Megan Swoyer
Watercolor Artist
Featured
I passed this house Up North and just had to paint it. The red and yellow, echoing the leaves in the trees! I loved adding ink to it. Northern Michigan is full of fall charm, no doubt about it. This painting is 7 × 6 and sells for $70. If you’d like to purchase the painting, email me at megan@waterloogroup.com or contact me through the contact page on this site.
What a fun one to paint, especially with the addition of ink! Every time I’m on Mackinac Island, I observe architecture, mood, perspectives, and colors, and take lots of photos. This home is on Main Street, east of town. Love how the residents bring out all kinds of holiday trim and, in this case, a charming sled & skates. It’s about 8 × 7 and sells for $110. If you’re interested in purchasing this painting, email me at megan@waterloogroup.com or contact me at the contact page on this site.
This painting was commissioned as a surprise gift for a brother’s 70th birthday. He (the homeowner) and others in the family built this beauty of a home (love those porches!) and a sister contacted me and asked if i could paint it. It was fun to squeeze in the rocking chairs and American flag. What an idyllic home where I’d be happy to while away an afternoon on the porch!
A woman asked me to paint her charming 1940s cottage in Holly, Michigan. She wanted to surprise her husband with it as a birthday gift for him. It has a cute gate, little deck and lots of sweet gardens. I really enjoyed painting this. Their daughter got married here and I could sense all the joy this little getaway provides the family.
This home was commissioned by a son and daughter-in-law of the homeowners as a surprise birthday gift for the lady of the home. Any palm is a friend of mine, and I do adore that old Florida look. An inviting porch and I’m hooked! It was very fun to paint this home, whose homeowners are competitive ball-room dancers. I could imagine them dancing on the porch as my paintbrush danced along the palm fronds.
This home is located in Dallas. A woman contacted me to paint this home and she planned to give the painting to her good friend as a gift. The friend is the homeowner and is a professional interior designer. The home is white, so it’s fun to bring out the whites with various pastel shading. I love the blue door and the patterned porch floor!
Connecticut Lakehouse was a fun commission from a woman who wanted to surprise her friend with a painting of her lakehouse in Connecticut as a gift. The challenge was to get a lot of the elements into one painting as well as the water and the awesome stonewall. This home had so many patios and gathering spaces that while painting it from photos that the client took without the homeowner knowing, I could actually almost "hear" sounds of laughter and people congregating for lakeside fun. I could also "hear" the water splash against the wall. I've been to this lake and from my own photos, I know how much the water color changes based on sky and light. It can take on a variety of casts from light lavender (really!) to green-brown to what you see here.
Stroh Cottage, 8 x 11, sold, is the quintessential 1800s cottage. Owned originally by the Stroh family of Chicago (beer family) and then passing hands to a couple of other families (each was tied to the beer industry) it was eventually purchased by the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island and renovated. (It is next to the hotel).The painting was juried into a show and sold at the show. Click here to contact me about purchasing note cards of this painting
I just happened to stumble upon this cute house in Clarkston, Michigan and had to paint it. What else is there to say? Who wants to sit in that chair? Me. The Red Door, about 8.5 x 11 inches, was juried into a show and sold at the show. It’s available in note card. Click here to contact me about purchasing note cards.
Blue House with Gate, 8 1/2 x 11 inches, was painted following an August morning walk with my son near the boardwalk on Mackinac Island, Michigan. It's one of my favorite colors and so I had to paint it! The leaves take on a blue cast, picking up from the feeling of the blue home. Click here to contact me about purchasing the painting or a note card of this painting.
New York Home, 8 x 11, was commissioned by a woman who grew up in New York but moved to Colorado with her husband. Eventually her brother moved to Colorado and finally, their parents, too, decided to leave upstate New York for the Rocky Mountain state to be close to their children. The daughter asked me to paint her childhood home from photos she provided and she surprised her parents with the painting as a gift for Christmas. This house was so fun to paint, knowing that it held such special memories for the family. And I just love the front door — lime!
Cape Cod Sweet was commissioned by a Connecticut woman who wanted to surprise her friend with a painting of her Cape Cod cottage. She was thinking it would be a nice thank you gift for her friend, who invited the woman and her family to stay there during their vacation.I was crazy about the blue hydrangeas, white fence and waving flag, not to mention the red door and the wreath with little white starfish on it. There's a sailboat in the front window, which is very hard to make out, given the size/scale of the painting. But it's gestural and we're thinking the recipient will know just what it is!
This home is in Tampa, Fla. I loved mixing the gray-blue tone to get just the right shade for the exterior. Also a fave is the hibiscus tree, far left, the homeowners’ attention to detail regarding the front porch, flowers, flag, etc. It’s a brick street so was fun to create a brick feel.
Anne & Greg's, 8 x 11 inches, was painted as a gift. Every fall, this couple decorates their exterior with the signs of the season -- pumpkins, mums, etc. This is a very large home, but I enjoy the small vignettes around its exterior, including the teal-ish door, which looks so inviting next to these orange pumpkins, don't you think?
This painting, Houston Home, was commissioned by a woman whose sister-in-law and husband moved from Houston to Anchorage. The woman wanted to give her sis-in-law a gift so that she'd always remember her pretty home in Texas.
Welcome to Cottage Inn, 8 x 11 inches, was inspired after a tour of this lovely inn (Cottage Inn) on Mackinac Island. I love the innkeepers' attention to detail when it comes to plants and flowers. That front porch? Oh, to sit there with a cup of coffee or a glass of wine and enjoy the splendors of Market Street goings-on. Prints of this painting were promoted on the inn’s Facebook page as a promotional giveaway to guests. it was also juried into a statewide Michigan art exhibit. Click here to contact me about purchasing the painting, a print or note cards.
This is an old 1800s building that was moved to its site at Troy Historic Village from another spot in Troy. It’s one of the oldest remaining homes in Troy. I just love all the millwork on the exterior and that tree that just pops come autumn! It’s 7 × 6 and sells for $75. If interested in purchasing this painting, email me at megan@waterloogroup.com or contact me through the contact page on this site.