A Few More Roll By...

Thumbs up.....


Had to add a couple more pictures of clouds that I took last night before sunset.

As Clouds Roll By...

I've been taking pictures of everything lately...especially the clouds. Here are many views and most were taken through my car windshield, but the bright white, warms whites, soft greys and blues are all there....

These are some of the things we must see as artists to capture the hues and intensities with our brushes.

Taking these modules with Traditions Education Program has led me to look at nature a little differently lately. The greens of the grass and trees have so many varied colors..

The greens and blues of a countryside scene...are spectacular...you can see again the varied colors as well as the muted and greyed colors.
It is very eye opening to look at a leaf...to see it's vein...to see the subtle nuances of color..

Stop and take a lingering look next time you are out under the clouds...or by a stream...You may just see something SPECTACULAR too!

Dutch Flower Painting

Hi Everyone!
I GOT IT! ! ! ! ! ! "IT" being Paul Taylor's book "Dutch Flower Painting, 1600-1720". It is a very hard book to find and many used or rare book sellers are really over-pricing this marvelous book.
It became a "must have" when I joined the TRADTIONS LIST online for Decorative Painters. There I found many wonderful artists! One in particular is David Jansen, who is one of the creators of the new Tradition's line of acrylic paint. This paint is non-toxic and can emulate watercolor and oils as well as being used as traditional acrylics. We were all so inspired by David's paintings and his use of this new medium, that he offered to teach us how to paint a replica of an Old Dutch Master's painting

by Willem Van Aelst. David would quote to us about styles and symbolism from Paul Taylor's book. We all wanted one, but could not find one...except those $500.00 and up...
Well.....this last week(after many searches) , I found one online at Amazon.uk from Barrance Books. Sue the owner is a fabulous lady...at first the site would not let me buy it..due to some stipulations with international shipping, but she worked it out for me to get it and even contacted me by email...about the time when it would go back online so I could hopefully be ready to try and buy it before someone else got it. Lucky for me I figured out our time difference and was there to grab it up.
It arrived to day to much fanfare from me!
If you will look at my January 14th blog of this year you will see the Van Aelst painting that I will be attempting soon.
So, if any of you are going to England, please stop by Sue's bookstore...It's called Barrance Books, at Clarbert Cottage, in Water End, Stokenchurch Bucks. Give her a BIG hug for me and buy all the book you can from her! Thank you Sue!

Traditions Mod.A - Lesson 6

I'm baaaaccckkkk....!
Yes, it is almost 3am, but that is OK... as today I took some allergy medicine and it knocked me out all afternoon... But..more to the point..is that I finish yet another lesson tonight..or this morning..however you want to look at it... Just look at it! LOL
It was kinda fun...it went from a little dull, to quite pretty... I learned to mix some colors using a minimal pallette... I learned to tone colors to give the piece "harmony", using either its complementary color or an earth tone. I learned how to prepare and seal a tin surface vs. a wood surface.
This lesson also had me apply washes to lighten or darked an element in the piece, as in the "ball flowers"... And I also used extender to float color in shading and highlighting. Oh! And I also had fun with linework. I've always enjoyed the details of linework. I hope you enjoy this piece too! - The Country Tin Technique

Lil' Birdie Baby!

I just had to shar these pictures.. Yesterday afternoon, my husband was out in the yard getting ready to mow...and this little bird (bluejay)fell or jumped out of a tall pine tree. He quickly gathered the dogs together and hustled them into the house. Missy has been know to chase a feathered friend or two. Anyway he told me what was going on so I grabbed my camera and rushed outside. Isn't he cute???
We didn't touch him..just in case it's true that momma bird won't come near them if touched my human hands...but Tom did scoop him up into a clay pot to try and move him to saftey..but he wouldn't cooperate. He just kept hopping up the hill...

We don't know what became of him, as some nefarious critters roam through the yard during the night...but we tried. We would not let the dogs out in the back yard all night long..instead Tom had to accompany them out front LOL...
Enjoy the pics!

Module A - Lesson 5 - Traditions

OKay Guys and Gals
I just completed Lesson 5... only three more to go to catch up. This lesson was suppose to help learn S stroke work, liner work, descending dots, brush mix, shape following strokes, side loading and floating color technique. It was also suppose to be about transparent strokes...BUT...I got heavy handed on tracing the pattern on the surface. The pattern was so dark, I had to paint it more oapque..but I still like the outcome. I will try it again later using the transparent technique to get the feel of it. I also did a technique on the background in the middle of the plate...it is called mottling. That came out very pretty. I hope you like this piece..I do...Well back to painting...got to keep those brushes busy!