This quotation sums me up.

"The most an artist can do through their work is say, let me show you what I have seen, what I have loved, and perhaps you will see it and love it too."-- Annie Bevan



 

Simplicity is the removal of the useless and the unnecessary--source unknown

While working on a couple of assigned projects, I take a break and paint something for myself. Then I go back to my projects, refreshed.

Simplicity is the removal of the useless and the unnecessary--source unknown

 A little watercolour before I go for my very brisk walk. Actually it was a big one, but I cut it up; the dark sky was too threatening (it came out that way because of all that talk of tornadoes). The little horse scrap had been sitting on my desk for...years. I finally found the right setting.

Wishing you a safe day!

  
Simplicity is the removal of the useless and the unnecessary--source unknown

It's Friday. No, really.

Simplicity is the removal of the useless and the unnecessary--source unknown

 One of my jobs this week is going next door twice a day to cat-sit for a friend and it was a pleasure to walk out this morning; the air is fresh rather than freezing, and the sun is out. I'm now tackling my big project which right now involves a lot of thinking and planning in my head. While I'm thinking, I'm doing other things too. This week the birds took over.

I was at Curry's yesterday picking up a stack of canvas boards for The Project, and saw a new stock of  pads, 6 x 8-inch Strathmore mixed media paper with a vellum surface, and couldn't wait to try it out. Watercolours out of a tube gliding across this paper... pure bliss.

 I also replenished my embroidery threads and stitched this over a few evenings.

 I love my work. It's taught me to be fearless and just go for it. Like this embroidery; it was unplanned; I just kept adding to it.

Simplicity is the removal of the useless and the unnecessary--source unknown

The weather. You don't want to know. It's getting me down.
Painting helps. Hope springs eternal.

Simplicity is the removal of the useless and the unnecessary--source unknown

 Today's break from writing. I call it the Flower People. If you look closely, you will see them.

Avalable in my Etsy shop. SOLD

 Simplicity is the removal of the useless and the unnecessary--source unknown

Yesterday slipped through my fingers and all of a sudden it's Friday. Until this morning, I thought today was Thursday. It's disconcerting to say the least. Strong winds are blowing and throwing me off-time... In my life of feast or famine, it's feast time, so I'm working all hours. When I get overwhelmed, I sit down and draw or paint little watercolours.
This one is a little gift for an old friend who has retired to her native England, somewhere in Surrey.

Don't let the wind blow you away, especially in that Yonge St. wind tunnel.

 Simplicity is the removal of the useless and the unnecessary--source unknown

I'm still here, in case anyone wondered... time has slipped through my fingers.

My fingers are still working, however. My work is my medicine (as in First Nations language - good medicine).

This is what's on my easel at the moment. Watercolour on canvas, a first for me. I usually only use acrylics and oils on canvasses. I'm not sure where this is going. We'll see.

Simplicity is the removal of the useless and the unnecessary--source unknown

Work in progress

I'm beginning the week with a clean slate. I decided I didn't like this, so I scrubbed it and began again. This time I used water-soluble NeoColor wax crayons for the background and began collaging it. The effect is smoother, without the grainy look of the original (which I really didn't like).

Simplicity is the removal of the useless and the unnecessary--source unknown

The weekend experiment: Aquabord

I was intrigued by these watercolor boards. The claim was "get rich, luminous color and have complete control over your watercolors." I've been using watercolors since the beginning of my painting life, and I liked the idea of a board as opposed to paper.

The result: The luminosity was no different from paper and I had a hard time controlling the paint. Instead I got a grainy texture that I didn't really like. I used watercolours out of the tube, so maybe that was the problem. Still, I like the idea of a watercolour board. No buckling and ready to display.

My inclination is to scrub off the paint with a wet cloth and use another medium.

Simplicity is the removal of the useless and the unnecessary--source unknown

My sister's birthday gift consisted of two boxes of gouache and watercolor paints. There's nothing like opening a fresh tube of glorious colour, loading a brush, and applying it with a certain abandon.

Simplicity is the removal of the useless and the unnecessary--source unknown

Suddenly it was Wednesday...
The air is a little cooler, the birds are making plans for their travels.

"I hear Paris is pleasant this time of year...?"

"I sometimes sound more frivolous than I am."

Simplicity is the removal of the useless and the unnecessary--source unknown

Cottages

A form of "comfort painting" as my friend Lynne Hoppe would say.

Simplicity is the removal of the useless and the unnecessary--source unknown

I eat this when I'm thirsty. Best thirst-quencher ever.

Simplicity is the removal of the useless and the unnecessary--source unknown

 I was tempted to call this "orphans of the storm", but this totally unplanned composition, when I looked at it finished, is the story of two sisters who overcame a dark childhood, and overcame it very well.

Watercolour and collage on Arches paper.

 
Simplicity is the removal of the useless and the unnecessary--source unknown

Lagniappe: a term I learned in New Orleans decades ago when I first started spending time there.
It means "a little something extra". You bought something in a store and they added a lagniappe to your purchase.
       I do that with my sales. I add a lagniappe to all my orders. This is one of them. It will accompany a watercolour sale.

Watercolor on ledger paper

 Simplicity is the removal of the useless and the unnecessary--source unknown

I'm spending the day at my house in the country.
(Sometimes imagination is everything.)

Simplicity is the removal of the useless and the unnecessary--source unknown

More rearranging and cleaning today. A little at a time. And it feels good.

I set aside my daily tag making to make these little postcards.

Simplicity is the removal of the useless and the unnecessary--source unknown

In between translating some heavy-duty medical material, a little art break.

Be good to your friends -- Kevin Bacon.