NOT A TURKEY IN SIGHT BUT HAPPY TURKEY DAY FOR U.S. FRIENDS

 Sweetie went to the Newport Aquarium this month with a young photographer who wanted to learn some good rules for photographing the exhibits.  Sweetie got some great photos of the Giant Pacific Octopus (which is rarely out and so beautifully displayed).  So I had to try to paint her!!

The second version (started yesterday), I wanted to try to get closer to that dark wine and purple color, but more to do to finish that one.  These are both on 9 x 12 inch watercolor paper - the first on Arches rough 140# and the second on Fabriano cold press 140#.

A LITTLE BIT OF THIS AND THAT

The mixed media (Canson XL) sketchbook is not good for pure watercolor (top painting).  I think the paper is too thin and it doesn’t accept the water.

Seond little sketchbook works well, has quite a bit of texture.

Third painting is on mineral paper and hard to get darks because it’s almost (but not quite) like Yupo paper.  

Just playing around and testing what I have and what works with each one.  I have so many sketchbooks.  I used to buy Arches and Fabriano in full sheets but have changed to sketchbooks more often since I don’t paint large anymore.  

Still having issues with Blogger asking me to sign in over and over and not downloading my photos until the 3rd or 4th try and sometimes I give up.  And sometimes cannot post to friends’ blogs, either!!  I still haven’t gone to Instagram and learned anything there to post something - just look at artwork there for pleasure.

INSPIRATION

 Going through a beautiful little book about various art styles and saw a painting by a botanical artist, Marie Burke (marieburke-art.com) which inspired me to try it.  

(You can see her gorgeous painting in the left/bottom side of the book cover.)

I have never had the patience to be a botanical painter - so precise and small increments of change don’t make me happy - but I am not unhappy about the finished painting (quarter sheet watercolor).

I can see now that I look at it here that I did not get the flowing look of the one in the book, nor did I get the rounded shape in the top edges.  

HALLOWEEN 2025

 

Having issues with Blogger - I go through all the steps to load a photo and it tells me it cannot do it and then I try again and get an Oops message and then I try one more time and it lets me do it - this has been happening for about a month now so if I disappear for a while it’s because Blogger is giving me fits at times.  Anyone else having problems or am I just the lucky one?

THE BEAUTY OF THE FALLEN LEAVES

 

WHEN SIMPLE IS GOOD

 I am always signing up for short courses online - could be printmaking, sketchbooking, just anything at all, some more involved.  Every one brings me something simple - and good.  Here is what I did in the latest Jessica Swift Art Oasis course offered recently (a one week only freebie with various teachers).  A lot of the things were very simple (too simple and perhaps too crafty?) but some were just enough to peak my interest so I did them.

The first two are just colored/painted/drawn plain papers glued onto another paper and added to (if needed) later with markers, colored crayons, etc.  This was so fun to just make patterns and then cut them up and use them in other ways.  Playing and creating.

The next ones were just painting a mandala/circle shape while holding a thought or emotion and seeing what colors represented that thought/emotion.  I put the words in last.  

And then making patterns in waterproof ink/marker inside circles (a small, a medium and a large), cutting out the circles and placing them on colored matboard to make something else.  I really like this (and added a watercolor painted one in the blue set).  This is a nice way to slow down, stop thinking, just make a repetitive pattern - and see what you have at the end.

GEL PRINTER’S SUMMIT 2025

 Gel Printer’s Summit for 2025 began last week and I only have had time for this one - made the prints and then glued some to the front of one of my sketchbooks.  I liked it before I went a little crazy with the Posca pen markers but not too bad.  Two weeks’ of lessons and I haven’t had time to do more than these two sketchbook decoarated fronts, but it’s okay.  I can save them and do them later…

No additions to this one except the crow stamp because the far left blue mark looked like a crow to me.

JUST ADDED SHADOWS

OCTOBER LEAVES

 Fall is the time to walk in the woods, gather leaves and sneeze (ragweed).

My models and a start on 140# cold press watercolor paper.

Just need to add the shadows to ground the leaves.

