"Something Different; Wall Murals!"

Well, she arrived! Hooray!  Her name is Amelia and here is a photo of her admiring the Panda floating above her with balloons. It took her arrival to add the life and the magic the murals were waiting for. 

Congratulations to her very happy parents, David and Meagan. 

Meagan painting rocks....

Meagan and my wife working in unison.

Yours truly happily painting...

My niece and nephew are expecting a baby in Oct. and asked us to help them with their baby room.

So a wall mural came to be based on the very talented, Jon Muth who happens to be one of my favorite children's book illustrators and watercolorists. His paintings are beautifully simple, and simply beautiful. So we borrowed some of his designs and did up a nursery. I have to say it so much fun, my wife and i are going to do some more. It could turn into a great part-time job i think.  

We also discovered, my nephew David, and his wife Meagan, have some hidden artistic talents and did a fantastic job. They are budding artists for sure. Check out their own blog, "Get Daddy Some Gin".

It's really cute. 

"Yupo Paintings"

These are my first attempts at using Yupo paper with watercolor which i tried last year. I had just visited Sandy Maudlin's blog and she has some amazing Yupo paintings there with some very helpful hints on how to use this rather unusual support. When i did the fist one, i almost could not stop smiling and laughing because it was just so much fun! I had forgotten about it till i saw Sandy's paintings and I just have to try some more now incorporating some of her helpful techniques. I was amazed too that the cows sold at my first show! I still have the rooster, and he is adorning my studio space just now.  Give Yupo a try if you have not already.

"Flight"

I saw these birds from the car as i was driving through the country one grey day and thought it was such a peaceful sight. I tried to get close without startling them but of course was unsuccessful as they were fairly alert. As they began to fly away i snapped as many shots as i could thinking all the while that my chance was lost as they heard me coming. When i got home and looked over what i captured, this particular scene stayed with me for a long while. I'm rather pleased with the overall mood of it as i kept it as close to the atmosphere as was present that day. It was rather moody and I loved the chance to do something a bit different than the bright whimsical ones i've been doing. I used just five colors. Ultramarine blue, Burnt Sienna, Raw Sienna, Cobalt blue, and Alizarin Crimson.