This summer in the garden....

Earlier this summer I made elderflower cordial from a recipe given to me by a fellow instagramer... and then recently when the elderberries ripened early I made a jar of elderberry syrup.... I had fun this summer using all the berries we had or picked.  I made black berry cobbler and strawberry rhubarb pie, strawberries and cream, and would have made more but my older son was still at home then and ate the last quart of berries plain I think. 







I did a bunch of sketches of flowers from the fields around me.....


My husband and I made the garden sign we have been thinking about creating for a few years now.... it has all the places we (Our kids or either of us) have lived or stayed for a week or so. All pointing the actual compass direction. 


The garden did amazingly well with our wet July.... too many cukes and zuchinni to use actually. I have made canned zuchinni bread and regular zuchinni bread, and 12 quarts of pickles....

Our next project will be salsa with all the tomorrows that are ripening... but that will be another post. 

Happy paint party Friday, and Labor Day!

Always finding my way to water

Lakes, rivers, ponds, etc 

Doesn't matter what kind of water..

Art in hearts

Hello, it is Friday already..... time is flying!

I did the 100 day project earlier this year, which for me just means I tried to create a watercolor every day for 100 days. I used the hash tag #100daysofjoyouswatercolor on instagram to post them. I  really just had fun and it wasn't about obligation or forcing myself to create it was about finding the joy in it. I missed a few days here and there but I have kept going after 100 and now I have so much art I haven't posted here on my blog. That is how the rainbow rice, and the fried egg art cane about. And it is also how these heart quotes came about... one piece leads to further exploration just for the sake of exploration!!! Then, you have this large body of work to either ignore, or to pick and choose from as far as which direction to head in next. This lettering has been really fun for me... and I have gotten offers to do wedding gifts (which I will post after the wedding) !

It is all fun stuff!!!! So here are a bunch of the photos.... see you all next week or before!

And here are my designs that I mentioned last week finally on the delivery van!!!! How cool is that?!

Inspiration everywhere

So much beautiful floral inspiration from my yard this year.... if only I had time to paint them all. But I did just complete these floral swags as a commission for a friends website! I can't wait to see them used. Some I did earlier for her business cards are even going on her delivery van! So cool!

Check it out here!

Fried egg art

I am behind on doing the rainbow rice notebook giveaway that I promised but here is the fried egg art I promised.... I do it for all the same reasons I did the rainbow rice....meditative and calming to watch the paint flow in waves of egg shaped lines! Weird I guess, but truly fun!

First one is redwoodwillow handmade paints, second is imlothmelui handmade paints, and lady is Jane Davenport bright watercolors. 

And I can't remember if I posted this......

I don't know why I painted it! Honestly, no idea...... I wasn't hungry and I don't like fried eggs that much at all. They do LOOK cheery though.  

I promise I will do the giveaway soon.  happy paintpartyfriday! 

Rainbow rice

Sorry I have been absent from my blog for awhile. Too distracted I guess, but that's another story. Nothing bad, just changes.  I feel a bit more settled in now and I have sooo much art that you all haven't seen unless you follow me on instagram. I didn't want to just throw it all at you at once so I figured I'd pick out some themes and group them like that. 

So one "type" of painting I have been doing lately is what I have called my rainbow rice paintings. Mostly I have been doing these almost as meditation. They are mindless, mesmerizing and relaxing to paint. A nice way to totally get your mind focused on one thing, and not the thing worrying you! It works for me at least....

I start with a 6 petal pattern but if it goes wonky I don't mind at all. I just let the rice fall ..... 

I had 4 other artists say they tried it and posted pics of their result.... and they all felt the same about doing it as I did. Very calming, just watching paint move on the paper and concentrating on little shapes. 

I also have a notebook with this design on it to give away. Come back after the weekend when I will post the details on how to win! 

And next week I will also try to squeeze in a midweek post with another series of art I have been doing.... fried egg paintings! Really! See you soon!