Outside of the Lines

Today didn't all go as planned....and that's just life going outside of the lines. Sometimes that's good....sometimes it's a challenge. 

But I actually thought this little watercolor went a little better than planned....and I'll take it!

I cropped it a bit and stitched it onto a card (I forgot to photograph it)...and it's on its way to a friend for her birthday.   

I've had this stencil for years...I absolutely love the whimsical and loose lines of the sunflowers. I've had mixed results on the gelli plate....but I'm still hopeful that I'll come up with a successful printing strategy at some point. 

So there is sat...waiting for the right inspiration. 

But rather than using it on the gelli plate...I put it on my lightbox and traced a corner of it onto watercolor paper. 

I started late one evening....and finished the next day.

late night photo with poor lighting

And I enjoyed every minute painting inside the lines.

And I'm chuckling as I write this....because I actually DID paint outside of the lines in several places.

....so I added the speckles to camouflage them.  

Turns out....the speckles are my favorite part...and they seemed to pull the whole thing together!  

Good things can happen outside of the lines.