArt.com, or go to Donna Liguria Art on Etsy at https://donnaliguriaart.etsy.com to shop my available Artwork.

*Thank you for visiting and remember to Share, to Follow, and please Comment!

Post 332: Last Light LIghthouse NC

Painting Name: Last Light Lighthouse NC

With the Cape Lookout Lighthouse in the foreground, Shacklefort Island across the way and Harkers Island fading away in the distance to the right, the sun is setting on a day on the South Core Banks.

SKU: 11EL23ACG

Medium: Acrylic

Size: 24x24 Gallery Wrapped Stretched Canvas

Edition Year: 2023

Framed?: No

Commissioned? No

What Brought About this Painting?

Sometimes paintings take a lot of research and planning before paint, nay, even gesso hits the canvas. I went through all of the sunset photos I had from Harkers Island, NC and the Cape Lookout Lighthouse, and viewed Shacklefort Banks maps and waterways. Occasionally, you go by the research and sometimes you throw it all up in the air and go with your vision.

I actually started the painting Wednesday, November 1, 2023 and while doing some research, I came across a Facebook post that had:

"One hundred sixty-four years old never looked so good! Happy Birthday, Cape Lookout Lighthouse!

On November 1st, 1859, the newly completed Cape Lookout Lighthouse was lit for the first time. Standing 163 feet high, made of red bricks, and its distinct daymarks, it has been a navigational aid through the Graveyard of the Atlantic for 164 years. It will continue to be a beacon of light, guiding mariners around the shallow ten miles of shoals that extend off Cape Lookout." - https://www.facebook.com/CapeLookoutNPS

Too cool I think! 

Painting in Progress Images…

Watch the painting as it progresses! A big mess but I suppose you can see where I am going with this...

Paintings NEVER EVER look like much in the beginning. At least mine don't. 

Recognize the lighthouse? Cape Lookout

Painter's Tape is my friend

Friday, November 3, 2023 5:25 pm I'm liking it more as I go. Let's see what I can do to it tomorrow.

Sunrise finds me painting a sunset. Saturday, November 4, 2023 9:20am. By clicking on an image, you can see the photo closer. Must be high tide - a few of those mini marsh islands appear. Those ponies swim (or walk) over to those to graze. Yes, there are the Shacklefort Ponies on that island.

Hmm. The painting to me is still no where near done. I'm not happy with the sky yet... 

Monday, November 6, 2023 4:36pm I'm thinking it is getting better. It's certainly not as dark. Not completely happy yet though.

Monday, November 6, 2023 6:16 pm When the signature goes on, I know its close to done. Camera kinda lightened it up some too. Perhaps the decision To Tweak or Not to Tweak is the question would be best answered in the morning light.

Sometimes I can't leave well enough alone but...
Wednesday, November 8, 2023 9:17am I like the changes, how about you?

And she's done! I'll be bringing this with me to Harkers Island Dec 1-3, 2023 for the 35th Annual Core Sound Decoy Festival - I'll be at my friend's house on Sound Point Drive for a popup art show.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Let me know if you like my paintings and if you need a handmade, original painting for yourself or as a gift for a friend or family member. If you want to commission me to do a painting for you, please contact me through this blog, on Facebook, My Website at https://DonnaLiguriaArt.com, or go to Donna Liguria Art on Etsy at https://donnaliguriaart.etsy.com to shop my available Artwork.

*Thank you for visiting and remember to Share, to Follow, and please Comment!

Post 310: Wading Shackleford Pony

Painting Name: Wading Shackleford Pony

A lone pony wading in the shallows of Shackleford Island, North Carolina, with the Cape Lookout Lighthouse in the background. Birds are constantly on the move, along with the pony, their daily hunt for nice morsels.

SKU: 06AJ23AC

Medium: Acrylic

Size: 12x16 Stretched Canvas

Edition Year: 2023

Framed?: No

SOLD

What Brought About this Painting?

A friend recently moved to the beach this year and I have gotten to visit them - and inspiration is everywhere.

Here are two other Shackleford Pony paintings I have recently completed.

Painting Name: Mom, I Don't Want to Take a Bath

SKU: 05AB23ACG

Medium: Acrylic

Size: 9x12 Stretched Canvas

Edition Year: 2023

Framed?: No

Painting Name: Lighthouse and Shackleford NC Pony

SKU: 04AA23ACG

Medium: Acrylic

Size: 9x12 Stretched Canvas

Edition Year: 2023

Framed?: No

How do you like them?

