Unbound Roots

“Frosty”: A Commemorative Watercolor

Unbound Roots — Mon, 07 Feb 2022 01:51:44 +0000

"Frosty" is a commemorative watercolor painting - my first watercolor of 2022. It commemorates a common loon that my family and I rescued in December, 2021. The story of the rescue can be read here.

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For Life: A Watercolor Painting Portraying Love, Life, and Dancing

Unbound Roots — Sun, 28 Feb 2021 18:22:02 +0000

"For Life", an original watercolor by Erin Burton, depicts two sandhill cranes dancing. The story within is one of love, life, and dancing.

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Rump Bells of Christmas Past

Unbound Roots — Mon, 14 Dec 2020 18:09:59 +0000

Antique rump bells, family history, and Christmas spirit intertwine in Erin's newest story and original watercolor painting.

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A Season of Commissioned Paintings

Unbound Roots — Sun, 29 Dec 2019 02:19:46 +0000

After returning from my family’s trip to the Southwest, I began a season of commissioned paintings. From the end of October to the end of December I painted – not for myself, but for others. Families were planning their gift-giving for upcoming birthday and Christmas celebrations, and I was honored to be chosen to paint four commissioned paintings that were to be given as gifts. Commissioned painting is a term that I actually don’t love because it sounds impersonal. In reality, these paintings are some of the most personal paintings I create. They are moments or stories that others feel so strongly about that they want them captured and displayed for others to see. The stories behind these paintings are what inspire me to paint. My season of commissioned paintings began with a subject that I’ve never painted before – an angel. The Guardian The Guardian depicts a male guardian angel standing in a never-ending field of daisies grasping a small bouquet of five fresh daisies. This painting was given to a mother by her three adult children and their families. The children wanted to surprise their mother with this painting of a guardian angel. Guardian angels have been important to their mother since she lost her husband too early in life. The husband had loved gardening, and daisies just happen to be the flowers that adorned the couple’s wedding. The wife also carried a beautiful bouquet of daisies down the aisle. So, I decided that the guardian angel should be carrying a small bouquet of five daisies. Each flower representing one member of the family. I like to think of the field of daisies as all of the grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc. that will result from this couple’s love. *Note – most of you know that I usually paint animals of some type, so I added in a tiny ladybug on one of the daisies in the foreground for fun. The Spirit of Love The Spirit of Love was the blending of two sweet stories. This is what I remember of the stories I was told: An elderly couple lived for many years in a home where they were often visited by their children, grandchildren, and a furry little chipmunk. This chipmunk came to visit each summer, ate from the hands of the family, and didn’t mind being pet in the least. This chipmunk brought happiness to all. Last spring, the elderly husband passed away. His wife was not able to care for the property on her own, so she moved into a senior living facility. Leaving the chipmunk was difficult on the entire family. After the woman moved to her new home, she enjoyed walking on the nearby nature trails. She noticed that on almost every walk she took a monarch butterfly followed her. The woman was comforted by the thought that the butterfly was her husband’s spirit coming to visit her on her daily walks. In this painting, it’s almost as if the chipmunk recognizes the spirit of the man in the butterfly. I thought the title The Spirit of Love encompassed all aspects of the painting, and the stories that were behind it. Doug Doug is a portrait of a fluffy white and orange cat. This painting was a gift from two parents to their son. Doug just happens to be a therapy cat and is very special to the entire family. I had so much fun painting Doug’s fluffy fur and clear chartreuse eyes. I was told that he often gets hair cuts because his fur can get a little out of control, but I sure thought his fur was beautiful in the photo that I used as a reference. Painting white animals is something that I’ve started to enjoy as there are so many colors in both the shadows and highlights. Chloe Chloe is a portrait of what I believe to be a beautiful Australian shepherd. This portrait was gifted by a mother to her adult daughter after the daughter had lost her dog. I was told by family members that Chloe was like a child to the daughter. Losing a pet is like losing a family member – it’s never easy. I hope this painting of Chloe laying in the green grass in front of some late-summer black-eyed Susan flowers will ease some of the pain of losing her whenever the owner sees it. A little bit about the painting of Chloe: Chloe’s fur was soft and graceful looking and I wanted this to stand out in the painting. So, I tried a new layering technique for the grass and background flowers that I had learned in a recent workshop. This technique involved laying down a light wash of color, using masking fluid over the paint after it dried to keep those areas that color, and then laying down a darker shade of color followed by more masking fluid. I kept repeating this until I achieved the correct colors in the grass and flower area. Once everything was dry, I removed the masking fluid, which revealed all the layers of color. I was very happy with the texture of the grass and flowers, and how it counterbalanced the softness of the fur. After a Season of Commissioned Paintings All of the recipients of the commissioned paintings have been gifted their paintings, so I am free to share the images with you. I hope you have enjoyed seeing some of the paintings I have completed as of late, and were able to connect to the stories that accompanied them in some way. Even though we all have our own experiences, stories, and feelings, I think we all find family, love, relationships, and happiness (and all the other feelings) to be important aspects of our life. I also think this is why we can enjoy a piece of art that doesn’t necessarily belong to us. I know that creating paintings for others has brought great joy into my life, and I feel so lucky to

