Two pencil exercise

Perfect timing for a two pencil exercise this week Laura!

I have been taking beginning calligraphy (only two lessons in) and we have been

using two pencils to practice until we got comfortable with the angle of the pencils.

So here is my wibbly wobbly contribution.

Hopefully next time you see my printing you will see an improvement.

Thank you, Laura for another fun and challenging challenge.

I had to share some of the current beauty on my lanai.

These are dendrobium orchids, the kind you sometimes find on your plate

in restaurants.  Mine are all in bloom and quite spectacular right now.

What is "yupo"?

Several have asked me what yupo is.

It is a plastic sheet of paper.  There are several ideas for it's use on line.

I have been preparing it with alcohol.  I spray it on and rub it around to remove any oil.

Then I give it a coat of matte medium

I use a Walmart paint roller to apply the matte medium

The next step is to apply Halloween children's spider web.

I secure the webbing with T pins pushed into the cardboard that the paper is attached to.

The thinner you pull the webbing, the more interesting the end result.

I then spray this with water so the webbing adheres to the paper.

Then I use Dick Blick liquid watercolor to spray the paper.

The paper must remain flat until it is dry and then you remove the webbing.

Every page is a surprise.

If I want to paint on it, I spray it with a fixative.

Give it a coat of matte medium and then paint.

In this case I used liquid acrylics for the base and then regular acrylics.

I think it makes an interesting background.

What are your thoughts and/or questions?

Happy PPF

Diva Challene #126...AMAZING!

One hundred twenty six challenges!

Wow, Laura!

That is amazing.  It is amazing you are still coming up with new and brilliant

ideas every week.

It is amazing that we are all still here with new friends every week.

It is just AMAZING!

Way to go girl!

This week's challenge was to use a stencil or something similar as a string.

I have used a Balzer Design stencil of flowers.

Now I am wishing I had used it with paint first and then tangled.

Oh well...next time.

It has been hot and steamy in Florida.  So hot in fact that Harley

begs to go in the pool.

He will fetch his ball all afternoon before finally tiring

and getting out.

Am loving the color...

I have been playing around with color the last couple of weeks.

Initially, I used dye on watercolor paper for a nice vivid result

After some negative glazing,  I was pleased with the result.

And then I switched to yupo.

This is a completely new experience for me and the color.

Interesting how the color reacts.

Oh, I am really liking how the color worked here.

There are some beautiful interactions.

I think I need to try some more yupo

Not sure where I go from here but I love the color reactions.
Maybe some of you have had some experience on yupo.
I would love to hear about it.

Wishing you a Happy PPF

Water, wind and fire

I am a native Coloradoan, transplanted to Florida.

For thirty years, we lived in the beautiful foothills south of Denver.

And for thirty years we lived with the threat of fire.

When we bought our home the only water available in case of fire was a neighbor's pool.

I never realized the stress it placed on me until I left the area.

The smell of fire makes me have an anxious pain in my stomach.

It never goes away.

Last year the gorgeous land north of Colorado Springs burned.

This year the beautiful, pristine Black Forest (and four hundred residences) was lost to fire.

The town of South Park is currently threatened by a growing fire. 

And so, this week my thoughts and prayers are with the people of Colorado.

And Oklahoma devastated by tornadoes.

And Calgary, flooded by an angry river.

Summer Heat

Florida has been hot and humid the past couple of weeks

Summer arrived with a vengeance, early.

It is kind of funny how the weather affects my art.

In my ink on watercolor project

I chose hot, hot colors.

This is a WIP.  You can see I have only started the

negative glazing in the top right.  

And then the other night I was sketching and this old desert guy showed up.

Wishing you a cool Paint Party Friday!

Is it a Zentangle?

Like many of us, I was a doodler in school.  Most of my pages of notes were surrounded with doodles,

many looking like the page above.  Because it consisted of lines, lines and more lines, I often

achieved the zen feeling while taking in the lecture occurring in class.

I am not sure this is quite what we are looking for today in the Diva's Challenge but I will submit it.