Spring beauties......

How wonderful it was to return from a wonderful, and much needed, vacation and see my Spring garden beautifully welcoming me home. Before we left I had sprinkled all my perennials with fertilizer, just hoping that the extra dose of nutrients would coax some additional blooms. I guess my experiment paid off! These gorgeous blue poppies on the left have never bloomed like this before! So many at one time! I love them.

I looks like my azaleas survived our harsh winter as well. This poor bush is so misshapen from all the heavy snow its had to endure over the last few winters- it's shape is none to pretty, but the blossoms are spectacular! I was so surprised last night, as we arrived home, to see my azalea bushes awash with color. What a treat! I would have been so saddened to have arrived home and missed these Springtime treats.

A Quebec City beginning....

It's so much fun starting a new painting. After going through a lot of my reference photos, I settled on my photos of Quebec City. What a gorgeous city it is! It's like visiting an old European city without the cross-Atlantic plane trip! We had such fun on our trip there a couple

summers ago. I took photo after photo during our sightseeing strolls through the narrow streets of this charming city.

I finally settled on a view of the city, seen in the photo on the left, taken in the morning, before too many tourists clog the streets. I took a lot of time on the drawing, getting the perspective down pat. I know it's hard to see in the photo here, but I wanted to show the amount of pencil work necessary when doing paintings with a lot of detail. I put in some sky color, plus some early washes of color on the buildings. What I like so much about the photo this painting will be based on are the small patches of bright morning sunlight dappling the old stone buildings. The foreground will be in shadow, and the sunlit sections will be more in the background, toward the center of the painting.

This will be a fun painting to do, especially at this time of year. We are crazy busy, and although some artists shy from heavily detailed paintings, this kind of painting is actually relaxing for me. I hope I can do a series of Quebec City paintings. Now for those extra hours in the day......!

Springtime....finally.....

Every spring, I anxiously await the return of these beautiful crocuses, photographed on the left. I planted them many years ago right next to the path leading up to our front door. I know it's Spring when I see them again!

I haven't done a painting of them yet. I really should-they make me so happy when I step out to get my mail and there they are, telling me that cold winter days are just about over for the year. I especially like the background of the mulch, against the vibrant Spring colors of the crocuses. I was also surprised to see my blue poppy blooming already! It's as anxious for Spring as I am, I guess! A while back I ordered a "blue garden" from a catalog. What came were bulbs and seeds of many different varities of flowers- this blue poppy included. A friend of mine, who cultivates rare and unusual poppies, told me that the blue ones were quite rare! I lucked into getting this one. Bigger blooms will appear later on, but I was so glad to see, after one really rough winter on so many levels, the return of such beautiful, and familiar friends.

Buffalo Arts Awards Luncheon....

I was invited to participate in the Arts Awards luncheon held at the Adam's Mark Hotel this past Friday afternoon. The Allentown Art Festival was receiving a lifetime achievement award, and as an Allentown artist, I was asked to be part of the artist bazaar at the hotel, along with dozens of other artists.

The photo on the left shows my set-up at this event. I was very honored to have been asked to participate, doubly thrilled that Mary, who has run Allentown for it's entire 52 year run, called me personally to ask me to be there. The opportunity to display work inside is always a treat- as one who does outdoor art festivals, it's SO nice to not have to worry about the weather!
The photo on the right is of fellow watercolorist Jody Ziehm (l) and myself (r). It was so nice to be there with friends. Jody, Joan Hambleton, Evette Slaughter, Denise Sperry and others were there, and it was great to catch up with each other. We often don't get to see each other until the summer show season, so this was an early Spring treat. None of us sold much of anything, but many people took business cards, and one never knows where the next sale will come from.

Hollyhocks.....

I just love hollyhocks. I took many, many photos of them last summer, and I just couldn't wait to do a simple watercolor painting of these beauties.
I used Winsor Newton's Rose Madder Genuine for the majority of the blooms, with some Winsor Newton Lemon Yellow and Maimerblu's Dragon's Blood for some deeper values. Winsor Newton's Alizarin Crimson added some of the darkest values. I love Maimerblu's Sap Green- that's my go to green for most of my florals. I also used Winsor Newton's Indigo and Payne's Grey for the shadows in the leaves, stems and buds.
A lot of the garden centers stock only the double blooming hollyhocks nowadays. I think these single blooming varieties are much prettier- those double bloomers would be impossible to paint! Cannot wait to see some flowers blooming around here....even a crocus would be nice! Guess I've got to be patient.

Cooper's Hawk completion.....

I was so happy to have my Cooper's Hawk to work on these past few days. The painting colors aren't so washed out as they appear in the photo. It's very gray today, and even in my studio with my lamp shining directly upon the painting, the flash was necessary. I'm not a good enough photographer to know how to override the flash! One more thing to learn!
I had a lot of fun painting the background brush, which is all old morning glory vines. I like to leave them all winter, as the old, dead vines attract all sorts of birds.....no doubt why this Cooper's Hawk likes to stake out the place!
I hope this bird returns for a visit. It's not completely full grown in this painting, and I've since learned the coloring will be altered slightly in the adult. I'm hoping to do more paintings like this in the future- oh how I wish I could capture some bluebirds in a photo. I never saw one until a few years ago- they seem to be more numerous in our area now. I'll keep my fingers crossed!

Missouri Watercolor Society....

I was thrilled to find out that I have been accepted into the Missouri Watercolor Society's latest National Show. This acceptance means that I have been granted signature membership in the organization. To say that I'm thrilled is an understatement of vast proportions! To have something positive in all this mess is so helpful, and may make this honor even more meaningful.
We live approx. 1/4 to 1/2 mile from where the plane went down in Clarence Center, and we knew people on the plane. Our lives are forever changed by this, as is our tiny town- so reminiscent of the fictional Mayberry. The sound of the excavation trucks wakes us and shakes our home. We see the official cars everywhere- police, sheriff's, medical examiners, government, canine trucks, and others too numerous to mention. If it's midday, that means that media are encamped at just about every intersection, searching for something new to report upon. And they're back at 5, 6, and 11, too. We just hope that every day it will get easier, and that our town will once again be sunny, whether or not the weather cooperates.