Breckenridge Batik - Island Flowers

HIBISCUS

Original Watercolor Batik  - 16x18

$125 - Buy Here

With the cold weather we keep having I am definitely ready for some warm island breezes. Since that probably isn't going to happen here in Colorado I guess the next best thing would be to paint something tropical.

This painting is an example of the Watercolor Batiks that I will be working on in Breckenridge as an Artist in Residence in November. The process is similar to the age old batik process where melted wax is used as a resist but instead of fabric and dye I use watercolor and rice paper. By the time the entire piece is covered with wax and I am ready to iron it off I have no idea what the finished piece will look like. This process creates a unique look and it is always exciting to see the final painting!

Exciting News - Artist in Residence

I received exciting news today that I have been chosen to participate in the Artist in Residence Program for Breckenridge, CO. This program provides the time a space for a guest artist to work on their medium while providing opportunities for the public to interact with the artist in the form of open studio hours and hands-on workshops.

Breckenridge is a wonderful ski town in western Colorado with Victorian architecture, fun shops and galleries, great winter sports and beautiful summer hiking trails. A fantastic place to spend time creating art!

Tin Shop

I will be staying in the historic Tin Shop which provides studio space on the first floor and living quarters above. This buiding is the first guest artist facility in the growing Arts District in Breckenridge. I will be there the first two weeks of November and will focus on my Watercolor Batiks - with my own painting and the workshops that I offer to the public.

I will keep you posted on my journey as I get ready for my time in Breckenridge and of course all that I get to experience while I am there. This is such an exciting opportunity and I am honored to be a part of it - thank you to my good friend Jean who encouraged me to apply!

Flying Low

FLYING LOW

Original Watercolor -  18x27 (matted size)

$125 - Buy Here

I have awakened to snowy weather the last few days here in Colorado so I am trying to think warm thoughts - a sunny day, a sandy beach, a warm breeze...

Headed East

Fall Leaves is one of my favorite paintings - I used real leaves as stamps to create the veins and texture on some of the shapes. Some paintings are harder to say good bye to but I know it will have a good home with Charlotte in Virginia - enjoy!

Another favorite painting, Butterflies Are Free, was purchased by Holly in Ohio to use in a charity auction - nice to be a small part of a good cause!

Sunflower Workshop

SUNFLOWER GLORY

Original Watercolor - 15x22

$100 - Buy Here 

I will be teaching a Sunflowers in Watercolor Workshop on Fri April 1 at the Colorado Springs Fine Art Center. Sunflowers are an ideal painting subject with their wonderful overall shape, an abundance of petals and a big textured center. We will explore several techniques for creating texture in watercolor along with ideas for exciting compositions and maybe even throw in a little bit of stamping!
Click Here for registration information.

Which One Do You Like?

FLOWERS IN THE WIND

Original Watercolor - 11x15

$60 - Buy Here 

I painted both of these using the same exact design but with different colors and a different approach.

Flowers in the Wind was started by wetting the whole paper and painting yellow, turquoise and purple all over - I even threw in a little salt. When it was dry, I drew the design and then used alot of negative painting to define the flowers. I painted very little on the flowers and leaves themselves - just enough shading to give dimension but basically let the original colors stay in place, giving the piece more of a design feel as opposed to realistic - hence the blue and purple leaves!

SPRING DELIGHT

Original Watercolor - 11x15

$60 - Buy Here 

For Spring Delight I again wet the paper first and painted in the colors yellow and pink with a little bit of green. When dry, I drew the same design but this time I did more positive painting on the flowers, reinforcing the colors and making them brighter. I also painted the leaves in shades of green and kept the background a little lighter giving this piece a more realistic feel. A fun exercise - try it sometime!

Which one do you like the best? Why? I'd love to hear from everyone!

Tulips Everywhere

My husband and I spent last week visiting my parents in Ft. Worth, TX and over the weekend drove to Dallas to attend the Dallas Arboretum ArtScape - a wonderful art show focusing on nature. As you can tell from the picture we had a beautiful spring day.

There were tulips everywhere, along every walk way and  in every color you can imagine - just gorgeous!

I originally found out about the show from one of my new artist/blog friends, Nancy Medina. She lives in Flower Mound, TX which is perfect for her since she paints beautiful flowers in oils. It was so much fun to meet Nancy in person after only knowing her thru our online comments - she is a wonderful artist and a caring and gentle soul. You can see some of her work here in her booth and can also visit her website at NancyMedina.com

We had a wonderful visit with my parents and given some recent bad news about my dad's health we cherished the time we had with them even more. As we look around us at the beautiful spring flowers bursting forth we should be reminded of how special and important family is and to not take our time with them for granted.

Featured Art Picks

TULIP DANCE

Original Watercolor - 11x15

$60 - Buy Here 

One of the fun things in the world of blogging is getting to interact with the other bloggers out there and see the wide range of things that they like to talk about - and there is a little bit of everything!

