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.
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.
For the second time, I participated in a creative arts workshop led by Niela Miller—a 91-year old force of nature who is also a member of my church. The workshop is held monthly on Zoom. We were given a prompt to find a song lyric (1-2 lines) that moved us, write it in a fanciful way, and then illustrate it. I went with one of my favorite songs by Pat Humphries of Emma’s Revolution: Swimming to the Other Side. I once heard Pat say that this song tends to come to people when they need it most.
Chorus: We are living ‘neath the great big dipper We are washed by the very same rain We are swimming in this stream together Some in power and some in pain We can worship this ground we walk on Cherishing the beings that we live beside Loving spirits will live forever We’re all swimming to the other side
I am alone and I am searching Hungering for answers in my time I am balanced at the brink of wisdom I’m impatient to receive a sign I move forward with my senses open Imperfection, it be my crime In humility I will listen We’re all swimming to the other side
Chorus
On this journey through thoughts and feelings Binding intuition, my head, my heart I am gathering the tools together I’m preparing to do my part All of those who have come before me Band together and be my guide Loving lessons that I will follow We’re all swimming to the other side
Chorus
When we get there, we’ll discover All of the gifts we’ve been given to share Have been with us since life’s beginning And we never noticed they were there We can balance at the brink of wisdom Never recognizing that we’ve arrived Loving spirits will live together We’re all swimming to the other side
My painting—Woman in the Teal Bathrobe, Minneapolis 2026—was officially accepted into the Stronger Together: Art for Democracy juried exhibition. The show opens Friday, May 2 at my church and will tour to a few other locations including the Fitchburg Art Museum.
Prizes will be awarded at the opening, but I’m just happy to be included. I’m very eager to see the other paintings. I’m told they got some fantastic entries from all around New England. There are 47 artists in all. Including me. I’m one of the artists! I didn’t have “exhibit a painting in a museum” on my official Bucket List, but maybe I should have. I’m pretty excited.
Thanks again to everyone who gave input on this painting and encouragement on my artwork in general.
And thanks to the unknown photographer who took the viral photo that was my inspiration.
PLEASE NOTE: Senator Susan Collins of Maineand all other Republican Senators except for Lisa Murkowski and Rand Paul voted yesterday to advance a $70 billion plan to fund the Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol agencies for the next three years, without any of the guardrails sought by Democrats. And by guardrails, I mean the basic procedures that normal police officers have to follow—like getting a warrant before they break down your door.
Spring is springing here in Greater Boston. Hallelujah!
I took a shot at drawing and painting these purple crocuses in my neighborhood.I tried a bunch of different techniques and colors. Some worked. Some didn’t.
I’m realizing now you really just have to paint a lot to truly improve. Watercolors require a great deal of trial and error. And now that good weather has returned, I’m not sure how much I’ll keep painting outside of the class I’m taking.
Honestly, I’m still not sure what my life is actually going to look like longterm in retirement. We are still in a transitional period. My husband’s knee surgeries have been such a huge feature of the past year. We don’t know how much he’ll continue to work once he’s fully recovered.
I feel like my retirement travel budget is not going to be as significant as I had hoped (thanks Trump) but who knows…maybe we’ll become road trip people.
I’m trying to focus on Good Things today:
It’s 73 degrees F and sunny here 😎
I have a screen porch, which I just cleaned.
Hungary dumped Trump & Putin’s buddy Viktor Orbán.
I get to see my cutie 🥰 tomorrow.
Dessert – last night I had the genius idea to sprinkle flaked coconut on two Salted Caramel Mochi from Trader Joe’s. So good.
Warning: This is likely going to be a boring post to anyone but me.
Also, don’t you hate it when people say they’re on a “journey” of any kind? My husband and I were joking that I’d much rather be on a “watercolor journey“ than a “knee replacement journey.” His journey is so much more painful than mine!
As I mentioned, I decided not to continue with another session of the paint-a-long class with Diane because it felt too prescriptive. Still, I wanted to continue learning in a class setting, so I ended up enrolling in another session of “Loosen Up With Watercolors” with Sandra (my first teacher) at the fancier, more expensive community arts center. The classrooms are much nicer there—real art studios with big tables, lots of light, and sinks.
