Feeding the artist

As a creative, I value trading the digital tools of my computer for the tactile tools of the painter - my brushes, paints and canvas. Nothing can replace the real feeling of brush in hand and the magic of mixing paints to see what occurs. It can be difficult to make time to nurture the artist within, so I'll often join painting classes (and encourage any of my audience reading this to give them a try).

Blue Ridge Moon watercolor

This little painting was my first attempt with watercolor. I absolutely loved how the movement of the pigment determined what I was going to paint.

Blue Ridge Morning watercolor

I love painting little watercolors like this one. They allow me to experiment with the process of dropping pigment on wet paper without forcing an outcome. This time, my experiment inspired a sweet little painting of the beautiful North Carolina Blue Ridge Mountains.

Starry Pears watercolor

This is one of my favorite tiny watercolor paintings, named because one can imagine enjoying these luscious pears outside a cafe under a starry sky.

Cherry Blossoms acrylic

This painting was created in a Wine & Design instructor-lead class. Anyone can take these classes no matter the skill level. They're a great way to be creative while unwinding with friends.

Giant Sunflower acrylic

The giant sunflower was a lot of fun to paint. I mean, it's a huge cheery sunflower, if you're not having fun painting it then you're not doing it right. This is another painting created in a Wine & Design class.

Pears, Not Apples acrylic

The title of this painting comes from the fact that it was supposed to be apples yet ended up looking like pears. It's not an original painting. Instead, this is something I did as practice - I used another artist's painting as an exercise as I tried to recreate what she did. When you don't have direct access to artists and teachers, one can still learn from those who are more skilled by studying their work as I did here.

Still life watercolor

The best part about this watercolor is that it captured of few of my favorite little things lying about the house (ages ago). The bottle has long since disappeared, the glass and dish each eventually broke and the tea towel remains tucked away (because nobody uses tea towels). But the painting serves as a reminder of those simpler times when I was young and just starting out.

Half face exercise 1 charcoal

This is an exercise anyone can do in order to improve basic drawing skills. You simply find a photo of a face, tear it in half, tape it to the paper and draw in the missing half.

Half face exercise charcoal

Again, as above, this is an exercise anyone can do in order to improve basic drawing skills. You simply find a photo of a face, usually from a magazine, tear it in half, tape it to the paper and draw in the missing half.

Shenandoah Road watercolor

I painted this from a photo in a magazine because it reminded me of the country road to my grandmother's farmhouse in the Shenandoah Valley. The clouds are my favorite element in this watercolor, and are a lot of fun to paint. If you're a fan of Bob Ross, you'll understand the true joy of happy accidents, which clouds essentially are as you have the freedom to dab and blot and see what spontaneously happens.

Indigo bunting soft pastel

I've recently discovered the beauty of working in soft pastel! Soft pastels are so forgiving, I've finally found the medium that allows me to add color to my drawings in a way that is similar to painting layers. I love this new-to-me medium!