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.