Hot and Steamy, but Raining

I thought I was going to go down and have to be resuscitated in the conditioning class this morning. It was cooler but very humid and the fans quit working. By the time I left there, I was soaked through and my water bottle was empty. But it started raining on the way home and so I am a very happy person right now. I just hope it continues to rain all day. I don't need a great downpour; I would be happy with a fine rain for hours and hours. As soon as I got home, I ate a handful of cherry tomatoes and am drinking my first of what I think will be several bottles of cold water.


I did find time to do some art yesterday and I have a green thumbnail to prove it. I don't think these are done yet, but I like them so far. I used some Peerless watercolors on these two pages. Peerless watercolors come on small cards and are activated when you wet them.

I also did a bit more on the previous day's pages. I did find that dabbing some gel medium over the flowers "set" the Gel Sticks and thanks to your suggestions I found that using them a bit less thickly is the way to go.

I think both of the spreads are crying out for either some journaling or a sketch or perhaps an image transfer. Who knows what will transpire between now and the time at which I think they are done.

I did a couple of pencil sketches in my favorite repurposed journal. I made this one last summer and it is my favorite one so far.

It is a nice carry along size - about 4" x 6.5".

Lillian Kennedy has a site called Weekly Art Lesson and I used her guidance to try this Adirondack Chair. I have rather a penchant for these chairs as besides loving to sit in them, the hubster builds them.

And I love pears, both to eat and to draw. I don't think I've ever seen a sketch or a painting of a pear that was wrong. Pears are very forgiving and are not geometric so are much easier to draw than a bicycle or a building, say.

I had to lighten this one quite a bit because it was being overwhelmed by a much darker pen sketch on the back side of the page.

Last evening my daughter brought her two girls and a friend of the older one for dinner and then she and I left the girls home with Poppa and walked for about 2 miles. It was in the nineties and there wasn't a breeze at all. Ugh!!! But we were both quite proud of ourselves for sticking with our plan.

I did take a very cool shower when I got home and then put an ice pack on the nape of my neck for about 20 minutes. Very refreshing. As was to be expected, after my previous sleepless night, I went to bed around 11 last night and the hubster had to wake me at 8:30 so I could grab a bite to eat before my conditioning class. Here's hoping I can get a regular night's sleep tonight.

It is a day when I get my new lesson from Vinita for the Going Green class, but I am already over my allotted 5 GB from AT&T (last month the internet portion of my bill was $140 - this cannot continue). I am already over my allotted 5 GB for this month and have 16 days to go. I think I will have to drive to Mason and have some iced tea at the Booksellers coffee shop and do my browsing/surfing there.

And how are you doing? Are you in extreme heat? How are you dealing with it? Are you making time to be creative? Or are you merely surviving? I surely hope your muse is with you and keeping that awful inner critic at bay for you while you play in your art space. I'd love to see what you are doing.

xoxo

Rainy Monday

I awoke this morning to a huge headache and a gray and rainy day. According to the weather lady the high for today will be 55º and the rain will stop later this morning. I don't think we will see the sun today.

Yesterday was a beautiful day - beautiful sunshine and high 50s. We went out first thing in the morning and spent about an hour walking the beach. We found some more shells to take home for our grandgirls. Some of them are a bit less than perfect, but all are interesting and the girls will be thrilled to sort through them choosing favorites.

These are the ones we found earlier in the week.

And these are the ones we found yesterday.

I was also able to get a couple of sunset shots Saturday evening. We have a really nice view from our 8th floor balcony.

I've read three paperback novels this weekend, walked the beach a couple of times, walked around old town Pensacola, watched the Super Bowl, and had my sister and her husband over for dinner yesterday. I think we are going to drive over to Pensacola later today to go to Joe Patti's to select some fish for dinner. I just wish we had a grill. I much prefer to cook fish and chicken on the grill than on top of the stove.