Debi was kind enough to feature my watercolor Tulip Dance as one of the Art Picks on her blog. ClickHere to go to One Heart Blog and check out the art, recipes, simple living ideas and Colorado hiking trails among other things - thanks Debi!

DEER IN THE WOODS

Original Watercolor - 11x15

$45 - Buy Here 

Deer in the Woods was featured on the SixThirtyThree blog by Chloe in her Art Galleria Collection #10. She highlights items from Etsy ranging from jewelry to clothes to art - a fun site. Click Here to check it out.

Daily Paintworks "Help Japan Challenge"

WINTER TREES

Original Watercolor

11x14 matted size

The Daily Paintworks Challenge for this week is dedicated to raising money to help the people of Japan. Each artist who enters a painting in the challenge will donate the proceeds of its sale to an organization providing aid to Japan.
I will be putting Winter Trees up for auction and the proceeds will be donated to the American Red Cross Japan Disaster Fund. I have set the starting bid at $10.00 and the bidding will take place on the DPW site. The auction ends in 7 days and the final purchase will be made on my blog website using PayPal. Click Here to go to the bidding site and thank you for your interest. It is wonderful to be able to participate in a group that can use art in such a positive, helpful way!

Lavender Spring

LAVENDER SPRING

Original Watercolor - 11x15

$60 - Buy Here 

Looks like I am back in the springtime mood. Soft pastel colors, flowers and lace make this a romantic painting - very fitting since my hubby and I are celebrating our 28th anniversary today!

Spring Treasury

SPRING FANCY

Original Watercolor on rice paper - 10x15

$50 - Buy Here 

Spring Fancy was painted on rice paper that had been crinkled up to create interesting texture. This painting was featured in an Etsy Treasury called Patterns of Spring. Click Here to see all of the fun spring items.

A Little Bit of Everything

Spring is in the air but here in Colorado we still have snow in the mountains and I love to paint winter scenes. I wanted to experiment with using acrylics on paper so I wet 140 lb paper and used the paints just like I would my watercolors - creating soft, loose shapes.

Then, I decided to collage on some thin rice paper in the background trees and snow area. The nice thing about the acrylic paint is that it won't run or lift once it is dry, so coming in with more paint or matte medium for the collage won't change the underpaitning. When dry, I used more acrylics to paint on top of the rice paper, creating interesting shapes and texture. I also started painting the barn and fence.

WINTER ROSE

Original Watermedia Collage - 8x10

$45 - Buy Here 

I ended up adding some more rice paper and going back to watercolor to paint in the trees and forground. I used gesso on the edge of a piece of mat board to stamp the aspen trees and added details with watercolor. A fun piece to paint - going back and forth between watercolor, acrylic and collage!

Even A Cactus Blooms

CACTUS ROSE

Original Watercolor - 11x15

$60 - Buy Here 

Starting to have a hint of spring in the air with the promise of new life. It has always amazed me that a prickly plant like a cactus can produce such beautiful flowers.

Creative Journey - Lifting Out The Blues

IRIS DANCE

Original Watercolor - 11x15

$45 - Buy Here 

This was a class demo showing how to lift out shapes and paint around them. I wet the paper first applied paint all over in blues and lavender. While still wet, I used a dry brush and started lifting out the light areas to begin forming the iris. As the paper started to dry, I negative painted areas of the petals and added definition to the iris center. This is a great way to create a soft look for your florals.

We often need to remind ourselves to focus on the joy of creativity and not just the product. Play, experiment, create - don't be afraid to expand your artistic horizons and enjoy the journey!

Memories in the Making

Memories in the Making is an art program sponsored by the Alzheimeer's Association that exists to provide a creative and expressive outlet to individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and/or related dementias. While the disease affects individuals’ abilities to use language effectively, the need to communicate can continue through art and the MIM watercolor painting groups. The groups are held at various assisted living and care communities and are facilitated by a staff member and an art volunteer.

One of our wonderful volunteers, Mary, is showing a resident how to use the watercolor on wet paper. It is very important in the Memories in the Making program that the art work is created entirely by the resident as an outlet for their individual creativity. Facilitators are there to provide support, encouragement and guidance as needed.

Some artists look at inspiration photos or still lifes and others are happy to just put paint on the paper. As the dementia increases the paintings often become more abstract in nature but always seem to be colorful and cheerful. It is especially fun to see what the artist will title their paintings - one artist wanted to title her work 'Stormy Skies' because she said it sounded 'sexy' - a common title is 'It Looks Like a Mess'. Dementia may affect memory but their sense of humor stays intact.

This is a wonderful program that brings a lot of joy to the residents and is VERY meaningful to the families. Paintings often show that the memories of their loved ones are not all lost but just can’t be communicated verbally.

