Throughout March, I had blogging friends in the Slice of Life Challenge who shared their love of the Emily Lex watercolor books that take you step by step through watercolor painting techniques. I found some off-brands in Hobby Lobby and picked up a book on Spring Break during a camping trip. It was so relaxing and stress-relieving for me! I am planning to make Haiku Watercolor Weekends happen in May as a tribute to Matsuo Basho, whose most well-known haiku poem is on my blog logo this month. I like setting up a table at a campsite and enjoying the sounds of nature as I paint and write. My friend Glenda Funk of Idaho signed up for a Watercolor Week class on Facebook, and I may do the same since it is ten dollars for the week and they offer the recordings of the live sessions since I’ll be working during those times.
Today, I’ll be on my first outing in the new motorhome, The Next Chapter, at Indian Springs State Park. We traded in the InTech for something I could drive, and I picked it up last Saturday. The retirement dreams are becoming actual plans – but first, I am using the last three months before retirement traveling locally to learn how everything works with setup and driving. I didn’t want to have to tow anything, so I won’t have to hook it up to the hitch, and all I have to do is mash a button for the self-leveling feature. It drives a lot like a large SUV, and because it has a great backup camera, I can back into campsites with fewer challenges. I may even find some time this weekend for painting – – but meanwhile, here is one of the very first attempts I made in April. It’s a Monstera plant, and the holes remind me of monster eyes.
Monstera Eyes
I see right through you ~
or are you looking at me?
those eyes have questions
Common Threads 
Kim,
I hope you take the watercolor class. Barb is thinking about it, too. I’m sure I’ll have lots of toddler-like pieces to laugh at when it’s over. My $10 investment is now over $200. That supply list is a monster, but you already have all the things.
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Glenda, yes ~ I have a few things, but the trouble with a new hobby is that it sucks you in and then you have to have the watercolors in the pan, the watercolors in the tube, the assortment of all the brushes, the different papers……so far I’m just using a meager collection of brushes, the dry watercolor squares, and some index-card size 20 pound paper. But if I discover a shred of natural artistic talent inside me anywhere, I might start acting like a regular DaVinci and need a beret or a studio or something….for now, though, I’m planning to sign up for the class. Thank you for the nudge – I often need one to get going on something because I tend to overthink everything.
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I’m taking an in person watercolor class at a local art gallery. I am struggling with the instructor who teaches by picking up my art piece and painting on it. As teachers, we know this is a huge no-no. Last week he didn’t do it, so maybe I’m getting better or he understood me when I expressed frustration the week before. This week was the first opportunity I had to practice on my own and it was fun. We should share photos. I’m not ready to make mine public. I didn’t know the name of this plant. I love the line “or are you looking at me.” My goal is to make some poetry postcards.
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Margaret, yes – I think you may have been one of my friends who mentioned watercolor in the March blogging and inspired me to want to pick up a brush. I really would love to take an in-person class, but I would have to travel to the city to do it. My favorite local watercolor artist, who would have taught a class I would have loved to take, died recently and left a hole in the local art world. But Glenda found an online class and signed up, and I think I will also. I thought of Basho and the famous frog haiku and decided to blend short poetry with watercolor as a May theme just to have something to motivate me to produce more paintings, and I’m learning that leaves are a struggle. A class will help so much more than a step by step book. I’d love to share some pictures. I found some blank notecards in Dollar General and picked them up, thinking I would paint something on them once I discover what I can actually paint that looks worth the postage stamp to mail. I’m also looking forward to retirement to be able to paint more than just on weekends…. thanks for inspiring me! And that painting teacher should know better than to mess with the work of another artist.
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