Pretty Flowers in a Jar

I always enjoy my watercolors. They are opposite from oils but always fun.

5 Minute Watercolor Flowers

Fun Five Minute Watercolor Flowers. Fun to paint and easy to do!

I Must Have Flowers

More watercolor background collaged and stitched flowers. I like this one better than yesterday's post. Will I ever not write on the right lower corner??---probably not. This must be my comfort zone although I do try to jump out of the bottom right corner box from time to time. And since I have it scanned I can certainly delete the lettering and just use it as flowers alone. But I am into a lettering mood these days....funky, whimsical letters.  I actually wrote it out first with traditional Italic letterforms and---not so good. That's why you have to write it out first or ---you're lookin' for trouble---calligraphy trouble....which includes any blunt object nearby to beat yourself in the head.

ALSO, look at Susan Clayton! She made a name plate for her mother's door at Hospice.  SO very proud of all my students!

Purple Dreams

I have done this technique before but when I was at Random Arts I got a sheet showing how to do this and it joggled my memory. It's so easy and fun. It's just a stamp spritzed with water after color is added. Even painting the flowers without the stamp cannot get this effect so---I do love it. I used a very small black Pilot G-Tec pen for the outline. I think cutting your own stamps would make it an original but this one is a Hero Arts stamp I believe.  This one is 51/2 x 5. Just a snippet!

 I will be adding other original or "Snippets, etc" to my Etsy shop today. To see what's new look here, and here, and here...

ALSO--- Calligra-FUN class update---check out Carol Sloan and Julie Bagamary---they are practicing and lookin' good. Carol has only done  one and a half videos out of the five---she got it quick!

Also look at Sue Krei!  Yep, I am very proud of my students!

More Snippets

Ok, so this is what I think---I am tricking myself into believing that if it is on a snippet of paper there is no pressure to create it because after all---it's just a scrap! How crazy is that?  That's why I think I have been able to create so many of these--no pressure--no brainer. But I am thinking now that I will put these in a mixed media book of some sort. Pressure! Not really---I guess anything goes in one of these books and hopefully I can sew some of these in. We'll see what I can come up with. I am not sure how to do it yet. 

Loosen Up Poppies

I was getting ready to paint the Daffodils and Poppies bloomed. Actually, I was just trying to loosen up and my comfort zone is Poppies. I guess I am putting off the Daffodils because they are difficult to draw so I can imagine how difficult they will be to paint. But I will never know unless I try now will I? I will post them if succesful.

More POPPIES in my journal

Here is the next page. These pages in this Moleskine are great--thick enough to take a drenching of water.  I am trying to let these journaling pages be freeing and not get uptight about the blank page.  It's just paper!  yeah yeah yeah...we've all heard that one...

5 Minute Chinese Ditty

This didn't scan as well I I had hoped. It dropped a bit of the flower but anyway this is a ditty that I painted with my Chinese brush. I love Chinese painting and I am very intrigued with Chinese Calligraphy and the whole brush thing---and it's harder than it looks and I don't have it yet. Anyway, here is a ditty. Here is my favorite Chinese calligrapher,Yanghaiying. She is addicting---to me anyway!

Two-Minute Ditty

In 2009 I am going to start including a new feature to my blog (at least that's my plan for today)!  Sometimes a great masterpiece (ha ha) just doesn't come every day so I have decided to post my "Two-Minute Ditties." These are little paintings that really do take about two minutes or less and are extremely fun to do and will be posted whenever a great daily masterpiece didn't get finished up for the day (hee hee). I might even post some "Ten-Minute Calligraphy" also but---we'll see about that one. As I said, that is the plan for today---it could change tomorrow!

Arte Diem!!

Two BIG POPPIES!!!

Well, I just took a deep breath and painted them big.  These are on 15 x19 Kilimanjaro watercolor paper and adhered to a 16 x 20 Masters Baroque Artist Panel that I spray painted painted black. Painting big is really a different animal altogether but I am determined to not be intimidated by BIG.  And also---the perceived value $ amount is highter---even thought the same work goes into smaller ones. Go figure... 

