First Art Class

Yesterday I visited an art class for two year olds at Gymboree in the Bellevue Mall, Washington.

Can you believe the class lasted an hour!?


My grandson, Haeden, will be two next month. I have shared his artistic experience finger painting, but this was his FIRST art class.

There were five children in Haeden's class. The first project was painting and he eagerly engaged. Look at the joy on his face!



Keeping an eye on what else is going on.....


Haeden started moving around the room painting with others. As he traveled with paint brush in hand, many of the adults moved away in defense of getting painted.


Next project was chalk on black paper. After a few scribbles, with hands full of chalk, Haeden started running laps around the room while the others were seriously creating chalk masterpieces. Haeden decided to find out what was in the cabinets. He helped himself to musical instruments and danced to the music that was playing.

Story time was next. The children were asked to sit on rugs to listen. Haeden, on the other hand, had to help turn pages and be up close and personal with the teacher. When she asked what sounds the animals made he was very animated. But the best part was when she asked what sound the pig makes. Well, my son has taught Haeden to snort. Of course, this made everyone laugh and Haeden continued to snort throughout the reading of the book.

More art! Tin foil, crayons, and paper were provided for each child. Haeden took off with the tin foil. Then, with crayons in each hand he ran laps around the room. He did stop when the teacher provided foam brayers and paint. This kept his attention for a little while. Last came the play dough. Haeden enjoyed squishing this through his fingers and was not satisfied with a small amount. He dumped the entire bucket and played.

Needless to say, I was exhausted keeping up with his enthusiasm and curiosity. He truly exhibits the joy of life.

I did recommend to Mom that he might enjoy the music class which would give him more physical self-expression. Haeden and I will continue to create art together.

Spring Teasing

It is so exciting to see the green tops of the spring bulbs protruding from the earth. A sure sign of spring coming.

Surprisingly, other spring signs include flowers blooming NOW! Some of the previously planted primroses have been developing leaves, buds, and flowers from rather dead looking plants. A subject of last week's Sunday Sketch.

The unusual looking Hellebore are blooming. I sketched and painted one of these flowers today which I will post for tomorrow's Sunday Sketches.



Did you know that there is a outdoor hearty version of the favorite indoor cyclamen? I planted these last year and they made it through the winter. They are a delightful addition to the early spring flowers which are such a joy after the doldrums of winter.

Check out these tiny gems:

Second Mural in Rafah

The Maia Mural Brigade was super charged at the end of our time in Gaza and painted two murals in one day. This one was created at Tuyou Al-Jenna school which is one of the sites of the water purification systems so badly needed in Gaza. Bringing awareness to this important issue was one of the main objectives of the
Maia Mural Project.







The Inspiration
Mohammad, Awesome Palestinian Artist

Third Mural in Gaza

For those of you who have been following our adventures in Gaza, I will be posting the different murals that were painted by the Maia Mural Brigade.

This is the third mural we painted at the Jabalia Girls School in Gaza. The second one was finished in the evening and I await a copy of the mural from one of the artists who photographed it the follow next day in daylight.

The challenge was painting in 100 degree temperatures in the sunshine.


The Maia Mural Brigade Artists

Hillary, Vyal, Alicia, Josue, Joanne, Melissa
We found an large umbrella which saved the day!


Just some of the girls....not at all camera shy!

Out Of The Box

Tried something new for my Sunday Sketch.

First, I sketched the subject matter of daffodils and tulips with a quick application of watercolors.


Then, I used pen and ink. Afterwards, I painted with watercolors.

A definite departure from my usual process of drawing first and then painting.


I have exited the box :)

Return to the Beach

I am back at Paradise Beach on the east shore of Santorini in Greece. At least that is what it feels like when I paint a scene from my travel photos.

The day I walked from the town of Oia at the southern tip of Santorini to Paradise Beach (approximately 5 miles), it was one of those beautiful Greek days of sunshine and warmth. I left early in the morning so that I was not walking in the heat of the day. At least that was what I thought. Little did I know how quickly temperatures rise even along the shore. I walked the shoreline cliffs and could not wait to get in the water when I finally reached the beach. There was NO WAY I was going to walk back! Lucky for me there was one bus returning to town. I planned accordingly and learned that these remote buses do not consistently run on schedule.

I saw my first sand orchids as I walked the shoreline cliff.
The view.....


First glimpse of a beach, but I had to walk further.


On Paradise Beach looking south


Looking north


The sculpted cliffs


I spent the afternoon swimming and sketching. My memories linger while I painted this watercolor rendition of the rocks along the shoreline of Paradise Beach.

Parts I Like and Parts I Do Not Like

Self-portraits!

What an insightful practice!

Having completed the first self-portrait painted since high school, many interesting dialogues in my head have occurred. I mentioned previously that the process first started with capturing an image of myself that I liked.

As I painted, I found myself detaching from the image of "me" to depicting various features and colors. It seemed that I compartmentalized which we humans tend to do as a distraction mechanism to avoid reality.

Hummmmmmm.

As I continued to paint separate "entities" such as mouth, nose, or eyes my attention was focus solely there. I got lost in wrinkles and details. Due to this process, I feel that the watercolor portrait does not flow together and find myself liking only parts and not the whole. Interesting thought.....

I think I will continue the dialogue with another self-portrait. This one shall be freer and not have the "mug shot" feel.

I told a friend I would not post the self-portrait to my website as I did not particularly like it, but I will post it here out of curiosity for those of you interested in my process.