OCTOBER - FALL IS HERE

 

Just a little something in my square nature sketchbook.  I laid out some things I’d collected from the yard and took some photos, then painted them.  

TIME FOR COLOR AND FLOWERS

 

LAST WRINKLED SKETCH

 

A STRESSFUL SUMMER

 The weather has cooled - it feels more like fall/autumn.  But it’s been a stressful summer all around.  

The online course I was doing ended with doing wrinkles - interesting.

Here are just a few I did. 

AS IF I DIDN’T KNOW…

 I filled in an online questionnaire and it says I am on the high end of the Senstive Person scale, based on the answers to the questions.  As if I didn’t know.  But that explains that strong smells, noises, and too many people in a group talking are just exhausting to me.  Days filled with stressful situations wipe me out (even pleasant stress like family gatherings/parties) and make me so cranky until I have time alone again.  Why I often need time in my little art room, quietly creating something.  

How about you?  Are you a sensitive person?  Or are you on the other end of the scale?

If you want, check out the questionnaire here:

You don’t have to give them your name/address or any info unless you want to sign up for their newsletter.  

JULY OVER ALONG WITH THE HEAT?

 Actually had a thunderstorm - for about 1/2 hour only - today and the temperature dropped until it was very nice for a change to sit out in the sunroom with the doors/windows open.  

Finished with beards and eyes in the online workshop - now on to wrinkles and I have a lot to learn about getting them right.

Was going to upload from photos but being told Google can’t access anything right now.  Oh, well, not that important.  

GETTING CLOSE TO THE END OF THE WORKSHOP???

 And we’re doing eyes?  I would think that would have been the start of the lessons but, hey, whatever…

Beards and Eyes

(I do like the way the pastels and the conte crayons scratch across the paper, creating the beards!)

And I have one question:  Hot enough for ya???  It’s like an oven here.

FAMILY

 My 87-year-old mother has been dealing with chronic COPD for years and it’s getting worse.  She ends up in the hospital with, what the medical folks call, COPD Exacerbation.  It means she can’t breathe due to getting a bad cold, bronchitis, or even COVID (which she has had two times).  Each time this happens, her brain is not getting enough oxygen and she gets very confused.  This is happening more often.  And her mental capacity is getting worse.  And not a single doctor (she has several) has mentioned her dementia.  But it’s obvious if you spend time with her.  

So - my sister took her to the ER and they admitted her to the hospital Sunday before the July 4th holidays.  My sister and I took shifts with her every day she was in the hospital.  We were allowed to visit from 8 am to 8 pm and we tried to split days.  But then my sister had to work each day and then damaged her back and I was trying to cover more so she could get some rest.  I took Mom back to her home July 3rd.   She has to have someone with her 24/7 for the first week (at least) in order to keep her out of a rehab facility. 

So - I was sitting with her Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and my sister will sit with her today and Friday.  On the weekend the 2 adults living with her (her grandson and his partner) can cover.  It is not easy.  It is stressful and sad and just plain hard.  It is checking her oxygen levels, making sure she eats (she was down to 88 pounds because she wouldn’t eat), takes the right meds, uses her cane when moving through the house, etc.  

So this is life right now = either being with her during the days until her grandson gets home from work or talking to doctors and nurses, planning her medicines (she cannot keep her meds straight and since most of the pills she takes are little white pills I can see why she gets confused).  She now has a nurse come in but it’s just 1 time a week.  She may need to have physical therapy to get steady again.  But no one addresses the dementia and how it’s hard to talk to her about her bills, her bank, what she is paying and why it seems she is paying a lot more each month than she should be paying.  

This is hard. 

I’ll try to look at your artwork, friends, as I get time, but may not comment for a while.

PORTRAITS AGAIN

The second baby photo was actually the first one done and I thought it looked like an alien so tried again - so the first photo with just the features.  

MORE MORE MORE

 

I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS COURSE IS STILL GOING ON!

 Still working on the Sktchy.com course with instructor, France Van Stone, doing portraits.  This was more than worth the money I spent on it and it just never ends!!

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