wildflowers

laughing wildflowers

run amok in profusion

berries in the sun

 

found along dirt roads

not mattering they're not mine

there for all to see

My life lately....

It has been a week (or two) of ups and downs, highs and lows, scratches and smiles, and bad news that turned into good. It was the last week of school and we have recently found out my son will start a new school in the fall that will be a better place for him to be. That felt bad at first as it's a long trip for him but turned out to be good news!
It was a hot summer solstice, too hot to do anything but sit and sweat. I spent a 93 degree lunch hour sitting near the river sketching, but at least it seemed 10 degrees cooler next to the water.

 and one day on the top of the world sketching...

My daughter saved two out of three baby ducklings literally from the claws and teeth of my killer cat, she and my parents tried to feed them so they could live long enough to set them free in a pond or somewhere. We have no rescue center nearby to take wild animals to, and sadly they didn't make it through their second night.

Cute, fuzzy and yet

survival of the fittest

is still very sad

We go to a state park for vacation very soon, and I am looking forward to canoeing, swimming, hiking to the ponds and sketching while my husband fishes, eatting barbecue and probably ranch chicken wings. I can't wait!
This week I created a mandala for the summer of color, inspired by the baseball nut, black raspberry cone...

I am also linking to the artists playroom for their theme of monochromatic art as this is all shades of raspberry, and to paint party friday. And...Here's my zentangle for iamthediva's challenge using the tangle called Cadent...

See you all soon! Thanks for stopping by!

summer of color

The ice cream flavor for inspiration this week has been mint chocolate chip. I started a mandala with green and brown but it was more earthy and leafy looking, and not minty ice cream looking at all, so I set that aside for awhile and did this quick little mini canvas, then two more in other colors.. The opaque of acrylic was definitely more minty looking  than watercolors.

I actually put these in my etsy shop along with my mandalas so I have been working toward my goal of doing something with my art. Now to start on this weeks challenge...

an orange week

This week I 've got an orange post inspired by Summer of Color.  Find them here...
http://twinkletwinklelikeastar.blogspot.com/
Their theme is orange this week. I wish I'd found them sooner as I love being inspired by color.I have so many ideas for orange paintings now. Here's some other orange stuff...

An orange lilly from some flowers I was given. I meant to sketch it but didn't get around to it.

Don't ya just love orange polish!

Before you judge these to harshly, keep in mind this is a tiny sketchbook, about 5" or so, and usually what I sketch in it I work on for less than 15 minutes. This little orange newt was one of 28 my husband and I saw on a walk on our vacation earlier. I sketched him after almost stepping on him and carried him to live in the fairy house I had made...

The sad ending to this story is that the last day before we left, my son was climbing on that great stump, mistook the roof of my fairy house for more root and stepped on it, squishing the house totally. But don't worry, no fairy or newt was harmed!

And lastly,. a finished watercolor from a week or more ago... I don't think I ever shared it yet though...

don't forget to stop at all the usual friday sites to see more great stuff! Thanks for stopping by.