Back to the beach and rock watercolor painting to escape.....

Endings and Beginnings

Time to change subject matter.....

Having painted three pictures in the series of sand orchids of Greece, it is time to move off the beach and on to another subject.

Here are the three watercolor paintings in order of creation:




Do you have a favorite? Tell me and why?

I appreciate your input. Thanks!

How About a Self-Portrait?

Recently an e-mail came to me which requested my submission of art for a self-portrait show. I realized that I had not done a self-portrait since high school!

Do I hear a challenge?

Vincent Van Gogh might hold the record for the most self-portraits painted.



The first step for a portrait: need an image.

Taking a photograph of myself was an experience in itself! I learned, after several attempts for a "good picture", that we prefer the image of ourselves to have a certain look. How many times have you looked at a photograph of yourself and not liked it?

This brought back ancient memories of when I was drawing children's portraits. I photographed them and drew from the photo. When I presented the finished portrait to the parents they either loved it or hated it. I even tried to make some changes in their presence, but this did not always correct the problem. Sometimes the child did not like the portrait; my niece for example.

Finally, I have an acceptable image for the self-portrait. The next question is what medium to use......pencil, watercolors, or maybe even oil paints?

When I painted the portrait of my grandson, I enjoyed the dialogue with him as I painted and the study of his features. What will it be like to stare for hours at my face? I believe I have embarked on an insightful journey......

Does Size Make a Difference?

A question to ponder.....

I remember enjoying painting on huge canvases because it was like a dance. Not only did you move your arm as you painted, but also your body.

When I began painting in watercolors, a half sheet of watercolor paper seemed essential to capture all that I wanted to paint.

Recently while traveling in Greece, I created small watercolor and ink sketches because I was traveling light.

Today as I painted with watercolors, I wondered about the significance of size.

In the third watercolor painting of sand orchids of Greece, I finally loosened up. Yet as I painted today, I became mesmerized by shapes and colors as I worked a small area of the painting. The thought occurred to me to cut out the section of the painting as the final product.

It reminded me of a story my artist friend, Judi Colwell, told of tearing off a section of one of her paintings because the art patron liked that part. It really shocked the customer!

Here is the watercolor painting so far......


And the detail....


Who knows where this might go?

A Return To Flowers

I took a break from painting images from Greece to capture the uniqueness of the poppy in watercolors.

Intrigued by the curves, shapes, and variations of color, I found myself transported in time as I painted. Interestingly enough I just finished reading a section from Thomas Moores' book, The Dark Nights of the Soul, where he talks about this phenomenon of loosing all sense of time when you are wrapped up in something which you enjoy. I could definitely relate!

Instead of calling this watercolor painting "Poppy", I will call it "Somewhere in Time".

Number Three

The third in the series of bougainvillea watercolor paintings is conpleted, I think.

Having entertained a fleeting thought the other day of adding pastels or contour lines, I did not divert from painting with watercolors. As I look at all three together, maybe I will add something different......especially to the second one which feels a bit too stiff. I seemed to have loosened up as I painted these delicate flowers.

Here is the series with the newest painting first.
Let me know which one is your favorite.




Bougainvilleas seem to be very happy and abundant in Greece. As I painted them memories abound and brought smiles to my face.

More About Antiparos

I was drawn to Antiparos and Paros because of windsurfing.

The evening of my first day on Antiparos, I took the ferry to Pounta, Paros where people sailed on boards or kites. Kites seemed to be the favorite of the two sports and the guys running the business knew nothing about the sport of windsurfing but had gear available for rent.


I had to silence the voice in my head that was loudly wondering if I could still windsurf since the last time was TEN years ago in Aruba. I must admit, the voice was very strong and I nearly changed my mind the next morning for a boat adventure around the island of Antiparos.

BUT I DID NOT GIVE IN!

I went sailing and it was exhilarating!

Later that afternoon, content after eating a Greek salad at an Antiparos taverna, I painted this street scene.


Greek salads are FABULOUS! Sweet, juicy tomatoes with cucumbers, red onions, olives, and sometimes green peppers topped with a slab of feta cheese which is marinated in olive oil and herbs....YUM! I became addicted to these.

Oil Painting

Finally, set up the easel on the deck outside my studio as I planned to do all summer. Unfortunately, it is almost fall. But, I did it!


Notice my black dog, Ebony, curled up nearby
I was gifted with two small canvases from a friend who did not like the way her portrait was painted. Big mistake was to gesso over the oil painting with clear gesso. I found myself throwing on dark colors just to cover up the portraits.

In the first painting, I was having fun mixing colors and watching the runs happen. I am using a water-based oil paint and liked the effects of using water. This painting reminds me of the ocean. The photograph is lighter than the actual painting and I do not know how to photograph oils without getting a glare. Any suggestions?


In the second painting, after I intentionally covered up the faces of the portraits with dark paint, I grabbed a glob of yellow, mixed it with red, and added water allowing the paint to run. It reminded me of storm clouds. I stopped before I ruined the spontaneity.


I thought of these as a warm up to my next painting.

To be continued.......

Why Irises?

Now I know why the Dutch artist Vincent Van Gogh painted irises, and one need not be isolated in an asylum either. They are ablsolutely stunning!

I took some photos of my neighbors iris patch.




Take a close look at this magnificent flower!



And they have a fragrance similar to the smell of grapes. Wonder if it has anything to do with the flower being purple?

Maybe it is time to get out my paints...