Correcting Watercolor

                                           Pears and Apple  9x9 watercolor

This little painting was stuck in my portfolio for weeks because I didn't know what to do for a background. Then one day I was leafing through an older copy of one of my watercolor magazines when I found an article by Ann Abgott. She's the one who inspired me to paint the fruit in the first place. She had a still life of fruit with a really dark background. It made the fruit just pop on the page. So, I decided to try it. First I tried Payne's gray on a wet background. Not only did it look dull, the paint started to seep into my nice pristine fruit, and they were dry! I sat a babysat it, dabbing away at the seeping paint until it dried enough to stop. When it was completely dry I went around all the edges of the fruit with a masking fluid. Then I mixed my own dark with Windsor green and alizarin crimson. I was much happier with this color, it just seemed livelier than the Payne's gray. The next mistake I made was painting the background down to far on my painting which caused the apple to look like it was floating. I had nothing to loose so I decided where the line should be and started scrubbing all the dark below that line, 3 or 4 inches. All those staining colors were very stubborn, I attacked with a Mr Clean Magic Eraser sponge. I got off as much as I could, burnished the poor bruised paper and coated it with Aquacover Liquid Watercolor Paper. You have to be really close to see the correction but I cropped the painting quite close and into a square shape to minimize the visible amount of correction. Who says you can't correct a mistake in watercolor?

It's Snowing Somewhere

                                           Christmas Tree 5x7 acrylic on paper

Nice, gentle snowflakes falling softly on Christmas eve. That's the ideal picture in so many minds. That may happen in some part of the country this year. A fresh snowfall is hard to beat when it comes to a beautiful sight in December. To wake up in the morning as a child and to look out the window to that sight of all that white stuff covering everything is an amazing thing. Children don't think of shoveling or scrapping car windows. It's just the wonder of the change in your world overnight; from dull gray and brown one day to pristine white the next. I do miss it just a little living here in Florida, especially this time of year. However, I don't miss the cold or wearing heavy coats, gloves, boots, hats and scarves. Wherever you are, cold climate or warm, enjoy the blessings of this season of Christmas and the wonder of it all.

Oh the Weather Outside...

                                       Coconut Palm acrylic on yupo 12x15

...is frightful, so that song goes. Maybe in some parts of the world it is but here in Florida beautiful, warm weather greets us each morning. Not that we don't get an occasional "cold snap", perhaps even some freezing, but that's not the norm. I painted this palm while sitting outside the gallery a few weeks ago. The parking lot did not make a very good background so why not a beach instead? I used my liquid acrylics like watercolor to get the loose, watery effect along with a quick spray of water. On a cold and dreary winter day come and sit under my palm in the sun.

Christmas Card

                                    Christmas 2011 5.5 X 7 Mixed Media


Every year I try to come up with an image that conveys my beliefs about the true meaning of Christmas. This year's image came out of a rather randomly done collage. As I was looking at it, the possibility of a figure emerged in the blue collage piece near the center. I painted in the face  and added a halo of shiny gold colored paper, painted the manger and added the gold paper "beams". I was thinking of the 3rd verse from the Christmas carol "Silent Night".

Silent night, holy night,
Son of God, love's pure light
Radiant beams from thy holy face,
With the dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus, Lord, at thy birth.

Then I thought of the angels that sang after announcing to shepherds the birth of a Savior. Their song was "Glory to God in the highest..." My card illustration was complete.

I wish all of you a very happy and blessed Christmas!

Tyvek Wallets

I haven't posted for awhile so I thought I show what I've been up to for the last week or two. I was very fascinated by these Tyvek envelope wallets that were demonstrated on Myrna Wacknov's blog. She had posted a 4 part video on her blog several weeks ago about how to make them and I got totally hooked. The envelopes can be purchased at an office store. You paint one side of the envelope and then by folding, cutting and taping with double stick tape you end up with a wallet for credit cards and folding money. Since our grandchildren are of an age where we send them a gift card or check on gift giving occasions I thought this would be a clever way of packaging the gift. Myrna decorated her wallets with stencils so that's how I have done mine. It's been a learning experience, especially when it comes to folding them so you have the openings where they should be. I think I watched video 4 at least 6 times and stopped it and started it and repeated it. Finally I made my own instruction sheet and marked on a white envelope the folds and cuts. It's all fun from the painting to the cutting and folding. Myrna's blog is http://myrnawacknov.blogspot.com/

Poinsettia on Yupo

                                     Poinsettia on Yupo 5x5 acrylic


This is another quick painting done on Yupo with liquid acrylics. I felt that the white background was too white and plain so I decided to use a rubber stamp that has calligraphy on it to fill in some of the blanks. I brushed gold metallic acrylic onto the stamp in random places and stamped it onto the painting. I like the look of calligraphy in a painting and this is an easy way to add it. I think the words are in another language so they don't make any sense to an English reader, they are just random shapes in the background. It's very subtle and just breaks up the white. I also added some of the gold to the center of the flowers.