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Watercolor Wednesday: Fall Paintings

Unbound Roots — Thu, 14 Nov 2019 02:53:39 +0000

Stop in and view some of the fall-inspired paintings I've completed in the past couple of months. You'll see a shy little hare, a hungry chipmunk, and more!

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Traveling the Southwest: Kansas U.S. Route 56

Unbound Roots — Mon, 11 Nov 2019 23:57:28 +0000

My family's road trip continues with an auto tour down U.S. Route 56 in Southwest Kansas.

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Traveling the Southwest: Salina, Kansas

Unbound Roots — Thu, 07 Nov 2019 04:34:22 +0000

Driving to the Southwestern U.S., we stopped in Salina, Kansas for a night and were delighted to find the Central Kansas Flywheels Yesteryear Museum.

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Swedish Family Recipes

Unbound Roots — Mon, 19 Aug 2019 03:17:34 +0000

I'm sharing my great-grandmother's recipes for Swedish meatballs and rice pudding. Christmas dishes that are no longer reserved for Christmas because we like them that much.

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Sweet Little Peas: Snow Peas

Unbound Roots — Sat, 13 Jul 2019 20:04:38 +0000

Gardening got off to a late start here in Minnesota due to late frost, and for us specifically, because we restructured our vegetable garden area. Even though our corn is knee high, our tomato plants are a little more stringy than usual, and our pepper plants are waiting to put on their first surge of growth, our sweet little peas have been very fruitful for weeks. Not Sweet Peas Now, when I write “sweet little peas”, I’m not writing about the sweet pea plant that boasts fragrant blooms that perfume the air with a mix of jasmine flower, orange blossoms, and honey. Sweet pea plants do not have pea pods you can eat. In fact, the sweet pea pods are mildly poisonous and contain a toxin containing lathyrogens. Lathyrogens, if consumed in large quantities, can cause a disorder of the nervous system which leads to limb paralysis, and a disorder of connective tissue, causing either bone deformity and/or aortic aneurisms. I think it’s safe to assume that eating sweet pea pods isn’t a great idea. The peas I am talking about are the sweet little peas that have edible pods, and the thinnest pods of all peas – snow peas. Snow Peas This season we’ve been growing three types of snow peas: Carouby De Maussane, Golden Sweet, and Green Beauty. All three varieties have produced a bumper crop of peas, and have the sweetest little flowers, but the Carouby De Maussane and Green Beauty are equally tasty fresh or cooked, where as Golden Sweet is best sautéed or cooked. All three varieties have climbed our trellis just beautifully, and have created one of my favorite places to harvest vegetables. The Trellis In the throes of summer, when the sun has dipped below the horizon, and the cool of the evening has set in, one of my favorite places to be is harvesting fruits and vegetables in the trellis area. At this point in the growing season, pea plants surround me as I pick the sweet, snappy pods, and both of my pups wait patiently just outside the trellis while I carefully snap the peas of the vine, and string them before placing them in the bowl. From Garden to Table After rinsing the snow peas inside the house, I diced some onions, took half of the peas from the bowl (reserving the rest for dinner tomorrow night), and placed the onions and peas in a pan. Drizzling a little bit of olive oil over the peas and onions, and dusting them with fresh cracked pepper and sea salt is all that is required for this simple dish. Sautéing the peas over medium heat for just a few minutes is all it takes to cook the snow peas to perfection. Tonight I sautéed all three pea varieties (Carouby De Maussane, Golden Sweet, and Green Beauty) together, and served them with jasmine rice and grilled shrimp. Everything was topped with just a little bit of Parmesan cheese. The sweet, delicate flavor of the snow peas was a delight alongside the rice and shrimp, and I am very much looking forward to eating the sweet little peas again tomorrow! Grow Your Own Snow Peas For those of you in the Upper Midwest, snow peas can be planted again in August, so if you’d like to try growing these easy-to-grow vegetables that are almost guaranteed to give you an abundance of sweet little peas – I ask you to give them a chance. The peas are planted 1″ deep and 2″ apart, and the vines need something to grow up on whether it’s a trellis or corn stalk. If you’re planting in rows, space rows 18-24″ apart. Snow peas can withstand light frosts, so you can harvest them late into the fall, and kids love to pick them too! Do you have a favorite way to prepare snow peas? Maybe you like to eat them straight off the vine. Either way, I’d love to read about it in the comments below. Thanks so much for stopping by Unbound Roots today! ~Erin .

