I’ve always loved to draw and paint, since I was a little girl. My daddy drew and painted, too. When our daughters were little, they would ask me to draw princesses with chalk on our driveway. When I taught preschool, I made construction paper children and scenes for our bulletin boards. Now, I love to paint with acrylics on paper and canvases. I love creating. It makes my heart happy and is a way to slow down, get lost in colors and brushstrokes, and find moments of peace. I enjoy creating whimsical art, for the fun of it and hopefully, it puts a little smile on your face. If you might be interested in purchasing a piece, you may message me on instagram @lelandcottagegoods. A portion of proceeds will be donated to The Alzheimer’s Association and Parkinson’s Foundation in memory of my parents.
mermaid
When I was a little girl, I was a mermaid. I had a vivid imagination and loved to swim!
fairy princess
For my princess fairies, I like to give them a crown that’s slightly askew, a Peter Pan collar (a feature I loved on my daughter’s clothes when they were little), Mary Jane shoes (also a fave of mine), a star wand and pink cheeks. Maybe she's a “cheeky” fairy. ;) Every time I paint a girl with brown hair and eyes, it’s a wink to my daughters.
dinosaur dragon
I could not decide if this is a dinosaur or dragon so he has a first and middle name. ;) My youngest daughter loved dinosaurs when she was little and during my years of teaching preschool, I noticed many children do gravitate toward them. I especially love his wonky teeth.
friends
This is maybe the first painting I created when I became an assistant director of our preschool. I wanted every child, no matter what their skin color was, to feel welcome there and another version of this piece hung in our office.
Dandelion
When I worked at preschool, I cut out construction paper children and animals for scenes for the bulletin board in my room and later, outside the office at the welcome desk. This little lion was inspired by the lion I made for the month of March, where he sat next to a little lamb (you know, “in like a lion, out like a lamb”). I love him.
halloween party
When I was a little girl, my parents let me have halloween parties at our house. It’s one of the sweetest memories I have. My daddy would make construction paper cutouts of pumpkins, black cars, witches and such, to decorate our patio and garage doors. We bobbed for apples, ate hotdogs and popcorn and went for a hayride around the neighborhood to trick or treat. I also still love to watch “The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” every halloween, without fail. All of these fun memories inspired this painting on canvas.
autumn joy
My faith is the most important thing in my life and I like sharing a Bible verse on some pieces which seems like a positive message to me. I hope the words and images bring a smile to someone’s face.
fall princesses
My daughters loved to dress up for halloween and every other day of the week, really. Halloween and autumn was never a scary experience for me as a child…it was simply a happy, fun time.
greeting cards
I’m still a firm believer in snail mail. Personally, I love receiving a card or hand-written note in the mail. Although I embrace certain digital communications, I prefer an old-school correspondence. My cards are hand-painted currently, but I hope to offer printed versions in the near future.
caw caw
Recently, I’ve started painting greeting cards and it’s so fun! This little crow holds a little pumpkin and hopes to fly to someone special to wish halloween greetings!
boo
I do like a brown paper card, especially with this cutie friendly ghost on it.
precious pink
I do love a little pink and this ghostie does too.
“Each year, the Great Pumpkin rises out of the pumpkin patch the he thinks is the most sincere. He’s gotta pick this one. He’s got to.”
-Linus
“you like tomato, I like tomahto…”
-Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong
“give peace a chance…”
-John Lennon
“have a whale of a good time on your birthday!”
I do love a flat card, especially when it has scallops.
I LOVE mixing paint colors. It’s one of my very favorite things about painting. I find it amazing that you can create a shade no one else has ever made. I like tone-on-tone colors, blending luscious colors together.
“we make a good pear”
I’ve just begun painting fruit and veg. I’m still learning the technique of shade, light and depth.
pretty in pink
Along with children’s art, I love to paint anything to do with nature. These flowers and leaves is inspired by a crewel-work wingback chair we had in our family room when I was a child. It now sits in our bedroom and I still love the floral designs on it.
blueberry hill
These colors were inspired by my mom. She loved using different shades of blue in our home.
“tis autumn”
- Nat King Cole
I do love brown. Always have. This sounds weird but when I was in first grade, my teacher had the prettiest brown nail polish on her fingers. I don’t know why, but I was mesmerized by this. Maybe because my mom never painted her nails in any color. But the brown polish was just beautiful to me. Now, I see brown and think of chocolate, cocoa and cappuccinos. This is my favorite of this series, celebrating autumn colors.
magnetic
I love to paint these little magnets! I can mix any color scheme and add an initial, positive word or image. They look great on a fridge or would be a cute stocking stuffer.
love
I drew this cross full of flowers to represent Christ coming back to life, showing His love for us. This piece was created with a sharpie on paper.
journal
I love to paint on these little journals! I see them being used to write notes in, jot down a favorite Bible verse during a devotional time, take on a trip to record your adventures or make a little mini scrapbook, make gardening notes, or make a list of things you’re grateful for throughout the year. I also paint designs for children. They can also takes notes in them, collect stickers for the pages, have their friends sign their names in it or draw and color in it.
bookmarks
These are so fun to paint! I have one for every letter of the alphabet, so all initials. I also paint animals, flowers or little scenes on them for the book lover in your world.
These would be a sweet little addition to a book you may give to someone as a gift! Or for yourself. ;) They can be customized in any color, letter or subject matter.
I hope you enjoyed getting a little glimpse into why I love to paint and create. I believe we all have creativity in us; after all, we were created by the Creator. What a joy!
I do take orders and I’d love to make something for you! You can dm me at lelandcottagegoods on instagram (follow me for the most current pieces for purchase…I’ll be updating it frequently) or email me at lelandcottagegoods@gmail.com.