Clean and Simple

It is better to do something than to do nothing while waiting to do everything. Winston Churchill

That's how I feel sometimes this time of year as I anticipate a quiet winter and everything I want to do in the studio. But had a couple nice walks and did more garden cleanup today and most of the screens are washed. So that's something! 

I'm not sure if I shared this print before...I painted it several weeks ago and just turned it into a card to get in the mail....and that's something too. 

I love the simple layers of leaves...and just a touch of soft green watercolor. I tucked the print into a Michaels pre-made frame card and stitched around edge. It's clean and simple and in the mail as a thank you note to Bill and Kaki.

I don't know what I love more about this moment on my morning walk....the frosty edge of the vivid red leaf...or the shadows. Clean and simple joy!

Pin Oak 101

Dotty commented on yesterday's post that she didn't know the difference between a pin oak and other oaks. I only know a little bit....so I looked it up. 

This is the pin oak in our front yard.....and I stand corrected because it actually has rich shades of yellow and orangey/red. Not bright like the maples...but still beautiful in an understated kind of way. 

Pin oaks are medium sized deciduous trees. The top branches point up...the middle branches point outward....and the lower branches point downward. Their leaves are smaller and deeply cut with sharp points....and they can be a little wonky. Which I love.

I found this online...and thought it was very helpful! 

We have a lot of Northern Red Oak in the woods....and they turn a bit yellow then straight to brown and the leaves are large and chunky.

For the second year in a row....we have virtually no acorns in woods and the backyard. Most years I rake and shovel them up by the bucket.

The acorns provide food for the squirrels and deer in the winter....so we're a bit concerned. But a few years ago we had a HUGE crop of acorns...it's called a Mast Year. I read that sometimes it takes a year or two for the trees to rest and recover from a Mast Year!

I have a great amount of respect for that....and so glad the tree knows to rest.

I did this watercolor in a bit of a hurry....so I'm not sure I love it. But I had to get it out of my head. I like the concept....but I know I can do better. 

Once it's good a dry...I may work the green leaves a bit more....maybe add red dots....or maybe they need a little white. 

This is cheap watercolor paper...so if I work it too much when it's wet...the top layer scrapes off. The paper is great for once and done....so I have to get it right enough the first time. And the price is right for my mass cyanotype printing sessions.

The boys are coming for dinner....so I'm a bit preoccupied! There is always joy in the house then the boys are here.

I wasn't very patient...and did a quick sketchy solution late this afternoon.

It's better....but I think I can still do better. More pin oak prints to come.

Artistic License

I needed a few cards to send....so I had a cyanotype session yesterday. My main goal was to play around with some small pin oak leaves from our front yard in honor of the season. Ironically enough...pin oaks generally go from green straight to brown...but I took some artistic license and gave them more color. 

As I look at these photos...I realize they are different prints. I did several...so I have more to paint And aren't the blues are so much prettier in natural light.

Everything changed when I splattered the gold.....it seemed to bring the print it to life! 

One card ready to go!

  

Fully Present

I've been talking about it for several days now....but I'm finally heading out of town this afternoon. I will arrive in Madison, Wisconsin late tonight for a week with family and friends. I'll get to see sweet Max...and his new little brother Miles! And of course...a lot of adults too. 

I always have a little bit of angst when I leave home....it's my happy place. I'm leaving Paul in charge of the gardens and the birds....and he has promised to keep me posted on the baby bluebirds that are most certainly going to fledge while I'm gone. Mom and dad have been busy keeping them fed and we can hear them chirping deep in the house cavity. 

I had time to make the rounds in the gardens this morning...cutting things back and dead heading and I'm excited about the black eyed Susans that are starting to unfurl. This is my NOW! 

I know for a fact that once I get where I'm going I will be fully present. I'll be enjoying other people's gardens...and sharing joys with people I love.

Per usual when I travel my posts will likely be late in the evening when the days have wound down. 

Looking for joy while I am way and sharing it here is grounding for me.

Then:

This is the moment I decided to start adding fused fabric to my watercolors while taking the Watercolor for Relaxation course. It started by covering a mistake...and now I do it intentionally.  https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2024/02/a-thing.html

I hope you are fully present wherever you find yourself today!

She's Not Wrong!

Because I knew more blooms were coming...I picked the stem with my single Bowman's root bloom yesterday and made a few sun prints. Today I added watercolor. 

I think this may be one of my favorites.  I love the shades of layered blues....the light and airy plant with its single whimsical bloom...and the touch of watercolor. 

I think it captures the magic of this very handsome plant.

More of these to come! 

I texted these two photos to Alison this morning as part of our daily photo exchange and my caption read: Playing with my Bowman's root. Her response made me laugh out loud and had me chuckling all day:Sounds like the name of a botany inspired porno flick! 

She's not wrong!

I actually pressed a stem a few weeks ago when the buds were just forming and used it for my cyanotype session yesterday. The leaves were large....so the the white spaces were big and blocky. 

I paused on the patio this afternoon and did a little experiment using watercolor pencils this time to create today's rainbow. 

I use fairly inexpensive watercolor paper for my cyanotypes so it couldn't really take all the shading from the pencil's.  

The minute I started adding water to blend the colors I could tell I couldn't do too much or I would gum up the paper. The gold speckles seemed to help soften it a bit. 

So from now on....I'll stick with regular watercolor. I can't afford to use good paper. 

It's always a good day when there's time to pause and play a little on the patio.

Holding Onto Hope

Some days all you just need is a morning with a friend catching up and sorting through fabric. 

I can't transport Jane to your living room....but I can send a quote that caught my attention.

We humans have a lot of work to do while all while holding on to hope....humanity and decency. 

Mandy Ford is the artist/author. 

I found a little joy this afternoon adding a touch of watercolor to my cyanotype. 

