Sunflower on Masa

Well, We are having phone problems.. a loud and I mean Very Loud buzzing in the phone. .. Not a big problem in the scheme of things.. but irritating as can be.. I was trying to download a couple of photos to the blog and called the phone co. to get this repaired. I had to explain it 3 times.. Fully.. exasperating. I just want to go back and paint.. I will..

Sure Hope you have a wonderful weekend, we will. Talk to you soon. Diana 
Wow.. It allowed me to put it on.. here is my new sunflower painted on masa..  What are you doing this weekend?

What A Place!

HI, I just came home from the Eastern Shore Art League Paint Out. It was at Carolyn's home near Parksley,Va. This was the home of Bobby Swain, the carver and his wife Terry,the painter. The little house on the dock was his studio. I could live there.. it's adorable,large windows, right on the water, loblolly pines. Here are a few of the ladies, from left to right, standing Susan,Barbara,Carol, Gayle,Monelle, and Purobe..We ate a lovely lunch of salads(everyone had made salads),painted on the deck,and just absorbed the peacefulness. Carolyn shared some begonias with us, I truly didn't want to leave.. I'm going to paint his studio.. I was so busy enjoying the beauty, I didn't paint much! :) ha ha.. and of course I got lost coming home.. ended up 2 towns north of Parksley before I found my path back.. oh brother.. ha ha. talk to you soon,Diana

Daylily Watercolor on Masa Paper

Hi, Class was lovely on Saturday. I got over early. It takes me about an hour and a half to get to Norfolk Botanical Gardens. I have to cross the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel which is 17 miles of bridge and 2 tunnels.. It's beautiful especially Fisherman's Island which is located in the middle of the bridge. I had 10 students, and Dave brought us a beautiful bucket of daylilies from the gardens..all colors and shapes.. gorgeous.I had prepared some masa so each student had one piece all ready to go. We did an exercise on different washes in watercolor, learned how to apply the masa to the watercolor paper,did an exercise in contour drawing of the lilies, then drew and painted our lilies. I asked each student to chose one lily to paint, so everyone had a different painting. It was fun. I reviewed some composition...

 after class I came on home and found Shields Stretch flooded,well it was half way up my tire.. as you can see in the photo. I got thru and Belle Haven had the most beautiful rainbow. I had to take a photo.. They had 2 tornados on the shore and 5-10inches of rain. We did need it. I finished my day lily watercolor this morning. See the effect of the masa.. It looks almost like batik.

Have a nice Monday. I'm going to paint another on the masa..

talk to you soon,Diana..
I called someone else about puppies.. One day I'll actually find one!

Tree Frog Visits at Midnite and Watermelon Watercolor

HI, I had so many new things to show you. First the watermelon.. it has iridescent paint from DaVinci on it.(I just finished it.( I will frame it to take to the class.) I didn't want to put the iridescent paint on my palette so today I went in the Dollar Tree and got a pill container. It has 7 days so I  put my iridescent paints in it and it's small.

This weekend,  I sketched the K9 doggie from the magazine ad into my sketchbook. I couldn't help myself. This is what my Daisy looked like as a puppy.

Last night, as I was getting a snack,with a mouth full of granola, I spotted a visitor on our kitchen window, a dear tree frog.So I took photos of him and started sketching fast.J. went on to bed,not me, how could I he was so cute- Well, the little frog resting now over top the window perhaps he'll come out tonight again.

I've got more paper to prepare with the masa. Some of it is done. I'll go work on that. take care, Diana

Day Lily Watercolor Class this Sat.

Hi! I've just sent off my email for my class at Norfolk Botanical Garden this Saturday. The information is on the right side of the blog. This painting,Day Lily, doesn't have the masa paper on it-- but I'll be preparing a sheet for each student to have when they walk in as well as teach them how to apply the paper in class. It takes awhile to dry as you know if you've used it. It's so very beautiful. It will be a fun class. The gardens supply us with flowers picked that morning and they are gorgeous!! And the classroom overlooks the hummingbird garden,so you know I'm in heaven!

This lily is from Sterrett's Gardens a small garden a few miles from us. I love to go look at their gardens but end up ooohing and aaahing so very much! :)

One class I had with Masa Paper,I taught them how to prepare the paper and told them to put it outside to dry in the sun. One lady came to class the next time and said she put her paper on the front steps and it blew away.. She never found it! HA HA..

Hope you are having a great weekend.. talk to you soon,Diana
I've posted on craig's list for a puppy.

Puppy News

Just a little post. You won't believe it. I emailed Tammy yesterday and the babies were here. ALL brown and black little lab puppies. NO yellow. I was heartbroken, silly because I told my husband in the world this is such a tiny,tiny, thing and I will find a puppy.So , the search continues..sending you all hugs, I need one,silly me. love,Diana--

I will go paint --something..I'll show you later in the day, if it's worthy..

Pushing for Inspiration

HI, Well, I just painted what was in front of me. I had brought this shell home from our beach trip. It's a blue mussel, I believe. I just laid it down and painted it and flipped it over and painted it again because both sides are beautiful. I used this iridescent powder.Keep it in old dog medicine bottles,just barely touch it with a wet brush. Add water and it gleams.Margaret gave it to me.

Thank you for your great suggestions. I'm just gonna keep painting. I did do a little gardening, I watered it and pulled a couple of weeds..but nature helps inspiration for me like you said. I'll just push..

I was delighted to find the little frog back this morning and so I took more photos.He? is on the wall by the back porch.

