Christmas Portrait

Christmas Portrait, originally uploaded by quinacridonered.

.....and it only took 75 minutes to capture! Argh! Every time I picked up the camera remote release, my little yorkie would get up to come see what I was doing, then my yorkie poo would follow. But I was determined to get that portrait! My toy poodle and collie/shepherd mix are elderly and not in the best of health.

From left: Keegan, Chloe, Reilly and Desi

Have a blessed Christmas y'all

So Sad

Our historic Train Depot has burned down, totally gutted, by an electrical fire. I'm so glad that I have my photos taken this summer, and that I had painted from them!

The Face of the Earth

I haven't fallen off, my art is just taking a back seat of sorts.

I've decided to get into dog training, so between volunteering at the local shelter and trying to read through and absorb about 11 books on the subject, I just don't have any extra time for art ( or anything else ). I'm also attending a dog class ( an hours drive away ) to train my own dogs, and to receive mentoring.

All this after my day job!

Ahhhh......midlife career changes........keeps life interesting.

Meeting Fellow Artists and Bloggers

Here's a happy photo for my new friends and art buddies:



What a treat! Monday evening I met with Cindy and Deborah for dinner. We were all total strangers, but it felt like meeting old friends ( after making sure that we weren't deviant men in disguise ). Isn't it odd that we tell our kids to be careful online, but we "adults" often disregard that advice. We will definitely meet up again, with no worries of crazed killers lurking in our minds. The girls did discover a quirk of mine....I have a very active imagination.

Have a blessed day, y'all!

More Postcards!

From Stephanie


From Marva


From Wendy


From Jen

Aren't they all beautiful?!!! I have a few more to finish myself, then I'll be sending my postcards out!

Train Station 3

Train Station 3, originally uploaded by quinacridonered.

My third in the Train Station series.

Train Station 2

Another in my Train Station series.....and again, scanner not getting it quite right. the doors and shutter thingies are a darker color.

Thanks for looking!

Train Station

My first in a series of our local old Train Depot, built in 1886. Ink and watercolor on Arches 140#. I couldn't get my scanner to scan this accurately....this is as close as I could get. The doors and window trim is more burgundy than red.

Thanks for looking! Please leave any tips on how to improve.

Poppy Field

Poppy Field, originally uploaded by quinacridonered.

This is another watercolor exercise from a Terry Harrison book. Arches 12 x 16, W & N paints. I know there are lots of corrections needed.....but this painting makes me feel happy!

Holiday weekend coming up.....YAY!

Watercolor Door

Watercolor Door, originally uploaded by quinacridonered.

This is from a Terry Harrison book, on Arches 140# , 12 x 16, with W & N paints. I may do this again now that I know what I'm doing, lol. My boo boo's stick out like a sore thumb! But, I enjoyed myself!!!

Grandpuppy is Growing!

We drove all the way to North Carolina yesterday to see our darling grandpup!
We did visit our handsome son, too. This fur child is wired for action...she is non stop every waking moment. We took her to the Lansford Canal Park where she proceeded to carry around all the sticks that were much bigger than her.

Can you believe that I went all the way to Charlotte, NC and didn't go to Cheap Joe's???? Me neither.

WC Pencil Landscape

WC Pencil Landscape, originally uploaded by quinacridonered.

...exercise from Kate's CD. I was really hesitant to post it......but then I remembered that I had encouraged someone else not to be afraid to post. Doncha hate to eat your own words???
I have a wonderfully glorious view out my front door, so I think I will practice doing some more landscapes. It's really lovely with a heavy snow!

Blog Award...

From Mindy. What a nice surprise! Thanks Mindy!
Gee....now I have to somehow choose from all of my favorite blogs. I will try to see who hasn't had this honor yet.

1. A Brush With Color

2. Amber Ridge Desert

3. Travels In Watercolor

4. Creative Dialog

5. Doodles and Sketches

6. Original Art

7. Teri's Painted Daisies

To accept:

Right click on the award to save it to your computer. Then you can insert it into your blog.

The rules of acceptance are:

1. Put the logo on your blog.

2. Add a link to the person who awarded you.

3. Nominate 7 other blogs.

4. Add links to those blogs on yours.

5. Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs.

my daily view

my daily view, originally uploaded by quinacridonered.

Today is a gorgeous day, temps in the low 80's, low humidity......I really should paint or something.....may just head out to the pool!

Received First Card

Isn't this gorgeous?! I love it!!!! This is from Delph, all the way from France. How exciting! Can you tell I'm excited? It arrived in perfect condition, and very quickly I might add.

Some of us EDM'ers have set up swap groups, and I'm in the postcard swap. I haven't started painting yet, but have been out photographing potential subjects ( which are to remain a surprise to my fellow swappers ).

Thanks, Delph....I absolutely love it!

New Flickr Group!

Watercolor Pencil Workshop~Learning Together

Several EDM'ers ordered Kate Johnson's Watercolor Pencil Workshop CD, and we've decided it would be much more fun to work on learning together! Here's to art buddies!!!

