SIGNS OF SPRING

I was in the mood for something sweet. Not trying to make a statement or anything, but painting something that made me feel good inside. Signs of Spring is about 12" x 15 "

Kyoto Shrine, Yupo version

In keeping with the Japan theme, this is the yupo version of the Kyoto shrine fountain. It is on a full sheet of yupo, fluid acrylic with water color. Compare it to the normal water color version of this scene.

THE BUDDHA OF KAMAKURA

Painting from one of the shrines visited in Japan. It is fluid acrylic on yupo with water color. Size about 14 x 22. I have since learned that the Buddha has a number of different hand poses and each one means a different thing. This pose is meditation and reflection.

WHISPER PHONES WITH ALCOHOL INKS

DECORATING WHISPER PHONES

WITH ALCOHOL INKS

(for younger children)

1. Clean the PVC pipe well and remove all stickers.

Put student's name on the inside on a piece of masking tape.

SUPPLIES NEEDED: 91% alcohol, spray MIST bottles, Whisper Phones, permanent markers, paper plate or newspaper to protect the surface. May want plastic gloves, paper towels, and q-tips.

(IT IS IMPORTANT TO USE MIST BOTTLES. TOO HEAVY A SPRAY WILL JUST RUN ALL THE INK OFF)

 

1. Make random decorations on the PVC pipe. Use around 4 colors. Too many colors will make it seem muddy. You do not need to color in all the white. 

 Fill mist bottles with alcohol. Working on one side at a time, (this will allow you to hold one side
and move it around without getting ink on your fingers), GENTLY and lightly mist a little at a time.
You will see the alcohol making the ink spread. Move the phone around as the alcohol drips, creating designs.

When the first side is dry enough to touch, only a minute or so, mist the other side and move it around to make the ink run in patterns.

After it dries, you can add more color if you wish. Or you can remove spots you don't want with alcohol on a q-tip. To create texture spots, very lightly, from an arms length away, mist over dry color. This should dry to the touch within 15 minutes. 

Clean up any unwanted spots with q-tip.

After one hour, you should spray it with acrylic spray sealer to make it

completely waterproof. 

You can do this project with any white, shiny surface: plastic, white tile, or even glass. I have done this on clocks, light switch plates, etc.

Twin Mischief #34

Just completed this watercolor on Fabriano painting of Katy's twins, Violet and Lucy. It is about 11 by 15 matted to fit a 16 by 20 frame.

Paintings Still for Sale

I have been asked which of the paintings on this blog are still for sale. So many are gifts or commissions, that I can only offer prints of them. But the ones that are not sold are listed as follows by the year it was posted:

2007: Blue Bonnet Puppy; Pink Lilies; Blue Tulips
2008: San Jose Mission, yupo; San Jose Mission, Arches; Pumpkins; Begonias; Still Life with M&M's; Gambles Window; Alstromeria Challenge #1; Alstromeria Challenge #2
2009: Ludlow Hill Park (yupo); also an Arches version of the same scene; Contented Cat in a Bird Sanctuary; Stargazers
2010: Rose of Sharon, masa paper; Rose of Sharon, yupo; Last Iris; Yellow Roses
2011: Fall Leaves batik
2012: Poinsettias; For the Birds; Blue Parrot; Wiley Cat
2014: Kyoto, Japan Buddhist font; Woven Fish
2015: Louisville Tea, yupo

Louisville Tea

When we visited Louisville, we toured the historic home of George Rogers Clark's sister. There was this antique tea set from the period, and I thought it would make a good painting. This is done on yupo, finished size 12.5" by 17.5". The method is one Sandy M teaches: make a medium value pour using fluid acrylic, and use 90% alcohol to wipe away paint for the whites and very lights. Then paint the dark values in with watercolor. I plan to put it in the SIAG spring art show on April 11th. My big problem is finding the right kind of mat. Nothing seems to work well, not even white.