A Rooster Morning...

It was definitely a "Rooster Morning" with this one. I couldn't sleep last night. All I could do was think of painting..so up I went back to my studio. I had so much fun. I had the TV on playing old movies as I brush mixed my night away. He is a cocky little rooster I have to say. . . strutting his stuff through out the night into the wee morning hours. We floated a little color here and floated a little color there, then we dry brushed our way through the blueberries and highlights! It was a delight. Finally the sun's smiling face bloomed into view!. . .Figuratively as well as literally. At that point the feisty rooster got a little attitude, as you can see because he was ready to crow! And crow he did!
That was my cue to wrap it up and off to bed I went...only 6:00am ..not bad for the wee morning hours!

Tomptes, Nissan's or Gnomes

Here is lesson 8 of my Traditions Education classes. These little people are called Tomptes and are of Scandinavian Folklore as well as decorative painting. The Norwegians called them Nissans and in Sweden they were called Gnomes. They were a favorite subject in traditional folklore and painting and can bring good luck or bad luck.
For example, if you lose your car keys...you can blame the Tomptes for losing them... or if you were suppose to do the dishes the night before and they were done when you got up...the good tomptes finished them for you.
I'm not sure if these tomptes are good or bad, but I hope you enjoy them on this festive tray. Thanks for looking!

Just Paint It! ......

Hi guys!
Here is another little "ditty". I've join another painting list, but it is related to the Tradidions group. It's Art Apprentice Online! (AAO)... It is run by the oringinal teachers who helped develope the Traditions Education Program.
They are sooooooo much fun! Last week, they have started a activity called "Just Paint It"... They give us a subject ( ie: raspberry, blueberry, orange,...) and we "just paint it".. In any shape, paint, color, or form. they suggest a small surface (3 x 5, 4 x 6, 5 x 7, etc)...nothing very big. The idea is that "small" is not intimidating! It's just PAINT!.. no problem... Well it took me until this week to get mine done. LOL
It was fun and didn't take too long...I probably did it in under an hour. This weeks subject is the Bludberry. Not sure I'll get to this one...but it is a GREAT concept!
I hope you enjoy it!

McNaughton Roses

Hi everyone!
It is 4am and I'm off to bed..but I wanted to share with you what I've been working on ( and why I'm still up LOL )
I just completed a wooden placemat with a design my Maureen McNaughton. She is a "Big Brush"...she is a wel know decorative artish from Canada. I hope some day to take a class with her in person...but I was able to take this class online through the SDP (Society of Decorative Painters) website. I had had 60 days to complete the course, but as usualy I took it down to the wire...the last day to be able to review the class on the site is July 15th...so that's why I'm burning the midnight oil.. LOL
I hope you enjoy it! Maureen's folkart style is one of my favorite!

A Cottage Down the Lane

This is Lesson 7 of Module A of the Traditions Education Program. I have three more to go to complete the first course. We are due to start Mod. B on July 12, so I had better hurry. I hope you enjoy this one as well!


Happy 4th of July everyone! Please keep our service men and women in your prayers as they continue to fight for our freedom and independence both here and abroad.

My teach critiqued my painting and she noticed my fence rail had a bulge..so I fixed it and here is a picture of that LOl
She also said it was "heirloom" quality! ! ! I'm sooooo excited.. And the other girls brought tears to my eyes...in their generous praise...Thanks my dear friends

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!