Experimenting with Yupo

                                  Blue Fish 5X6 acrylic, mixed medium on Yupo 

I did some experimenting on Yupo which is a slick plastic product that you can paint on. It comes in different weights, in opaque and translucent. I have painted on it with acrylic inks and with watercolor. This time I decided to try liquid acrylics that were thinned with water. My thought was that this would be more permanent than the watercolor and perhaps more controllable than the acrylic inks. Of course, for control-ability it depends on how much water you use. After the painting was dry I decided it needed some texture so I dug in my "toy box" for some stringy stuff that was already the color of my painting and stuck it on with some matte medium. I think it makes an interesting piece. The red lips add a bit more whimsey.  

Ceramic Bird

                                Still Life with Ceramic Bird  Watercolor 4X6

I found a couple of ceramic birds that belonged to my mother when I was recently cleaning my china cabinet. I was about to put them in the thrift store box when I realized that these would make fun still life objects. (Maybe this is why I can't get rid of anything). They are small so they fit well with fruit and other small things for easily managed arrangements. This was a fun execise that I did on a watercolor postcard.
The postcards come in a pack and are glued on 4 sides with a little spot where you can insert a small palette knife to separate them once it's dry, just like a watercolor pad. They are really handy to take along on trips because they are small and easy to pack with your travel kit.

The Good, the Bad and the Mermatron

                                "Mermatron" 5 x 7 mixed media on paper

On one of my collaged backgrounds I decided to paint a mermaid. I drew her the way I thought I wanted her and went in with the acrylic paint. She got a little chubbier than I wanted her to be but then I thought that maybe mermaids get older too. Maybe they gain a little weight like the rest of us. Maybe they don't keep a girlish figure. A little extra around the middle must be why they call it "middle age" don't you think? In that case she would no longer be a mermaid would she? In a wedding an older, married lady is called the matron of honor instead of maid of honor so my mermaid must be a mermatron. I'll bet she can still flip her tail, though.

Paint, Collage, Paint

                                 Rocks and Sea 5 3/4 X 7 Mixed media


I tore up an old watercolor painting into small pieces and decided to put hand made collage papers over them all using Yes glue. This piece was already a rock and sea painting so I just added to it by putting dark papers over the rocks and lighter blue papers over the water. When this dried I added paint to make some details, a horizon line, light in the waves and top of the rocks and a few birds in the sky. When that was dry I coated it with matte medium. The other collages are more colorful and I'll post them in the days to come.

Collage and watercolor

Fluers de Paris  watercolor and collage on gessoed paper 11X15

I guess I still have Paris on my brain since our trip. There are the most incredible flower shops there. They display their flowers almost like they are tumbling out the door for the abundance of them. I think they must know how irresistible they are to those who pass by. The blooms are the freshest arrangements possible. My background was painted in the blues and purples then a layer of thinned gesso was applied over the top. I painted the bouquet next and when that dried I applied another layer of the gesso which I textured with bubble wrap. I started with my collage papers next, some I've made myself, some are torn from colorful napkins. The red/orange bird, also from a napkin, was added for interest and whimsy. I added watercolor here and there as I thought it was needed. If you look carefully you'll see a little Eiffel Tower to the left of the bouquet.

20 Minute Postcard

I found some watercolor postcards in my stash and decided I should paint on them and send them to friends. I made up this scene of a clump of two palms on a beach at sunset. The water is calm as it so often is on the gulf coast of Florida. There is a rosey glow from the setting sun and the palm fronds are picking up some amazing reflections from the waning light. Perhaps I used a little artistic license for that but then, I do have an Artistic License. It's signed by Kathleen Conover, AWS, NWS. I guess that's official enough for me.
(Also posted on 20 Minute Challenge http://twentyminutechallenge.blogspot.com/ )

Ripe Pear in 20 minutes

                                    Ripe Pear 31/2 x 5 1/2, watercolor

Sometimes I just have to remind myself that a little quickie to send to 20 Minute Challenge is better than not painting at all. I love to paint pears and have some artificial ones that look almost like the real thing. I can get one out and paint it over and over and there are never two that look alike. When the paintings are this small I can always use them on little note cards. People always seem to appreciate a hand painted card. I keep telling myself that there is really no excuse for not painting. Take the 20 Minute Challenge!

