A Little Of This And That

I started a doodle painting recently for an online class I’m taking with Jennifer Mercedes. It is on 24″ x 24″ gessoboard.

It does have a bird in it, although not terribly weird! Can you find it?

I’m not sure about these colors… what do you think? I’m painting with acrylics.

I will add some other colors this week and show you my progress next week.

I wanted to show you a little of this and that I have been doing this last week.

A turtle jigsaw puzzle I recently completed:

It was a challenging puzzle but fun!

And a view of the lake in the winter:

Happy Wednesday!

Cheers! 😃

Exploring Landscape

I recently completed an online class from Anita Lehmann called, “Translating Landscapes.” The class was hosted by Carla Sonheim.  

I am still learning so much from this class!! Anita is a wonderful teacher.  She is also a licensed architect in Washington State.

Exploring the elements of design in landscape has helped me to SEE my subject in a different way.  I am learning to see more abstractly as “shapes.”

We warmed up with a favorite subject of mine, PEARS!  I enjoyed experimenting with a variety of art materials using the design elements on a 6 x 6 inch paper:

Next, I applied the design elements to my photo from the lake:

Here are my favorites from this exploration:

“Motive” combines several design elements into one design.

If you’d like to learn more about Anita H Lehmann and view her art, please check out:  Anitahlehmannartist.com or ahldraws on Instagram.

Cheers! 🙂

Autumn’s Display

Fall was in the air this last weekend at the lake!

I always like when the wild rose hips turn a blushing reddish-orange:

I did a pencil sketch of them in my journal:

I enjoyed taking these photos of Autumn’s Display to share with you:

 

I hope they brighten your Monday!

Cheers! 🙂

 

Rocking It…

OK, I agree, my title is a bit punny for one of the last five watercolors I did in July:

Next, I decided to expand my horizons (so to speak) and painted this landscape:

Not a subject I normally paint, so I was pleased with it… below is my reference photo I used from a photo I took of a nearby creek:

We recently had a full moon that inspired these summer stars:

I enjoyed playing with a dagger brush and different color combinations for them.

Time was short so I experimented to create this fantastic feather:

I used a straw to blow wet pools of watercolor paint and gold acrylic ink to give it some pizazz!  The collaged letter, “F” I created from one of my leftover watercolor circles from a previous project.

I ended my last painting for July with this door and quote:

I was ready to close the “door” on this project and start something new!

Thank you ALL for your encouragement on this month’s project, as always, I appreciate your kind comments and likes of support… it means so much to me!

Cheers! 🙂

Trees, Unicorns And Vino…

Continuing with my Alphabet watercolor and collage series for the month of July…

Letter, “T” is for trees:

Do you see a couple of birds in my tree?  😉

”U” never know when a unicorn will show up!

Especially when under a sun umbrella! 

And no, I wasn’t sampling the vino…

Just drawing with my eyes closed!  (Yes, my eyes were open for the painting, lettering and I did cheat a little and add a few extra lines to the wine bottles with my eyes open…)

I have decided to spend a few extra days enjoying the lake this week.  Temps will be in the high 80’s and low 90’s…

Summer is so short here that it is nice to enjoy when the weather is good!

There is something about the water that is so soothing…

Cheers to summer! 🙂

Wild Horses…

I created this wild horse using a masking tape technique recently.  I scribbled copic markers inside the tape as my first layer before adding watercolor.

I hadn’t planned on creating a horse but after I removed the masking tape, he appeared! Lol! 😉   I added pan pastels and watercolor splashes to soften the image.

The masking tape was EXTRA sticky so I tried my next animal creature using washi tape.  Below is a before and after photo:

I learned this technique from Carla Sonheim. I think it would be a super fun activity to do with children.  (The washi tape was much less sticky and worked better than the masking tape for me.)

When I took this photo at the lake Saturday evening, I saw a horse head in the storm clouds afterwards:

Do you see it?  I must have had horses on my mind!

Hope your Monday starts out in a slow trot and not a fast gallop!

Cheers! 🙂

A Little Art

Hello friends,

I am feeling much better and happy to be blogging again! YAY! 😃

I couldn’t stay away from creating in my art journal for too long…

And discovered this sketchbook to be the perfect size for a little art!  

Sometimes I think I have to make something BIG for it to be considered as ART…

Yet, this is not true!  After all, flowers come in all shapes, color and sizes so why not art?

And art journaling isn’t about a MASTERPIECE…

But EXPLORING and creating…

And experimenting with different art mediums!

Who knows what discoveries I will make by creating a little art in my journal…

I encourage you to give it a try!

Plant a little art today…

Cheers! 🙂

Lake Doodlings…

What inspires YOU?

This last weekend I was at the lake…

The weather has been unusually warm which has made the snow melt too quickly.  The lake water is well above normal.

Beaches are now part of the lake…

Perhaps stories around a campfire some day?

The lake was so calm for these photos… beautiful reflections:

I love how the sky reflects on the water…

It gave me time to relax and reflect on my own life.

And create this lake doodle in my art journal…

I’d love to hear what helps YOU relax!

Cheers! 🙂

A Lazy Daisy Day

Yesterday, I had a lazy daisy kind of day…

I was at the lake and the weather was very nice!

What a difference a week makes!  The photo below on the left was taken last weekend and the photo on the right shows how the beach chairs would NOW be under water!

The sunshine feels wonderful but we don’t need the snow in the mountains to melt too quickly!  Flood warnings are now in place…

Oh, the balance of nature… glad I’m not in charge! 😉

Hope you had a lazy daisy day too!  What did you do?

Cheers! 🙂

Clear Skies

We have been dealing with smoke from wild fires in our area for several weeks.  Not only do we have poor vision but the air quality has been awful!  This photo was taken last weekend at the lake:

So we were thrilled to have a few drops of rain and wind to clear the skies this last weekend!

Yesterday, we were able to enjoy a short boat ride and breathe in fresh air in clear skies.  It was wonderful to see blue sky and mountains again.  Hoorah! 😃

We noticed the air and water temperatures were cooler and leaves starting to change to autumn’s glorious show:

It was so nice to enjoy the beauty around us again!  We hope that the firefighters are able to get control of fires around us so that the smoke stays away.  We still need rain badly.

Even the wild animals are hurting from the dry weather.  I found this wild bunny eating an apple from a neighbor’s tree.  The deer love the apples but I have never seen a bunny eat one!

Such bizarre weather this year, everywhere it seems…

Stay safe friends!

Cheers! 🙂