….today was a very productive day for art making
Not only did I complete two more watercolour abstracts but my husband made three more paintings and our granddaughter made a drawing with her mother after watching a youtube video.




…I love this kind of painting
My first layer with the two that I finished today is a free flowing streak of black ink. In order to continue with water colour I had to let the ink dry completely.
The next stage is to add blocks of watercolour over the paper and leave some white areas.
Now the fun starts. I make random marks using pencil, pencil crayon, marker, ink and more watercolour or acrylic. I keep playing until I’m happy with the finished product and then I sign it and remove the tape. Both pieces fit into a matt with an 8 x 10 opening.
….working small
I’m in love with intuitive painting. I never quite know where I’m going when I start but the process is very meditative. As I get into the painting I see some themes pop up and I go there but try to stay loose. I still need to work on that.
I’ve always wanted to paint gifts for friends but have lacked self confidence or run out of time or both. This year I made the time and dove in. I started with just laying down marks and then randomly layered colour all over the board. Once the first layer dried I layered another random selection of colour over the first and usually in opposite temperatures, i.e. cool vs warm colours.
Here are some examples of how the process starts.
When I start into the final layer I tend to go to floral or landscape themes. After I’ve laid down the main shapes I start to add marks for interest.
These are all 8 x 8 on wooden panels. Here are some close-up of the same work.
…this name came from my daughter-in-law who was reminded of the Persian New Year, Nowruz
The colours in my second painting reminded my son’s wife of the colours associated with Nowruz. I thought it was the perfect title for my second entry into the New Members Show at WAAC in January. I’m really enjoying my experiments with intuitive painting.
…this painting reminds me so much of my friend’s mother’s garden
I’m getting ready for a new show in January and I’m experimenting with a new technique of intuitive painting. You would never know that this painting was going to end up as a floral when I started. I think a lot of my paintings will go in that direction but because it’s abstract and intuitive it could take a completely different turn. Spoiler alert: the second painting is also a floral abstract but quite different from this one.
….day 4 of Sketchbook Revival
This lesson was brought to us by Angela Fehr. Her approach to painting is to let the paint take you to the next step. It’s a very zen like experience after you lay down the first color and then let your intuition guide your next step. I used watercolour on watercolour paper. The only thing I would do differently next time is do it on a larger piece of paper.