Sneak Peek

So here is a sneak peek at the painting I'm currently working on.  Finally getting around to painting my hydrangeas.  Hydrangeas are one of my favorite flowers.  I'm taking my time with this painting.  I'm hoping to have a high quality painting in the end worthy of entering into an exhibition in New Orleans in October. 

We went on a quick trip this week to Little Rock, Arkansas.  A friend of ours and former boss of Brian's is taking over as the Group Commander for a C130 group at the AFB, so we were invited to attend his change of command ceremony.  I wasn't super excited about the location that we were visiting, but thought we'll make an adventure out of it. Little Rock turned out to be a pretty interesting city.  We visited Bill Clinton's presidential library, and wondered around the downtown area.  I stumbled upon an art exhibit for the Mid-Southern Watercolorists.  I immediately recognized a painting by a blogging buddy of mine, Crystal.  I couldn't believe it.  Crystal doesn't live anywhere near Arkansas, so I wasn't even thinking about finding not one but 2 of her paintings in the exhibit.  It was awesome to see her work in person.  I realized that I had never actually seen a watercolor exhibit in person,(I've seen one here or there in museums) I'm pretty new to this whole game.  I was very encouraged and motivated to push myself and enter some exhibits and competitions.  I hope to learn a lot from this next venture.  I've already been in contact with some amazing artists throughout this blogging journey.  I really feel like I'm on the right track and am excited for what the future holds.

This week Steven played with his watercolor markers and his regular paints.  We also incorporated the use of a spray bottle, I think he enjoyed that part the best.  I was trying to show him some watercolor techniques.  Wet on dry, wet on wet.

See You next week.

Carrie and Steven

Annika's Enchanted Forest and Seurat

Acrylic on canvas 20 x 24

This week I completed an enchanted forest painting for a little girl's room.  This was so fun to paint.  When I was a little girl I always wanted a tree house, to me this is the ultimate fantasy tree house, with enchanted surroundings to boot.  I will admit I had to restrain myself when I got the glitter out.  It's hard to tell in the photo but the fairy wings and the garland around the door are sparkly.  I would love to live in this world, at least visit it on a regular basis.  My now 4 year old also loved this painting.  He kept telling me he wanted to get in the painting. 

close up


As I mentioned earlier I now have a 4 year old little boy.  Steven's birthday was on the 7th.  Since he's a little older now and more mature, I decided to pull out my lesson plans from when I taught art for the Boys and Girls club.  I taught all ages.  I always incorporated a little art history into the lessons, so this week we talked about Georges Seurat and pointillism.  "Seurat did the dot" was our catch phrase.  So I broke out the watercolors and q-tips.  He embraced the idea and had fun with it.  I think I'll make some flash cards up as we go along learning about artists.

watercolor on foam board 4 x 4

The bottom one is another painting Steven did this week. 

mixed media 5 x 7

See everyone next week.

Paul Jackson Workshop

watercolor 18 x 24

Last week I didn't post a painting, I was attending a 4 day workshop in Baton Rouge given by Paul Jackson.  This was the first workshop I've taken and I learned a tremendous amount.  This painting of Sam is also my first portrait in color.  I'm not sure I'm totally done.  I may need to add a few more washes.   It was very interesting to see how Paul Jackson paints.  There were also quite a few very talented artists taking the workshop, so I learned from them also.  Everyone was very generous, sharing their techniques and even their supplies.  I think some of the most valuable things I learned were that Mr. Clean Magic Erasers, Original are a watercolorists best friend.  You can pull up paint, it doesn't damage the paper and you can paint back on top of that area.  I also realized that I'm not utilizing my masking fluid.  I need to mask in many different levels and during different stages of washes.  Paul Jackson only paints on Arches, 260lb, cold pressed paper.  He stretches his paper.  This is a process that I used to do but got out of the habit of because it's a lot of work.  I will probably go back to this arduous task because it really does make a difference.  The paper is absolutely drum tight and completely flat when you are finished painting.  I did like the 260lb paper, it takes a lot of abuse.  He also uses Daniel Smith and Windsor Newton paints.  I picked up a few tubes of Daniel Smith paint.  I went around and asked everyone their favorite colors of paint to use and I assembled a palette of those.  It was great to devote several days to a workshop.  It reinvigorated my painting passion.  Made me realize I need to find a painting group here and get more involved in the arts scene in Montgomery.  I did join the Louisiana Watercolor Society while I was there.  The President of the LWS was taking the workshop.  My new goals are to paint, paint, and paint some more.  I want to start entering into shows.  I also realize that I may have to re-evaluate my painting a week deadline.  To produce a higher quality painting I may have to take more time.  So I will still post every week, but it may be more works in progress posts.  I'm ready to take it to the next level. 

watercolor markers

Steven tried out his new Crayola watercolor markers that he got for his birthday.  We celebrated a little early this year.  This is his newest creation..

 Hope everyone had a terrific 4th of July.
See You next week!