SP Wednesday

I know 3 posts today but I will be gone for the weekend so this will make up for not posting then.















My self portrait looks a little misty today.

















My order from Dick Blick arrived, yippee. After seeing an article in Cloth Paper Scissors using gouache watercolors I wanted to try them. I bought a set of 24 and they are really nice. I love the intense colors.




















I tried out my new gouache paints last night and I really like them. This bird is the result.















This is a pick of 2 collages that I did a little while ago. That is enough for today.

More pics from Yellowstone

The second time I went to Yellowstone this year I took hundreds of pictures so its taking some time to go over them all and find the good ones. Here is a first look at some of htem.





















This little bluebird entertained us while we waited for Old faithful to erupt.
















Here she is erupting. When she got to her height all I got was steam so the pictures were not great.














Big horned sheep on the hillsides


















Another Momma and lamb. The lambs were so cute to watch.

















I loved seeing this fox's tale, isn't the size of it amazing.





















The fox eventually crossed the road right in front of us.
















This wolf we watched for a long time. He was looking for a place to cross the road. He eventually found it but we watched him for a long time






















This wolf was on the hillside at an Elk carcass. With think this is 302M the alpha male of the Blacktail pack. He is a favorite of mine. 302M is the Casanova of the Yellowstone wolves. He started out as Alpha of the Druid pack and then let his brother have the duties. He was more interested in visiting the ladies of several other packs. He is quite a character and I love hearing his story and all his adventures as they unfold.


















I loved this reflection picture I was able to take.
















A pelican just sitting on the water and then....















I was snapping away when the pelican decided to take flight. It was pretty great to get these shots.














I think the water looks so amazing. And no that is not all the pictures, baby badgers in my next post.

Just Do It

I am going to borrow the phrase from Nike today. I was looking at Dj Pettit's blog and she has these darling painted birds on fabric. I thought I have always wanted to draw and paint birds. Now why haven't I done so, no reason so I decided then and there I was going to paint a bird. I didn't have a model or anything just decided I would paint a blue bird and it was so much fun. I know I will be dong more now. Its funny how we put off so much for no real reason either. Is there something you have been meaning to try? Why don't you give it a go today.





















The texture on this page was done with gesso and a texture tool and a stamp. Bird was painted with Golden fluid acrylics.





















This on also used a gesso technique which didn't quite work out so I covered it with one of my spray painting experiments. I liked the idea of using the branches of the tree to list things. What would your tree look like.

Snow abounds

Like in many locations around the country we have lots of snow. These are the drifts in my front yard.














Outside my window the birds are really congregating.














Then I saw these on the lawn. I believe that they are Hungarian Partridge.














And here is one close up. A minute later they all walked over the snow bank and disappeared. I was taking these through the window so they aren't real clear.


















I did this drawing on Sunday. I have wanted to try two faces together and this was my first try. I see this as two sisters looking out on the world. This was fun to do and I think I want to try it again.
















I finished weaving the blanket last night. I am now busy making repairs and twisting all the fringe. This a picture showing some of the fringe already twisted. This has to be done before the blanket can be washed and fulled.

Just in case I don't get back here I want to wish you all a wonderful holiday. enjoy the time with family and friends and be safe.

A Lazuli Bunting

I was sitting at my couch looking out at the bird feeder when this beauty showed up. Its a Lazuli Bunting. I grabbed the camera and it flew away. Dave managed to get some shots of it later. Its amazing how you can look out your window countless times and then all of a sudden you see something new. The blue of this birds was so intense, the picture does not capture the color that well. I think this bird will be fun to paint with all its color.


Blogging Contest

Don't forget to enter my blogging contest. I am giving away a group of collage materials to celebrate my 500th post, just live a comment and I will enter your name in the drawing. I will be drawing a name next Wednesday June 18th.

ART

I've been making backgrounds in that watercolor paper journal I made awhile ago. I decided to just use all the different materials that I have and see what I like best. So far I have used golden acrylics, folk art craft paint, and water soluble oil pastels. I think I will use some actual watercolors next, then maybe some golden fluids and soft pastels. I think I like using Twinkling H2o's for more detailed work so I will skip trying them as a background. With so many choices it sure is fun to play.

Why don't you take some time to play today...