Daylily time once again . . .

Tillamook

I wait impatientlyly for this time of year when the daylilies begin to bloom and continue almost through August.  We're mid-bloom now, here in mid-July, and I take a 'crop tour' every morning to check on my crop of blooms.  Some are absolutely luscious and some I have faded on as years go by but I still love them all - so forgiving and hardy.  And I have a couple of surprise 'volunteers' this year that took root and bloomed where I never planted them - go figure.  They have their own ideas.

Volunteer - I think this may be Hot Toddy but I have no idea how it ended up where it is

David Kirchoff - highly scented, like a gardenia

Tropic Thunder

Pakistan

Bright Sunset

hmmmm . . . 

Mateus

Cimarron Knight

Antique Ruffled Lavender

It's been quite a day here in Davey, Nebraska . . .

Yesterday started with just thunderstorm warnings and I figured it would mostly be heavy rain.  I did not figure for this.  When the hail first started, I brought in two little guys that were pretty big by my standards - maybe nickel size.  Went to the back porch and this started.  

This is when I decided to watch from the porch

My poor umbrella took one for the team.

Amazingly, the garden survived.

The windows on the Saturn did not.

Jeez Louise.

Bedroom deck. Composite flooring . . .

 . . . with a hole.  From hail.

Poor little Shasta

Takes a licking - keeps on ticking

Divots

These holes are 3"-4" across and 2" deep

Shasta time . . .

I dragged the sweet old Shasta out this week for a little spiffing up, scrubbing and dusting and window washing - things I avoid doing in my big house, of course.  Next weekend it goes on a short trip to Seward, Nebraska, so we can use it as our home base while at our aerobatic contest there.

I know I've posted some of this before but holy smokes! I love having this little jewel - like a doll house with just enough room for two.  I have no idea who the four people were that the advertisers thought could share this space well.  I love my husband but he's the only one I could fit in well with.  

I had the pull-out sofa/bed reupholstered last summer and it completed the interior.  Simple in charcoal grey to match the original linoleum in beige, copper pink, turquoise and grey.  Piped the bed in turquoise so it blends with the turquoise bench seats at the dinette.

I sewed the curtains from a vintage-style cotton and pillows in lime with tiny ball fringe and found two little accent pillows (okay, I over-spent on those) for the banquette.

The exterior?  I am leaning toward leaving it as is.  It is faded cream and turquoise and I love it that way.  I see so many Shastas that are painted all "too too cute" and that simply isn't me.  I like the patina of age and the faded outlines of insignia missing.  If anything, I'll have a friend pinstripe the lightning bolt stripe for a bit of zip but going slow and not making radical changes.

Love.  Love.  Love.

Seriously small but how could not love this?

Scrap . . .

I just could not bring myself to throw away this little scrap of Arches paper even tho' it measures less than 2" wide by 12".  I taped it to a board trying to leave anything white to paint on and ended up getting about an inch to play with.  Clearly not a masterpiece but working smaller scratches my 'tightness' itch in my hand/eye and lets me get as much impact in a small area as possible.

Thinking I'll have this matted and framed and see how it turns out. 

Late Winter . . .

Late Winter

Another one hour (more or less) painting I did last night.  I had a strip of watercolor paper that was going to be used as a test strip, something I keep at hand when painting so I can see value and color on paper before I apply what I've mixed on my brush.  But I loved the size (3ish by 8ish) so I taped it to my board and dug into my photos to see what worked.

I'm hooked on Nebraska and South Dakota landscapes right now after our little trip over Mother's Day weekend to the Black Hills by way of the Nebraska Sandhills.  I wish I knew how far we could see into the distance as the low hills and bluffs faded away into grey and pale blue sky.  Twenty miles?  Thirty miles?  More?  The expanse gave us a sense of how small we really are in comparison, you know, and I could not quit taking pictures of it all.  For me, the mountains just got in the way of the view and almost all of my photos are of the broad expanses of grasslands and skies.

This particular scene is no more than 50yds from my front door, however, Big Traveler that I am.  A late winter snow was coming in from the west and I put on my parka and ventured out the drive to the middle of the gravel road and took this photo.  The sky was lowering and grey and in the distance the snow was starting to blur the horizon, not yet blanketing the fields and cedars.  Love playing with skies and atmosphere and remembering that a sky doesn't have to be blue to be expressive.

Gerbera : a Sunday hour . . .

Gerbera

Simple gesture-style painting.
One hour allotted makes me eliminate all of the unnecessary bits of background and detail allows me to give just a sense of the subject.

Developing . . .

Passing

I am trying to find the mental art-link between the metalwork I am used to doing and the watercolor I am getting used to doing.  Is the link the color?  

The high contrast?  The composition?  

Or is it the difference between the two media that captures me?

Is it the color mixing?  The achievement of depth?  The lack of edge?  

Or letting the materials do their little jobs?

I would love to give credit for the reference photos I used in this composition but no idea where they came from.  Only that I saved and printed them a long time ago.  

So 'thank you' whoever you are.