watercolors

Watercolor bootcamp – part 2

~ MaryG ~ 17 Comments

This week our watercolor drill sergeant made us copy a colorful abstract collage. The point was to recreate each color as accurately as possible. It was really hard!

I did OK on the color matching but got disapproval for using “subpar” paper which created all those streaks. (I didn’t want to waste my expensive paper on what was essentially an exercise.)

The homework was to paint a still life comprised of colorful objects, getting the colors as close as possible. Again, hard.

Here’s my homework. I’m pretty happy with it although the yellow is not right. I think I went too light on the yellow because I knew I was going to paint those flowers over it. (It would’ve been too much work to mask out that whole flower area. )
Here’s what I was looking at—a collection of objects from China and Japan that
I happened to have in my house.

In other exciting news: I decided to move all my painting and drawing stuff out of the dining room and into an extra bedroom upstairs. So I guess I have a “studio” now.

Cute bedroom with nice light that nobody ever used
This is not ideal, but it’s better than the dining room. That card table I’m painting on was my parents. I think it was made in like 1960. It has some sort of faux leather covering that smells moldy. I need to get rid of the daybed and get a new, larger table.

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Watercolor bootcamp

Watercolor bootcamp

~ MaryG ~ 29 Comments

I’m now embarking on Year 2 of my watercolor “journey” 😉

After two sessions of “loosen up with watercolors,” I signed up for something called “watercolor bootcamp.” I probably should’ve taken this class first, but the description scared me off. It’s a watercolor techniques class with heavy emphasis on color theory, color mixing, etc. We spent a whole three-hour class mixing greys. There is homework. There are in-class critiques of the homework.

The very first homework assignment was to do a monotone (one color) painting of three objects with a clear light source.

I used Payne’s Gray.

For this week, we had to do a “complementary color” painting. So two colors that sit across from each other on a color wheel. (Red/Green; Yellow/Purple; or Blue/Orange)

I used only Rose (Red) and Phthalo Green to paint these hydrangeas.

I didn’t spring for all the expensive professional-grade paints that are on the syllabus. (There’s a syllabus!) I’m using what I have and will buy new stuff as needed. Jury is out on whether I’m going to like this class. It’s a bit intense so far. Bootcamp.

Student Art Show

~ MaryG ~ 19 Comments

I’ve been enjoying participating in the arts (a lifelong love) more than ever, now that I’m retired from paid employment.

I took my first watercolor classes at a lovely community arts center in the fall of 2025 and spring of 2026. I was asked (as all students were) to submit something for an end-of-year student art show. I did not win a prize, but I got to see my painting up on the gallery wall and mingle with lots of other students at the opening reception. Also, I figured out which teacher I want to learn from next.

All photos by Gregory Ciccarelli.


The theme of the Student Summer Showcase is S³: A Moment of Reflection, which was described like this:
“We are experiencing difficult times with heightened division and misunderstanding, and we believe that art is the great connector. Art helps us take a moment to be introspective, muse about our personal mission, express feelings and emotions that can’t be described in words. S³: A Moment of Reflection means to give our community a space to come together and reflect on our personal journeys as student artists, community members, and human beings.”
My husband and me checking out the art
A friend I met in class and me looking at my piece (top right)
My friend and her piece
Some of the abstract pieces were really great
There were ceramics too
There was art on two floors
Me and my piece: a portrait of my granddaughter at 9 months old
The piece they’re looking at here is titled “Have You Seen My Glasses?” 😂 It won a prize.
The Grand Prize Winner is an oil painting called “Waiting” which is very cool. Reading the judge’s comments, you can see how a good title can truly impact a viewer’s understanding of a piece.

“Martha Owen’s painting, Waiting, attracted me immediately. It seemed to radiate moonlight and mystery. It suggested a story that the viewer had to create. The power and simplicity of the stark, tight composition added to the drama. I enjoyed the fresh vision and originality of the subject matter. All the visual elements of the painting worked together to reinforce a feeling of emptiness, stillness and longing, capped off by the title.”

The judge fully acknowledged that art is subjective. She said she chose pieces that spoke to her.
I’ll definitely take another class here next year.

The whole thing felt supportive and not competitive.

HCR and the Obamas

~ MaryG ~ 34 Comments

Who are you most inspired by?

I’m really leaning on all the brave people helping those of us who pay attention to the news get through the absolute degradation of our country that is the second Trump administration.

We recently got a huge dose of inspiration from the Obamas, with the opening of the Obama Presidential Center last week. Their speeches (especially Michelle’s) are incredible. Watching the follow-up videos of the Obamas greeting families and reading library books to children are fantastic too.

While I was listening to the Grand Opening Ceremony of the Obama Presidential Center, I worked on a watercolor portrait of Heather Cox Richardson that I had started a few weeks ago.

