Energy
Topic: Thursday Photo Challenge

I Have the Sun at my Sink

This week's theme for the Thursday Photo Challenge is Energy ( children, athletes, nuclear power plants, gas pumps, electrical power lines...) I imagined I would assemble some elements or objects that I thought related to energy: a candle, some sugar, a potato, running water, the stove burner, a cat jumping, a dollar bill. I don't remember what else I had in mind. As I sat reflecting, my eye fell upon the dishdrainer with the sun blaring off the silverware back at me. There it is! The sun itself - all small in my house. And so, this is my offering to the theme of energy.

Thursday Photo Challenge - Vision - Squirrel in My Window
Topic: Thursday Photo Challenge
Its Thursday again. That doesn't mean I will try this challenge every week but when I heard of this week's challenge - Vision, (window, eyes, camera, telescope, etc.) - this squirrel coming into my house through the open window came to mind. This encounter took place last spring. The 'fire escape' out there no longer exists. It was torn down last summer to be replaced in the near future with a deck that is to double as a fire escape. In the meantime, 6 months later, the fire escape, which had needed replacing because it was not up to code, is still made of air. And if there were to be a fire - could I rely on this vision?

Watercolor Class Lesson for St. Patrick's Day
For watercolor class the week ending in St. Patrick's Day we explored combinations of landscapes and greens.

Landscape roughs

Loose landscapes exploring greens

Quickly rough out four thumbnails and create compositions of interesting landmass shapes. You can use an Irish landscape for inspiration. Use only two values, dark and light. For the last thumbnail create a value reversal of one of the other designs.

Now to play with green. Brainstorm a list of names for various green hues and/or green pigments.* Brainstorm a list of ways to create green - hue and/or pigment mixes. The possible list is infinite I would guess. Choose four color plans, using just 2-3 colors for mixing greens. Choose one of your thumbnails and paint it (interpret it) in four versions as per the color plans you chose. If you want to keep track of your experiments, record the color plans underneath each version or on the back.

*Hue is the color we see, whether in a rainbow or a physical object - we have lots of names to describe colors. Pigment is the substance a paint or coloring agent is made of and can be described by name and/or chemical formula.

I'll put the kids paintings up soon.

Posted by Catinka Knoth at 12:01 AM EST

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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.