VISITORS

Getting to paint with friends is such a treat, but this week I realized that rest had to come first. It's not been three weeks since surgery, and my body gets tired way faster than I expect.

These little birds visit my feeder constantly and never seem to tire. This painting is on my favorite surface to paint on - YUPO! There's some charcoal dust tossed onto a spritzed area and some pencil work, but mostly, it's transparent watercolor. There is a lot of untouched white in the background, but it shows here with a bluish tint. YUPO can be tricky to photograph accurately, but you get the idea.

It's so much fun (and so intimidating) to explore and find my way when trying new methods for approaching a painting. It's all so worth it. Happy painting.

"VISITORS" Transparent Watercolor with Charcoal and Graphite on YUPO 18 x 15"

YUPO REVISED

Last week after washing off most of the paint from the YUPO surface of an old unfinished painting, I started a detailed painting of a Red Tailed Hawk that I'd taken pictures of over ten years ago. The background textures became part of the new painting. It needs to be cropped in more to balance the hawk and make him seem more powerful. What do you think?

Today Rhonda and Kathy were here painting, and we took a lunch break to go to Willie's. Upon our return, the keypad on the garage door wouldn't work. Aha! I remembered that Marianne had alerted me earlier that our power would be going off for a short time while they changed our electrical lines. Now we couldn't get back into the studio...

But wait, I'd left some windows up. Maybe Rhonda could crawl in a window if the screen could be removed.

I stayed safely on the deck outside the studio while Kathy and Rhonda devised their plan. Let me tell you, Rhonda's very good at breaking and entering. The fact that she's lost 15 pounds helped her slip effortlessly through the window. At the precise moment that she stepped into the studio, the lights came back on. We were happily painting five minutes later.

You can see this detail of the head of the hawk as he watches Rhonda and Kathy break into the studio.

"LOOKOUT" Transparent Watercolor, Graphite, and Conte Crayons on YUPO 14 x 20"

CARDS

Delphiniums must surely be one of the most exquisite flowers that God ever made. (I figure He created orchids after the delphiniums.) June made my day last week by sending a bouquet with many varieties of flowers, and this sprig will go back to her as a thank you.

It's painted on an Indian type paper that traveler Leslie shared with Tuesday's class. It was very nice to paint on, and lifting some of the dried edges of paint was really easy. That surprised me because it didn't feel like there was much sizing in the paper.

Saturday was a wonderful, if cool, paint-outside-on-the-porch day for me. GLORIOUS - the birds, a few bugs, chipmunks and squirrels, lots of flowers and hummers, and of course, me, sitting on my swing with nothing pressing to do at all, holding a paint brush or camera or coffee mug. Wish you could have joined me for a while.

Getting this card to the mail box tomorrow will be easy enough, but traipsing back down the hill of the driveway can be a little tricky yet. Looking forward to another great week of painting with friends, as well as some more advanced physical therapy. Life is absolutely grand!