Work in progress...although more like fun not work.

I am playing with watercolours again..I find them really difficult but really enjoyable as they are so beautiful to use. I'm doing lots of drawings of different figures from old family photos and vintage postcards...repeating the same drawings over and over. Practice does make the finished drawing better and I can definitely see the difference in each next drawing.(is that goodish grammar?I feel a bit fluey this morning so my grammar brain is slow.) I am doing the same with some flora from around the garden, vines and flowers, leaves, plants..there is lots to choose from..and then they are being combined on backgrounds of old maps.

This picture above is from a vintage postcard of a girl holding a sickle standing in a field. Somebody's personal message on the card says, "Iowa cornfields, gone but not forgotten". Pretty cute.

What I really like also is that I don't have any plan in mind other than the process...no finished anything is in my head. So it really is about doing and having fun and playing and seeing what happens..

The picture above is from a photo of my mum when she was in her late teens and was crowned "Queen of the Ball", hence the crown.

So this is my mum with her crown and a lady from another postcard reading by the light of a lamp..I think the flowers and leaves etc will become a lot more detailed and the figures will be mysteriously hanging around in the background...maybe...

Some more art

This is a page from my journal...the photo is one found in the thrift shops in Canada of all places and not of anyone I know...I just really liked it and of course it is in a very Aussie setting...

I know this is fairly rubbishy but just wanted to show off my spelling (??) not really my calligraphy, which is a new passion and one I am loving....

A page done on being a woman and aging....something that a lot of my friends seem to be going through or have gone through...it is all cliched stuff but very true...the letting go of being 'cute' and attractive and becoming the wise women we are now meant to be. Surely all that experience and living must count for something and I do honestly believe it does and that it should.

Some watercolour fun...my calligraphy ink, water spray bottle and my coffee mug...some favourite possessions.

Playing with watercolour.

When we are in Canada I draw the buildings as we drive through the countryside..just quick sketches from the car...Canada is full of gorgeous old buildings. So I played with some of the drawings and painted them with a bit of poetry.

Watercolour pears

At left is a pencil and watercolour drawing and on the right just watercolour...the pears were so pretty but not overly tasty...

A new watercolour journal is born..

I spent at least half an hour in Eckersley's on Sunday morning just roaming the shelves and checking out the supplies...so much fun in that shop. I ended up buying myself some watercolour paper, brushes and a set of paints...I have had good paints over the years but left them in Canada...also bought some watercolour pencils and a couple of pretty papers for my journal.

Don gave me a rose for Valentine's Day and it was still okay although a little droopy, so I drew it first...my drawing skills are a little rusty...funny when I don't draw often that happens...

and then i painted it...I find watercolour SO difficult but I love work done by other artists and so have been inspired to try again...maybe just a watercolour journal is a good start as I can practice and know that I'm not attempting a real 'painting' which is going to be on display or 'judged' harshly by...me!!