Work In Progress

On Friday,we had our Watercolor Club Luncheon. Our demonstrator was Sue Connor. I've taken classes from her, so you've all heard about her. I thought I had seen it all, and was over it, but her demo sent me right to the studio! Here's what's going on:


First, I tore shapes out of sheets of Crepe Paper. I attempted to do Iris - since that was her demo (and gorgeous, I might add!). These shapes were then attached with water to wet paper, along with some surgical gauze. While wet, I added color all over the paper, using yellows first, then adding green made up of different blues with various yellows. Then splattering on some Rose and Sienna. I'm using half sheets of 140 lb Cold Press Arches - she used Hot Press. Then, they were laid out in the sun to dry!


When they were dry, off came the crepe paper and the gauze. Believe it or not, I intended to make Iris' - but as I was negatively painting into the shapes, it became quite clear that instead of an Iris, I had a Butterfly! So, butterfly it is!

Now, I'm trying to find flower shapes for the rest of the painting - I've found a few, but I have a lot more to go! Hopefully, I'll be posting the finished painting in the next few days. Then, I just have to do it again to the companion piece! (Kinda feels like knitting that elusive second sock)! Stay tuned!

Island View

12" x 16" Watercolor

Painting class today - so I painted another photo from my trip to Anna Maria Island. The concrete wall on the left still needs some tweaking, so I'll probably change the painting on the blog after I do some fixing. It felt so good to paint - I haven't been in the mood lately. Hopefully, that will change soon!

UPDATE 5/20: I decided to take the "wall" out, and make it into a drive. I think it works better this way. Thanks, Pat, for the suggestion!

Looks Can be Deceiving

Doesn't this look like a beautiful abstract painting? If you look close, you can see the gorgeous colors mixing and mingling on the page - swirling beautifully! I saw this photo in this morning's St. Pete Times, and immediately wondered what this art piece was doing on the Editorial page, and also if I could somehow paint it.

Well, this is a photo of the oil leaking from the site of the Deepwater Horizon rig, swirling through the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday. Beautiful but Scary! That's all I can say - this isn't the place for politics, so I will leave you with your own feelings about it.

Butterfly Wing - Yupo Experiment

11" x 13" Watercolor on Yupo

I know I've said this before -- but I really don't like working on Yupo. Now, to be fair, I've only done it twice! And, this time, it was a little better - it still is like trying to paint without any control! At least it is for me! I have seen exquisite paintings done on Yupo, and I wish I could master it, but I truly think that I'm just not that interested. But I'm glad that I tried again!

First Pool Day of the Season

Growing up in the land-locked Midwest, I was a pool kid. We had a nice public pool in my small town, and you could usually find me there most days of the summer. I wanted to be Esther Williams (am I dating myself?). Or a mermaid at Weeki Watchie (I had only read about those lucky girls).

When my mother moved to Florida in the 70's, she lived across the street from the BEACH! And, I was surprised to learn that I was drawn to, but also afraid of the ocean. It's so vast, so big and scary. I also discovered that I prefer not to share my swimming water with critters!

So, to my great delight, we moved to Florida in 2002, and live in a house with a pool! When I was a child, such a thing was too impossible to comprehend. Even now, I pinch myself once in awhile!

Every summer there is one day that is like no other. The pool deck and screen have been pressure-washed (living in a wooded area is sometimes for the birds!), the pool water has been heated to a comfortable temperature, and the sun is shining! Today was that day! Going in the pool for the first day each summer is like a religious experience -- I can feel my body relaxing, smoothing out, and coming alive! Long Live Summer!!

Fuschia Darlings

9" x 12" Watercolor

This is another flower that I wish I could grow! I tried in Kansas City, but it got hot too quick, and they wilted. Anyway, I think they're lovely! I haven't been painting much lately -- I've been in the Black Hole known as Facebook! Playing games with my grandkids - and chatting online with them. How fun that is! This week we'll be back in class with Pat on Tuesday and Sue Conner on Friday - that should get me back in the painting swing of things!

Brooksville Art & Market Walk

Last Saturday, our watercolor club took part in an "Art & Market Walk" in nearby Brooksville, FL. Our browse boxes and cards were set up outside of City Hall.

Inside City Hall, our club is hanging framed paintings for the whole month of April. The Gallery is just amazing! The whole second floor is used for this purpose - they hang different artworks each month. This photo doesn't do it justice - there are over 90 paintings hanging in that building!

Down the street from us were all kinds of booths and artists - as well as street musicans!

And, there were 3 booths with artists painting in the style of the Florida Highwaymen. If you've never heard their story, it's worth a look - and their paintings were fabulous!

All in all it was a good day, even though we only sold a lot of cards and bookmarks!

All Out of Proportion!

12" x 16" Watercolor

I truly wasn't going to post this, cause I think it's just too silly --- but, here it is anyway! Several months ago, Pat took a bunch of pictures of us and told us we would do something fun with them later. Well, last Tuesday became "later". The technique is this: We divided our watercolor paper into 16 squares - but they weren't all the same size. Then, we took an 8" x 10" copy of the photo, and folded it into 16 equal squares. Then, we drew whatever was in a square to a corresponding square on our paper. Then paint! So, some portions of the photo are enlarged, and some are reduced! Had I understood what was going to happen, I would have a larger head and smaller body!!! Of course, I made the face not look like me!! It turned out to be quite a charicature!

Necessity is.....

Yesterday morning, I was getting all my paintings ready for my browse box. We're having an "Art & Market Walk" downtown in Brooksville, FL. So, of course, I started lamenting about not having a bag to carry my paintings in since my wonderful Macy's plastic bag fell apart during the last two shows. I've seen others with wonderful fabric bags, and I thought that would be nice to have. Well, Good Night! I know how to sew! And, as luck would have it, I had two pretty pieces of designer fabric that was given to me years ago.


Well, the next thing you know, I'm busy designing a bag - but, of course, I didn't have the stuff for the straps -- so, off I go to Ocala (30 miles away) to get some. Then, this morning, when I should have been sewing, I had to go to the grocery store - then lunch - and I was beginning to think this wasn't such a great idea. But, I finally got down to sewing around 1:00 - and by golly, I'd finished 2 bags by 3:00! Now I just have to clean up all the mess!

What do you think?

Anna Maria Island #1

12" x 16" Watercolor

This painting is from a photo I took on Anna Maria Island. My daughter and I spent a few days there in early March. It's such a lovely place - and really great for just lazing around. We did manage to spend a few days and a lot of dollars shopping in Sarasota and Bradenton, though! I love that we can do this every once in awhile - just the two of us, no kids, husbands or pets needing us! And, I don't think there is anything better than sharing a close relationship with a grown child! I wish it could have been a longer trip!