In the good old summertime!
Popsicles are in progress and the mini jars await the salt that’s soaking up those beautiful neon colors!
Ta da! Gorgeous colors of salt, fun textured colorful paper, and one popsicle cut out from the salt cured painted paper.
Artwork © A. S.
Now, that’s one awesome, happy popsicle!
Well, summertime is definitely here!
So, while we are all focused on summertime, I thought I’d share what I am working on right now. It’s hot in Arizona - really hot! That has me thinking of ways to cool off. What better way than a nice summer treat? Something like popsicles or ice cream cones, watermelon, iced tea or strawberry lemonade, Yes, please!
Well, you guessed it. That’s not only what I’m enjoying — it’s what I am painting. I was working on making some refreshing-looking popsicles that had lots of soft colors swirling around.
While I was experimenting, I remembered the blooms paintings where I used salt that released speckles of soaked up color (from being used on another painting) back onto a new wet painting. I figured I’d give it a try on some freshly painted popsicles.
So, I decided I wanted to make lots of colored coarse salt crystals using my neon watercolor paints that I had just purchased. Not only did I get great salt crystals to use, I got some pretty cool papers that I can use later in collage. You can see all those things in the photos.
While I was having fun experimenting, I was lucky enough to chat on the phone with my granddaughter in Pennsylvania. She is very artistic and likes to spend time creating and recently had the same idea to make a picture of a popsicle!
She created a bright and beautiful striped (and very happy, I might add) popsicle on a fun summer background. We decided it would make a great postcard, so I created an order for those and I cannot wait until they arrive in her mailbox!
So let’s all beat the heat by safely enjoying activities both inside and out. Of course, don’t forget to treat yourself to something cool and refreshing. And maybe create some great art using whatever you have on hand.
In the good old summertime. Stay cool!
Feeling Adrift?
Today I am writing about something we may all be feeling a bit of right now. That lost-at-sea feeling of being totally untethered and floating along without a clear direction or destination. Feeling adrift.
With so much uncertainty around us, it can be easy to feel like you’ve lost control. What I’m learning is that good things can happen when we allow ourselves to wander.
To those of you who know me and my need for planning, structure, and organization, yes, I did just say that! Bits of time where we relieve ourselves of the control so many of us relish can be daunting and scary, but from the experiences I’ve had over the past few years, I’m certain it can lead to remarkable, unanticipated discoveries. I also know its easier said than done.
A while back, a truly amazing friend cautioned me about over-planning for an upcoming trip. He told me that occasionally opting for an uncharted path would allow me to discover things I hadn’t even known were there to discover. He was right!
I got lost in Budapest and ended up walking down a lovely cobblestone street surrounded by old world architecture and window boxes overflowing with colorful blooms. At the end of the street was a quaint open air coffee shop jammed into a tiny space between buildings. I sat and enjoyed some refreshments and watched as couples strolled by, families jaunted along, and people of all sorts moved through at varying speeds. It was an unplanned and unforeseen delight! Thank you, Ed!
The paintings that accompany today’s post are all a style where paint is set adrift. The first, called Drifting Sun and Sea is one of my favorites! I had to allow each color of paint to determine its path, alone or in combination with one or more of the other colors. Each color chose its destination and there were places that none of the colors dared to venture. That untouched space is what makes the painting so attractive to me. Colors and patterns are enhanced and highlighted by spaces where there is absence of color. Ingenious! (Ha! The paint, not me!)
The second is a painting of the northern lights - a request from my granddaughter. Again, the paints chose their paths, their companions, and their destinations. Who am I to tell the northern lights what they should look like?
The third painting is one I have not put into a collection yet. I am experimenting with colors and movement and will see what comes of it. I’ll keep you posted! In the meantime, hang loose, allow yourself to be adrift at times, and look for unforeseen discoveries of delight.
Bloom where you are planted!
Bloom where you are planted — it’s true! While it takes conscious effort, making friends when you move to a new location or somehow find yourself among a new community is definitely something worth the effort. I have been fortunate to keep wonderful friends on the east coast and add fantastic new friends in Arizona.
Do you remember the friendship song in Brownie Girl Scouts? Oh, well, now we are talking YEARS ago! Ha! If I recall correctly, it had 2 lines that said “Make new friends but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold.” Great advice! Finding new friends requires not only effort, but patience as well.
Speaking of patience, in this post I am featuring a watercolor technique that takes lots of patience! I discovered just how amazing it is pretty much by accident.
The technique is to use coarse salt on a wet painting. I’d heard that you could do some interesting things with salt and watercolor and decided to play around with it one day. I had been using the fine salt (like on those 2 paintings I already told you about in previous posts) and decided to give the larger grains a try. I made a fun painting with lots of colors intermingled and sprinkled on some of the coarse salt. It was still pretty wet and it was lunchtime, so I decided to let it dry while I took a break to eat. (Great decision because that way I wouldn’t be tempted to interfere with the effect that would happen.)
When I came back to my painting table about an hour later I was shocked to see the beautiful “blooms” that had formed around the salt crystals. The salt pulls in the water and the nearby paint along with it and ends up making areas of much lighter color on the paper. When completely dry, the salt crystals are removed, leaving a small mark as the center of the bloom. I spent the next few days trying different techniques to see what would happen and had a great time learning even more about the magical ways of watercolor. The photos on the left are some of the really fun results.
The last 2 pictures show what happened when I tried to reuse salt crystals that had soaked up paint from a previous painting - the color actually went out of the salt and onto the paper while it soaked up what was already on the paper. Wow!
I ended up making many, many different paintings and turned some into the cards in the Bloom Collections.
If you ever feel out of place in your current situation, remember - look for new opportunities to bloom where you are planted! Enjoy!
Morning Zen
Sunrise Pastels © Cathy L. Rae
What a great way to start a day!
The painting I am currently featuring, Sunrise Pastels, is a companion to Sunset Gold that I shared in my first post. This painting was created in a similar fashion - wet on wet with fine salt over the entire surface - but was inspired by the softer, more muted colors of sunrise.
Dawn and dusk are some of my favorite times of the day - dawn signals the possibilities of a brand new day while dusk allows for celebration of a day well spent and reflections on the many things for which I am grateful. Sometimes that means making the conscious decision to let go of mistakes and regrets and vowing to start anew.
In both Sunrise Pastels and Sunset Gold, my focus was mostly on the sky, so I did not include any landform in this painting and only a small bit of land in Sunset Gold. Both paintings were used to create note cards in the Skyscapes 1 Collection. I am currently working on a collection that was inspired by these paintings and the new paintings will similarly feature the horizon. Stay tuned!
Enjoy every day to the fullest, be kind to yourself about shortcomings and mistakes, and know that each day brings new possibilities.
The Sky’s the Limit!
Sunset Gold © Cathy L. Rae.
Part of the Skyscapes 1 collection.
Sunsets in Arizona are often so lovely!
Thanks for stopping by!
I hope you will check out my cards and visit often.
The painting featured today is titled “Sunset Gold” and was inspired by the views from my back patio. I added the card to a collection called Skyscapes 1 Collection.
I am so fortunate to have an unimpeded view of some mountains and a whole lot of sky. Watching the colors both morning and night is so enjoyable and inspiring.
I painted wet on wet and used fine salt over the entire surface to create the grainy texture. I just love how the colors flow and blend and the salt clusters create the illusion of clouds, which, in Arizona are often very different from those I was used to in Pennsylvania.
I hope you get to enjoy some beautiful skyscapes wherever you are!