 Look-- This hibiscus is blooming. Before, my Daisy we had Sandy, a golden retriever as she got older she decided this plant was her bathroom.(I loved it so.) It was right by the back porch and I tried to keep her away from it but, no.. so it died.. now after 12 years(after Daisy)--with no signs of it. It has come back and is blooming.. Amazing.. I painted it years ago. I may have to again.

Puppies are due to be born this Friday but Tammy said her girls deliver a few days early, so I keep checking my email. I'll let you know I promise as soon as I know. I pray they are well and if I may have a light yellow one..some puppy to love.  :)

 talk to you soon.,Diana
so I'm going to fix a large iced tea and take some paper out there and look at the froggie.. thank you,

Experimenting with Wet in Wet and Slump

HI, This weekend I read most of Barbra Nechis book Watercolor with Heart. A great book,so inspiring so I started playing with wet and wet.Pictured above. Her's are so gorgeous. This was fun,but I'm not as loose a painter as she is,she also paints totally by her emotions and expressions which is wonderful. I know I learned from her work. I only buy an art book after I've looked through it and really like the work of the artist..

I finished my pear although I see a spot to touch up and I've got to sign it. I started with blue checkerboard but the pear faded away so I changed it to black and still.. so I added some blue and then darker blue around parts of the pear to pull it out.

I am in a slump. Know I want to paint but what.. What breaks you out of these..? take care,Diana

Do you ever do this?

HI! I mean, do you ever tape the leaf onto the pear to paint it? It works. That is a pear leaf..from my mother's tree. The pears are hard as a rock so we won't be eating them soon and I just wanted something simple to paint today. No thinking just painting..well my best paintings usually come that way.. :) Have a wonderful weekend with lots of rest and peace. Talk to you soon, Diana

Hoping again

Hi, Well I've been focusing on calling to try and find a yellow lab puppy. I've called everywhere.. and looked on the internet.. and I just found a mama lab who will have labs next week.. I'm excited. She's yellow,and I hope she will have a light yellow one! They live about an hour away -- I will let you know when I know. Let's all hope. ( I'm praying too ) talk to you soon,Diana

I've been doing contour drawings of zinnas and did a loose painting.. no you don't want to see it.
( you know the photo is of my Dear Daisy while we painted on the front porch.)

Wild Things and Tree Frog

Wild Things, 8x10",original watercolor,cost is $99 framed.

Hi, I finished this painting last night of a Short Tailed Black Swallowtail and Red Admiral. We have had both in the backyard, especially the swallowtail butterflies. They adore the tall phlox. The Devils Walking Stick, a wild tree,is now blooming and the hummingbirds and butterflies love that large mass of white blooms on top of this tree.

Today I ate lunch in the porch and hummingbirds were everywhere,I've made some more feed for them and will get some sugar when I go to the grocery store this week.One grazed the top of my head as I read.. ha ha.. Are you seeing extra hummingbird activity at your home?  

Talk to you soon,Diana 

I had to add the froggie photo, he is in the hydranea bush by the back porch.. I'll have to paint him. How adorable!

Cherry Tomato Watercolor and Busy Week

HI! Last week was a whirlwind. With the painters here, I was in the den as much as I could be-- with my set up table, painting this little watercolor of  checkerboard cherry tomatoes.  They were sweet guys but everywhere. They did a good job and now my living room is much brighter. We painted 2 walls a bright yellow called Forsythia yellow and the other walls and ceiling was "Butter". The tiny studio wall in the kitchen is "butter"as is the hall (which has a bookshelf built into it). J. said just paint around the books.. but I said NOOOooo.. and we had to move them all.So books were piled everywhere. I fell over a huge stack the first night.. Didn't hurt myself.. I just grumbled. So there was much talk of Butter and they even talked about Paula Dean,the southern cook on Food Network TV. She is quite a lady and loves to put butter in everything!  The men left me on Thursday evening and I do miss talking to them but the quiet is so very nice, too.

  My son and his girlfriend came on Friday after supper. So Friday I was zooming around -- getting groceries,cleaning... and making more brownies.I had made the painters a batch too.

 Saturday we all went to Chincoteague,Va. and Assateague,Va. We had dinner at  Ray's Shanty Restaurant. They have the best steamed shrimp and hush puppies(deep fried cornbread balls). Sunday, after lunch, they went home and J. and I read the rest of the day. I love to read.. so I haven't painted as much as I meant to but here is a photo of what I did in the den,a photo of the cute couple, and a photo of Chincoteague as we were going across the cause way. 

I'm exhausted! Wiped out.. leftovers for dinner and no cleaning here today. I may paint a little and read. What are you reading now? talk to you soon,Diana
ps. I did call a vet's about locating a puppy today and contacted another lab breeder,she will contact me when her next batch come in December. I hope to find one sooner.

Our Painters, No Puppy

HI, Our dear painters are here. If anyone on the Eastern Shore needs painting done I would recommend them. Pictured is Bobby Parks (757-442-3677) ,Glen and Ryan.  Their limits are on the Eastern Shore of Va. They are from Pungoteague,Va. and I'd gladly give you their number. They're working on the living room/art studio now. Nice people.

While they've been here I've been painting in whatever room is available, I decided to do this little cherry tomato checkerboard painting.

I was so excited yesterday the puppies were coming and all day I knew it. Three had been born in the morning, chocolate..you know I've got my heart set on a yellow one. Well ALL were chocolate brown lab puppies.. so I'm disappointed. thankful they are healthy and will be blessings to someone but still looking for my yellow lab puppy. I was so hoping again..

take care and talk to you soon,Diana