Lilacs

watercolor

Thought I would do some lilacs tonight. On this photo you can not see all of the floweretts that I painted. Right now my eyes are really tired from painting and squinting. Good thing I go to the eye Dr. on Tuesday. Maybe I need stronger glasses. How about a pair of rose colored glasses since I am in a pink mood...

Snapdragons

watercolor 19" x 11"

Decided to forget the 5" x 7" paintings for awhile and get ready with some new spring/summer paintings for Scarborough Faire. I change them there 3 times a year. I want to add some new ones and bring back some I had hanging last year.
This is from a photo that I took of my garden last summer. In a few more months I will be planting them again.

Invitation to a Sunny Day

watercolor 5" x 7"

Been busy remodeling the kitchen. No, this is not our kitchen. I just want to go on a picnic. Today was spent all day stripping off the wall paper. Boy is that a job. Then we will have to paint it...better not use watercolor. Didn't realize that this project would take so long and my whole house would be up side down. Time to chill-lax and make a bracelet.

Babies Around the Roses

watercolor 14" x 19" or I may crop it to 13" x 16"

Today was my pink day and I guess you can say my purple day, too. Everything was coming up roses. These were left over from Valentine's Day. Thought I better start painting some flowers so that I can change my paintings that are on exhibit at Scarborough Faire in Schererville, IN. I think it is time to take down all of my winter snow scenes before they melt. It is only 16 degrees out right now so I guess I will not have to worry too much. Hopefully tomorrow I will try a figure painting...go figure.

Technique Workshop Coming Saturday

I am having part II of my watercolor technique workshop so I am busy making samples and also writing the text that I want to give the students for a handout. I think I have two openings left so if you are interested in attending, give me a call.

I finished making my bracelets from yesterday. In fact, I made 21 of them. I think I have that out of my system for awhile. Sometimes we just need different avenues to funnel our creativity. Change is good sometimes.

Rounding Out the Edges

watercolor 5" x 7"

Decided to paint another barn, but this time I painted one of Indiana's round barns. Would this be like farming outside of the box (square barn)??
Now I am taking it easy by making some bracelets. There was a big sale on beads this week. I love bead sales :)

Back on the Farm

watercolor 5" x 7"

I finished all of my book work and now I am ready for taxes. That was alot of work! Today I took down the Valentine's Day decorations and all of the snowmen decorations. So come on spring!
I was finally able to hit the studio and go back to the 5" x 7" paintings. I think this size will be good for the art shows coming up, but I do not like to paint this small. I am done painting for today so now I am going to go and make some bracelets. Yes, I am also a "beader." It is my way to relax.

Here's Another Peek

Here's another piece of my painting. I looked at it today and I still like it. There are a few things I need to change and add. Today I framed and then worked on my long awaited bookwork...getting ready for tax time. Maybe tomorrow I will take off from painting...I think I like doing the bigger paintings than the 5" x 7" but they do take longer.

Sneak Peek

Well, after doing all of these little paintings, I needed to go back and do a big one. They do take longer and my eyes are ready to fall out. Painting is hard work! Today's painting is 22" x 30." I am not ready to show it yet, so I will just show you a little piece of it. Or, it may be a big piece of it....I won't tell. You will just have to wait and see. After all of those hours painting, I need to step away from it and look at it tomorrow with a fresh eye. Here's a hint...It's a snow scene.

Sunflowers

watercolor 7" x 5"

I am done with the water series. I decided to do a sunflower since it was a sunny day and it was almost 60 degrees. That is pretty warm considering all the snow that we received last week. You can almost feel spring coming.

I think the next painting will be a full sheet. I need to get some new ones for the competitions that will be coming up. It is really different painting on a large scale and then doing a 5" x 7." That is like doing a color value study.

Water #5...the end.

watercolor 6" x 12"

OK, this is my last one in this series. I will pick a new topic tomorrow...what shall it be? What shall it be? You will just have to come back and see....

Water #4

watercolor 5" x 7"

Thought I would think vertical this time. Played with brighter colors on this piece, tried to keep a complicated subject simple, I painted looser. I also was thinking of painting shapes and keeping larger areas white by negative painting.

Reshot #3

watercolor 5" x 7"

Thanks to my friend Kathy, I reshot last night's painting on a different setting. Now it isn't as blurry. I will reshoot the others and edit them in, later tonight.
Now I am off to an opening at the Art Gallery where they are having a mentor show. Since I teach there, I thought it would be good to be in attendance.

Water #3

watercolor 5" x 7"

I will have to try to reshoot these water scenes with another camera. I can't seem to get these 5" x 7" in focus.

Water #2

watercolor 5" x 7"

Didn't get to paint yesterday. Spent time with my framer choosing frames, planning the next note card and giclee' print, etc. This guy has great deals on frames and will ship them. Let me know if you are interested. I don't think he will ship to India.
Then spent the evening planning this big fundraiser for the local art gallery. We would love to get a new building.
But today I was able to get some framing done and then do this little watercolor. I need to figure out how to shoot my paintings better. They are too blurry. I have 2 other cameras, but I have to figure out how to load them to the computer. So much to learn and so much to paint. I need more time.
Going out to an artist friend's house for dinner. Who ever said we were starving artists?

Fallen Tree

watercolor 5" x 7"
Tired of the snow so I decided to do a waterscene. In one of the neighboring towns, they had 20 inches of snow in 24 hours. Did the ground hog see his shadow the other day???

Summer Shadows

watercolor 16" x 20"

It's hard to think of summer when it has been really cold and snowy here. The neighboring town had 10" of that white stuff today. I was driving in what looked like a white out but it was all this snow blowing across the road. Awesome. But how would you paint it??
I am done painting for today. I will look at this with a fresh eye tomorrow. Time to clean up my palette for tonight.

The Run of the Mill

watercolor 5" x 7"

I wanted to do another mill scene. I am having a hard time photographing this painting. I can't get the darks sharp or dark enough and the clouds in the sky are just a white area and you can't see the layering in the clouds. Oh well...never said I was a photographer. That is why I have Ryan and Mitch to photograph the more important stuff when I need it. And they make all of my note cards for me. What would I do without these two!!
Next I will be working on another commission piece so I will be able to be using the big brushes again. YES!!

The Cloud Maker

watercolor 5" x 7"

In today's newspaper many people from the steel mills were layed off. Sad times. Living near the steel mills you can see how clouds are made...or so we used to think that when we were kids. You can see many mill shapes along Lake Michigan on your way up to Chicago.
My dad worked in the mills for over 40 years, my brother over 30 and my husband retired after 33 years of working in them. Will they ever be the same?