I will spray these with varnish and they can hang without frames.

Poppy Paintin' Stuff

I thought you might be getting weary of the Folk Art Landscapes so I thought I would throw this in between landscapes. I know, this is a stretch---especially when you don't have anything else to blog!

Poppy Supplies

M. Graham Paints (my favorite)

Black Caran d"Ache water soluble crayon (love these!!)

Dream Catcher brushes (my favorite--but I use others too)

Palette (Bed and Bath Beyond)

Watercolor pencil

Kilimanjaro 300 LB WC paper from Cheap Joe's

sandpaper---this is a technique that Michelle Brown uses. You rub a watercolor pencil over the sand paper and it drops dust that makes great texture

More landscapes tomorrow!

Show Me Your Ways

I try to do some calligraphy as often as I can. It used to be all I ever did and my letterforms were better then---but they are just different now-- much freer. (I didn' say better--just freer). I started out with the intention of getting it all straight and keeping to the lines but after the 4th line I said to heck with it and just wrote. It's ok--I wouldn't enter it into a juried calligraphy show or anything. I am into---write it once, and let it go.

Calligraphy is an interesting art form. It requires exactness and many years of grooling practice-but oh, the agony and the ecstasy of it all! Sometimes I just have to go and write something---kinda like sometimes I just have to just go and paint a Poppy.

I do love this Scripture so much that it is one of the very few that I have memorized. I try so hard to memorize Scripture but most of it won't stick (I guess it's a 50 thang...) but this one stuck and I pray it most every day.

Just a Little Piece of Wood

I wanted to try the Golden Absorbent Grounds again (makes any surface a watercolor surface) so I put a couple of coats on this little piece of wood (2.75x 5.50) I got from Michael's. It worked really nicely although the texture from the wood absorbs the colors and makes some slight absorbent runs but nothing earth shattering. So the answer to that would probably be sanding just a bit just before I painted to make a smoother surface. It's really cute. I like it. Maybe I will make some more. Just love those Poppies--as as you see I haven't beaten my Poppy addiction yet. I did paint a few Irises but I am not sure they are blog- worthy yet. I will have to practice up some more.

Hope everyone is having a joyful and blessed season so far!! I love you all and so enjoy reading your comments and looking at your blogs. You are all so talented in your own ways. xoxo

Poppies in the Green Field

This is one of the last lessons in the Michelle Brown watercolor class. I will miss her wonderful accent and her quirky and endearing personality. In these lessons you can tell that nothing is scripted. She just goes for it with her painting examples and all turn out extremely beautiful. And she is a bit unorganized which only adds to the fun.

The background of this one is the Saran wrap technique which gives an interesting effect. It is one of my favorites techniques to do. This painting is 11 x 14. The Poppies are piling up! I have a true Poppy field right here in my studio!

POPPIES Again---BUT WITH GESSO

MORE POPPIES and a Doodle

Hope you bloggers aren't getting "Poppy Weary" here at my blog. I am doing the online watercolor class with Michelle brown and we are painting Poppies using different background techniques and methods of painting watercolor. Hopefully I can move on---but for now--POPPIES! Also I added the doodle just for something else interesting to see. This doodle was done with colored pencils on black paper. It is really fun to do and maybe I will draw a Poppy on black paper. Remember, I am addicted to Poppies. I guess I need to go to Poppy rehab for withdrawal.

YELLOW POPPIES !!

I got really brave and painted them yellow!

"ABOUT TOMORROW..."

This is from my daily Bible reading and actually this one didn't take long. The flowers were from a practice sheet and I wrote the Scripture only once. I am into one time , no layout planning writing. You can write it out several times if you want to and fix the spacing and letterforms but sometimes the first time turns out the best. Plus, it is not intended to be a masterpiece anyway---just fun, free, unstressful calligraphy---the best kind! Art is fun!! Be free!! Don't take yourself so seriously! (I am speaking to myself)