Calendar pages & watercolor palettes~

My little mushroom brush is just as important as my paint brushes!

Keeps the wool dust, lint, strings... 

All that crazy stuff fling around my studio, off my palettes.

I leave my palettes open to air dry~

It may be a few days in between painting.

If I forget to put my palette covers on (always) they get dusty.

I brush out the wells, brush off the little dishes...

I rarely wash my palette...

With a touch of water those messy puddles are perfectly usable!

Calendar time~

As I finish each month, I tack them up. It gives me a little distance

from my paintings. Sometimes they need a little more work.

Sometimes I soften an area...

The wintry months are still to be painted.

I should paint January & February mid-summer, on hot days~

When the winter cold seems like a welcome thought!

Just a few more paintings to go and

Outside My Window for 2020 will be complete.

Each year is a little bit different.

Always filled with my favorite things & feathered friends who visit!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend, Friends!

Thank you for stopping by~

Wool dyeing from clothing scraps~

Something blue from something old!

Something old~ can become something blue?

Giggle...

I had a few 5" x 5" pieces of navy blue wool suit coat.

I put them in a stockpot to boil & felt for rug hooking.

The secondary dye that bled off made all of these blues!

There was a lot of blue dye remaining. I put a piece of black & white

houndstooth type plaid in the stock pot to pick it up~

It hooks into such a beautiful texture!

The palette of wool that I came up with last week~

I wanted to come up with some muted plum tones for my

'I Love You to the Moon and Back' design.

I t would be fun to bring all of my punch needle patterns to

wool hooked rugs~

I cut some of my pattern colors in advance~

I like to have projects bagged and ready to go for when I have

a  little bit of time to relax.

When I have a good amount of plaid, pattern etc. I like to 

add them to my swatch chart. It helps me when planning a rug.

I like to add texture without having to change colors.

Hope you're having a great day, Friends~

Thank you for stopping by!

Watercolor palette

When I started teaching myself watercolor (as a teen)

I read every how-to book I could find.

Experimented with papers...

Purchased the best brushes I could afford...

Most of the artists I studied used the same basic palette.

That is what I followed and happily used for years~

It was economical and traditional.

When I began licensing my art I started to expand my palette.

Fabric collections, flag designs, calendar pages...greeting cards---

With so many varied products I wanted a varied palette.

Through the years I have found my personal favorites...

Windsor & Newton

Holbein

Daniel Smith

A trip into the city finds me at the Fine Art Store on

West Main Street~ fineartstore.com

I become lost in the options.

Held tightly by my very limited budget!

That way I am sure to behave ;)

My budget yesterday was for a green. ONE green.

The greens on my palette are running low.

I have been searching for something different for a while.

I can make several greens from all the blues,

ochre, golds & yellows that I have...

Finding a 'nice green' will save me time.

If a client decides to expand a collection, it is nice

to have less mixing to do... more consistency.

MaimeriBlu offered a sample card near their display~

It is a nice way to try out pigments. Do they stain?

How do the colors behave on my favorite paper?

Can I lift out highlights?

Do they glaze nicely?

Autumn colors keep me inspired~

Hope your weekend is off to a great start!

New color!

With soft morning sunshine streaming in the studio...

It's color time!

A new watercolor to share~

'Dark Brown' by Winsor & Newton

It is a muted, matte~ cool brown.

I think I will use it as a warm gray!

Hope your day is filled with 'warm tones!' ;)

Watercolor palette tutorial...

Every now and then I share about a new color that I have added to my palettes.

I enjoy colors...

Some palettes have very few colors & the aritsts create stunning images!

I love to share my colors...

This new palette is for our daughter who will soon leave the nest!

Start by laying the tubes near the wells...

I recorded the paint names for her on the back of the palette information sheet.

Just-in-case there is a PERFECT color for the PERFECT project &

she needs to purchase more!

I was commissioned to paint a large collection of baby-themed pieces.

Instead of trying to mix the perfect 'baby' blue...

or find the right red for a soft, pastel pink----

I purchased tubes so that I could keep the collection consistent.

My first palette was set up for landscapes with a few basic colors:

(Example) Winsor Red, Winsor Yellow, Hooker's Green,

Cobalt Blue, Indigo, Sepia, Burnt Sienna, Raw Umber.

Then I added an Cadmium orange, Sap Green, Leaf Green, French Ultramarine Blue...

Then I added Phthalo Blue, Violet, Quinacridone Gold, Green Gold etc. 

Today, my palette choices are often based on collections I am working on.

'Warm Wishes' (my latest snowman fabric collection through Red Rooster Fabrics)

had aqua backgrounds that would have been impossible for me to make 

with my very first palette colors.

I don't paint with the color directly from the tube...
I always mix something with it~

I wrote little notes on the palette images...

Please click on the photographs for a closer look~

I am often asked...

Winsor & Newton is my favorite watercolor paint.

Holbein is my 2nd favorite.

Good paint is expensive.

Permanence is very important.

Choose lightfast pigments, acid-free papers & archival storage/framing sources.

Hope your days are filled with creative!

A new red!

To paint the sweetest strawberries & cherries~

To find the exact 'red' in Americana and darling little red hearts...

I keep adding to my palette!

This new color is 'Pyrrol Crimson' from Daniel Smith.

It is a little 'cooler' than some of my reds...

The perfect touch that I often look for in the shadows!

Inspired by the season, I'm sure!

Hope your week is off to a great start, Sweet Friends~

ArtWalk & Watercolor fun~

Good Morning, Friends!

We have had a very busy week~ filled with wonderful blessings!

We enjoyed our son's Senior Recital mid-week...

I participated in Seneca Falls, NY 'ArtWalk' on Friday evening...

Our daughter graduated with her AAS degree in Graphic Design yesterday!

'Spring is busting out all over!'

It is absolutely beautiful here and green as far as our eyes can see.

Keeping our friends to the south in our thoughts and prayers as 

they clean up and rebuild from damaging waters & flooding...

Praying for all in CA... hoping the weather will help calm the fires.

Little bit of blue...

Little bit of yellow...

Little bit of orange...

Whole lot of nature!

It's wonderful to be in the gardens again~

I tucked some little watercolors in each of my Etsy shops yesterday...

Hope your day is filled with happy moments!

Color...

Color makes my heart skip a beat~

I'm even distracted when I zip down to the garden for salad fixings.

OH!

I dash up to the house for my camera... dinner will be a few more minutes!

Giggle... Color palettes are everywhere I look!

Just love His design~

Watercolor blue...

Our flowers were dancing in the rain last night...

A perfect way to illustrate a new color to my palette!

Manganese Blue Hue

M. Graham & Co.

"Glazing" ~ thin, transparent washes or details applied to dry washes.

I added a little zigzag my raindrop~

This little dish from a child's tea set~

The perfect addition to my palette!

No blue wishes!

Hope your day is bright and cheery~

New colors!

I love color!

Some artist palettes are rich with very few colors~

Their works are breathtakingly beautiful!

...and then there is me.

So many watercolors I have filled two large palettes...

Atop my large palettes, are wee little Ironstone

butter pats & children's dishes from tea sets

filled with "new & exciting" color finds!

I only have a morsel of what is available... for now! (giggle)

I have been painting for over 25 years...

It keeps me on my toes!

Two new colors have made their way into my heart and

onto my ever-expanding art palettes...

Inspired by the beautiful muted holly that you can see on our antique saucer.

Holbein Yellow Grey and Holbein Imidazolone Brown!

Guess what I've been painting?

Holly!

Hope your evening is filled with color!