Given the tremendous amount of interest among my fellow retired ladies in painting landscapes, I could not wait until the next class to try one—a misty one, of course.
Here’s my inspiration photo from my misty trip to Ireland in June:
I’m going to ask the teacher for feedback/tips next class. I’m actually sad we don’t have class this Monday due to the holiday.
Happy weekend!
My college in Hartford, Connecticut had a spectacular gothic chapel on the quad. So Hogwarts! We were not an Ivy League school, but with that chapel on the quad—and scores of rich classmates from the snootiest boarding schools on the Eastern Seaboard—we could pretend we were. A couple of my more diligent classmates were able to transfer to Ivy League schools after freshmen year, but most of us just stayed and partied in Hartford.
My daughter had absolutely no interest in attending a small, private liberal arts college, but we did stop by one day when we were passing through the area. And the chapel still looked gorgeous.
Posted for Dan’s Thursday Doors
I’ve watched a couple more online watercolor tutorials with the baby-voice lady: Allison Lyon.
I’m learning there are entire sub-genres of watercolor painting. Some can be very vibrant, precise or realistic (i.e. “botanicals”), and others can be soft, blurry, dreamlike (involving a lot of wet-on-wet and water-related techniques).
Our teacher likes to paint portraits, so we painted portraits today.
She first gave a lesson on creating skin tones. The basic recipe is this: a lot of cad yellow, a little cad red, a spot of cobalt (or ultramarine) and varying amounts of water.
Sometimes a bit of crimson for very pale/pinkish people or a bit of purple for darker people.
She strongly urged us not to try to paint anyone we know and love on our first attempt, so I pulled this Spanish chef out of magazine.
Some of the ladies flat out refused to try painting a portrait. They like landscapes. So that’s what they will paint, because retired ladies do what they want! I fully support this.
The teacher also introduced us to a truly amazing watercolor portrait artist named Ali Cavanaugh. Holy shit, this woman is talented.
I fully admit that I have been so grief-stricken and stunned by the second Trump term, I have not done much of anything to resist it. A protest here, a Facebook post there, a small donation now and then. I cancelled my Hulu subscription over the Kimmel thing.
But the fact of the matter is: we are out of time. If the upcoming midterm elections don’t somehow curb his power, it’s “game over” for US democracy as we’ve known it. The Supreme Court is not going to stop him.
Wildly unpopular “Project 2025” is being implemented, despite all claims to the contrary.
The cost of living is out of control, with healthcare costs set to skyrocket next year, and Donald Trump is responding by declaring war on…Chicago.
Women will most certainly be second-class citizens in this far right version of America. A 100% male committee in South Carolina is currently considering an abortion ban so extreme it could threaten women with the death penalty for pregnancy loss.
Our minister left us with the following quote from the Talmud on Sunday.
“Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief. Do justly, now. Love mercy, now. Walk humbly, now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.”
She said that last part twice, so it stuck with me.
My church runs an annual “country fair” which serves as both a fundraiser for the church and a fall festival for the town. A portion of the proceeds are donated to a local nonprofit each year.
It’s always in early October and it has been going on for decades. Different teams work to prepare and then implement the various revenue areas: the book sale, the country store, “trash & treasure,” face painting, bake sale, etc.
For the past few years, I’ve worked jewelry. We get a tremendous amount of jewelry donated by members and friends of the church throughout the year—everything from diamond rings to Mardi Gras beads.
Sorting, pricing and displaying it is a big job! There are about five of us that usually handle this task, with Julie being our fearless leader. Julie is a former Peace Corps volunteer and retired high school teacher with an eye for precious metals. She’s extremely good at making sure we don’t accidentally give away a real gold ring or a vintage sterling brooch for $5.
She tends to monitor and sell the “real jewelry” at the fair while the rest of us sell the mounds and mounds of “costume jewelry.” She can be tough when needed, especially on the early birds who are clearly looking to score some real gold for next to nothing.
Julie has permanently dedicated a significant portion of her basement to donated jewelry, props on which to display jewelry, and tools to evaluate and repair jewelry.
And here’s a cell pic of our group in action yesterday. (It was taken by our minister.)
Posted for John’s Cellpic Sunday.
Most of us wear our church t-shirts to work at the fair which have our shared UU values on the back.
Because my in-person watercolors teacher is self-taught and rather informal, I feel like I need a bit more formal explanation about how to use these famously tricky paints.
In typical 2025 style, I asked ChatGPT for the “best watercolor tutorials on YouTube” which sent me down a rabbit hole. So many teachers! I ended up liking Allison Lyon—a very talented young woman with a gentle, soothing baby voice. I’ve already watched 5 or 6 of her videos and learned some stuff (i.e. wet on wet vs. wet on dry).
I’m not usually a fan of women who speak in baby voices, but given our stressful times, I may amend this view. Just listening to her talk will de-stress you.
She’s on Instagram as well: @allisonlyonart
Teacher provided the still life and then did a bit of a technique demo.
I’m realizing that some of the women in this class already know each other. I think they sign-up together every term.
I just love this miniature homemade vanilla birthday cake that my daughter made for her daughter last weekend.
💕
Posted for John’s Cellpic Sunday.
I remember my mother giving me a blue Velcro coupon organizer in my twenties (a little portable folder with dividers for keeping various types of paper coupons—food, toileteries, etc.) She would also cut out and give me coupons for various things she thought I used. It was very thoughtful.
I don’t know what happened to that organizer. At one point, I remember thinking coupons were such a hassle. Half the time, my coupons had expired by the time I got around to pulling one out. All that effort and kerfuffling at the register just to save 50 cents.
I think I had abandoned paper coupons by the time I had my own family at age 30. And I’m pretty sure my millennial/GenZ kids have never once cut out a paper coupon.
Now of course, we have endless customer loyalty programs and accompanying rewards points, electronic coupons, discount codes, promo codes, etc.
I honestly don’t know if my kids have the time and motivation to take advantage of those types of savings programs.
But I do! I will sit in my car and hit the plus sign next to every single savings offer before I go into a CVS, just in case I buy something that applies.
Beware the senior citizen with time on her hands!
According to CVS, I have saved over $3,500 since joining their free “ExtraCare” program in 2016.
The satisfaction of seeing the total bill tick down after hitting “redeem all coupons” at the soulless self-checkout reminds me of the feeling of getting a 100% on your weekly spelling quiz. There’s really no intelligence involved. It’s all preparation, and you were prepared.
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