All the Colors of White

We recently returned from a whirlwind trip to Pensacola, Florida where we went to see my husband's family, primarily his mother who is in her 90's.  Most of the time was spent visiting with family but we did take some time to go to Pensacola Beach and all the way out to Ft. Pickens which is part of our National Parks System (you can read about Ft. Pickens HERE).  The weather on the whole trip was somewhat overcast and on the day we went to Ft. Pickens, it was very cloudy and very windy!  I thought our little baby, CiCi really illustrates the strength of the wind, don't you?  lol

Anyway, I was wanting to take some photos of magnolias for painting references and looked at some under these cloudy conditions.  I didn't end up getting any photos of any but I did really look at the "color" of white in several kinds of flowers and under different conditions.

It's always amazing to me to really study a white object and see all the colors that are actually there.  You can see that our C is a white Maltese but if you click on the photo to enlarge it, you can also see all the reflected colors that show in her fur.  My husband's shirt color is reflected in some areas.  There is both pink skin showing (the groomer clipped her really close this time!) and also some pink reflected from her skin onto her fur.  The pink skin also makes for sort of lavender gray shadows in some areas.  There are even some areas of yellow there!

If you've trained your eye to really see, you can look at any so-called white object and see a multitude of colors residing there!

Busy, busy, busy!

It has been a wild and crazy last month or so around here and I haven't done much painting at all.  I did finish the double portrait of two beautiful Golden Retrievers some time ago so I thought I'd post the final portrait since I hadn't shown it to you before now. 

I was pleased with it and it really looks much better in person than here.  This was the largest portrait I've done to date and it took a while.  It was on a full sheet of either PastelMat or Colorfix Suede (I've slept many times since it was finished & don't remember which one!  lol) or about 20x27 inches.  I think the owner was pleased also.

I titled this post Busy, busy, busy for a reason.  My DH has finally retired after working at the same place for slightly over 40 years!  He started the retirement on May 1st so we've had almost a week to get used to having one another underfoot and adjusting to a different schedule.  So far it's working out ok and it's really nice being able to do things during the week at whatever time is convenient for us.

A new BJ's warehouse club opened up in a town relatively close to us - about 40 - 45 miles away - so we decided to check it out one day.  That was interesting.  We ended up joining (they give you the "opportunity" to join at a special price before you can actually shop there although they offer a trial membership also.)  I must say that I was disappointed in the experience with everything bundled so that quantities were either way too much for two people (like some of the fresh produce) or there were too few choices in items that you could stock up on.  For instance, as a vegetarian, I was very disappointed to find the one & only brand of baked beans they had was prepared with meat.  The prices weren't bad so I guess it was a good idea to join.  My husband's opthamologist is right around the corner from BJ's so I guess we'll use it some at least.

It is also the week of my husband's birthday so the kids are coming this evening to celebrate both his birthday and his retirement.  I made potato salad and cole slaw yesterday and biscuits this morning (for tomorrow morning's breakfast).  Potato salad and slaw always seem to taste best when they've had a chance to marinate and completely chill.  Later I'll be making baked beans and hush puppies so I'm taking a little break right now to make this post!  Since I don't usually cook meat, we got some pit cooked bbq from a local restaurant not too far from us.  Add a little cake and ice cream after dinner and we'll call it a celebration feast!

Another perk of my DH being retired is that we can travel some and we'll be doing a bit of that off and on.  He's a big gardener and has put in a really comprehensive vegetable garden this year so we won't be gone a lot because of that.  But, I may not be posting on a regular basis again.  I'm looking forward to getting all settled in our "new" life so I can get back to painting again!

It Is With A Heavy Heart

that I tell you little Avery has lost the battle with SMA.  Heartfelt condolences to her parents, family and friends. 

ATC Trade

We're doing an Artist's Trading Card trade at an art forum I belong to (Art Class Friends - let me know if you would like an invitation to join) and these are the two cards I painted for the trade.

Both are regulation ATC/ACEO (Art Cards Editions and Originals) size at 2.5 inches by 3.5 inches and both were painted in watercolor or watercolor and gouache.  Both of the painting photo references came from MorgueFile.com.  I hope the recipients like what they get as I had a lot of fun painting these.