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Rescuing Gooseberry… Twice

Unbound Roots — Sat, 08 Jun 2019 13:00:07 +0000

My family was in the throws of craziness about a month ago. The free soccer league that I founded last fall was beginning their spring practices, both kids had started soccer, my husband and I were coaching both of their teams, and my parents had opened their barn doors to the Unique Boutique and Antiques Tour of which I was fully involved with. Every day and evening was filled with something. It was during that busy time that I got a text from my sister-in-law who lives two hours south of us that read: “Know anyone who might be interested in a goose? She showed up [at the park my sister-in-law works at] last week like someone dumped her here…” My sister-in-law attached this picture: This is a story about rescuing our goose, Gooseberry… twice. The First Rescue Anyone who knows me, knows that I can’t resist or turn down an animal. Especially an animal that needs a home. Unfortunately, my schedule didn’t allow for the time to go and pick up the goose, but my sister-in-law was determined to get the goose to us, which I loved. The day after I got my sister-in-law’s text, she drove the goose up to our house. When my brother and sister-in-law pulled into our driveway and took the goose out of the car, the goose sat quietly in the cardboard box she was in (which was far removed from what the ride up entailed). The kids and I peeked into the hole at the top of the box, and we saw one big, shiny, black eye staring right back at us. We carried the box gently back to our chicken run, and opened the flap for the goose to come out. The goose walked out of her box quietly, assessed her surroundings, and proceeded to give us short, quiet honks as her neck quivered. She seemed nervous, but not too scared of us as she would come within a few feet of where we were standing. My sister-in-law had thought of a name for the goose on her ride up, and took into account that all of our chickens were named after wildflowers. Gooseberry seemed to fit our new goose perfectly. My family was happy to adopt Gooseberry, and we were excited to give her a new home. Well, for a few days anyway. The Second Rescue Gooseberry stayed in the run for three days. She had fresh food and water, half of a hay bale to lay on, and my son invented a grass-feeding station, which Gooseberry took to immediately. We enjoyed watching her bury her head in the grass as she ripped off bits and pieces of the bright green treat. By the second day, Gooseberry started coming close enough to us that we could pet her side gently if we didn’t move too fast. Since Gooseberry seemed to settle in nicely, we decided we would let her loose in our fenced-in backyard on the third day. Gooseberry needed to be as free as possible and have unlimited access to grass, a gooses main diet. It was time to introduce her to the chickens who wander the yard. Well, that lasted but a few minutes. Gooseberry took off through the back woods moments after finding her freedom. The kids were sad, and I was worried, but I hoped that she would find a local goose family to join as our home is surrounded by lakes, ponds, and creeks, so waterfowl abound. But, as it turned out, Gooseberry wasn’t interested in the lakes, streams, or creeks, she was interested in being around people. Days later, I saw a post online that read “Anyone Lose a Goose?” The person who posted the information had a picture of Gooseberry lounging in the grass of someone’s front lawn. We immediately jumped in the car to pick her up but, she had already wandered off. There were many more sightings in the following week, but we never did cross paths with her… until the day the kids went fishing down at the lake. On a warm, sunny day, both of the kids were plopped down on the bank by the water’s edge when they heard honk, honk. But, it wasn’t the typical honk they hear from the wild Canadian geese, it was higher pitched. They recognized it! The kids followed the sound up the road a bit and down a driveway where they found Gooseberry drinking out of a puddle. They tried to carry Gooseberry home, but little arms were no match for large wings, so the kids rode their bikes home as fast as they could to come and get me. I immediately packed our large dog kennel in the car and we rushed off again. This time Gooseberry stayed put. My kids jumped out of the car and slowly approached Gooseberry while I opened the back of the car and the door to the kennel. When the moment was right, my daughter dove onto the goose, giving her a great big bear hug. That little girl wasn’t about to lose Gooseberry again, so she held Gooseberry tight until we were able to get her into the kennel. Finally Home Early the next day, my daughter and I went out to clip Gooseberry’s wings. Clipping wings is just like clipping finger nails – no pain involved. The primary feathers are the only feathers that need cutting, so when the wings fold back, you can’t tell that there has been any alteration. Clipping the primary wings halfway down the feather shaft makes it so the birds are not able to get adequate lift, thus keeping them grounded. Gooseberry did try to take off again, but only once. Since then she has been getting used to her new home, and we’ve been surprised by what we have learned about Gooseberry. The most exciting and welcome discovery was finding out how much Gooseberry loves people. She waits for us to wake up in the morning, and

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