Did you know this mild-mannered American historian gets hate mail and threats for keeping us informed as she does? And yet, she keeps showing up on our small screens and writing her nightly “Letters from an American” which are read by hundreds of thousands (possibly millions) of people each day.

She said her 250 for 250 series is a labor of love for the country she loves. Be sure to watch a few of those short videos, when you get a chance.

This painting actually looks a bit better in person than in the photo. I like how the bookshelves and her pullover came out, but skin tones and face contours are really hard. I do like painting portraits, so I’m going to try to find some YouTube tutorials to practice this summer.

Which inspiring figure should I try to paint next? Should I give Michelle Obama a shot? (I’m actually a bit scared to try her at my current skill level.)

Remember names

~ MaryG ~ 11 Comments

What’s your top tip to be successful in life?

Try your best to remember people’s first names when you meet them or talk to them on the phone. (Yes, the phone! Use it as a phone, young people.)

Then, when you say goodbye (or see them again) use the name.

If you didn’t understand or forgot their name when they first said it, it’s OK to ask them to repeat it – once.

If it’s a difficult name, most people have a trick for you. For example, I met a guy named Goker at my local convenience store. (He works there. I see him a lot.) First time I met him, he said “Goker – rhymes with joker.” Now it’s locked in my brain.

Doing this will make you more engaging, likable, caring, and friendly.

Our fellow humans are really all we have to help us get through this life “successfully.” Learn their names.

Internet Wisdom

~ MaryG ~ 9 Comments

One good thing about social media and the general interconnectedness of the whole world online is that you can access “group think” so easily.

If you’re feeling a certain way about something, there’s definitely someone out there that knows exactly what you mean.

I’m still not over the high family drama that I experienced in January.

Thank goodness the internet gets it.

Dance Camp

~ MaryG ~ 25 Comments

I’ve made my first questionable decision of 2026.

I’ve registered and paid for a five-day dance retreat in Maine in August.

I’ve been hearing about “Ferry Beach” from my fellow Unitarian Universalists for decades. This mythical coastal retreat center has transformed many a life. They’ve got retreats for everything from Yoga, to Women’s Healing, to Buddhism. My church friend Ron, who leads our monthly Sacred Circle Dance, is co-leading a week-long Sacred Circle Dance retreat. I brought the flyer home and stuck it on the refrigerator about a month ago.

With my husband’s knee replacement recovery taking for fucking ever, we have zero travel plans. Nothing booked. Nothing to look forward to. And I have no idea when or what type of travel he’s going to be up for.

This led me to Dance Camp. I tried to convince my two friends from high school that I rarely get to see to join me there, but so far, no dice.

So…I went ahead and registered for five nights by myself in the mythical UU retreat center. Dancing 5 hours a day with strangers, could be a terrible idea. I mean, I like our monthly dance, but this is going to be waaaay more than that. There’s a chance I might hate it and bail out after a night or two.

In any case, I’ll have finally experienced Ferry Beach.

Too beautiful to paint

~ MaryG ~ 6 Comments

I was lucky to visit the two most iconic US national parks over the last few years—Grand Canyon and Yellowstone.

I’m now realizing that trying to paint landscapes based on any of those photos is just going to be frustrating. Those views are just too beautiful to be rendered by an amateur painter. I should just be happy I got so many great photos with my cell phone. My pics take me back to the actual feeling of awe.

I want to try another landscape at some point, but need to try something more humble.

Really not happy with this. I’ll keep it out as a way of hopefully learning from it.
This area is called “Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone” in Yellowstone National Park.

Dream Flower

~ MaryG ~ 12 Comments

I have been patiently waiting for a magnolia blossom to fall off my neighbor’s tree. Yesterday, it happened. I found a blossom in the grass on my walk and brought it home.

It lasted about a day in a small dish of water.

On Day 2, I attempted a technique that was demonstrated in my watercolors class, but it didn’t really work. The idea is to press flowers and leaves into wet paint and get an interesting effect. You can also paint the veiny side of a leaf and press that onto white paper.

The image was not really recognizable as a flower after I pulled it off the wet paint. I ended up painting in some petals.

This could make the cut as a greeting card.
I think I might like it better vertically.

Second attempt

~ MaryG ~ 21 Comments

Crocuses (Croci?) are still calling to me.

My second attempt to paint one is OK.

I’m struggling with the idea of painting “loose” vs control. The teacher I have now at the community arts center (Sandra) is all about getting all your colors down early. A “color story” she calls it. She doesn’t care if they all bleed into each other. I think I need to paint bigger in her class to get the most out of it. This one is only 5×7 inches. If you paint loose and small with watercolors, there’s a decent chance you just get a mess.