My girl had a good day yesterday. It's really amazing to me how she perked up and I'm really glad I didn't rush to a decision on Sunday. I worked from home yesterday and she spent much of the day in her box. This box is about 12 years old and is held together with duct tape. I've tried to give her new ones, but she loves this one. It sits on the filing cabinet next to my computer and she loves being in it when I'm working....she just wants to be near me.

This morning I woke up to Annie having a burst of energy. The life was back in her eyes and she ate a good breakfast. So we have another day. Praise God.

Today is a hard day. My Annie is declining fast. The tumor is growing and the life is going out of her eyes. My dear husband, Gil, has been so patient with me as Annie and I have spent these last months together. I don't want to make the decision too soon, but I don't want her to suffer either. Today I know that I have to get on with it and it's hard to even say those words. I'm grateful that it's Sunday and the vet is closed. It gives me an excuse for one more day.

My muse is gone and has been for almost a month. I pulled a muscle behind my knee yesterday so I stayed home from church today to rest. I really needed the distraction so I don't drive Annie nuts watching her, so I decided to get my brushes wet and play a bit. Here's the results. You decide.

Bob's Florida Workshop

Last month I went to a fabulous workshop on painting portraits in watercolor conducted by Bob Hague and organized by Amelia Jordan. A group of online friends, several meeting in person for the first time, met in Florida and spent 2 incredible days together learning, laughing and wetting our brushes. Bob is a gifted teacher and I'm amazed at how much I learned in such a short time. He taught us how to do noses, mouths and eyes, then he put it all together in a duotone study and followed that with color studies. It was just the best time! Thanks so much Bob & Amelia! Here's a link to the Wet Canvas post about the workshop if you want to see more. Bob's Florida Workshop Here's another link to my PBase Gallery where I have my workshop pics posted in case the WC one isn't working. March Madness.

Here's Bob in action doing his study. Watching him demonstrate this in person taught me so much about values and how to determine them.


Here's my yet unfinished value study followed by a close-up of the eye.




This is a little card I did for Amelia.

This dandelion clock was done from Ann Blockley's book, Watercolour Textures, using her composition and colors. Lots of salt and splatters! I really love this book and am learning so much from studying her work and trying her techniques. Her father, John Blockley, was a fantastic artist as well and I was able to find a couple of his out of print books on eBay.

Playing with texture and lifting.

Another landscape, playing with color and water. This is 1/4 sheet. Getting bigger!

I've got a wonderful book by Ann Blockley, Watercolour Textures, and I've been experimenting. The first one is from the book using her composition and colors. The second one is from my imagination. Such fun playing with salt and splattering water and paint!

GIANTS WIN THE SUPERBOWL!!!!!!

I love doing little landscapes, exploring how colors blend, seeing what works with what. My next step is to get brave and do a really large one!

This first little landscape was done using a painting by Nusret Topuzoglu as a reference. He graciously gave me permission to use it. Just love his work! Check out his site.

I love fall. It's my favorite season and once September comes, I start to crave the crisp air of autumn nights, the smell of leaves, apple cider and donuts. These are a couple of paintings I did last year. The trio of leaves were done by applying paint to the leaves and pressing them on the paper then dropping in more color or water. The next one was done using spray bottles, spraying on paint and water. I have a book by Tom Lynch with some neat techniques using the spray bottles.

This is my first attempt at painting Annie followed by the reference pic. I'm not very good at critters. This was done with no sketch, just going at it. I'll try her again, but emotionally now, it's just to hard to think about it.

My Annie

This is my Annie. She's 18 years old and has cancer of the jaw. It's really hard because I just love her so and I know she'll be gone soon. Right now, I'm treasuring every moment. Every night she sleeps on my chest and has since she was a kitten. When she sleeps, she often keeps one eye open, just so she knows what I'm up to! Below are her son and his father.





Here's Moses (son) on the left and Lukey (father) on the right.

These are some flowers doodles. I tend towards looser painting and love playing with colors to see how they blend together.

This was done from a tutorial by artist Karen Boss. I learned a lot about keeping a wash going as long as I could and dropping in color as I went along. Really helpful.


This was done from a tutorial by artist Tom Powell. I learned lots about layering and shadows in this one.


This one is from a tutorial by Nusret Topuzoglu on boats. It's my first water and my first boat. Learned lots from this one too!

Here's a few of my earliest works. As you can see, I'm a real beginner, but it's the journey that counts, right? And I'm having so much fun as I learn!

I began dabbling in watercolor a few years ago, having no experience in any kind of fine art except for brief oil painting lessons when I was 12. I was in charge of the set design for my church's vacation Bible school and had so much fun painting the characters (projected and done in cheap acrylics....kind of paint-by-number) that I decided to try my hand at pastels. That led to a book on drawing....helpful to know....which led to drawing towards watercolor, which has always been my favorite medium to look at. That's the short version of the story!

My sister, Roberta Fair, is a grade school art teacher and professional photographer. When we were kids, we took the oil painting lessons together. Her work was wonderful. Mine was lousy. I have always felt quite intiminated by her abilitles, but as I've aged, I've become less hindered by what others do so much better than me. I decided to give it a go and she has been so encouraging. She now uses my story as an example for her students to motivate them out of their comfort zones!

I have met some incredible people online in sites such as Wet Canvas and others. I have found many artists to be so generous with their time and I really appreciate all who have taken the time to help me along this journey. As you see them listed, please check out their websites and blogs.