A Watercolorist in the Making

For Christmas, I gave our 9 year old grandson, Kalen, watercolor lessons with me. This week was Spring break, so we had 3 days of lessons. These works are his and are fabulous. I love teaching children art. I learn so much and have such joy. Congratulations, Kalen!

Nicky Swinging

I have just begun a new watercolor series entitled "Children in Motion". The first painting which you see here is my grandson, Nicky. I am so excited about watercolors right now. I have joined the Northwest Watercolor Society and what a great bunch of folks. In ten days I will be attending a 5 day watercolor workshop with a world renown watermedia artist, Mark Mehaffey. I AM excited!

Catching Up!

With 2 moves in 6 months I haven't been able to do much art. Well, that is not exactly true.  I did manage to make 25 pair of earrings and about 15 necklaces for my etsy site to raise money for Relay for Life.  That was a very rewarding way to be creative.  Most of the necklaces sold at the Relay and some earrings, but I have had quite a few earrings sell, thanks to friends like Betsey and Cheryl!   I have a number of projects that have been hanging around for awhile.  My studio is always the last room to get straightened away.  The studio is now mostly done.  I pretty much know where everything is (well, almost).  I was a bit ashamed that a project I promised Heather has been on the back burner way too long.  Finally, I finished at least part of it and here it is.  This was great fun!  I am off to work on another pair this afternoon.

Puzzling!

I have always loved to do jigsaw puzzles - the bigger and more complicated the better.  But, recently, I have discovered that those types of puzzles are quite overwhelming.  As I have gotten older I have learned to appreciate and enjoying slowing down and simplicity.  So, the old way of puzzling just doesn't fit anymore.  I was a bit sad about not being able to enjoy the 1000 piece puzzles and the black and white Escher puzzle.  Then, yesterday, I bought a new puzzle - 500 pieces, colorful (I mean BRIGHT) and a subject I love.  As I laid it our last night and started to sort the pieces a sense of great peace came over me and the realization that this is now my puzzle speed.  So, family - if you are considering a new puzzle for a future gift, let these be your guidelines.  I will, of course, update my Amazon wish list too!  Isn't this a gorgeous piece?!

First Signs of Spring?

When we lived in Georgia the first signs of Spring were the forsythia blooming, the birds chattering up a storm and buds on everything ready to pop.  Now, I know it is really not Spring in the PNW, but hey, it is bright and sunny today, we just bought a bunch of primroses to plant in the sad containers full of dead stuff, the labels in the primroses say, "Plant in Spring" and Lowe's wouldn't have been selling them if it was not planting time, right?  We also heard a few birds tweeting and watched an eagle soar over the land below us.  Did I mention that I saw two gorgeous pheasants in the distance yesterday (ok, irrelevant, but....)  So, we paid homage to Spring and had a wonderful couple of hours on the deck with the primroses, the sun, our spades, our dogs, hot chocolate and each other.  I doesn't get any better than this!

A Dirty Little Secret: Revealed!

I have thought for some time now that I am different than a lot of people.  If you know me, you are saying "duh" right now, eh?  I read a great article about Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter).  He said he knew at the age of 6 that he was different from the other boys in school and a little weird.  I probably knew too, but have ignored that knowledge.  I finally really got it at about 56.  I am a slow learner sometimes!  That is not really the secret of the title, but it is kind of relevant.  When I came to see the house we are living in and decided to rent it, I didn't know that it was to reveal many little eccentricities.  One dirty little secret I discovered just a few days after we moved in is the laundry chute hidden between the bathroom wall where the towel rack is and the end of the vanity.  It is basically a hole in the floor with a chute to the lower level laundry room.  Very cool actually! 

One of my purchases before leaving Georgia was a great sign that says "laundry".  I was thrilled to find it and finally have a real laundry room in which to hang it.  However, I rarely go down to the lower level as it taxes both my knees and hips unduly.  AND, I really hate having a wonderful thing and not being able to enjoy it, so I decided to put the sign up in the bathroom, sort of pointing to the chute, revealing our "dirty little secret"! So, yes, this is proof positive of my weirdness.  And , I am proud of it!

I Didn't See THE Tree for the Forest!

I've always thought I had pretty good powers of observation.  Until Now!  When the appraiser was here last week and mentioned that it was pretty cool that we had a Ginko tree in our front yard, I was shocked!  Not so shocking for those who don't care about trees, leaves, etc., but the Ginko leaf is my favorite leaf motif ever  AND we have lived here for 18 years and I am pretty sure this gorgeous tree has been here at least that long.  Where have I been?  We live in Dunwoody Forest, a suburb of Atlanta.  At least it used to be a forest until people moved in and began whacking away at the trees.  Our neighborhood was developed in the early 1970's before mass destruction of whole stands of trees began just to build more houses.  Anyway, we have now sold our house and are preparing to move across the country to the PNW!  So, that means I really, really had to, yes had to go out and take lots of pics of the tree, leaves, etc. and scoop up a bunch to dry out and use in some fantabulous art work.  I can't believe I have never noticed the Ginko leaves in the fall, stuck to my windshield as they were today.  I have never even touched one until this morning!  Did you know that they have a thickness to them and a bit of a rubbery feel?  Well, here is the tree and some of its gorgeous leaves.  Sighhhhhhh