Recycle Junk Mail, Grab some paint, Have some fun

I write to a couple of people that are really "into" cooking and kitchen things so I decided to use a few pictures clipped from a catalog that came in today's mail.

Of course I couldn't resist adding a few splashes of color to make it a bit more fun and interesting. There are lots of ways to make recycling fun, there's no right or wrong way to do it and since your materials are free there's no excuse not to experiment and see what happens.

Overpainting the lilies

I'd been struggling with this lily painting for nearly 20 years and just never got it to turn out the way I wanted to so today I decided I needed a fresh approach.

Instead of trying to MAKE it do anything I'm just relaxing into the paint, thinking less and painting more. It's very relaxing to free yourself and just let the work happen without worrying about the outcome.

I'd been going at it with some painting knives recently and decided to reach for some brushes instead.

Red, Yellow, Blue and an unbleached white were the only colors I used today along with a 1 inch, long handled brush.

It was interesting to see the painting submerge itself and begin to sink below the new paint. I can't wait to see what will come to the surface next! Each session is an adventure and I'm sure the end result will be a pleasant surprise to all of us.

License Plate Birdhouse

Painting vines on deck rails

 There are a number of reasons that I'm painting this but number one right now is that the ramp and deck are new and I wanted to protect the knots from the weather so I started by painting leaves on top of the knots and then connected them with vines and added a few more leaves to give it the look of vines wrapping around it.

The ramp is huge and dominates the entire yard and garden. The idea of painting flowers and vines on it is to make it blend in a bit. Yes, it's going to be a big job but I'm looking at it as an opportunity to create my own curbside art gallery.

Adding Pink

At this point I'm not thinking about what i want the painting to be, just adding another color and waiting to see how that affects the balance and look of the thing.

As I do that, my breathing slows and I'm just experimenting with the amount of pressure I want to apply it with and how that affects the way the paint breaks from the knife as I skip lightly across the surface.

The reason I had started applying lighter colors is that I thought I might use this canvas as a background for a still life or a floral at some point but I may give up on that idea and go back to just enjoying the intense colors that I had going yesterday.

There are no words

Another paint party on the Arbor

I had company again yesterday and as you can see we had fun adding quite a few more designs and colors of paint to the arbor.

I wish we had some pictures of while we were working on it, during one of the warmest and sunniest days in recent history but we were having such a good time that we didn't want to bother with that.

I wish we had more time to keep going on this project but leaves are falling and the chill in the air tells me we'll have to wait until spring to get back at it.

Fall Color

Fall Flowers

What I really love about these flowers is that all but one were given to me so they make me even happier every time they bloom.

It's nice to have a bit of color in the garden this time of year and I hope to be adding more for next year.

Camo Paint in the woods

These are old photos but I'm including them today because the person that owns this now (15 years later) called to say "the camper's gone!". We had a good laugh and then told her where to look for it. (When I finished painting it the only way you could see it in the woods was to bounce a light off the windows)

I'm always amazed at the power of paint, aren't you?

Drawings on Envelopes in the Outgoing Mail

Still "playing'' with my pencils but not really ready to settle down and do any serious drawing yet. I don't think anyone minds, do you?

I made this card out of a photo of an acrylic painting that I did last year. I just grabbed some pencils to make the envelope go along with it.

Pencils

Watercolor

While sorting through some of my art supplies I found a few watercolor note cards so I thought I'd "play" with them a while.

I'm out of envelopes for them but it might be fun to revisit a few old themes and try a few new ones.

The finished hosta project

The nice thing about this project aside from the fact that it was free is that it goes nicely with one of my paintings here. it's also a handy place to keep a coffee cup over by the recliner.

The nice