I'm just about to head to the gym and try once again to sweat out this head cold (or allergies or whatever it is that is making me headachy and giving me this runny nose and runny eyes). I hope to do some sketching later today so I will have something to show tomorrow.

xoxo

Score So Far 3 to 1

We've had 3 perfect days so far - nice roads, sunny skies, beautiful scenery, little or no traffic.

But last night the weather service issued a winter storm watch for the areas all around us. It started raining around 9 last evening and is still raining. The forecast is for damaging winds and flood warnings. We already have reservations here tonight so we will stay. We are just getting ready to go for the continental breakfast that is included in our room reservation and we will decide what we are going to do today. I don't think a train trip or a boat cruise is in order.

I do have some pictures to share from yesterday and the day before:

This Moose is in the front on the Old Forge Art Center and I couldn't go by without taking his picture. We stopped at the Center, but all they had going on was a quilt show. Don't get me wrong, I love quilts, but didn't feel like paying to see them.

This is a quick picture out the car window of the hillside on the way to Lake George. We were happy to see that this area still had color.

This is Blue Mountain Lake. It was really beautiful and peaceful. There were several small boats on the lake. I'm guessing they were either fishing or just enjoying the weather.

This is a great, quick pic of the Hudson River. We stopped for a short time at a pull out on the road along the way.

It is time for a cup of coffee. I think we can get to the breakfast room without going out in the rain. I'll try to post again tomorrow. 

xoxo

A Rose, A Mixed Media Canvas and A Face

I hope you aren't tired of seeing my roses. We only have one bush, but it gives me such pleasure. The colors have such a range from light yellow to golden peach. I never know what I am going to see as each new bud opens. Here is today's photo:

I would really like to get set up outside with a long lens and a tripod and spend some time capturing the birds, but in less than a minute the mosquitoes would carry me off - me, hell, they would carry off my camera and tripod. Have you encountered any of those mutants this summer. They are huge and are everywhere. Needless to say many of my pix are taken through windows and/or screens. Unfortunately, the quality suffers, but I can't help myself, I love to take pictures. Maybe if the weather becomes a bit drier the mosquitoes will take a hiatus and I can get outdoors and really do some shooting!

Meanwhile, I've been spending lots of time in my art room working playing. I have been working on my ongoing mixed media canvas. I have added to it, but it is not done yet. I made myself a stamp from a trio of leaves I cut out of some wallpaper in a sample book I have and used Stazon ink to stamp the canvas. I am thinking I will sponge a mix of greens and yellow greens over the leaves to give more of a treed effect and maybe put a bit of brown on the cheesecloth to simulate a farmer's field. I am trying to think how to make a transition from the ground to the sky. I love the colors in the upper part of the piece, but need to put in some greens and maybe some tiny bits of wildflower color to make the land part of the piece. Then I may add a small barn to complete this project that I've come to think of as "A Birds' Eye View". Do you have any thoughts about this?

The other project I am working on is for Sharon Tomlinson's Faces in Watercolor Class. I have the first face finished - at least I think it is finished. There are some spots on it where the brush strokes are visible and the edges aren't smoothly blended. I may get brave and work on those transition areas and I am thinking I may add something to the right of the canvas. What do you think?

It is another gray day, but here is what my weather forecast has to say for today:

Forecast for Early This Morning
Showers likely and isolated thunderstorms overnight. West winds around 10 mph with gusts to around 20 mph. Chance of rain 60 percent.
Forecast for Today
Mostly sunny. Highs in the upper 70s. Northwest winds 5 to 15 mph.

Right now the weather conditions say the humidity is at 88% and I can tell.

I must thank you, dear readers, for the time you take to read and comment on my blathering and your input into my art attempts. I truly appreciate each and every one of you, even you lurkers. I'd really like to get more input; I can take criticism and would hope you would be able to give it in a constructive way.

By the way, I still haven't cleaned the bathrooms. Today, for sure!!!

xoxo