Bye Bye Boys

The grandsons went home yesterday. Another long trip to the airport and back! When we moved here, I really thought it wouldn't be so bad to be 2 hours away from the airport, but on days like this (when I'm so tired, I could cry) it is a very loooooooooong way!

Fun time at the airport - people from Busch Gardens were there with lots of interesting things, like this 1 year old kangaroo! They let us pet him -- he felt like a chinchilla! So soft - not what I expected!

Finally, the blue airplane took the boys away. We had such a good time - but I spent the day today just sitting! Hopefully, tomorrow, I will get back into painting!

Time Out

Alex, Zack & Colin

I've been taking some time off - 3 of my grandsons came to visit this week! We've been very busy, swimming, snorkeling, fishing and just having fun! I must admit, though, I don't know when I've ever been this tired! Love, Love, Love having them here -- but I will tell you, I'm looking forward to getting back to normal. (And getting back to painting!) See you soon!

Darla Goldberg

Last Wednesday, I joined The Ocala Art Group. Their meetings involve demos of all the different art mediums. But, Wednesday the demonstrator was Darla Goldberg - a friend of mine from Citrus Watercolor Club. I wish I had also taken some photos of the paintings that she had there - she is a tremendous artist! Darla had a career as an oculist - designing and making prosthetic eyes. So her demonstration on making eyes realistic and glowing in your paintings was a real treat! Of course, I don't think I'll ever be brave enough to do portraits!

Here, she was showing us that light passes through the eye, so there is always light in the side of the iris

Here, she was showing the different sizes of the pupils, and the way that light strikes should appear.

She also passed around paintings of different animal eyes - and discussed what makes them different from human eyes. All in all, a very interesting demo!

The Star

9" x 12" Watercolor

Well, I missed Day 3 of daily painting - but I did draw this out yesterday. Just didn't get around to painting until today. I drove over to Pam and Dana's house yesterday, cause I had seen that they had lots of Sunflowers in bloom the other day. They weren't home, so I took some pictures anyway! Most of the large sunflowers had wilted, but this little one was still blooming strong! Fences are not my friends, but I hope it reads like a fence -just a little off kilter!

I found this cool new blog: Inspiration All Around Us - it's another challenge-type blog that posts a photo every week, and asks artists to use it for inspiration! So, I just might try this week's challenge! It's Hydrangeas! YIKES!

Gerbera Daisies

7" x 10" Watercolor

These actually are my Gerbera Daisies! Day 2 of my daily watercolors - YAY! I like this one much better than the landscape yesterday. If you notice, I have a playlist on the right side of my blog. This morning, I painted this painting while listening to that playlist - start to finish! I had it drawn first, though. Something about the music got me really into it!

Don't Look Down!

7" x 10" Watercolor

I declared yesterday that I want to paint daily for awhile - but do I have any inspiration? Of course not! I've painted every photo that I've taken. And, I haven't gone anywhere to take more - so I'm limited with what I can paint. This photo came up on an ad on Facebook (I know, I said I would take time off from there, but.....) - and it really intrigued me. So, this is the painting for today!

Bed of Roses

12" x 16" Watercolor

Here is another painting where I was trying out another technique - which didn't really work out - and became another kind of painting! Man, I seem to be in a learning mode lately. I'm not happy with anything that I'm doing. But, my creative juices are flowing (in my head!) - I'm just not able to translate that to the paper. I truly think that I need to start painting every day again - just to be constantly working the paint and paper. But in order to do that, I need to stay away from the computer -- and especially Facebook! Think I can do it? Stay tuned!

Present in the Mail!

My friend and fellow blogger, Barbra Joan, sent me this exquisite hand-painted recipe card in the mail this week. She is just amazing! Not only is she a very talented artist, but a terrific "crafter" - everything she touches just has the coolest look! Anyway - this came with a recipe for Peanut Butter Pie! I made it today - we'll have some after dinner - and I'm sure it will be wonderful!

Sunday Afternoon

12" x 16" Watercolor

This is another practice piece from a book by Charles Evans. I've wanted to paint it ever since I bought the book - over a year ago. I always decided not to, because I was intimidated by painting the figures on the path. I know - they're just little blobs of paint, but like buildings, I just didn't have the confidance to do it right! So, I think it did it ok - maybe I'll try something like this again!

Chicken Head

Remember back in May, when I did the crepe paper experiment that was supposed to be Iris and turned out to be butterflies? And, I had started a companion piece (one I hoped would be framed and hang next to them). Well, it didn't quit turn out as expected! As I was trying to find the flowers in that piece, one of my classmates exclaimed - "There's a chicken head here!"


Lo and behold - with some of the gauze, I had inadvertantly created a perfect outline of a Chicken Head! So, I tried to somehow incorporate it into the finished painting - but it just looked stupid! See?


So, we decided that maybe I will need to crop the painting - and maybe it will work like that. Just not what I wanted to do. But, we'll see. I think it will spend a lot more time in my studio. I just can't make a decision yet.