Rebecca's Tabby

I think I will be taking art classes until I finally drop off the face of the earth ... love to learn ... also love to read historical and biographical novels ... and in fact, need to do more of both!  There is a wonderful artist, Rebecca Rhodes, and I take online lessons from her.  This painting was done following one of her wonderful tutorials.  So many hours in this and ... so much was learned.  While I've been dabbling with oil paint since .. well, since longer than most of you have been alive, I consider myself a beginner in the use of watercolor paint and her classes help to fill my brain with so many techniques.  So, thanks to Rebecca for a wonderful lesson!  I spent about a week working on this, starting with and developing the eyes ... because if the eyes went wrong I could toss the worse and start over. Anyway, about a week, 4 to 8 hours each time, so that I could allow the paint to dry naturally instead of hurrying and using a blower!

From the time I was a very, very small child, each time I saw peonies, I thought of my "Busia" .. my mothers mother.  What a gentle soul she was and how I loved her.  Anyway, I had never painted a peony and decided that it was time to paint that bright, pink peony that Busia loved so much.  I first painted the peony with the green leaves (and had a dickens of a time getting this one finished!) ..

and then I did a painting that featured only the flower .. wide open and on a black background.  Spent a lot of time thinking about days with Busia while painting these flowers!

I am not a "lover" of yellow (or green) and went on a yellow/green kick! Wanted to force myself to get over this "thing" I have about those 2 colors! Can't tell you how many individual sunflowers and leaves I painted.  Then, I got really possessed and decided to do a painting of a group of sunflowers from a photo taken at a farmers market ... less than half way through, I was ready to put an end to the torture but ... I could hear my father with his admonition!  "Charlie, finish what you start!" ... okay, Dad!!!  So, while it took me way too long to get this finished, here it is.

This spring, I was lucky enough (again) to be able to take the 4 spring classes with Terry Armstrong.  Since the day I first picked up a paint brush I have wanted to paint corn .... realistically .... so when this class was offered this spring I was floating on clouds.  Work on the painting was done during the 8 hours in class and then at home, another 8 hours or so went into the painting.  Grandpa had a huge corn crib and had milk cows and hogs and sometimes, horses and I can remember climbing up and into that corn crib (no matter how many times I was warned to stay out of it) and I would take the dried corn and twist it off of the cob and put it in my hands to feed the horses ... loving that "soft touch" of their mouth as they lifted the corn out of my hands.  Such great memories.  Each time I look at this painting, I think of Grandpa!

I am lucky enough to be taking online classes from Rebecca Rhodes.  You can find the links to her web site and to her online classes if you look right under my banner here on my blog and click on "Watercolor Artists".  In all the years that I've oil painted and in these few years that I've been learning watercolors the only dogs that I have ever painting ended up in the trash.  Then, I was lucky enough to stumble onto information regarding this most talented artist .. and, her online classes.  The little dog posted here ... "The Little Mongrel" was done under her wonderful online guidance.  Being an animal lover, with a house full of "rescued" kids .. this little dog so appealed to me and tugged at the strings of my heart!  I thank Rebecca for such a wonderful learning adventure!!!

Before the end of 2016, I promised myself that I would go back, and finish any paintings that I still had sitting around ... unfinished!  No matter the excuse, the reason for the work not being completed I decided to just sit my critical self down and finish them .... no matter how unhappy I was with the work or no matter the reason that I never finished it!   So, here are the results of my Finished ... unfinished paintings! 😊

The nuthatch was started in class this past fall .. the classes I take from Terry Armstrong (you can find the link to his site above, in Watercolor Artists).  The work wasn't finished in class and after I brought it home I just set it aside to "think about it" .. and this is my finished work.

GUESS IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR

The painting below, titled "Rusting Away" was also started in class with Terry.  Everything had been completed except for the "leaves" in the bucket and on the shelf ... and for the past 2 years, I've look at it, thought about it .. and then would just not do it!  The idea of painting those leaves in an "impressionistic style" was just beyond this artist with her detail oriented, 2 haired brush.  Everyone, all my life has teased me about painting with a 2 haired .. and sometimes, a 3 haired brush because of my love of detail.  So, this painting (while the wood and cans were "detailed") just had to sit until I could wrap my mind around not painting every single leaf and every single little vein in the leaves! And .. I did finish it before 2016 has flown out the door!

RUSTING AWAY

This next painting was started in Terry's class about a year ago.  This was another that I just had such a difficult time with because of my overwhelming need to rip out that 2 haired brush and paint every single little leaf!!!  It's another that I stewed over, studied .. probably tossed some 4 letter words at and kept putting aside.  I FINISHED IT!!!  and I've called it "The Volunteers".  Whenever something grew in the yard .. that hadn't been planted, my grandmother used to call them volunteers .. and I thought of her when I was painting this.

THE VOLUNTEERS

There was one more painting that was "bothering" me, and it's the one below.  It was a painting that I started a couple of years ago .. maybe a year and a half ago .. and it just gave me fits.  Haven't a clue what the problem was, but was really one of those paintings that I was either going to cut up or throw away.  So, before this year ended, I made up my mind that I was going to sit down and work out the problems that I was having with it .. or, at least attempt to work them out.  I love chickadees but this little guy was like the rabbit that I painted ... while I love rabbits, I absolutely, totally and completely hated THAT rabbit!  BUT ... with my promise to myself to FINISH my UNfinished work??? ... I forged ahead and did finish it.

HEY! WHAT HAPPENED TO SUMMER?

So, there you have it ... the 4 paintings that I have had set aside for 2 months to 2 years ... the little devils of 2016!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE ... with hopes that this coming 2017 will bring joy, love, laughter, happiness AND .. peace to each of your lives.

Don't know how many of you remember when parents used to "bronze" our baby shoes! ... my mother bronzed mine and then had them made into book ends and as an 8 year old I just couldn't imagine how my feet ever fit into those little things. I've had this photo for a while and knew that I wanted to do something with it so about a week and a half ago I sketched it out and did the first light wash. During this past week and a half I've fooled around, dinkled with it and tonight, decided that it was time to sit down and finish it. Ninety five percent of the painting was done using 2 colors .. and a third color was added in a very very few places. I had a lot of fun doing this one .. learned more about watercolor .. and it's help me get through this nerve wrecking evening .. as I listen to the Cubs play the Indians. Of course, I'm hoping that "our Cubbies" win ... and wish that my mother and other members of my family were still with us ... how excited they would be!