Be Square!

Perhaps you remember my post last week where I told you about my Square A Day project.  If not, you can read more about it here:  A Square A Day…

I recently finished the square doodle that inspired the idea for my project:

I’ve titled it, Be Square!

I created a box for my 2019 square project with monthly dividers.  I am writing notes on the back of each card with the date, description and inspiration for the square.  I may use my completed squares for inspiration when I get stuck in a creative rut in the future.

Below are six squares I have completed for January:

I find myself paying more attention to my environment and ideas I could use for future squares…

I think for once in my life, I’m OK to be square! 

Cheers!  🙂

Landscape Vignettes

Perhaps you recall the online landscape art class I told you about from Anita Lehmann?  If not, you can learn more about it here:  Exploring Landscape

I enjoyed painting these 1.5 x 1.5 inch landscape vignettes in watercolor; the first 2 rows were from my imagination and the last 3 rows were free photo images of lake and wheat field images from unsplash.com

I discovered a limited color palette and subject matter made the exercise more cohesive and less busy in my last 3 rows:

New materials I used for this project were removable tape – 1/8 inch and 1/4 inch in diameter that I purchased locally at Michaels and Art Graf watercolor graphite that I purchased online from Dick Blick:

I encourage you to give this exercise a try…

I learned to see landscape shapes and elements of design instead of focusing on small details.  It also helped me to work quickly and get a feel of the landscape instead of focusing on minute details.

Cheers! 🙂

Inspired By Autumn Colors

We had a sunny, blue-sky Autumn day in the Pacific Northwest yesterday.  It inspired me to take these photos of trees in my yard and then splash some watercolor paint around!

Nature is full of colorful inspiration! The name of each tree is under the photo.

River Birch Tree – has interesting bark texture and greenish-gold leaves.

Sunset Maple – Fall colors of a sunset!

Crabapple Tree – the birds love to feed on the tiny crabapples in the winter. This tree is color-filled all 4 seasons.

Larch Tree – needles turn gold in Autumn and fall off.

And my watercolor experiments:

How does nature’s colors inspire you?

Cheers! 🙂

A Strange Case…

Today’s weird bird is a strange case…

Could it be Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?

A before and after photo:

Perhaps it is just an ordinary “Two-Headed Hat bird,” not to be confused with this one: The Cat Bird

If you’d like to inspect it further, here is a close-up photo:

Hope your day is clearly fabulous…

Happy Weird Bird Wednesday!

Cheers! 🙂

A Different Perspective

I don’t know about you but sometimes I get stuck in a creative rut…

When creating becomes less fun and spontaneous, I realize I need a break.

I need a different perspective.

Taking a blogging break has helped me realize that creating art doesn’t have to be about knowing the direction I am going in life or art.

It can be about the JOY in discovery.

It can be experimenting with different art mediums such as watercolor paints…

And being inspired by aerial photography at National Geographic to create abstracts by dipping my paintbrush in paint.

I don’t have to create a masterpiece, I just need a new perspective and keep experimenting with JOY! 🙂

I hope you find JOY in what you create today.

Cheers! 🙂

What The?!

Bleep!!

A short blip to wish you…

Happy Weird Bird Wednesday!!

Cheers! 🙂

H, I And Pattern Play

I realized that I hadn’t shared my letters, “H” and “I” from my watercolor Alphabet Journal that I did in July on my blog.

I added the collage portion to these letters last weekend.  I think this page is extra happy:

And you all know how much “I” love flowers!

Last night, I had only a few minutes to paint before dinner so I created this experiment in watercolor:

Watercolor pattern play is relaxing and fun!  I encourage you to give it a try!

Cheers! 🙂

 

The Feckenham Family…

The Feckenham family had similar features…

And could easily be found in a crowd!

Hope these funny faces give you a smile today!

Cheers! 🙂

A Hand-Made Paper Wreath

Remember this “handala” mandala from last week?

Well, I finished it this week…

I used a flower stencil, a black Micron .01 pen and a new 2-inch circle punch:

Creating a Hand-made Paper Wreath:

And I used hand-painted papers for my circles…

I encourage you to try your “hand” at making a paper wreath!

Cheers! 🙂

The Power Of Touch

I do not believe we can ever understand the depth of love…

And the power of touch!

I started my two hands in watercolor last week, if you recall:

And added the finishing “touches” in ink over the weekend.

Two people who “touched” my life with love recently passed.  One a family member and the other the mother of a friend.  Both ladies were 95 years old.

It has made me think more about how others touch my life and how I have the power to touch others with love.

Cheers! 🙂