First Snowdrop Sighting of 2023

 

The first snowdrop sighting is always a highlight of January.  I commemorated this year's first sighting in an older teeny tiny journal I found on the shelf.  I made this journal in one of Joanne Sharpe's classes and I added a little collage before painting the snowdrops.  Lots of fun!

Teeny Tiny Landscape Journal

I attended a live Watercolors Made Simple workshop and and was captivated by what Nicki was doing over the Christmas holidays.  She wanted to do something a little different and turned to making small watercolor journals.  They were beautiful and inspiring, so I decided  to do the same.

One of my favorite watercolor techniques is wet-on-wet landscapes, so I'm devoting an entire journal to doing them.

This one was inspired by this week's photo from the Creighton Online Spiritual Retreat I'm doing right now.  I can see there might be a lot of sunset paintings in this journal.

 

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

 

Memories of Winters in Palm Springs

 

We're not in Palm Springs this year, but during Vancouver's current cold snap, I have been fondly remembering our Christmases there. 

Silver Boughs

 

I've never had a silver Christmas tree, but some people do enjoy them!

Christmas Cards

 

I've been playing around with Christmas cards lately.  I say "playing around" because I've been experimenting with designs.

These two  in pots came from a Cee Cee Creations YouTube video.

This next one is my favorite so far; I made a few of these.

Watercolour Sketchbooks Made Simple BOTANICALS

 

I started a new class with Life I Design called Watercolour Sketchbooks Made Simple BOTANICALS. I'm using my Paul Rubens landscape watercolour sketchbook - 8" x 5.5". 

Lesson One was Payne's Grey Florals.  A monochrome spread is perfect for days when I don't want to think too much but want to slop paint around.

Lesson Two was Loose Dried Florals.   I added some Neocolor crayons to the watercolour.  I often pick up things on my walk to capture in my sketchbook.

Next we painted leaves, mixing our own greens, some of them right on the page.  This time we sketched our leaves first; I used some watercolour pencils here too.

I'm having fun so far, and that's the main thing, right?