A Swan Afternoon

                                          Swan Afternoon Watercolor 15x22

It feels really good to be able to paint regularly again! I started this painting last spring with the drawing from a photo that I took. I did a little painting on it this summer and finally finished it (I think) this week. I was really fortunate that the liquid mask that I put on at the beginning, several months ago, didn't ruin the paper when I took it off. I only masked the sparkles in the water and a little bit on the head and neck, the rest I just painted around. I think it would be fun to do something more interesting with the water but for now I think I'll leave it and go on to another.

Brushes Still Wet

                        Yellow Daisies in a Blue Vase, watercolor, 5 X 7

So far my plan is working. My painting table is still cleared off and my brushes are ready to go. I love working with blue and yellow so I took these daisy like flowers from a supermarket bouquet and put them in a little blue vase. Working with small containers is a trick I learned from Ann Abgott. It takes fewer flowers, cherries or whatever you are painting in a still life set up if you work small. It seems to simplify things as well. The copy of my painting came out with much darker yellows than are on the painting and the upper left corner should be white. Since I copied it by scanning maybe there is something I can tweak on the scanner. If any bloggers out there have an idea about this please leave a comment. All comments are appreciated.

Keeping the Brushes Wet

                                   Plums and Apple, watercolor, 4 1/2 x 6


I'm still working on the organization of my home studio, it's a slow process as I decide what I can and can't live without. In the meantime I want to keep my painting table open for painting and my brushes wet. It's so tempting to pile things on the painting table while trying to find them a home. If I have a painting in progress on the table, I can't put anything on top of it. That's my strategy anyway. I set up a little still life of plums and apples with the thought of painting them in 20 minutes but it took a little longer than that to get the deep colors of the plums. The idea is just to keep the table clear, the paper ready to go, and the brushes wet. 

It's Been a Long Time

                                  Chocolatier in Brugge, Belgium




It's been a long time since I last posted a blog but I have a good excuse. My husband sprung a trip on me. Our 50th Anniversary is coming up and he arranged a trip to France and Belgium. We just returned two days ago and are just starting to come out of the jet lag fog. We spent 3 of our days in Brugge, Belgium. What a delightful little town that is! It's very picturesque; I took lots of pictures during our walks around town every day. One day we stopped at an outdoor cafe and noticed a darling Chocolate shop across the street. The shop was nestled on a corner and one had to step down into the shop. I think the other buildings were built around it in order to preserve it. I had my little painting kit along so I painted it in my 3.5 x 5.5 Moleskine. 

Home in Florida

                              Cat on Porch of the Pines at Dresden


I was able to do just one little watercolor sketch on our trip back to Florida. We stayed in Dresden Ohio at a B & B, The Pines. It was a delightful place with very congenial proprietors and guests. The cats on the premises tolerated the guests but were not particularly friendly. I used to have a plaque that said, "You're nobody until you've been ignored by a cat." This cat definitely ignored me but that was a good thing because then I could get my little sketch done. Next to the wicker, the cat was easy. I don't think I've attempted to paint a wicker chair and table before, and probably won't again. Did you know that the word wicker comes from the same root word at wicked? I was reminded of that as I tried to capture the look of it. My next post I'll tell you a little about Dresden OH and what we found there.

Details of the Blues

                                                                   Upper Right

                                                                   Upper Left

                                                              Lower Right

                                                           
                                                                      Lower Left


I did get a request for seeing some of the details of my painting "He's Got the Blues". I especially like the first one, the upper right; maybe it's because I'm right handed that I like to put some interest there. In this case the calligraphy is stamped on very thin paper and then glued onto the painting. That way I can move it around, adjust the size, and decide where I want it by looking at it before gluing it down. I also use Yes paste which is water soluble and can be removed. It also allows me to easily paint over it which is more difficult with mat medium, a second choice for adding collage.
This may be my last post for awhile, we must begin our transition to Florida again. I don't think there will be time for painting but I will sneak a peek at the blogs during the week. 
Thanks for all the encouraging comments!

He's Got The Blues

                                        He's Got the Blues, watercolor/mixed media, 16x22

I painted this to be an entry in the State Fair Fine Arts Show. They get several thousand entries each year in every category that you can think of. This year it was one accepted work for each ten entered. Not bad odds if you're playing the lottery but not good odds for getting into an art show. Mine didn't get accepted so now I've got the blues! I've only gotten accepted once at the Fair and it was the first time I had entered. So, like a lottery player who wins once, I keep entering. Oh well, I had fun painting him; I made my under painting with lots of textural materials and then added some of them back as I painted the picture. My photo doesn't do it justice because you can't see all the fun things in the background. I may try taking pictures of parts of it and posting it in segments in the future.