I leave you with sunflowers...

I'm taking a blogging break for awhile.

Time for some R&R.

I will hopefully return

rested and refreshed

and full of ideas.

(red sunflowers from my backyard)

Growing these red and not yellow sunflowers
remind me that...

You don't always have to be like everyone else.

Being different is beautiful.

Until I return

I leave you with this quote

by Helen Keller....

"Keep your face to the sunshine,

and you can not see the shadows.

It's what sunflowers do."

Savor the Day!

Yvonne

Imperfect = Perfect 'Tea Day'

Today for Tea Tuesday

I'm having several large glasses of iced tea with lemon,

in between lots of iced water.

Why you may ask?

 My husband and I have been working on our new 'imperfect' patio, :)

using two different kinds of bricks, and rocks.

I say 'imperfect' because that is the way I like things.

Sort of like my art!  :)

I have to hold my husband back a bit

from making things soooo so perfect.

But that is the way he is,

and has to be, for his job.

I wanted the patio to look like it had been here since the 1970's,

when the house was built,

so when things got a little 'imperfect'

I said "okay, that's perfect!", and he just smiles.:)

I had this bright idea (which made it that much harder)

 to put a spiral in the middle of it.

(I do love spirals),

but I like the way we had to fill in with smaller rocks

here and there.

This patio extends our large back porch

and measures 12 feet by 15 feet.

This is where we will sit at our round umbrella covered table

while we grill and enjoy the evenings.

We've spent a total of about 4 days,

(taking siestas in the heat of the day when it's 95 degrees),

working on this patio.

I am really sore today, (ouch)

using muscles I haven't used in awhile I guess. :)

Now we just have to put some sand mix in between the

bricks and rocks, to finish it off.

The last thing to do is build the little arbors over

each of the two entrances.

I just couldn't wait to share what we did!

Whew!  Almost done!

Savor the Day!

Yvonne

Value Study

For Paint Party Friday

I am submitting this

value study.

 My instructor called it a

 whimsical type portrait.

One of these days I will learn to do

real portraits.

Learning where to put the darks,

and the lights...and

to give contour to the scarf etc.

Then for the background

I just added lots of color,

watched as the paper buckled up

(that's what cheap paper does btw)

 laid it flat and let it dry.

Doing this created lots of blooms,

but I like the texture of it.

I've learned that blooms are okay in watercolor.

It's not such a taboo thing anymore.

Hope you have a wonderful day!

Savor the Day!

Yvonne

Last Two Ink Pourings

I've been having fun with my ink pourings.

These are my last two.

Let me know what you think.

Here is before...

and here is after...

Another one before....

and now after...

Can you see the horse?

Here is a close-up...

You can click on any photo to enlarge them.

Well, that's all 4 of my ink pourings.

You can see the other two

in posts prior to this one.

It's different, it's challenging, it's fun.

Savor the Day!

Yvonne

Ink pouring before and after

I finally remembered to take a photo

of one of my ink pourings

before I started putting on watercolor.

Here it is with only ink.

The first thing I thought was...

I put too much dark ink on the paper...

what am I to do????

Well,

I remembered a postcard I received

from Debra at She Who Seeks.

It had a dark sky

with a constellation of a rabbit...

(you can read of Lepus the rabbit here).

Another rabbit was looking behind him.

So I decided to try that image

on top of my ink pouring.

Here is the result...

Lepus is barely visible,

as constellations are.

Here is a close up of Lepus...

And here is a close up of the onlooker...

I keep trying new things with my ink pourings.

I have 2 more to work with.

Oh, what shall I do next? :)

Savor the Day!

Yvonne

Two Finished Paintings

I promised I would show you my finished still life and ink pouring.

They have not been critiqued by my watercolor instructor yet,

so I'm sure there will be more changes made.

Here is the still life.

(I need more practice LOL)

AND...

here is my finished ink pouring.

(Sorry I forgot to take a photo of it

before I added watercolor.)

The Ink Pouring Process....

There were several different colors of ink

 randomly poured onto wet watercolor paper.

Then it was covered with saran wrap that was scrunched up.

Then a piece of plexi glass was put on top of that,

with books on top of that for weight.

Then you let it dry, and you never know what you will get.

I did watercolor painting in the negative, on top of the dried ink,

 for all but the red dragonfly.

It was painted in the positive.

Where I had scrunched up saran wrap on the wet ink,

there were designs,

and one thing I saw in the designs was the dragonfly,

so I painted it in. 

Then I saw leaves scattered throughout

 so I painted around them, bringing them out.

It's a different technique,

but I like doing it.

The burgandy red was the only ink

that didn't spread around much while drying.

But that's okay. 

Like I said, you never know what you will get.

That's what makees it fun!

Try something new!
Don't forget to visit Paint Party Friday
to see more wonderful art
by all the dozens of PPF bloggers...
or even better yet,
JOIN US!

Savor the Day!

Yvonne

Green Tea Leaf Office/Studio

Happy Tea on Tuesday all!

Green tea leaf....

that is actually the name of the wall color

in my office/art studio now.

My little space got so crowded

I had to make a change.

It's still a work in progress, but it's getting there.

 It's nice to have a pretty yet functional space to work in,

and not spend too much money on a redo.

   

This is my 6 foot long work table,

in a location with good light

 and I can get all the way around it.

These curtains came from my living room,

and so did the stained glass piece.

This is the view from my computer chair now,

instead of looking at a wall.

Much better!

This is the wall I used to face,

now it is to my left.

The watercolor is one I did awhile back.

It is called, 'He Brought me Flowers'.

The wall sticker below it

is one I got from my friend Karen.

It says, 'Friends are the flowers that bloom in life's garden'.

 I found this hidden away in a little shop,

got it for almost nothing,

and I love it.

A pretty plant will go in it this week.

Another wall sticker from Karen,

 below the window, that says,

'Every day is a gift.'

Close up of curtain tie back.

I used raffia from an old garden hat band,

and a bird button I won in a blog giveaway.

So, that's it for now.

Still lots to do. 

I'm just taking my time, no hurry.

I'm sitting here drinking my yerba mate tea this morning,

thinking of just how to organize everything.

I cleared out the closet, put in drawers and shelves.

I also have a new 9 cubbie shelf unit,

 a piece of insulation covered with fabric making it my design/inspiration wall,

 a dry erase wall calendar,

stackable files on my desk, plus a file cabinet that my printer sits on.

I have a basket for recycling paper under my desk.

 I must be careful not to overcrowd my room again,

and keep things that I will use.

Everything else is going to be donated to Goodwill.

So...hope you are having a good

Tea on Tuesday.

Join me for tea every Tuesday...

and see what all the other tea bloggers are up to

 by visiting Kimmie at

http://artinredwagons.blogspot.com/

Getting organized,

having a cup of tea always helps me...

Savor the day!

Yvonne