Trying something new

Stepping out of my comfort zone! I painted this wet on wet, which I never do (okay til now), I used Arches paper instead of my favorite Fabriano, and I used another brush (gasp) instead of my favorite, favorite, squirrel brush (shhh, do not tell him!). And I painted from my mind's eye instead of life or a photo. Looks like the Outer Banks to me. Not too shabby for a first try, but I need to use more pigment, less water I think. It was fun to paint so I'll give it another go. What do you think?

More from the beach

Another watercolor from the beach, a common tern. Actually laughing gulls are a lot more common here but I couldn't make a drawing of one that I liked. I made up the mussels; I thought

all the blues would be pretty. I paint watercolors on dry paper but I recently saw some beautiful wet on wet ocean scenes, I think I will have to give it a try. I will post the results if it turns out. Maybe I should post it even if it doesn't turn out!

On the beach

We have had some fabulous days at the beach! We did some seining and got juvenile fish and minnows, grass shrimp and grumpy blue crabs. Dip netting got us more of the same and an ugly oyster toad fish. Jim and Jack went clamming and came back with 100 clams. And of course we all did alot of floating in tubes and swimming. Ahh summertime!

Beautiful Day

Today we are headed to Dewey Beach to poke around and look for critters and of course do some swimming. If its not too windy I will do some painting. Hopefully I will have some beach watercolors for you when we get back.

Prothonotary Warbler

I'm back at last! Sorry for the long absence. Lost my blogging confidence for a little while. I've set myself a new goal to keep my posts regular. Hope this birdy will brighten your day! He looks a little chunky but I love the colors. What do you think?

Fresh Blueberries

I love this time of year when blueberries are 2 for 1 (for the big box!). My son and I also love to pick our own when we have the time. Here is a watercolor I painted; I like the color contrast with the unripe berries. Have a lovely day!

An Old Dog and her Couch

Happy Birthday Molly! Fourteen wonderful years!! I just ran across an old children's book called "Amos: An Old Dog and his Couch" by Susan Seligson & Howie Schneider, and I thought the illustrations looked just like our Irish Setter Molly, who just about never leaves her couch any more. Lest you think this doesn't count as craft bloginess, look at that lovely quilt Molly is lying on, made by my Mom and sister. Many of the fabric scraps they used came from leftovers from sewing clothes for me when I was a child.