ODE TO MY WIFE THE WATERCOLOR PAINTER

In a short fit of organizing my studio I found this darling poem in with some notes from Jean Grastorf. I just had to share it on my blog this morning.

She learned to paint on Monday,

Her strokes were going fine.

She forgot to thaw our dinner,

So we went out to dine.

She painted trees on Tuesday

She says they are a must.

They really were quite lovely,

But she forgot to dust.

On Wednesday it was daisies,

She says they're really fun.

What lights! What darks!

But the laundry wasn't done.

Her apples were on Thursday,

So juicy, bright and red.

I guess she really was engrossed;

She never nade the bed.

It was violets on Friday

In colors she adores.

It never bothered her at all,

The crumbs on all the floors.

I found a maid on Saturday,

My week is now complete.

My wife can paint the hours away,

The house will still be neat.

Well, it's already Sunday,

But don't call me a saint.

I cursed "!*! I raved, "#!!! I ranted*%##!!!!

The maid has learned to paint!

Anonymous

Banners and Kites

I have another experimental piece to show you. On this one the paper was covered with a product called Watercolor Wash Out Tape. It's a clear tape that will not tear the paper when it is removed. After I covered the paper I used a rotary cutting tool to cut out the banner shapes then I removed them. I could then paint in those spaces while the tape was still on the negative spaces, keeping them white. After the paint was dry, I removed all the remaining tape and decided what needed changing. That was when I decided to add the 3 kite shapes. The yellow streamers were part of the original design. It's a different way of working; we were given the opportunity to use the tape and rotary cutters in the Jean Grastorf workshop.