What is this under my water tap?

I went to water my backyard, and as I reached down to turn on the water tap, a bird flew out and surprised me!  I spread the mint plants away and looked under, and there were quail eggs in a little depression in the leaves!!!  Not a great place - my water tap leaks right on them.  I will check to see if she figured this out or is still going to go for it - quail can lay up to 15 eggs!  I hear her and her mate calling and calling - she wants me to leave so she can come back to her nest.  Ah, spring!  full of life everywhere!

Progress on "Zen Moment" watercolor

I had fun playing with this painting.  I tried miskit (mask) liquid over the fish like water reflection, then painted the water over it.  Then I took the mask off.  Maybe the painting over it should have been darker to show the masked area better.  Now I think I'm at the point where I could practise lifting out color, and lifting out highlights.  Maybe use a razor blade to get back to pure white paper ... and maybe a few dark shadows here and there ...

Tiny eggs

Yeah, I know, this is not painting.  But, too cute.  My little silverbill finches are first-time nesters.  This is the first batch of "duds".  I took the eggs out and washed the nest, put it back in, gave them some more nesting material, and the next day they started a new clutch.  What to do with such tiny eggs?  Put them in my pine-needle basket, of course!

The snow and rain storm blew away, and today was 65 degrees and sunny and clear and calm!  It was "Mom" day.  I took her on a drive, then had lunch in my backyard, listening to all the wild birds sing and collect grasses for their nests.  We sat outside with our pets in our laps, her dog in hers, my bunny Miss Lucky in mine.  It was a lovely "Mom" day.

Zen Moment - watercolor peacefulness

I am on a roll for finishing old projects!  I dug a watercolor done in class two or three years ago, that there was no time to finish, and the teacher owned the photographic references.  Here is what I have added today - the lower corner.  Working without the original photo, I'm free to experiment with my own feelings.  I even added two fish.  Below I will share the unfinished work in class - very pale and only the first layer of paint.  I think the flower was white originally.  It is a dreary grey day, it rained all night.  Another good day to stay in and paint.

It happened today!

Appointments somehow got cancelled, a cold, snowy storm kept me from traveling over the mountains to art class and kept me inside ... and ... it was a good day to paint!  I tinkered and played with this painting, just seeing what worked and what did not.  It felt good to finish this.  I hate seeing unfinished projects sitting around the house!

Twisting Branches

Sorry, I have been away from art and away from my blog.  This is one hour's worth of beginning on a new pastel.  I did it in class a couple of weeks ago, and all I did was block in the 3 basic values of masses, so it doesn't make much sense right now.  But suddenly my life got out of control and I had to put all painting, weaving, and art of any kind away to deal with life stuff, and there are only so many hours in a day!  Things are still a bit crazy, so it might be a while before I work on this some more, or blog again, but rest assured, I will be back!