This one makes me laugh. It is a woman and her pug on the beach. Their body language tells so much. My personal triumph was finding the value spot of that orange thumb. I am really proud of that moment.

I love this image of two souls walking up a path. I  am really proud of it. I used my values well. Especially the neutral tones. I made sure to have them read as colors but remain neutral at the same time. I think that is the most valuable lesson I have learned this year.
I plan to paint a larger version of this one. I think it is going to be great.

Here are two more watercolors for the pets and their relationship to us series. I chose these because the forms of the dogs are morphing into the forms of the figures. This is in essence what an emotional relationship is but I was able to capture it in concrete forms.
I wonder what our relationships would look like if we could actually see them? I suspect there would be some surprising shapes and colors revealed.

Continuing the series about our pets and what they give to us daily I have painted my husband Tom and the love of his life Maggie. She is a hound and she and Tom have a special relationship. Maggie can do no wrong. She is his perfect companion.
     Let's see now...she runs away, she rolls in poo, she barks and tracks on her own time line and just two days ago had a run in with a porcupine ( not her first time at that rodeo). But if there was ever an unconditional love relationship these two have it covered.

I have begin a series that I hope captures our relationships with our pet friends. I love painting because when I am in the studio it is a world of no words..just shape, value and color.
     I think the other place where there is comfort and "no words" is when we are with our pets.
     I talk to them all the time but I don't really think they know that I  call them  "My sweet collie boy " and my "Sweet Magala".
Those are my pet names for my rough collie and our hound dog. I also call them "smooth criminals" but I say it with such light in my voice that they think it is high praise.
Thank goodness for pet friends and to have love present in a warm fuzzy way.

     Today is a Recovery Rose and the three step process for painting it. First step ...was to paint the whole paper yellow as an undercoating. This is new for me. Then moving on to find the darkest pattern of shapes using limited strokes and finally finishing with mid-tones. I think the result is a more vibrant red rose than the white paper would have given me.
     Why Recovery Rose? Because I know so many people who are going through different challenges right now. Some of them are big and some of them are minor adjustments because of life circumstances. We are all in this together and I find great strength when I  read or hear about how other people are finding their way "through".
     Flowers are a metaphor for that. They grow and fade and come back year after year. Most importantly they bring the beauty into each day they are here.

I call  this 18x24 inch watercolor.....Survivor Rose.
You don't get to be my age and not have at least one story of recovery and healing. I have a few. Each time something bigger than myself rescued me.
The rescue has always come   in the form of love. What form that love takes is often surprising. In the past it has come from my husband and hero Tom.
Tom is always in the "frame" so to speak. It has also been art and a bigger reason to show up participate and contribute. This time....I am waiting to find out how it will manifest itself, but until then I have no doubt that it will show up and probably is already here if I pay attention to what truly matters.

Does anybody else remember these visual memories from the past? I had forgotten about "Swap Cards" and how much I loved collecting them and thumbing through them was a pleasure I never got tired of. Now it is many years later and what I am doing? Making paintings of flowers and pets.
     I always say there are so many false beginnings and endings in our lives and here is one I just became aware of. There is always a connecting thread, we just don't always know what it is.
Do you remember these cards or have a connecting thread? A false ending or a false beginning? I would be interested in hearing your story. I am going to make a list.

Dahlia 14x20 inch watercolor . Let's look at one way to build this painting in steps .

Step one ...find the darkest value shape elements and paint them in finding connections where ever possible.

Step 2. Begin looking for the midtones and establish those patterns. From here leave the lightest whites white and find the darkest patterns and reinforce those. The emphasis is always on value patterns and relationships.