50 Scarfs and 150 Pounds

Le Vieux Couvent, Frayssinet, France

What do 50 scarfs and 150 pounds have in common?

The BEST workshop ever!

That's right, we were the ultimate consumers in every since

of the word.  I might actually be underestimating that

we gained 150 lbs.collectively, the number could be higher,

and we all did out best to keep the local economy going too.

Dreama managed to keep us all somewhat on track

with lots of demos and chocolate tastings.

If you get a chance to do a workshop with Dreama or

visit this charming French B & B- 

go for it!

I'm home again and sorting through my suitcases-

Postcard winners will be announced tomorrow!

Thanks for following along:)))))

Secret Garden

Secret Garden  9 x 7  watercolor

You'd never guess from the street that my house has a beautiful, secret garden.  It's my own private paradise with lemon, orange, and olive trees. There are palms, bougainvillea, cactus and a fish pond! Surprise!

I wanted to take things outside today in this beautiful Maltese sunshine.  It was

quite pleasant in a sheltered area away from the wind off the sea.

This watercolor adventure is turning into lots of fun!

to purchase click here

 

 

The Park

The Park  4x6 watercolor

This is the park I walk through with my buddy Robi

everyday.  It's one of the few places with trees

in Malta. It's also a place that's loaded with cats

and Robi finds that very exciting!

When the lights went out in Malta my set up in my

still life stage went dark, my monitor

was off too, so no more photo reference.

It was too late to pack up my stuff and go outside,

so I decided to pull out some photos and

my dusty watercolor set and play around.

I got cozy in the fading light by my studio window.

Then I had to start pulling out the candles.

I felt like a pilgrim.

It was quite pleasant with no distractions but the problem

is that you can't see any thing very well either.

I figured out early on that watercolor is very easy to over work.

Not easy for an oil painter who likes to pile on the paint to

cover whatever is underneath that I don't like. 

I think I peaked in my watercolor stage at about eleven, but

I can see how it would be easy to get hooked again.

This one of the park turned out OK.

In case you don't know who Robi is:

photo of me and Robi

we go to the same hair stylist!

Playing in the Garden

Playing in the Garden  7" x 9"  watercolor

Yesterday I declared an official play date with my muse.

It was what I like to call a "thank me" day.

I ofter get busy with my "to do" list and forget to

take time for creative play and celebrate

the fact that I am perfectly imperfect!

I never take time to play with my watercolors because I'm

always so busy working on my oils. Whether it turned out

well or not isn't the point, it was all about creative play and

chasing my muse around all day long.

Ex-Pat Twist

I also created this video you can see below.

People ask me what it's like to live in Malta.  Since I'm a visual

person I made a short video of Malta's Blue Lagoon.

Click here to view.

Enjoy!