She loved flowers...

Remember her?

I think she's finished now.

Since it was a nice day and I knew she liked roses, I decided to take her out and see how she looks with other flowers.

I think she loved my zinnias.

My favorite lavender plant.

I don't know why I love it so much, but I do. I can't stop looking at it.

I think the hydrangeas look good with her too.
Those poor darlings were completely wilted on Saturday when we had an unexpected ultra-hot day.
 I was so happy to see them looking healthy the next morning.

If you plant a painting, what will grow?

It's 65º and windy now, so we are both back inside.

I hope you enjoyed this little photo shoot in my backyard.

Time to cozy up with a cup of mint tea and dream about something nice.

"She loved flowers" is available on etsy.

Happy smiles

This was a big and happy day for our family. Our boy graduated from college with a degree in psychology. And I was smart enough to buy waterproof mascara yesterday, as I first started crying when I saw all those young kids in their black gowns (on over 90 degrees, noon, in the middle of a meadow in CA hills - super hot), and continued through different stages of the long process. I can't believe that the time past so quickly. And that he made it seem so easy... Super extra very proud.  

I made a photo collage several years ago showing how he changed over time and turned from my baby into a young man. So cool!

My heart is smiling.
Thanks for making me feel comfortable enough to share.

Painting in progress

I finally felt a need to move from serious faces and pan pastels. I needed texture.

I picked a 12"x12" canvas, collaged the background and sprayed a little color to get me started.

Then I sketched a face.

Here I started adding color...

This is where I ran out of time...  Most of the time I don't feel like continuing where I left off, so I have a lot of unfinished projects and canvases. Maybe this one will want to be finished. I'll keep you posted.

Almost done...

I'm almost done with the serious faces series.
I used Rembrandt pastels and colored pencils in addition to my (still favorite) pan pastels.

I think I almost have them out of my system... I will soon be looking for something different to paint. Good thing that Sharon has a new class. It's called Faces in Technicolor and I know that it will be interesting and inspiring and I can't wait for it to start. She is offering a free workshop pass too. Drop on to THIS post to sign up for it.

Little owl

I hurt my little finger at work. Poor me.

Not really. 

There was a razor where I didn't expect it/want it/need it and my finger found it.
 My coworker (from now on known as Tom the Nurse) showed up with his first aid box and quickly tortured me with hydrogen and bandaged it. Too quickly, because I didn't have enough time to whine and complain and make a scene. The way he put the band-aid made it look like an owl. I couldn't resist.... so I found a Sharpie and drew this little thing. 

Isn't it cute?

By the way, my "wound" is perfectly fine. It is just a tiny, tiny cut.
I am very behind in replying to emails and comments and I feel really bad about it. I receive such wonderful support and you all encourage me so much and make my days easier and happier. I'd like you to know that I appreciate you and that I read every comment at least twice and often more. Thank you! Love you! Happy weekend!

Serious faces, part 2

I wanted to see how the pan pastels look over shaded pencil areas.

But then I liked the pencil so much that I decided not to color them at all.

So, I turned the page in my journal and started another one. It's as simple as that.

And, you guessed it, another one.

More to come..... I just can't stop.

Happy June!

Isn't June a special month? It was always one of my favorite months. Maybe because it meant the end of a school year and beginning of summer. And the end of cold weather, bounty on green markets, lighter clothes...Whatever the reason is, I usually feel light and happy in June and that's reason enough to celebrate. This photo shows what my sneaky husband captured one of the three long non-work days. I spent a lot of time outside, with my moleskine journal and a pencil.

Sooooo...... maybe you haven't noticed that I'm suffering with a complete lack of inspiration, but I really am. I don't know what I want to paint or create and it seems that I don't have one interesting idea floating in my head. Luckily, what I do know is - that it shouldn't prevent me from creating. I feel the need to play with color, to make things and the fact that I don't know what to create is not going to stop me. Therefore - a series of simple, serious faces started.

I didn't know what to do, so I drew the simplest weird face ever and colored it with my Pan Pastels. That was fun, so I made another one.

And I liked not thinking about "what" am I creating and just freely putting color on paper, so I made another one:

Fourth serious lady followed:

And many more after that one, but I will stop now and bother you with the rest some other day.

Happy June! And happy creating with or without inspiration!