Splatter of Gold

Finally I saw that worrying had come to nothing. 

And I gave it up.

And took my old body and went out in the morning singing. 

Mary Oliver

I came across a snowflake papercut in my stash....and thought it would make an interesting mask for a cyanotype. I've been preparing papers for Kelly...who is going to do cyanotype workshop sometime soon....and I couldn't help but play around a bit myself.

The papercut worked well with my UV lamp and I'm tickled where I ended up with it.

I exposed the prepared watercolor paper to the UV light a little too long so the cyanotype print was really dark blue. I cut off a chunk....and using Connie's rainbow watercolors...I started painting in one corner letting the colors bleed into each other. 

It was a relaxing way to spend an evening and escape in color.

In the end....the very dark blue seemed to soften and be just right against the rainbow colors. It's like a colorful snowfall in the middle of the night.

And it all came together with a splatter of gold. 

Mary Oliver set her worry aside and went out in the morning singing....and I splattered some gold paint.

Butterfly Effect

I couldn't stop thinking about butterflies today. As a response to yesterday's post, Kate...an artist AND a physicist from the UK told me about the Butterfly Effect: the fluttering of their wings can actually cause a typhoon or tornado on the other side of the world. Seemingly insignificant changes in a complex system can lead to massive and unpredictable results. 

It's that micro thinking again!

Kate reminded me it only takes a small action by each one of us to create a tidal wave of change. Paul and I will be joining a peaceful protest this weekend....and I've been emailing my senator almost every day. We can do that small things. 

As I worked on the butterfly puzzle today...it took on a life of its own. It only took three pieces to make the connections from top to bottom...and side to side. And after just two or three sittings throughout the day it was done. I loved every minute of this puzzle....and it has had its own butterfly effect on me.

The butterflies brought the countries together beautifully!

I painted a coat of transparent Golden Zinc White paint over the papers on my recent watercolor. I also added some black doodles and a quote and I'm calling it well done!

Small changes....noticeable results.

The Thing

Do the thing cuz you love doing the thing. Dori Patrick

I've been micro organizing and cleaning in the studio....and finally uncovered my table in front of the window....so it was time to paint. Cuz even though I'm not that great at it...I do love to play with watercolor. 

This is what I did last night....just simple circles and wavy lines in blues and greens with a touch of gold. It was OKish in the light of day...but I thought it needed something more. This whole journal is about experimenting...and I usually go a bit too far.

For better or worse....here's where I ended up today. I wanted to add some other pops of color so I used polka dotted paper to punch circles out of circles to create rings. I didn't want to cover up the gold centers and cutting holes in fabric would have been too hard.  I'm not sure I love it...and I just decided that I will soften the paper pieces tomorrow with some zinc white paint. I do like the left side better...and I'll like even more when I neutralize the paper. I'll let you know how it works out.

If I do this again I'll use fused fabric...it pairs better with the watercolor. But the most important thing is I'm back doing something I love to do.

Mixed and Muddied

A few nights ago I did some random acrylic swirls and squiggles in my watercolor journal because I wanted them good and dry by morning. I should never do things like this too late at night....but sometimes things look better in the light of day. I'm not sure that was the case this time....but a little paint would help.

I decided to do a experiment with the two pages using liquid watercolor. 

I used three colors:

Ultramarine blue

Primary Yellow

Bougainvillea

On the right hand page I used the colors just as they came out of the bottle....saturated and shockingly electric.

I wet washed the whole page and dropped in the colors letting them bleed and mix however they wanted in and around the acrylic paint lines.

On the opposite page I used the same wet wash technique. But this time I put a few drops of the same three colors in the wells of a palette and mixed my own more muted colors adding in a little mud along the way. 

Mud is the mixture of all the colors...and helps tone down and unify them. Once it was dry...I glazed over some of the areas a second time to get some darker values.

There's a time and place for wild saturated colors...maybe. But the mixed and muddied side is more appealing and still reads as bright and vibrant. The colors seem more cohesive because they are blended into each other. I have learned this lesson from several artists I admire...and it was a good exercise to put it into practice once again. Mixed and muddied is the way to go!

Cracks and Crevices

I enjoy this simple painting technique....and have used it several times over the years.

I painted white acrylic swirls with a fine line applicator. After it was dry I added the watercolor. It's easy to paint inside the spaces because the paint acts as a resist.

I love the way the watercolor stains the paint here and there and settles into the little cracks and crevices created by the paint application.  

It's quite a satisfying process.

For Better or Worse!

Evening watercolor doodle.

Morning addition of fused fabric scraps.

I painted the companion page this past summer...

and some fabric scrap dots tumbled across to the companion page.

Makes for a cheery watercolor doodle spread in my journal....

but I felt like it needed something.

So for better or worse I loosely outline the leaves and dots. 

Playing around and experimenting with ideas is good for the soul.

Pretty Little Spread

I took a break from the grunge in the garage and the disheartening news...and I did a little painting in my watercolor journal last evening. 

I'm feeling very disconnected from my art supplies...but that's what happens in the summer and early fall. Studio days are coming. 

I was out of practice....so painting soft circles was a good place to start. I love to let the colors bleed and play with each other.....and I'm quite fond of this soft palette. 

I used the extra paint on my palette to paint swatches 

on the opposite page....all ready for doodling.

And today...on this summery fall day...I doodled and painted a little more on the patio. My doodles were inspired by Karen Elaine.

I still had paint on the pallet so I did a little glazing on top of some of the leaves...and a little more doodling.

It looked pretty good at this point...just a few more lines but per usual....it's hard for me to know when to stop.

I went a little too far....It's a little busy.

However....I do think it's a pretty little spread...and it was 

an absolute delight to paint and doodle on the patio today.