Cherish your day.

My new sunflowers.  Original watercolor. I'll have it at my next show.

Treasures from my walk with my coffee and Sadie. I'll add to it but just trying to cherish today.


 

Sunflower Watercolor Workshop

Saturday's Sunflower Watercolor Workshop at NBG.

More Painting on Saturday!
Hi! Yesterday's class was lovely. I had 14 students. The sunflowers were gorgeous. We poured, drew and painted. It was fun. Our class is right by the Hummingbird Garden and we had lunch outside to enjoy the flowers and hummers and a Monarch too. Such a lovely day!! I hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I did! Have a wonderful weekend. love to you,Diana

Our Church Bazaar

HI! Tomorrow is the Craddockville United Methodist Church Bazaar. I give a painting to the silent auction each year to help. The money earned is used to help local people who need their heating bills paid,electricity, have had a fire,an operation,need help in some way. It's wonderful how many people we can help. Craddockville is known for it's baked goods.. old timey wonderful homemade goodies !!!and quilts, just gorgeous work. I've decided this watercolor will be for tomorrow. Hope it brings a good amount for the Missions. Sadie has taken the pumpkin from the steps and eaten half of it. Hope that doesn't hurt her... oh my!!! That dog!.. love to you, and I started another rose painting..Going to go get some coffee and try to paint now. love to you all,Diana

Sunflower Painting and Sad News

HI, This week I've been painting this small sunflower painting. I started with the sketch onto a poured background. ( The well men came and finished connecting our new well so this was going on at the time.. 3 trucks, a backhoe, and Sadie--our puppy- running from window to window to go outside and play with her new friends!--the 3 men..) I decided to put the checkerboard in later and am glad I did.

 It also kept me busy with the painting , I kept coming across Nancy's notecard.. Nancy is one of my students and a dear friend who sent me a lovely handpainted note last year when I had back trouble to wish me well. I cherish it and I'd been thinking of her so much. I had heard she had pancreatic cancer and later that night I heard she passed away. She was a sweet person.. a biology professor.. she loved colors and told me she bought just about every tube of new color she could.. She said she had a bushel basket of them! I''ll miss her and my love and sympathy to her family. I came up with the idea and started doing checkerboard paintings with her.. we did a pear and she used a different color in each 1/4 inch square. It was lovely.

This weekend, Sunday I will be painting plein aire in Cape Charles Quick Draw. A 3 hour event..(it's short ) from 9am-12 noon we paint, then are judged.. It will be fun. love to you all and have a great weekend! Diana  

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?

Sunflower Demo..

HI! Class on Saturday was fun. We painted sunflowers just cut from the beautiful garden. I never knew there were deep dark brown sunflowers. We did gesture drawings,pouring,and so much more. This is from one of the demonstrations I began..there. I painted a little on the sunflower today. I enjoyed meeting and seeing again Dory, Karen,Mary,Nancy,Sandra,Elizabeth and Peter.

 The next class will be on the masa technique and day lilies on Aug 25th.

 I planned to walk to the sunflower maze but I was tired and J. and I only got to the bridge. So we turned around and headed home,the last photo is from the view on the bridge(Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel).so beautiful isn't it!

 Tomorrow morning at the early,early hour of 8, the painters are coming to begin painting.. first is this room so I hope I'll be able to get to the computer but I may not, but I'll be talking to you soon..and I hope to hear from the puppy tomorrow. will let you know! Take care,Diana

Maplewood Gardens Paint Out and Class...and

HI! Yesterday I went with Monelle to the Maplewood Garden Eastern Shore Art League Paint Out. It was a lovely time. Phil invited us this year. His wife Barbara used to have us there,she passed away with cancer a few years ago and was very much missed. We all brought a food dish to serve--me--noodle salad.. and we painted around the pool and garden. I did the little pool house..it was fun just dabbling in watercolor and talking. We swam in the cool pool. (The water was cool..) Brenda declared she was a 3 noodle kind of girl as  we all took a brightly colored styrofoam noodle to float with. It was fun being with Grace,Monelle,Barbara S.,Gayle,Brenda,Dottie,Donna,Carol, Willie,Purube,and Sharon,and Phil came out to say hello. 

Today I'm getting my things organized for class tomorrow. I'm teaching Painting Sunflowers in Watercolor at Norfolk Botanical Gardens in Norfolk. I had to run down to the Smiling Dolphin in Nassawadox Va. to pick up some more yellow paint.. Jenny Floyd owns and runs this art and framing shop.

The first photo is of a painting I sketched at the beach of the star fish shells. I poured after the sketch and am now defining the shells.. better get the paper and things together before painting.

Talk to you soon. Enjoy your weekend, let me know what you are working on! Diana

Flower Patch

Hi, It's been a nice Saturday. My husband talked me into walking. He exercises everyday and I truly admire and see the good in that, but I'm not an exercise person, so he tries to encourage me and I did walk today. I walked down a country road here,trees on both sides of the road, and it was peaceful and nice.

This afternoon,I've added thalo blue to my watercolor in stripes behind the flowers.This is different for me. I stopped just now as I was beginning to overwork it and I need to take a break and look at it awhile.

I walked around the yard and took some photos of a tiger swallowtail butterfly on my orange blossom. That smells so sweet!!These peonies were from a friend of mine and the little flower patch is near our front door, it gives me a lot of pleasure. I can see it out my studio window! Well enjoy your weekend,I'm having an iced hazelnut coffee.. have one! talk to you soon, Diana