Another pony painting at "Ponies of Shackleford Island NC"

__________________________________________________________________________________

Let me know if you like my paintings and if you need a handmade, original painting for yourself or as a gift for a friend or family member. If you want to commission me to do a painting for you, please contact me through this blog, on Facebook, My Website at https://DonnaLiguriaArt.com, or go to Donna Liguria Art on Etsy at https://www.etsy.com/shop/DonnaLiguriaArt to shop my available Artwork.

*Thank you for visiting and remember to Share, to Follow, and please Comment!

Post 301: I'm in the Mood for Painting Horses

I'm in the Mood for Painting Horses

Now that I have discovered that here in Virginia there are art galleries with art shows dedicated to and about horses, I have horse on the brain. I painted one horse painting in 2021 and I've painted another 2 just this month. And I entered one of those horse art shows with the 2 large ones below. We'll see how it goes.

Painting Name: For the Love of a Horse

Aren't most young girls horse crazy before they go through that boy-crazy phase? I certainly was, although that boy-crazy phase...well that was another story. I am glad to say that the horse crazy phase never faded and is certainly BACK! Discovering that I still love to paint them, let me see what I can get on canvas next!

SKU: 04Z23ACG

Medium: Acrylic

Size: 18x24 Gallery Wrapped Stretched Canvas

Edition Year: 2023

Art Prints available upon request

Painting Name: Lighthouse and Shackleford Pony

I am just finishing this one up, he's in the tweaking phase.

SKU: 04AA23ACG

Medium: Acrylic

Size: 9x12 Gallery Wrapped Stretched Canvas

Edition Year: 2023

Painting Name: No One Can Teach Riding so Well as a Horse

After years of not drawing or painting horses, this was one I did in 2021.

SKU: 03BE21ACG

Medium: Acrylic

Size: 18x24 Gallery Wrapped Stretched Canvas

Edition Year: 2021

Art Prints available upon request

Let's see where the paint brush leads next.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Let me know if you like my paintings and if you need a handmade, original painting for yourself or as a gift for a friend or family member. If you want to commission me to do a painting for you, please contact me through this blog, on Facebook, My Website at https://DonnaLiguriaArt.com, or go to Donna Liguria Art on Etsy at https://www.etsy.com/shop/DonnaLiguriaArt to shop my available Artwork.

*Thank you for visiting and remember to Share, to Follow, and please Comment!

Post 13: Cape Lookout NC Lighthouse 12 x 24

Painting Name: Cape Lookout Lighthouse in North Carolina 

SKU: 10K20AC
Medium: Acrylic

Size:12 x 24 Stretched Canvas
Price: $275.00 + shipping

Edition Year: 2020

Etsy Shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/DonnaLiguriaArt

A lighthouse painting of Cape Lookout in North Carolina. Very distinctive black and white diamond pattern and a great sky background in this acrylic painting.

Doesn't every artist have to have a lighthouse in their inventory? What could be better than a really cool lighthouse? - It can have everything really interesting: great colors, great architecture, great sky, water, and a variety of sand, grasses, rocks, cliffs etc. Moody lighthouses...

Cape Lookout in North Carolina is one such. The painting is 12 by 24 acrylic on canvas - fun to paint! I need to do another one. 

I have a dear friend that will be moving there when her family retires, so I hope to have the opportunity to paint a lot more of the area there - and the ponies!!

Like this painting? Need a handmade, original painting as a gift for a friend or family member?

Or if you want to commission me to do a similar painting for you, please contact me through this blog or go to Donna Liguria Art on Etsy at https://www.etsy.com/shop/DonnaLiguriaArt to shop my available Artwork. Thank you for visiting, and remember to Follow, Comment, and Review! 

Post 10: Seashore Scenes Lewes, Delaware 12 x24 Acrylic

Painting Name: A Day at the Beach in Lewes, Delaware 

Post #10

SKU: #10H20AC
Medium: Acrylic

Size: 12 x 24 Stretched Canvas
Price: No Longer Available

Edition Year: 2020

Etsy Shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/DonnaLiguriaArt

Beach Painting with sand dunes, boardwalk, ocean waves, blue sky and blue sea.

This is Lewes, Delaware beach scene version 2. This one is 12 x 24. My brother saw the picture of the first one I did and liked it. His birthday is coming so...I hope a surprise. I may fiddle with it a bit more but its close.

Completed above and in progress below.

Like this painting? Although this canvas is no longer available, do you want to commission one? Need a handmade, original painting as a gift for a friend or family member?

If you want to commission me to do a similar painting for you, please contact me through this blog or go to Donna Liguria Art on Etsy at https://www.etsy.com/shop/DonnaLiguriaArt to shop my available Artwork. Thank you for visiting, and remember to Follow, Comment, and Review!