Miss Blue(s) revisited

last week

I posted a blue cat

so why not

a blue haired girl
or a blue haired woman

it's not the colors that matter

it's the values

these small vignettes/watercolor sketches

are my way of 

making small journeys

there is no success or failure

only painting and learning

thanks for stopping by

Playing with hair

continuing to paint

faces

this time playing with ways to paint hair

it takes so many different colors

so that the eye reads the total as brown or black

I love her smile

she makes me happy

(thanks to Steve Evans for the photo)

Miss Blue takes a "small journey"

my life has been filled with so much inspiration lately

(attending the Florida Watercolor Society convention last week

after having taken the incredible watercolor portrait class from Stephie Butler

in August)

I can hardly  take it all in

but

I am trying to take it one painting at a time

or as jude hill would say

one "small journey" at a time

(have I ever mentioned how much I enjoy her blog?)

above Hana is having a blue day

lots to do today

I apologize for not blogging regularly but I find the more I do 

(draw, paint, quilt, cook)

the less time I have for blogging

c'est la vie

Let the choir sing

as I was painting this one

I started seeing the glads as a choir

singing praises

so I titled it

"Let the choir sing"

Another attempt

a second try

I like it much better

what do you think?

Back from class with Stephie Butler

attended a watercolor workshop with Stephie Butler

last month

learned so much!!

and have been painting almost every day since

this two paintings were done in the class

photo refs from Gail Johnson and Steve Evans

my first attempts at a looser style of portraits

I am loving this way of painting

thank you Stephie!

Woof!

back to painting almost every day

lots of faces

human and otherwise

any animals you would like to see??

from the garden (the one I remember from childhood)

 

when I was shopping last week, I saw these beautiful and delicate roses

they reminded me so much of my grandmother's roses

our yard was fenced and huge rosebushes climbed up the fence posts

and sprawled in splendor all across the chainlinks

just think what a juxtaposition that was - lush delicate softness vs cold hard metal

complete yin and yang

what a joy to paint the beauty of nature

from life, not from photos

I've had a wonderful week

hope you have had one too!

A woman of mystery

a woman of mystery

she stands alone and yet blends in

color swirls around her

what is she thinking

or is she even thinking

perhaps just watching and waiting

(just a small pastel I painted, inspired by a photo I saw-  playing with color and edges)

A new passion

 The past few months have been filled with many personal issues but despite that, or perhaps because of that, I have discovered a new passion - pastels.  I have always loved to draw and have always loved color so when a friend let me play a bit with her pastels, I was totally hooked.  I love the feel of the pastel in my hand - it's like an extension of my arm and hand - dancing on the paper - bold strokes, soft strokes, linear strokes, side strokes, blending with my fingers - I feel like a kid again with fingerpaints!

Of course exploring a new type of art involves getting some new supplies - I haunted ebay and was able to get a set of Rembrandt half sticks (like these - good for drawing and backgrounds), a vintage set of Grumbachers (good colors but a bit crumbly), and a full set of Nupastels (hard pastels that work for drawing and underpainting).  I found a few Richeson handmade pasels and some Wallis sanded paper on sale at a local frame shop - they were selling off their art supplies half price) and then finally I bought a set of 60 Great American pastels from Jerry's - major sale + coupon.  I got a few books from the library and was off and running.

I arranged my pastels according to the books by color and value (this is the drawer that fits in my French easel)  Don't you just love the colors!  I am like a kid in a candy store!
If you go back to the first photo, you can see a little bird's nest that I did in pastels on some leftover Bazill textured scrapbooking card stock  - the egg is developing (just like me) and getting ready to hatch and join the world - much like me right now.
thanks for reading and hope your day is filled with color!

Happy Ostara - first day of Spring!

Welcoming in the new season

with sunny skies

green leaves

and lots of azaleas

Hope your day is filled with joy

I have been very busy this winter ("season" it's called here)

with activities and work

but

just a few more weeks

and the "birds" will be gone

and things will be back to normal(what's that?)

I have been sketching quite a bit and will share some photos

and thoughts very soon.

Channeling Van Gogh

We received some beautiful and very unusual sunflowers at the Book Depot this past week and I asked if I could bring a few home.  I cut the stems fairly short and mounted the blossoms onto this flat vase - don't you just love the colors - I wish I could capture how incredible they are but I'm trying

Lots of activities right now and keeping busy - hope you have a creative day!

this moment - this week - inspirations

this past week I have been so inspired by jude hill's blog http://spiritcloth.typepad.com/ - she was talking about colors and how they lean into each other - her musings lean into my current knitting project - another Margaret Dashwood shawl from the Summer 2012 issue of Jane Austen Knits. For this current one, I am knitting with Aslantrends Santa Fe yarn in a color named Grape Jam but honestly it is so much more - the colors are grape, olive, navy, tan, and mixes of these and more as the colors merge and divide and as jude writes, "lean" into each other. I have tried to show how incredible this looks in the photos but to see them in the natural sunlight through the window, they just take your breath away.  Here's a link to my first Margaret Dashwood shawl on Ravelry - I just love how you can tie this shawl around your shoulders and chest, and then do things without having to worry about the shawl coming loose.  It's a fabulous pattern with easy lace.
thanks for stopping by.

Vintage cats

I guess we aren't the only generation who enjoys cute cats.

Hope these brighten your day!

The foolishness of things

"Let us dream of evanescence, and linger in the beautiful foolishness of things."

from The Book of Tea by Okakura Kakuzo

Welcome to my home

this is the cabinet that you see as you enter my house -

on it an ever changing display of "the foolishness of things."

a vintage celadon vase, a Venetian mask, incense, books, some strands of beads,

and two hearts covered with vintage buttons and shells -

"There are no little things. Little things are the hinges of the universe."

- Fanny Fern

Thanks for stopping by.

Happy New Year - vintage style

 

Here we are in a new year - everyone is back at work or back to school

Hope your holidays were filled with good times, good friends, and good foods

Mine were especially joyful - a quick trip to the left coast of Florida to see family

Some lovely presents - we had decided not to give big gifts this year - just stocking stuffers

and Dan did spectacular - he got some incredible loose teas for me from our local tea shop

Tea and Chi

and also several dark chocolate and peppermint bars (just love that combination)

and some drawing pens.

The above cards were in a box left to me by my grandmother

you will be seeing some of them off and on throughout the coming year

I am full of new ideas and inspirations this year -

finishing some projects started in earlier years and planning some new ones

making lists of books to look for at the library

Looks to be a busy year!