Playing with gesso

The past ten days, I have focused on my plants.

We had a wonderful trip down to Homestead, FL to the Redland Orchid Festival.

It is a long drive but it is SO worth it.

We always enjoy driving through the Florida Everglades.  One year the bromeliads were

blooming in the trees and it was quite spectacular.

I only purchased one orchid and some supplies, but totally enjoyed each of the booths

from all over the world, each with it's own selection of plants.

So my art this week is a happy accident.

I always use gesso to prepare my watercolor paper for the paint.  More and more,

I am using a second layer of texture to add more interest to the painting.

Often because of all of the color, the texture is lost.

So this week I tried something different.

I only used a couple of shades of red.  It has two coats of paint.

The first layer had bits of color added here and there (Mexican Serape colors)

but I didn't like the additional color so did a second coat of light and dark red.

Look at this little beauty.  My husband treated himself to the bromeliad this week.

The bud was the solid pink and then today these little purple flowers appeared.

Quite spectacular.

Happy news, the dendrobiums are blooming again.  

Wishing you all a happy PPF and thank you to Kristin and Eva.

A geometric week

I finally got my "weave" back framed.  The framer had some difficulty as we

had wanted it floating between two pieces of glass.  It was too heavy so she had to 

redo it between glass and plexiglass.  It will hang on the navy blue wall so I think

it will be quite striking.

In the meantime I was back to my comfort zone with geometric sort of designs

I can't believe I stuck with the same colors...weird!

Wishing everyone a happy PPF

Three Turquoise Rocks

Years ago we visited Albuquerque, New Mexico and ended up in a pawn shop down

in a sketchy part of town.  The clerk was very interesting and most accommodating and ended up

showing us a room full of unbelievably gorgeous turquoise Native American jewelry

that had been pawned.  It was the most amazing array of jewelry I have ever seen, from

floor to ceiling, wall to wall.

So when I was painting this, the pawn shop was on my mind.  I wanted to add silver,

but just couldn't figure out how so here they are, three turquoise rocks.

I am taking part in an abstract art class, Painting Without Brushes.

I can tell I am trying and thinking hard because when I get home,

I am exhausted and am usually in bed by 8:30.

But thinking and trying sometimes doesn't get it.

I brought my piece home and 48 hours later, covered it with a thin film of white paint

and started over.  It is tough using your fingers (encased in ill fitting gloves).

So this morning, I tried again.  The thought was "bloom"

It has been terribly dry in Florida this spring.  Finally last night we had a good rain and when I went out on the lanai (to paint) this is what greeted me.  This is a cattleya orchid.

Wishing everyone a Happy PPF