Faber-Castell AD WC pencil color chart

Faber-Castell AD WC pencil color chart, originally uploaded by quinacridonered.

Preparation for Kate's Watercolor Pencil Workshop CD. I somehow left out 2 colors, and had to add them at the end. I may redo the chart, cuz those colors outta place bug me.

These pencils were part of my anniversary gift! Isn't it just romantic????

New Grandbaby!

Well, when you're desperate for a grandchild.....
She is the most adorable little thing! Her name is Akira (which means intelligent in Japanese), but will be called Kira. She has the most amazing blue eyes! She was the last puppy in a litter of 9, weighing 5 pounds at 9 weeks old. I emailed photos to my son, who promptly drove up from Charlotte to pick her up. I only had her for 1 day, and was surprised to feel weepy when he went back home with her yesterday. Jeez.....that's 2 1/2 hours away! Did I say she has the most amazing blue eyes?

EDM # 180 Favorite Color/Blue

I debated about whether or not to post this. My hope is to receive some helpful critique, so please don't be afraid to do so. This is another exercise from Kristy Kutch's book, using Inktense watercolor pencils. I didn't have the pencils and colors that the book suggested, so I kinda just winged it.

My Watercolor Pencil Workshop CD (from Kate) just arrived (yippee ,yay, yahoo, etc.) so I hope to be improving soon (somebody please tell me that I'll improve).

On a more positive note.....I didn't trace!

Thanks for stopping by.

Anniversary!

Today's our 29th anniversary! Wow...how time flies...and here we are, 3 homes and 2 children later; loss of a baby, loss of parents, dreams come and gone; but what a ride! I wouldn't have wanted to share it all with anyone else. The best is yet to come.

1st Attempt at Colored Pencil

1st Colored Pencil, originally uploaded by quinacridonered.

I did this a few weeks ago. It's from "Drawing and Painting With Colored Pencils" by Kristy Ann Kutch. I'm not overly thrilled with my attempt, so I haven't tried to do another yet ( if you have her book, you'll know what I mean *G*).

I just ordered some CD's from Cathy "Kate" Johnson that I'm very excited about. Watercolor Pencil Workshop, and Ink and Wash Workshop. They're actually an early Christmas present from my mom. Ain't moms great?!

EDM # 179 Onion

EDM # 179 Onion, originally uploaded by quinacridonered.

My very first EDM sketch! Much to learn!

Home in Winter

Hi all! I thought it would be neat to share something I did back in the winter. We don't often get really deep snows (bummer), and this was the best snow we'd had in a couple of years.

Strange that I would sit out by the pool and think of snow.

Today's Tiny Beauty

These tiny flowers pack so much beauty into their miniature size! Viola's, or as we call them around here, Johnny Jump Ups. I guess it's pretty obvious that I love flowers! I brought some Lupine seeds back from Maine, and hope to plant those this fall. I'm not really the gardening sort, though. Weird, huh? Just like looking at them and photographing them.

On another note, my dogs are such goof balls! We purchased some carpeted stair treads to cover our hardwood stairs. Our living room is lower than the rest of the house, with 3 steps up to the kitchen, dining area; and 3 steps up to the bedrooms and office area. We usually end up carrying 3 dogs up and down these steps, as they don't want to slide up on the slick hardwood, hence the treads purchase. Well, what do they do? Walk down the side of the steps that's not carpeted of course. Think we wasted our money on that brilliant idea. Aren't dogs great?!

For your Viewing Pleasure

Yellow and red lily, originally uploaded by quinacridonered.

Isn't the color gorgeous?! My, how I love the colors in nature!!!

Rainy Day Pick Me Up

Stargazer, originally uploaded by quinacridonered.

Flowers always perk me up, and Stargazers are my favorite (well, I like lilacs and gardenias, too).

Happy Wednesday from the mountains of Virginia!

Lobster Traps and Buoys

Lobster Traps and Buoys, originally uploaded by quinacridonered.

My 3rd attempt at Pen and Watercolor from my Maine Vacation photos. The photo was taken in Somesville, MDI. I loved the pile of red, white and black buoys.

Southwest Harbor, Maine

Southwest Harbor, Maine, originally uploaded by quinacridonered.

My 2nd attempt at pen and wash. This is from the lovely area where we stayed on vacation.

Pen and Wash Pots, MDI, Maine

Pen and Wash Pots, originally uploaded by quinacridonered.

My very first attempt at Pen and Wash. I was inspired to try after joining the Ink and Watercolor Wash flickr group. Attempts of being loose have failed, however. :(

How does one paint loose?

Is this cute or what?

Reilly and Keegan in dog stroller, originally uploaded by quinacridonered.

This is Keegan and Reilly, my 2 favorite guys. They're behaving quite nicely in their new pet stroller.

New Blog

This is my new blog about my life and attempts at art from the beautiful mountains of south west Virginia. Join my journey.