Blue Birds of Happiness!

Welcome to the start of a new series, the Blue Birds of Happiness. I have been wanting to do this series for a long time, but did not have enough reference photos. So on our last trip to Estes Park, I got a great shot of a Steller’s Jay, which gave me enough material to start this series. The first photo (taken Monday) shows that I do not always do the subject first. Since this bird is in pine forest, I knew what color the background would be and decided to do it first. This involves extremely WET paper, watercolor pigments, spray bottle, sponge and a lot of splashing. I thought  it would be nice to do it before you guys came, so that you would not have to bring rain gear. It does get messy here! The next photo was taken today after working on it for a couple of days. This is one of the paintings that it is hard to leave, so sorry, that I did not stop and take more photos. The eyes are not done, and there is some shading that needs to be done, and some more work on the background, but it is shaping up!

Only a couple more weeks, and I will be starting a round of travel. Will try to keep the blogs rolling, even if it is photos for future paintings.

Having recently acquired two additional cats in the household (bringing the total to 4), cat hair is now included free in any artworks coming from my studio. Down feathers may also be included at no charge! The Tuxedo Kitty is vying for the world record for “Most Spoiled Kitty”. He is afraid of the other cats and refuses to leave our bedroom. Hubby has started providing room service, including “breakfast in bed” for this cat. He has his own litter box in the Master bath, and his own kitty perch in the bedroom. DO you think if I refused to leave the room?!?!??!?!? Hmmmmmmm….breakfast in bed………what would I do with my own catbox??………..room service though……hmmmmmmmmm………..

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Through Horsing Around…..For Now!

Got Carrots?

We are all trying to decide if we are still living in Arizona…….the wind has been blowing like crazy and we are wondering if we have been blown to Kansas?!?!?!??! Anyone see Toto? Once again we got our customary 16 inches of rain! Drops of rain 16 inches apart! It sure makes a mess of the cars! They are looking kind of like giant mud balls. The kids should have fun writing “Wash Me!” all over them. Hopefully the mud balls don’t get together with my dust kitties! Watch out tumbleweeds!

The Arabians have eyes now and it is about time to step away from the painting! Stay tuned!

Update on the Update of the Update….

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OK, the raffle tickets for Chula are now REALLY available! Please check it out! 

Update on the Update…..More Horsing around

The raffle tickets for Chula will be available soon on Chirping Central, will update you as soon as this happens.

In the meantime, have started a new WIP of a couple of yearling Arabians. The first photo is last weeks work and the second photo is the continuation this week. These guys were so curious, friendly and loved to show off. They were such a joy to watch. This my first venture into painting equines, had a great time with the colored pencils, so thought I would try them in watercolor.

The feline numbers in the house have doubled, we now have four of the little rascals. My first question is WHY do cats insist on walking in front of the computer monitor and on the keyboard asdfghjkl;qwrtyuio’?!?!?!? And now the dust bunnies, I mean kitties are the size of tumbleweeds. The parrots have accepted the new arrivals without too much squawking, so our zoo is happily rolling along.