Little Things Do Brighten My Day

I was in Home Depot the yesterday and this tiny cyclamen made me smile. It brightened a very gray Chicago day. Obviously, I had to bring it home! I thought I'd share it with you.

This is a quick watercolor done in a Stillman & Birn Beta Series book. Usually, I do a preliminary sketch in pencil or marker, but, on a whim, I painted directly, without a preliminary sketch. 

#8 Seeing the Color

Exercise #8 in One Watercolor a Day-  This little succulent had some subtle coloration going on in its leaves. Hmm, or are they petals? It's really hard to find color these days in gray Chicago!

One Watercolor a Day! I'm not even doing these at a rate of one a week but I'm having a good time with this book.

Good Morning Sunshine!

We've had so much rain and unseasonable cold here in Chicago! At long last the plants and I could enjoy the morning sun on the deck. I didn't know how much longer they would hold up with out some good sunshine. I didn't know how much longer I'd hold up for that matter! This is a quick sketch of a corner of our "back forty".

Monday Sketching Outside!

Our Monday sketch group met at Nookies in Old Town then ventured out into the still-chilly Chicago spring. The temperature was in the 50s but the sun was glorious! This is a sketch of a florist on Wells Street. It expresses my sentiments after the long gray winter.

Growing

The paperwhites have made great progress. The bulb on the right is still struggling but it's getting there. Me too.

Like my last post, these sketches are done directly without pencil lines. I've been using a Cheap Joe's American Journey watercolor sketchbook to try out some new things–experiments that are a little different (some not so little) than I normally work. In some cases I'm revisiting my roots and playing with abstracts. We'll see how it effects what I usually do. I'm enjoying expanding my horizons! 

50 Shades of Clear

Now that all our Christmas decorations are down everything looks so drab. The gray Chicago winter is no help. I was walking by a local florist shop, Christine Noelle Design, and couldn't resist the call to buy some bulbs to force.  I decided to try a no line-drawing approach to record them in the simple but lovely cellophane-bag packaging. In the end though I couldn't resist putting in the penciled frame to ground the watercolor on the page.

Fa La La La La

La La La La!

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a New Year filled with blessings and love!

Clueless in Chicago

I have no idea what kind of succulent this is but I really like its graphic quality. There is a new florist in the neighborhood, Christine Noelle Designs, and as I was walking by the other day I spied it in the window and couldn't resist.

The new floral studio is beautifully designed and the flowers are out of this world. I complemented them on such a wonderful space etc. and asked if they had other locations. "Yes." they said, "Dilly Lilly." LOL! Ten years ago, Dilly Lilly did the flowers for my daughter's wedding and, though a little out of the way for us, has often been our "go to" florist for very special occasions! Lost in the conversation, I didn't get the name of the plant!

EDM 257: draw a house plant

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Yesterday our sketch group met at the Lincoln Park Conservatory. The holiday display of poinsettia, Chicago landmarks constructed from plant materials and the miniature trains was as enchanting as it was beautiful. When people wandered into the show house and saw the exhibit their faces lit up like lights on the trees!

The range of color from snow white to stripes to brilliant red was an inspiration to all of us in the group. It was pouring out so we really chose the perfect place to meet this month.

Having a cat in the house who has never seen a flower that she didn't think was a salad, I miss having live poinsettia around during the Christmas season.(She's worth it.) I just had to paint them. I'm trying to loosen up my watercolors and was pretty pleased with that part in this one. I wish I had added something to show the scale. This arrangement was huge.