Sunny Palms longing for Summer

watercolor 8" x 10"

This week the sun made some appearances. It made me long for summer. We are getting the pool ready in hopes of early swimming. I know this is all very premature considering there is a threat of snow next week, but a girl can dream.

When we moved in our backyard was a tropical paradise. We have a beautiful saltwater pool surrounded by tons of banana plants and I added Hibiscus into the mix with their gorgeous blooms, it was heavenly. Well this winter when the banana plants died off Brian chopped them down and uncovered our palm trees that were camouflaged among all of the foliage. So right now the palms are loving life, they get all of the sun they want. They were looking so pretty, Brian and I took some pictures of them. Out of these pictures comes my labor of love this week. I do love the colors in this painting. They are so tropical and summery, they make me long for my pool lounging days. Next week I will be painting an accompanying palm painting, I think it needs a friend. I loved painting this one so much I think I may start the other one right now:)

I did hope to report this week that the my wallpapering project was done, but sadly it is not. It is closer, but not complete. I really do hate wallpaper. Hopefully by next week:(

Steven did a lovely painting this week. Out of a happy little accident (Oh No I'm quoting Bob Ross) he created his masterpiece. He accidentally spilled his cup of water on his painting. It could have been disastrous, but Steven and I are both in agreement that it enhanced his painting. He may be onto a new technique. Hopefully not because we had turquoise water all over the kitchen floor, we also had Sam crawl through it so it was doubly messy.


watercolor 5 x 7

See everyone next week.

Carrie

All paintings and photographs are copyrighted by me, Carrie Waller and must have express written permission to be used.

Isle of Palms Revisited

2.5" x 3" watercolor it's so little and cute:)


both are 5" x 7" watercolors



5" x 7" watercolor

This week I am revisiting Isle of Palms in South Carolina. This time I have painted the beach in color. The first one is itty bitty, and it's really cute. It may be my favorite one. It reminded me of a contest I always entered in high school. You could only do miniature pictures. It was a lot of fun to do. I plan on using these paintings in my master bathroom as soon as it is finished. We are currently and by saying we that would be mostly me, removing all of the lovely wallpaper. It is a big job and I LOATHE wallpaper. I also firmly believe that flowers belong in a vase or garden not on a wall. So off with their little floral heads. Hopefully I will have it done soon Did I say I LOATHE wallpaper?


Steven on wallpaper removal

I re-purposed some frames and mats that I already had. So once my bathroom is in it's finished state these will look great in there.


framed pictures

Steven got back in the act of painting this week. He painted a lovely watercolor for me for Valentine's day! He's so sweet!


Steven's watercolor 8 x 10

See everyone next week.

All paintings and pictures are copyrighted by me, Carrie Waller, and must have express written permission to be used.

It's Carnivale Time

watercolor 22" x 30"

This week I painted a scene from our travels to Venice. Brian took the picture that I painted this from and it has always been one of my favorite pictures. This was during Carnivale in February. After we went the first time we were hooked and went every year. It was an amazing time to visit Venice. People are dressed in the most elaborate costumes arriving by Gondola into the floating city. It is all pretty dramatic. These costumed creatures were more than happy to stop and pose for anyone to get their picture. They were very experienced at this and knew exactly where to stop so that each photo was posed perfectly with the best background possible. The costumes were absolutely terrific. From an artists standpoint I just sat there and watched the costumes walk by in amazement. Brian and I chased people down like the paparazzi to get perfect pictures. Besides the beautiful costumes there were also original costumes. One year there was a family completely decked out in bubble pack outfits that looked like french royalty from the 1700's. The female even had a tall Marge Simpson-esque wig made of bubble pack. It was truly amazing. Unfortunately our photo of the bubble pack family didn't come out, it was dark and they weren't lit very well. But we have plenty of other wonderful pictures to remind us of our visits. Every February I get a little antsy to get back to these crazy beautiful celebrations. I miss you Venice, but I will be back before you sink:)


photos Brian took during our Venice visits

This weeks painting was a bit of a challenge for me. I will admit I have a phobia of painting with color. I am very happy staying in my comfortable monochromatic color schemes. I have actually attempted to paint this pic one other time, and I wasn't happy with the outcome. This week I tried to take the same approach that I did with the London sketch. I just relaxed, tried to not be too detailed and just had fun capturing the colors, lights and shadows. I'm fairly happy with my results. I may try this color thing again. I also have another dilemma, I'm running out of paint. I bought my beloved Schmincke watercolor paints in Germany. I like to paint with pans not tubes and I can't find Schmincke for sale in pans anywhere. I may have to bribe my friend Melleive, that is lucky enough to be back in Germany, to visit my favorite art shop and pick some up for me. Until then I may have to break down and buy some tubes on line. Oh, Well!! I'm also thinking about trying my hand at oil painting.

Steven was too busy watching the Superbowl to paint. He was also super excited to have his Daddy home. Brian was gone all week. I'll give him a pass this week:)

See everyone next Monday!

All paintings and photographs are copyrighted by me, Carrie Waller, and must have express written permission to be used.