Wet Paint

     I am a week away from my 5-year anniversary here on Blogger! I thought it was time for a little visual updating. For the background, I just start pouring watercolor and gesso on a my watercolor pad. Got my hands dirty - and my arms, legs and clothes.
     I remember how nervous I was with my first post, like I was going to be judged by a million people the minute I hit PUBLISH. So for I am still several hundred thousand shy of a million hits to my blog, so I worried for nothing.
     I named it Wet Paint because not only do I always have several works in progress (with wet paint) but my life (like everyone's) is a work in progress. I just want to reach out from my basement studio, share what I'm doing, how I'm doing it, why I'm doing it, and what I'm thinking about while I'm doing it.
     Next week (hopefully) this blog will be connected to my new website where not only can you see my stuff but you'll be able to buy something if you're so inclined. :) And I'll have a new piece to share! It's currently covered with wet paint.

Watering the Flowers

Grandma's little helper. 

If she wants to play in water - let's put her to work!

    I don't do too many watercolors but had some fun with this one. Trying to stay loose - always a challenge for me. I've been working on a couple of projects in oils so this provided a refreshing (and much quicker) change of pace.

Below is the original photo

Here's a couple of the early steps

I think the bottom one here is my favorite. I've gotta learn when to quit.

Mama Hummingbird

     This is a little sketch I did with a ballpoint pen and colored pencils. I did it in honor of our neighbor - a hummingbird who has built a nest in the tree that hangs over our driveway.
     My husband noticed it over a week ago. Although he keeps hummingbird feeders and we see them all the time, neither of us had ever seen an actual nest! (Hummingbirds will build at the end of a branch where the weight of a predator can't be supported).
     Last week a storm came through and our first thought was 'OH NO! That little nest and it's contents will be destroyed!' We looked out our window and the branch was indistinguishable from the others. The whole tree was a blowing mass of leaves being pummeled by wind and rain. We were bummed.
     When the storm subsided a bit my husband went outside to investigate. The little warrior mama still sat perched on her babies (eggs), riding them through the storm. Wow! Impressive! I can't even imagine what that ride would have been like.
     Another storm came through last night but there she still was this morning. I don't have a good enough zoom on my camera and I didn't want to walk too much closer and bother her, (she's been through enough) so here's the best I can do:

Let's face it. I'll never be a wildlife photographer.

Before and After a Bit of Shampoo

     Hi there! I've had this guy on my iPad for a few months and finally got around to painting him in acrylics (with a wee bit of digital touch-up).
     I first imagined him as a vicious forest creature who terrorizes all the other creatures to make himself feel important, only to find that he is one extremely lonely guy. So then what does he do? How can he make friends?
     He can take a bath! Haha! A bath (or shower) makes us all feel better when we're grumpy. Right?
And it certainly makes us more approachable!

Disclaimer: This post is in no way (mostly not anyway) autobiographical.

My Shop

My own little shop! Unfortunately it only exists online, but if I'm being honest, the overhead is going to be a lot easier to manage. I am counting down the days to launching my new website complete with portfolio, shop, and blog! I wanted to do something cute for the "shop" button so here it is.

Last Friday I walked down Broadway, the main street of my hometown - Greenville, Ohio, to take photos. There are many adorable old buildings to choose from. My shop is a combination of a couple of them.

On Monday I got out my watercolors and a piece of 6"x6" clayboard and did this:

It was cute but I thought the composition was a little boring. Here's one of the great things about clayboard - Tuesday morning I held it under the faucet in my kitchen and washed it off! A little light buffing with steel wool and I was able to give it a second try. 

For the final at the top of the page I digitally bumped up the contrast a little and added the lettering on the sign. Stay tuned for the grand opening!

Mermay - The Dance

     Though we are knee-deep in this glorious month, many of you may not know that it has been renamed Mermay by tons of people in the illustration community. My Instagram feed is full of scary, imaginative, adorable, and beautiful beings from the mer-world. Most of them, though, are female. Well how do you get so many of these fascinating creatures if there are no mer-dads? And where do mer-dads come from? It all starts with . . . the Dance.

    If you're interested in seeing the piece I did last year click here. That post includes part of a children's story in rhyme that I wrote a while back.