The little green bungalow . . .

Such a sweet little house.

I shouldn't call it 'small' since I've never been inside and it isn't mine,

but I know the neighborhood and the homes are darling.

Quaint, cozy, perfect.

This bungalow belongs to a friend who asked me to paint it in watercolor when I had time.

I finally had time.

I have two photos of it - one winter and one summer.

The summer house has 4th of July bunting and is beautiful and lush.

But there was something still about the home after a snowfall.

Tight and grounded. Clean and composed.

I love this setting with the pretty green against the grey skies, the hinted-at shapes 

of the trees and foliage.

She loves it and I can't wait to see it framed and in her home.

Love.

It is finished . . .

After several incarnations, I believe this painting is finished.

From photos taken from a neighbor's farm, I enjoyed the usual struggle of color, balance, detail, but I believe it's finally 'there'.

With a few more touches, off to its new owner.

Here's to completing work.

Watercolor on canvas . . .

The beta test.

Challenged with creating two unique pieces for a fundraiser, I decided to try a new technique with an old medium. Well, not so old really. Just one I am familiar with.

All artists were given one or two 8x8 canvases on which they were to work in any medium to create work that would be donated for auction at The Crossing Arts Alliance in Brainerd, Minnesota.

I really enjoy working in watercolor and was wanting to try the canvas prepped with watercolor ground to see how watercolor reacted with it. I have to say that while it was fun and gave me different surface than the cold-press 140gm paper, it was like painting on chalk. The paint seemed to soak up quickly and I lost vibrancy. It would take more glazing to achieve the depth of color I'm used to. And if I left it for a while and came back to add another layer of color, the watercolor tended to bead up. If I am wrong that this is how it reacts in a typical fashion, then I simply need to do more and keep practicing.

Overall, I'm happy with the results and will give it a go on other materials.

Work in progress . . .

This is one project I cannot seem to get far enough away from to critique my progress.

Taking a photo is the perfect way for me to judge those weak areas.

I seem to have them here and I'm trying to find solutions.

Not always easy to do.

Work in progress.