Breakfast

When I found this adorable cow pitcher in my search for Goodwill treasures, I couldn't resist purchasing it.  It was perfect with my grandmother's vintage milk bottle.

March - The In-between month

March has always seemed like an in-between month...Still winter (finding me in need of warm cups of tea), but showing signs of spring and the promise of summer.  These are two new watercolors I did last weekend.  April and the beginning of the Farmer's Market are right around the corner.  This will be my 15th season.  I can't wait.  It's my social life.

Never Leave Home Without It

How many times have I said that.... "Never leave home without my camera."  It's a little argument I have with myself on the way out the door.  Why do I want to bring the extra weight of my camera (I don't have a smart phone)?  This day, a wintery December day last year, I happened upon a car rally of sorts.  Dozens of beautiful vintage cars and not a driver in sight.  They must have been in a nearby coffee shop celebrating the season.  Meanwhile, I was seizing the moment, crawling all over their cars (not literally) with my camera finding next year's Christmas card. (cards available on my Etsy "whimrab" site.)  Now, if I'd just brought my camera this year, I could have gotten some closeups of those reindeer.

The Sweet Robin

The robin.  They've just always been there.  In the yard, cocking their heads to one side listening for worms.  Do worms make a noise?  They must.   Every now and again I get a request from a market customer for a robin card for someone with the same name....so here it is.

I've had enough of winter

I always know when I've had enough of winter.  I start dragging out my photos of dearly departed bouquets from spring and summers past.  My version of pouring over seed catalogs, I guess.  This is a watercolor I have just finished using 300-pound Arches watercolor paper.  At $16.00 a pop, staring down at a sheet of this paper can be intimidating.  What if I ruin it?  So, I quickly cut the sheets up in 8 x 10-inch smaller sheets.  Now I'll only ruin a $4 piece of paper.  That isn't so scary.  These originals are listed for sale on Etsy.com and soon on dailypaintworks.com (links in the right-hand margin.)

The Colors of Winter

We don't have cardinals in the Pacific Northwest, that I'm aware of.  I wish I could see one of these beautiful little birds out my kitchen window.  I do have holly in the yard.  Thankfully, no snow...just gray rain.  This little image was done in transparent watercolor with black gouache and is ready for the 2014 Christmas season.  Ahhhh.  Ahead of schedule.  A great way to start a new year.

First Painting of 2014

A Happy New Year to you all.

With a backyard filled with birds and squirrels, it seems only reasonable to make this little squirrel the subject of my first painting for the new year.  Within several yards of my kitchen window, I have seen 7 different squirrels, a red tailed hawk, a deer, and half a dozen varieties of birds.  It's such a privilege to have a wild backyard in which to spy so many creatures.

Goals for the new year include painting more, posting originals to my site on Daily Paint Works, posting new cards and prints to my etsy site and being very ready for the Bellingham Farmers Market in April.  (See links in the side bar to the right)

Artful Autumn

New card for fall from the Whimsical Rabbit.  This was done in transparent watercolor, white acrylic ink and black gouache on 140# Arches paper.  "Owl and Oak" #219.

The Bellingham Farmers Market 2013 season is over for me.  On to fall and winter show preparation.  Lots of cards to make and hopefully new designs.  I was expecting to be done with my corporate employment as of Oct. 4 and heading into my new life as a self-supporting artist, but that will have to wait a bit.  So, I will continue to try to balance my life as an artist on a shoestring schedule...truly hoping to blog more frequently.

Warm ups.

These guys seem like they're swimming in a big fishbowl.  Just a little warm up exercise before starting another watercolor.  The original is currently listed on Etsy (site whimrab) for some lucky person to grab.  

 I'm at about 205 in the number images I'm trying to keep stocked in my card inventory.  Yikes!  Where did all these paintings come from?

Tiny Frog with Zinnia

Maybe it's because I usually root for the little guy, but this frog just ended up tiny next to the towering Zinnia.  It makes spring seem closer somehow.  Our 50-degree weather does a lot for the illusion as well. 

This painting was done in transparent watercolor on 140-pound Arches cold-press paper as well as some black and white acrylic for the background and frog highlights.  The fine lines on the leaves were made by gently scoring the first layer of paint, while it was still wet, with a blunt object (in this case, I used an embossing tool from my scrapbook supplies).  When the second transparent layer is placed, the pigment settles into the lines and creates nice skinny lines that I could probably never do as well with a paintbrush.  It's a cool trick.  I like cool tricks.

Love and Hate

I have a love-hate relationship with my computer when I use it to create artwork.  Sometimes I do it, but there's a teeny, tiny voice inside my head that says "You're cheating, you know."  Then why do I love seeing what fun new thing "Hal" comes up with using my artwork?  I'll have to think about that.

