Celebrating Life

One often thinks about life in the spring. New flowers, the birth of baby animals and the warmth of the sun all help one to appreciate life. Well, a few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to appreciate life more. My brother and sister-in-law were vacationing when they nearly died. My brother was ok but my sweet sister was in a coma for about a week and things were not looking good. But she has come through it all. My sister, my friend, is alive! So to celebrate life and her continued recovery, I painted her the picture here. She should have it today. Hopefully it will bring her cheer and warm feelings as she works through the therapy and the day to day issues that she still faces. Pat, if you are reading this, I love you very much.

For Connie

This latest painting is much looser then I normally work in. I was trying to get a loose, juice look and feel pretty good about the results. It is for my dear friend Connie who always has wonderful words of encouragement for others. She is truly one of the sweetest people I have ever met. Hopefully this small bouquet will bring a bit of color and sunshine to her.


This post card will be going out soon. I did it in preparation for a painting I am doing for someone else very dear to me. Hopefully I will be able to post that painting this weekend. For now, this painting is 3x5 and was painted with watercolor paints and watercolor pencil highlights.

Thanks so much for visiting my blog.

Painting after the masters

I was working more on my post cards this afternoon and finished these other two cards. The one on the left is painted after Constable's "The Hay Wain" and is painted with Derwent WC Pencils. The one of the right is painted after van Gogh's "Sunflowers". It was done using Lyra Aqua Color crayons. Both are done on Strathmore post card watercolor paper.

Degas

This sketch was done after Degas' Ballet Dancer Standing. I am involved in a post card exchange on WetCanvas (see post below of the Titian) and this is my first card. 4x6" and done using WC Charcoal pencils. It is going to Erica - hope she likes it. Any helpful comments or suggestions are quite welcome. Thanks for visiting!

Brotherly Love

We had young friends visiting us on Sunday and decided to take a walk to feed the pig and other animals. Next to the pig pen is a large field just covered in these tiny purple wild flowers (some would say weeds). Not sure what they are called but the bright purple field was just gorgeous. Our friend gently took his sister's hand and helped her make her way back to her mom. Very sweet.

Post Card Pals

Recently I have been involved in a couple of post card swaps. The top was is from Deni, who is receiving my post card of the Tulip Tree bloom. I love the rich colors that Deni was able to achieve.

This one is from Erica, a member of Wetcanvas. There is a Masters Post Card Swap where you choose a master and paint a post card in that style (Erica chose Titian's Venus Anadyomene). I think Erica did a lovely job. I am still working on her card. This swap is proving to be quite a challenge since we are painting in the style of various masters but will prove to be very educational and fun. Thanks so much Erica and Deni!

For Deni

Deni is an American living in Honduras that I met through Kate's WC Pencil class. Recently she sent me a lovely post card and has been waiting patiently for my card to arrive. This is it. Spring is slowly arriving and these Tulip Trees (aka Japanese Magnolia) have been in bloom. They are my absolute favorite tress as far as blooms go. I also used this as an opportunity to work on Kate's lesson on flowers using the WC Pencils. As you can see, I also added ink after the pencils were dry. I am pleased with how this turned out and hope that Deni enjoys it too.