Top Ten Challenge Winners

I was so pleased to find out a few minutes ago that my latest painting, Love that Lace, has just been voted in the top ten of over 80 entries in the Red Bubble Impressionism Cafe challenge for watercolor still life paintings.

Venetian Shutters - First pour

The only work I had time to do this week on my new painting is the initial pouring. The colors did not quite turn out the way I wanted to. You will notice that I will be painting a much sunnier version of this scene and that the colors will be more pastels.However, I don't want it to be too similar to my "Laundry Day in Venice" that started with the same colors.  I hope to put the focus on the reflected shadows of the shutters and the plants.

I hope to have the chance to spend a few hours working on this painting during the weekend. 

Throwing paint around for the first time in a month

I had not painted in over a month, but today I decided to finally get back to my art and throw some paint around. My, it felt so good even though I felt I had forgotten everything I knew about watercolor.
I want to thank all of you, my dear blogging friends,  who sent me such nice messages these last few weeks as I mended my shoulder, cured my cold and tried to repair my computer.
The following, inspired by the Venice picture in the previous post, is a quick painting on a half sheet of Arches 140 lb. cold pressed. "Spring is here!"

Update 4: Almost done

This latest picture was taken with a flash and does not represent the colors 100% accurately.

I have done the ironwork ( tougher than I thought:-), have removed all the masking, added clothespins for a few dots of color. I still have to put in the clothesline - will probably use white acrylic for that - and all the finishing details especially around the whites where the masking was.

From a distance, this painting is quite nice:-) . I am getting tired of looking at it though and I am looking forward to painting something quite simple next.