In Praise of Small Shows

Many an artisan participating in art shows has probably taken a gamble on a first-year show.  This past weekend I participated in one such show.  The venue was beautiful, the weather sunny and autumn golden, the products diverse and well made and displayed, but sales overall were a bit lackluster.  As I have some past experience with this sort of thing, I decided that I would bring along some interesting props and do as many small paintings as I could.  As I tend to be a reclusive studio painter, these paintings are never as polished as my studio paintings, but I enjoy doing them and they stimulate conversation with onlookers. 

A couple of jewels for the day were:
1.  I finished the above little painting and started another.
2.  I had sales enough to cover my show expenses and a lovely buffet lunch was served.
3.  I made a possible wholesale contact in another state.
4.  I made two possible Art-Startz contacts for the spring.
5.  I made a possible show contact for the summer.
6.  I got a jump start on my inventory for the next 2 shows.
7.  I met and talked with some wonderful people I would not have met if I'd stayed home.
8.  The cards that were purchased will fly off into the world with kind words for people I'll probably never meet.  Those kind words will make my images look even better.

So, given all that, how could I consider the hours I spent a waste of time.  I don't.  Thanks to all who made the day such a success.

June Art-Startz

The June Art-Startz session was a special time of artistic energy.  Whether it be a simple plate with a couple of strawberries or a garden gate, each of us brings a new perspective to the things that inspire us.  To watch a piece of white paper and some pigment become a new thing is magical.

Turning the corner on winter

Everything is coming up primroses and with them the promise of 6 months of warmer weather.  Time to put away the wooly socks and gloves.  I love this time of year.  It makes me forget how long and dark winter is.

I also can be reasonably sure that Art-Startz won't get canceled again on account of icy weather.  Twice was enough.  I've reserved Sunday April 3 and Sunday April 10 for our next sessions.  We will use a watercolor wet-on-dry technique, mixing color on the paper, and try out watercolor pencils and crayons.  They're perfect for capturing the tulip fields.  Very fun!  Ready to paint?  I sure am.

Breaking Rules

I recently have discovered the artwork of British painter, Shirley Trevena.  I have purchased her DVD "Breaking the Rules of Watercolour" from Creative Catalyst Productions and have also purchased one of her books "Taking Risks with Watercolour" from Amazon.  Mixing paint on the paper rather than on the palette reminds me of the way I used to paint before I began glazing.  It's a much more spontaneous approach.  A chance to get excited about surprises.  A chance to suspend expectations.  A chance to throw exactness out the window.

Simple Stems

Spring is just around the corner.  The garden is showing signs of perennial life.  It wasn't such a bad winter here in the Pacific NW, thus far at least.  Winter is a time to paint new things for the farmer's market season coming up.  Life is getting in the way...as usual.  A couple of new card images have been accomplished.  Art-Startz #4 is coming up here shortly on February 27.  I am totally enjoying the time of artful exploration.  Can't wait to see what they paint next.  I hope they're doing their homework.

This painting is one of a series I plan to do, exploring refraction of stems in water.  My market "neighbor" displays her wonderful dahlias and lilies in these wonderful blue jars and I haven't been able to resist taking tons of photos.  Glass and water....what a challenge.

White Stuff

It's coming...again. Earlier and earlier every year it seems. Maybe we will see an ice age again. Did I mention I'm not a big fan of winter? I'm never sure if I've stashed away the right stuff. Dog food---check, cat food and litter----check. Candles, batteries, extra water, sunscreen...no, not sunscreen. Well, I'm off to try to get to my cubicle dwelling. It hasn't even started to snow, but I'm way ahead of the curve in worry.

This image is from a larger watercolor called "Sheep in the Woods".

Morning Jump-Start

I'm not sure which foreign country is due the credit for the discovery of coffee, but I'm eternally grateful for their sharing of it with the world. It is truly a remarkable thing...and legal. I do partake of a good cup of tea from time to time, but coffee makes my world go round. Here in the Pacific Northwest, we seem to be famous for making coffee part of our culture. That works for me. Woods Coffee is a little coffee company that seems to be springing up all over our county and probably beyond. Their decor is so Pacific Northwest and their coffee is great.

This is a little watercolor painting of mine that I scanned and altered using a couple of Photoshop Elements filters.

Change in the Weather

It was inevitable. After all, it's nearing the end of October. We've enjoyed some wonderful sunny days, but now it looks like a change has come. Speaking of change, I managed to find enough of it at the bottom of my purse to pay for parking so that I could see the "1934: A New Deal For Artists" at the Lightcatcher today. The paintings were wonderful! Note to Bellinghamsters: There are tours for nonmembers. Check into it.

This is a watercolor painting I did utilizing a wet-into-wet technique, using various things like dry paper towels and a plastic credit card to create texture.

Art-Startz Revisited

Art-Startz 2 has tentatively been scheduled for October 30. I'm really looking forward to introducing our merry band of watercolor enthusiasts to the wonderful world of SHAPES. We'll be playing with simple fruit shapes and work to create compositions that will be the basis for our paintings. We'll even throw a little salt around just for fun.