A New/Old Collage

I started this stained paper collage a couple of years ago during a Gerald Brommer workshop. It was on the last day, and I didn't get to finish it, and never got around to working on it again after I got home. Recently one of my painting buddies saw some stained paper collages in a magazine and suggested that we try them at our weekly painting sessions. I told her that I had one that was already started, but didn't know whether I could get anything good out of it. I ended up finishing this one successfully and starting another one. This collage is based on a photo I took of the Junipero Serra Museum in San Diego. 11x15

Two Florals With Fun Backgrounds

I worked on these two at my Thursday painting group for two weeks. They are based on a book called "Watercolor Without Boundaries" by Karlyn Holman. I liked her backgrounds, and tried to incorporate them in my work. The rose (from my garden) is 15 x 15 and has a white border all around. The rose of sharon (courtesy of my friend Anna) in a vase is 11 x 11, also with a white border all around. These were really fun to design and I like the effect, so I will probably be doing more of these in the future.

Painting With the Grandkids

I spent the month of July with four of my grandchildren. They each had a week with me, and we had fun swimming, painting, taking photos of animals, mini-golfing, movies, and playing ball. In addition, my granddaughter and I made some beaded jewelry. Here are some of our paintings. Justin did a painting in primary and secondary colors (after making a color wheel) as a requirement for his Cub Scout art belt loop. Ethan did a watercolor of a red tailed hawk, and Joe did a painting of a bald eagle. The boys were very into photographing and painting animals on our trips to the zoo and nature center. Jadyn did a painting of the turquoise and shell necklace that she made. And since that week, the WetCanvas journalling forum was doing gems and minerals, I did a journal page of some of my own specimens.