"Oriental Lilies" Watercolor Painting

This painting was done in Jan Foss's class, but I chose to do something different than the other students. Normally, Jan shares her reference photo collection of flowers and landscapes for us to choose our own to paint our own composition from. But in this case, I bought some flowers and brought them in to paint live. That turned out to be a good idea. You can learn so much more and understand your subject more when it is right there in front of you. Photographs only show one view. Another benefit was that I continued working at home with the flowers.

"Golden Aspen" Watercolor Painting

By now, I am in Hope Valley, painting fall colors on the aspens up there. Isn't scheduling posts ahead of time great? So, think of me when you see this old painting of mine - done in Jan Foss's class.

This project was fun because we splattered paint to create the lacey look of the aspen trees. Then, when dry, we painted around them (negative painting) to fill in the background.

"Poppies and Lupin" Watercolor Painting

This piece was done in Jan Foss's class. I loved this project. I also learned about positive and negative painting. When you look at the leaves, you will see some are painted on, and some are painted "around".

"Lake Tahoe in Spring" Watercolor Painting

This piece was done in Jan Foss's class as well. In this class we learned how to paint a streaky mountain sky by lifting off color with a tissue while still moist. We also learned how to do wildflowers, pine and fir trees, and granite rocks.

"Strawberries & Lace" Watercolor

This is the first in a series of postings which are showing my first comprehensive watercolor classes several years ago. I was attending classes with Jan Foss, a watercolorist in Incline Village, Lake Tahoe. These classes were so much fun. You can visit Jan's website at http://www.watercolorsbyjanfoss.com/ .

This first one was from a photograph she took of her own still life. She printed these pictures for us to work from, and demonstrated how to do lace and shadows and the strawberries. The lace was fun. You just draw the spaces or holes in the lace, then paint in there with a pale shadow color. I was very happy how it came out, but being a workshop piece and from the teacher's photo, I cannot sign it and enter it in shows or sell it.

Abstract Multi-Media with Watercolor - "Under the Sea"

The poor lions are on hold AGAIN! But SOON I'll be painting all day, outside, for five days straight! I'm packing, making a lasagna and apple pie to share with the other artists. This is Lorenzo Chavez's Plein Air Pastel Workshop at Hope Valley, California. This is up in the Sierra Nevadas where there are gorgeous mountain peaks, evergreens, aspens in fall color, and alpine meadows of fall grasses and willows. There is no phone up there, no cell service, and I won't be able to post until I get back. So, before I leave on Sunday, I'll post some pictures I did several years ago.

This one I call "Under the Sea". This is the most abstract thing I've ever done. It was a class on loosening up in watercolor. We used cheese cloth ripped in strips, we also used pieces of rice paper, and of course, watercolor. We used a full size sheet of watercolor paper. When I got home I really didn't know what to do with it, so I cut it up in quarters. To this one I used wax colored pencils to darken and accentuate areas I wanted to. It reminds me of a coral reef with fan coral and sponges.

I'm back! Sorry to keep you waiting!

My visit to the Pastels U.S.A. (Pastel Society of the West Coast) annual show was inspirational. So many beautiful works! And a program with photos of all the work as a keepsake to drool over for years to come!

It has been too long since I've painted regularly! I have to change that right now. I did a little more on the Lion Pride here while I waited for my Mom and her caregiver to arrive for a visit. We toured the beautiful senior residences in the area and Mom liked one in particular. So, we are happy she would like to move up here to be near family!