MEMORIES

Sweet memories arrived today via an email from an old friend. She sent me a copy of a card I'd painted for her fairly soon after I'd started painting with watercolors. The front and back of the card are shown here. The broccoli theme was an inside joke which we had a lot of fun with.

The card must be over 20 years old, and I feel honored that she'd kept it all this time. The inside of the card completed the rhyme with "Hope this is the best birthday of all." The back of the card certainly didn't go with the theme, but the choice of flower and colors were important. Maybe it's time to paint more cards.

CARDS

Delphiniums must surely be one of the most exquisite flowers that God ever made. (I figure He created orchids after the delphiniums.) June made my day last week by sending a bouquet with many varieties of flowers, and this sprig will go back to her as a thank you.

It's painted on an Indian type paper that traveler Leslie shared with Tuesday's class. It was very nice to paint on, and lifting some of the dried edges of paint was really easy. That surprised me because it didn't feel like there was much sizing in the paper.

Saturday was a wonderful, if cool, paint-outside-on-the-porch day for me. GLORIOUS - the birds, a few bugs, chipmunks and squirrels, lots of flowers and hummers, and of course, me, sitting on my swing with nothing pressing to do at all, holding a paint brush or camera or coffee mug. Wish you could have joined me for a while.

Getting this card to the mail box tomorrow will be easy enough, but traipsing back down the hill of the driveway can be a little tricky yet. Looking forward to another great week of painting with friends, as well as some more advanced physical therapy. Life is absolutely grand!

FRIENDS

Recovery from surgery has been wonderfully easy, in part because of good friends who are willing to take the time to come visit me - and stay and paint for several hours:-D Sunday, Marianne and I painted until dark, and this is the 'thank you card' I painted for her. She'd sent fresh flowers on Friday (am I getting spoiled?) and this is just a part of the bouquet. There are yellow daisies, white delphinium, honey dew/melon colored gladiolus, along with spectacular sunflowers. Had to be painted.

Yesterday Linda and I painted together again - and she is really spoiling me (and I love it.) She'll be here soon along with Valerie and Jude. It should be a great day.

Mary Jane and Carol will be here tomorrow, and on Friday, Ritzie's coming over. Next Monday, Rhonda and I get to do a small road trip and also spend at least a couple of hours experimenting with new painting ideas. We may go wild, so look out!

Art certainly opens doors to friendships that would not occur otherwise. And those friendships are helping me get better really fast. Went up and down the steps a couple of times yesterday - NO PAIN! What a joy.

THANK YOU to all the people who have been so kind to send cards. You are a treasure to me. Thank you, friends, for caring and sharing life.

Now, I have to go pull on my super tight, fashionably white support stockings. Ugh!

PAINTING AND ROSES

Today was a great day to paint ... and see the nurse and physical therapist, too. Painting with a good friend was the BEST part though.

These roses are on a card on their way to thank Brenda for such GORGEOUS roses. This was just one sprig in the florific bouquet that added both beauty and fragrance to our house. More cards to paint this weekeend... and I loved holding that brush in my hand. Now off to bed. Everyone have a glorious weekend!

LET IT SNOW

We had our first tiny bit of snow early yesterday, but I missed it 'cause I was asleep ... exhausted from a week of painting and learning. But the week has been chock full of excitement and experimenting.

Nicholas Simmons, a MASTER artist, is here at the studio sharing with us so much of what he's discovered about watercolor and the world of art. The workshop has far surpassed our expectations. If you can get into one of his workshops, you will not regret it. He's a musician first, he says, but his paintings, his skill at handling the medium, and his diversity an amazing part of this artist's brilliance.

I can't wait for this morning to begin. It's our last day of the workshop, and we will have him return for another session in the near future. Check out his website (see side bar) if you haven't already. I have the highest respect for Nick. Getting to know him and learn from him this week is a special treasure that I will always cherish.

I'll post some goodies from the workshop soon. This post is from last week's demo at the Cincinnati Watercolor meeting, the third card of the demo (see previous posts.)
"LET IT SNOW" on Arches 140# CP about 6 x 9"

DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE?

Many painters like to create their own greeting cards. However, I find that painting really small is MUCH more difficult than painting really big, so cards can be a challenge for me. I used to paint an original Christmas card for every person in my classes, (but now we don't even send out Christmas cards.... shame on us.)

Each year, one of my friends reproduces a picture that one of her grandkids paints then sends them for her holiday cards. I love that idea because the card is so fresh, plus that child has been encouraged to be creative and expressive with such a positive focus on art.

The painting posted here was one of the demos for Christmas cards at our watercolor meeting this week. The size is bigger than a regular card for the sake of the demo. I splattered miskit, tiny specks of it, in the sky, and miskited the edges of the lambs, plus all of the star. Can you imagine a star that bright? Absolutely awesome.

"DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE?" Transparent Watercolor on Arches 140# about 6 x 9"

YUPO PRIMARY CHRISTMAS

Yesterday we had our monthly Greater Cincinnati Watercolor Society meeting at the Cincinnati Art Club and worked on making our own Christmas cards. After I demo-ed two cards, Judy asked if I would do a demo on YUPO. No problem! She gave me a sheet of her YUPO (I had none with me) and requested I do some Christmas ornaments. What do you think? The ornaments are my three favorite primary colors - quinacridone magenta, turquoise and hansa yellow - so the title was a snap. I'll post the other two cards soon.
"PRIMARILY CHRISTMAS" Transparent Watercolor on Yupo - about 7 x 6"