The only problem is that Sandra gives practically no formal instruction. She considers herself your “coach” rather than your teacher, so you have to come up with your subjects yourself. She circles the room giving each person individual guidance. This is honestly hard on the total beginners. They have no idea where to start.
I spent a lot of the first class of this term struggling with my materials. I had purchased tube paints for the paint-a-long class and they’re a different brand from my old pan paints. I decided I liked working from the pan better, so tried to match up the tube colors to refill my half empty pans. Some of the colors had different names for the exact same shade.
I trashed the actual painting I worked on in favor of color identification. I think I have a better idea of what I’ve got now.
I don’t actually have “Opera Rose” in either of my sets. Sandra gave me some of hers. (That’s a color I might want to buy.)
Sandra made a big deal about investing in professional-level paints (this is new—last time she emphasized good paper), which I have not as yet done. I have two “student/hobbyist” level paint sets: Winsor & Newton Cotman pan set ($65) and Royal & Langnickel Essentials tube set ($25). I’m worried that the Royal & Langnickel paints are low quality, but whatever…I’m no Winslow Homer. I’m going to keep using them for now.
I did buy one little tube of professional-level Winsor & Newton Payne’s Grey ($15) and refilled my pan with it. It’s definitely a stronger pigment. A tiny bit goes a long way. Also, the consistency is different. It’s more like honey or syrup and takes longer to harden in your pan. Maybe my strategy will be to replace my current colors with professional-level colors, as needed.
Oh, and thank you to everyone who weighed in on my Artistic Dilemma. I decided to leave the police/ICE officers unpainted, mainly because I kind of liked them unpainted and didn’t trust myself to paint them monochromatically in a way that I liked better. (And once you’ve painted something, it’s hard to undo it.) So here’s what I submitted to the “Art for Democracy” contest:
I’m calling it “Woman in the Teal Bathrobe, Minneapolis 2026”
OK, now I have go back and get my husband at the Physical Terrorist Therapist office. He still can’t drive himself anywhere.
OK, last farm animal from my 5-week paint-along class and it’s not a baby! It’s a full-grown cock 😜
The teacher asked me point blank if I plan to return for the next session, which was awkward. I mean…I had some fun and learned a few things, but this paint-along-with-the-teacher style class is not really for me. I asked her to “please keep me on the mailing list.” Maybe I’ll return if she chooses a subject I really want help with, like sunsets.
Thank you to my very awesome WordPress blog friends who have patiently looked at all of my BFAs.
🙏🏼
By the way, “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” is one of my granddaughter’s favorite songs and I absolutely love singing it with her. It’s fun to take a long pause before you sing the next animal’s name. It adds drama and excitement!
Next week is the last week of my paint-a-long class. It’s been fun, but I don’t think I’ll take the class next session. I prefer to choose my own subjects.
I decided to try painting something to submit to an “Art for Democracy” contest being run by my church. It’s open to professional artists throughout New England and there are cash prizes, so I’m not getting my hopes up. I’m thinking of it as an “artistic prompt” (like the daily writing prompt here on WordPress).
Here’s the actual prompt:
Art is a powerful tool for social change. Unbound by age, culture or social location, it sparks the imagination and promotes meaningful dialogue. With the goal of encouraging civic engagement, artists across New England are invited to submit works on the theme of protecting and strengthening American democracy. Artworks should express the goals of promoting unity and the common good, which underscores the American ideals that all voices are important and that our strength lies in welcoming diverse perspectives. Our goal is to spur productive dialogue; showcase the work of New England artists; and celebrate democracy.
Like many people, I was inspired by the people of Minneapolis who bravely stood up to ICE in the frigid cold to try to protect their community, even after Nicole Good and Alex Pretti were assassinated. There was one viral photo by an unidentified photographer that really struck me. A woman went outside in her bathrobe and slippers to join a crowd of others documenting ICE actions in their neighborhood:
So I decided to paint that.
Here’s where I’m at with the painting now. I still need to paint the faces, pants, shoes, phones, etc. in the crowd.
So here’s the dilemma: Should I perhaps leave the two Police/ICE agents as unpainted line drawings? Do you think it might be effective like that? From my perspective, they are unwanted invaders in this community. Maybe the contrast with the good people of Minneapolis would be greater if I leave them unpainted. Ghosts in the Machine, so to speak. OR should I paint them monochromatic in shades of grey? What do you think? Which would make a better painting?
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