Berry Season

It's berry season in Whatcom County.  First the strawberries, followed by raspberries and then (my personal favorite) blueberries and blackberries from the backyard.  M-M-M fresh-baked blackberry pie with ice cream.  Of course, that daydream is contingent on my actually baking...Hey, it could happen.

This 18" x 36" image is from a series of acrylic paintings I did last summer for a showing at Bellewood Acres.  Several of them are still on display there.  They look great on their barn-red wall in the dining area.  Such a great place.  "Strawberries in Colander"  #215.

Remembering

Memorial Day.  A time to remember those who have gone before us, remembering those who have made our freedom something we can take for granted, but shouldn't.    A huge thank you to all those who have served our Country in so many ways. 

Trying to wrangle acrylics.   Here's a little 5" x 7" impressionistic warm up I've just completed.  To see it up close, you could visit my booth at the Saturday Bellingham Farmer's Market.

Poor Neglected Blog

How hard could it be, blogging on a regular basis?  Lots of people do it.  I'm really going to try harder.    One thing that is still constant is my love of all things creative.  I've been dabbling in oil paint on canvas, but I'm rethinking that.  It's just not immediate enough for my short attention span.  A week waiting for paint to dry is so....like I'm on to something else.  I did do this little dress for practice.   I'm liking the texture, which can't really be appreciated in this image.  I have such high respect for those artists who can get a photographic likeness with oil paint; however, it's back to the acrylics for me.

Infusing Beauty into Every Corner

This is my new personal mantra.  Infuse this day with beauty.  It will be a large project for me personally because I've been preoccupied for way too long.  It doesn't have to mean having a house Martha would covet, but rather making the best of my situation, whatever that might be.  With spring only a few weeks away, what better time to make some changes.  I've also printed this little phrase out in several colors using my new-to-me Epson Stylus printer and will be posting them on Etsy.  Maybe there are others who will catch the vision of infusing beauty into life.

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.

Winter Whites

The calendar says it's still winter and groundhog Phil has seen his shadow once again.  Winter has it's own beauty of rich neutral hues of a deep sleep.  The yard is alive with birds, squirrels and an occasional deer and bunny.  Time to prune the roses back.  

These are some tags from my reference photos I'm going to post on Etsy.  They work as tags, bookmarks or a garland for cubicle or home.