Spring Daffodils

Daffodils in Blue Glass

Daffodils in Blue Bottle I

Daffodils in Blue Bottle II

Daffodils in Blue Bottle III

This week I brought in some of my daffodil paintings for my group of homeschoolers to work from. We started with some structural drawings of daffodils to get a feel for the different positions of the flower heads. (You'll find those after the coloring page link below.)

Coloring page of daffodils and birds

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To My Lily
Topic: Life

I found her 14 years ago in Brooklyn,NY. I had to have put to sleep last Friday. She was always a kitten.

Thursday Photo Challenge - Nature
Topic: Art

Visiting my favorite blog, OutsideIn, tonight, I learned of the Thursday Photo Challenge, topic - Nature. Vicki, who with her family is going through quite a challenge of another nature, posted a photo that is an homage to her parents' relationship with nature. To me it brought up the question of 'can there really be a line between Nature and non-Nature?' or, 'what really does Nature mean?', or, just what is a Nature photogragh? To take a photo with Nature as the subject we use a camera. A photo of a Nature subject, by its very existence means the presence of a mechanical object (that took the photo). Well you get the picture.

I visited the challenge site and looked up some of the photos. And so decided to participate as well. This was the first photo of a 'Nature' subject that I came across fishing through my photo folders. I think this river is called Back River and it is in Friendship, Maine. I believe the tide was coming in. At lowtide clamdiggers can be seen in the mudflats stooped over their baskets raking up any clams they can find. This past summer was a desparate summer for the clamdiggers (who earn much of their living this way) because many of Maine's clam flats were closed due to Red Tide, a toxic algae that strikes periodically.

Great Practice Paper and a Hopper Painting
Topic: Watercolor Class

I left a comment tonight on Karen Winters' lovely visual blog about my favorite paper for practicing brush strokes and sketching. Its called "Multi-Purpose" paper, by Georgia Pacific. Its a grade above copier paper and not to be confused with copier paper. You can find it in the office supply section of WalMart. A ream of 500 sheets costs about $3.50. It takes paint beautifully, but, being thin it buckles once wet. One can actually do a painting beyond just practice strokes on this Multi-Purpose paper. I did this copy of Edward Hopper's painting "Bill Latham's House" several years ago on it. (You can compare to Hopper's painting here...)

More samples:Read More...

Mardi Gras - Fat Tuesday - Carnivale
Topic: Seasonal/Holiday

Here's is my part in the festivities. I've never taken that much notice of it until this year because of all the news about New Orleans and Katrina. Paint a mask yourself - its fun, you can go wild. What are those masks with the big beaks anyway? You'll find  interesting Mardi Gras history and traditions at Novareinna.com.

Update: I now have Mardi Gras Coloring Pages. Have fun!