About time

Oh my, it has been so long since I posted anything.  Wow 2010!  What happened last year?!  My son, Justin, turned 30.  My daughter, Amie, turned 18.  Yup, 12 years apart and they were planned.  Mom is doing well and taking care of Dad with the patience of Job.  Pete is working at the same place.  All the four leggeds are doing well.  Ahh, a nice year was 2011.
I have been painting and teaching a couple of watercolor classes at home.  My real estate title search business was the slowest it has ever been so, I took a part time job with Strafford County Register of Deeds.  I am not great with marketing myself with either the real estate or art work.  Project for 2012 - market me.
I am working on dog paintings for now.  I want to paint different breeds and make up some note card to sell.  I am hoping to paint enough this winter to enter some shows this summer and fall.  Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Here is my latest piece.  His name is Richard and he belongs to my sister's neighbors.  My sister sent me his photo because she thought he was so darn cute.  Me too!  I just had to paint him.  The light on that sleek fur and the little tilt of his head just ached to be painted.  Hope you enjoy.  And, I will be better about posting this year.

Molly

This is Molly.  Isn't she cute?!  Molly belongs to my sister or, my sister belongs to Molly.  Molly is very energenic and somewhat of a clown.  She has an extensive list of tricks that she can complete for FOOD.  Her favorite thing.  Molly has taught my sister to give her a treat every time she turns in circles, barks at the treat dish, or comes in the house.  Yes, she is very spoiled.  Molly shares her dog space with Bessie, a fox hound and equaly spoiled. 
I had such fun painting Molly's velvety coat, long ears, stubby legs, fat feet, and hound dog eyes.
This is part of my sister's, Pam, birthday gift.  Her birthday was the 22nd of April.  For 21 days we are the same age!  Poor Mom, two children under the age of one! 
I hope Molly made you smile.

Sea Turtle

Another art class example.  I had the kids use watercolor pencils for the turtle spots and the turquoise areas.  They were fascinated with layering blue and green watercolor pencil then adding water to turn it turquoise.  I was very pleased when one second grader came up and asked for the burnt umber pencil.  He remembered from the brown color of the bunny!  That made me feel really good and I let him know.
I had them use a prussian blue wash for the bottom section of their turtle picture and then told them to turn their painting upside down and work on the spots some more.  I got some really funny looks until I explained that this way they wouldn't get their arms in the blue while it was drying.
After the first layer was dry, I had them add a second layer leaving the top with only one.  I love watching their faces going from confused to - Cool!  We had blue everywhere, but it was fun.  On to the next idea!

Primary Dragon

I signed up to teach an enrichment class in our local elementary school.  I received notice about a week ago that I would have 10 first and second graders for an hour watercolor class.  It has been so long since I have been around first and second graders that I wasn't sure what their capabilities would be, so I thought I would start with the color wheel.  My next thought was, what fun is a color wheel for that age group - none!  Ok, fun things, fun things - dragons!  I went online for some clip art dragons and found one that I like the face of and another I thought I could make the body into a, sort of, color wheel.  I sketched until I came up with one I thought would work.  Here he is, The Primary Dragon.  I traced my sketch, transfered it to some inexpensive watercolor paper and then used a permanent black marker to out line the Dragon.  I painted this Dragon at home as an example and painted another as a demonstration at the class.  After the little darlings got their seats and quieted down, I handed out the prints, paintbrushes, water containers, and three small jars with not very much paint in them.  I was hoping the paint would last for all eight classes, but I am pretty sure now that won't be the case.  One boy used most of his already.  I tried to explain, lots of water and little dabs of paint.  After the primary colors were painted, we started the secondary colors.  It was so much fun to watch their faces as the colors mingle to creat a new color.  Some of the children knew what was going to happen, but not all.  My 16 year old daughter came to be my assistant and was a very big help when the water got to dirty, someone had to go to the bathroom, paper towels ran out...........  She wants to be an elementary teacher and this class is giving her a try.  She does so well with the younger children, I am sure she will make an excellent teacher.  When the fins were all done, I told them to wet the middle of the dragon and dab colors on to mingle as the wanted.  Some children followed that suggestion and others just want one solid color, which is OK to.  One little girl was upset because she made a smudge on the outside edge of her paper and I told her there weren't any rules to follow on "her" painting.  If she wanted to paint the outside, she could.  I know how it feels to be young and expected to "stay in the lines".  I don't want to convey that feeling to any of these children, I want them to have fun.  The next class is tomorrow at 3:15, guess I had better start getting ready!

On Duty

My husband and I visited Sanibel Island, FL a couple of years ago.  We took a kayak tour into the Gulf of Mexico.  Not very far into, which was fine with me.  I am not a fan of being in or on the ocean.  Big stuff that can eat me!  This fellow was waiting patiently at the entrance to the bay making sure that we all understood what this sign meant.  By the looks of the sign, I had a feeling I knew what his punishment would be for offenders.  I have sold a couple of prints; the original is still available.

These guys are called black skimmers. We saw them on the beach in the Keys. They fly in groups, land in groups, and all seem to face the same direction while on the sand. They look like the are wearing little tuxes with a splash of color on their beaks and legs. Their eyes are set in the black area on their heads and are hard to see there. We had such fun watching them and hubby kept chasing the group from one place on the beach to another to get a shot of them. He made me laugh even more than they did.

Lily Pads

I use photos as references for my paintings. I was going through a box of photos and found these lilies just waiting. I couldn't resist the strong light & shadows, my favorite, and I really wanted to see if I could capture the lily pads floating as well as the stems under the water. I am happy with this one.

This is Fuzzy. She belong to my friend Jeannette, or rather Jeannette belongs to Fuzzy. Jeannette's son took a photo & I just couldn't resist painting it. I love the little tooth sticking out and those wonderful green eyes.

Note added 10/4/09: Fuzzy won best of show watercolor division at the Rochester Fair and received a beautiful gold rosette ribbon. I was so excited and pleased that she won - with my help, of course.

The original is sold, but prints are available.

Bestest Friends

These two little girls were inseparable at the horse show. The younger cheered on the equestrian during every event. They chatted constantly between events, laughing and giggling. When it came time to collect ribbons, the younger "helped" her friend by carrying them for her and the equestrian was such a good friend that she let her friend do just that.

The original & prints are available.