As the Memories in the Making program coordinator for Colorado Springs, CO  I am always looking for volunteers to use their creative talents to facilitate a small art class. All that is needed is an interest in art, compassion for the elderly and the patience to build trusting relationships. The time involved is only 2 hours per week at a care community, a one day training session and a six month commitment to the program.
The next MIM Basic Training will be Thurs Mar 31, 2011 - please contact me if interested. If you don't live in Colorado contact your local Alzheimer's office to see if there is a program near you - thanks!

Layer Upon Layer

HARMONY

Original Acrylic on paper - 11x15

Purchase Info 

I began this painting by applying white gesso over an old watercolor that I did not like. When it was dry I painted with acrylic in several dark colors and scraped into it for the tree trunks and border. I painted the trees with acrylic paint and used mesh painted with gesso to stamp on texture. I also painted in the works 'harmony', 'peace' and 'solitude' into the background. I always tell my students to never throw away the paintings they don't like - there is always something you can do to redeem them, even if it means starting over!

Etsy Treasury Full of Spring Watercolors

FLOWER GARDEN

Original Watercolor  - 11x15

$45 - Buy Here 

This painting was included in an Etsy Treasury titled Spring featuring all watercolor painting of flowers. It is unusual for a treasury to focus on paintings so be sure and check it out. Click Here

Crazy for Color

PASTEL LEAVES

Original Watercolor - 9x15

$45 - Buy Here

This is another leaf painting where I used real leaves painted with watercolor and then stamped them on the paper to create interesting leaf and vein shapes. You can paint each leaf with just one color or as I did here use several colors for more variety. I then used negative painting to enhance the shapes and add direction to the composition.

Two More Out The Door

This painting of an old barn is on its way to Judith in Pennsylvania.

This was the painting I did for the DailyPaintworks Challenge and now lives with Carol in West Virginia.

Sometimes it is hard to say good by to your paintings but it is always nice to know that people enjoy your work and can give then a good home.

Southwest Watercolor Workshop

Here are some of the ladies from the Southwest Watercolor Workshop I taught at the Colorado Springs Fine Art Center yesterday. We had a great day of creating, sharing and learning. I focused on landscapes in the morning and old pots in the afternoon.

We started with a light sketch of the rocks and land forms and then wet the area for the sky, dropping in pastel colors. While still wet, I used kleenex to lift out some clouds. If you don't want really hard edges on your clouds you need to baby sit them and every few minutes blot around the edges to keep them soft.

The next step was to paint the rock areas using raw sienna, bunt sienna and some purple on dry paper. Then I used plastic wrap to create texture. I also started adding some shadows in the sky around the clouds, being careful to blend edges where needed.

You can see the nice texture created with the plastic. I continued to work on the sky and started adding shadows between the buttes to seperate them. Also, began to paint some distant land forms using purple mixed with a little burnt sienna.

Here is the final painting. I added a hint of yellow ochre in the sky and more distant buttes. I continued to shadow and detail the land forms and added a few grasses in the front. I think everyone in the class did a great job and it was fun to see their personal creative stamp on the final paintings.

Southwestern Sky - SOLD - 11x15 inches original watercolor.

GRAPES & LEAVES - Negative Painting

This painting is a great example of negative painting - painting the space around a subject instead of positive painting the actual form. I first wet the whole paper and painted in the background colors. When it was dry I painted the grapes and green leaves. Notice on the leaves that I painted around the veins - again, negative painting. I also darkened the background to paint around the lighter leaves. I love negative painting in watercolor - a very important concept that allows you to make an area lighter since you can't come back in with white paint. I also feel like I create more interesting shapes since it puts me in my 'right' brain.

Grapes and Leaves - $50 - 11x15 inches original watercolor. This painting is available for purchase using PayPal at my Etsy Store. Click Here

Daily Painting Challenge - COLORFUL TRIO

The challenge this week on DailyPaintworks.com (it is only Wed and I already have it done - getting a little better) is to paint with one color for one stroke. This is much more applicable to oil or acrylic painting where seperate brushstrokes are used as opposed to watercolor where the paint soaks into the paper and blends and mixes. I decided to paint on gessoed paper because the wateroclor will sit on the surface and allow for a more 'stroke-like' approach. It is fun to paint this way but also challenging because the paint wants to lift off the paper everytime you try and layer the paint - have to be quick and direct.

Colorful Trio - $60 - 11x15 inches original watercolor on gessoed paper. This painting is available for purchase using PayPal at my Website. Click Here

And The Winner Is....

Thanks you to everyone that participated in suggesting a title for this painting - they were as follows
Spring is Here
Spring Spendor
Fluttering in Pink
Nature's Fireworks in Pink
Pretty in Pink
Summer Life
Kissing Roses
Love Connection
Everything is Coming up Roses
Just a Sip

Too hard for me to decide so I put them in a hat and the winner is ----- Everything is Coming Up Roses! Thanks Jean

Everything is Coming Up Roses - $100 - 15x22  inches original watercolor. This painting is available for purchase using PayPal at my Etsy Store. Click Here