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A little treat for Debbie

8/31/2019

I have such a collection of watercolour brushes. And most of them I don't like. It's frustrating that you have to buy them without knowing if they will work for you or not. Will they hold enough water....will the point hold......how does it feel. So, I have a collection of them!
I've been buying brushes lately for the watercolour classes that I've started teaching so I'm trying to pick brushes for my students that are not too expensive (to keep costs down) but that will still work for them. Pet peeve of mine is giving learners substandard tools.....they need the good ones!
So while I've been doing that, I've been thinking about my own brushes. I have heard that the Escoda brand is a favourite of watercolourists, so I thought let's try them. I bought a #12 round last month and have just started using it. Wow. It's great! It holds so much paint and keeps that point. It's a workhorse brush for me know. But, I thought if that one's so good, maybe some of the other sizes are too. So, time for a little treat for Debbie. I am so pleased with them. I think I'm just going to get rid of almost all of my old brushes. Hmmmmm what do you do with old brushes that don't work so well.......hmmmmm

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What's on my walls?

8/11/2019

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A couple of weeks ago, a visitor to my booth at the Hespeler Village Market commented "I'd love to see the walls in your house! They must be so nice." I replied "actually I only have a couple of my own pieces of art on the walls!" It got me thinking about what I do have on the walls. I'd like to share them with you.

Several years ago my mother decided to start painting. She has been painting in oils and acrylics. She has given me several of her paintings, and this is one of my favourites that I have on the wall these days. I am so proud of her for what she has accomplished!

About 10 years ago, my mother-in-law was very entranced with my watercolour painting when she was at our house. One night we decided to have a painting lesson. I think that she was about 84 years old or so! When she returned home to Meaford, she signed up for painting classes & worked at it for a couple of years. She painted this lovely piece of the roses in a glass vase. I was amazed and said that I'd love to have that painting. So she painted me another one! I treasure this.

Grandma Ellis. Another late starter! She must have been in her 70's when she began oil painting lessons in St George. She did a lot of painting and gave them to family members. She wanted me to have this one back about 1978 when I had my first apartment. It wasn't actually my favourite at the time, because I preferred her landscapes, but it has grown on me through the years and I do love it!

Now this one is a little different. I got it on a Caribbean Cruise a few years ago, I think on St Thomas. I don't know who the artist is, but I love the simpleness of it and the colours. It hangs on the kitchen wall!

This isn't a great photograph(I didn't want to take the glass out) but this is a painting that I am just in awe at every time I look at it. There is so much going on, but it is done so simply. I was lucky enough to be able to take a class from Jack Reid a few years before he died. He was an amazing watercolour artist. I am so happy that I was able to buy this painting from him!

Sometimes I don't hang paintings - I just prop them up. Here are 3 that I am so glad to have. They are card prints from Cambridge artist Greg Pautler. I so admire his work and his style, which is somewhat similar to mine. I appreciate that Greg has willingly shared advice with me several times. I keep these in my painting room so that I can look closely at them.

Here are 'my' paintings that are currently hanging. Original of All in a Row - I just like it.
Original of our house - a small 5x7 that I painted in about 2003.
Original of Purple Clematis - my all-time favourite of all my paintings.
Original of a looser version of Hespeler Millpond.

A pair of pink roses that I really like. I just recently framed & hung them as I have had them for sale for over 10 years.....and no one wants them :( I am enjoying them immensely!

And if you're not totally bored yet......here are a few non-art items. Memories of the ocean.....a metal art piece that I liked....and a Cross Stitch picture I made for Dennis about 20 years ago.....when I had nothing better to do obviously! It took forever.

So as I ponder on these, I see that for the most part, everything is on my walls because it means something to me. (I say me, because I'm usually the one that does that sort of thing LOL ) And that is what I'm finding out as I'm selling my artwork. It means something to them....it's not just a piece of decor that matches the furniture. It really is something that is a part of their life. I like that.

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A little treat for Debbie

What's on my walls?

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