I cannot endure to waste anythingas precious as autumn sunshine bystaying in the house. So I spendalmost all the daylight hoursin the open air.Nathaniel Hawthorne
I like the way that boy thinks!
...and as an aside.....when I was very young, my cousins Paula, Marianne, Marybeth and I would play a card game with Grandma Rose at her kitchen table. It was called "Authors," and I learned all the classic authors and what they looked like while playing that game. Well......old Nathaniel Hawthorne had incredibly blue eyes, and when that card would come up, Grandma Rose would say, "there's old Blue Eyes again," and we would laugh and laugh. To this day, when I read something written by Nathaniel Hawthorne...."Old Blue Eyes" comes to mind, and I smile. (Do you remember that Paula, Marianne, and Marybeth?)
About the leaves...
I'm taking a watercolor class called "An Imaginary Trip Through Autumn," and Laure Ferlita is my teacher. If you read my blog regularly you probably know Laure from comments. Her blog is Painted Thoughts Blog. If you're thinking about getting into watercolors, or you want to take an online watercolor class, head over to Laure's Imaginary Trips Website. I just started the "Autumn" class, and I'm finishing up the "An Imaginary Trip to Paris" class. She's a great teacher, and I'm learning a lot about painting on site and using watercolors. If you join, maybe we'll be in a class together! I know one of the classes coming up is "An Imaginary Trip to England," and "An Imaginary Trip to the Beach." I'm going to take both of those classes.
Here is the latest from my Paris class. You can see the subject matter is really interesting and fun. This is the Queen's Hamlet at Versailles...
Hi Kelly
ReplyDeleteNice post....
Wow Kelly..beautiful.. My mother was primarily an oil painter until about 3 years ago when she started taking a water color class at our senior center and she loves it. It gives a whole new look to her art work. I wish I had inherited her talent. I fool around with colored pencils, but nothing that I could scan and put up on my blog...Michelle
ReplyDeleteNPT...thank you!
ReplyDeleteMichelle...you should give it a try. Join the class. Beginner to advanced students are welcome. Thank you!!
Beautiful! I used to draw a lot when younger and got pretty good at it. Somewhere along the line it went by the wayside. Never really took to painting though.
ReplyDeleteYour leaves are gorgeous!!!
ReplyDeleteNice job on those paintings! I love the house painting, lovely colors!
ReplyDeleteI wish I had your talent ;-)
I can't get over how talented you are. I've started playing around with watercolors, but could sure use some direction.....
ReplyDeleteAs for card games-when I was young we had a set of cards for birds-and I knew ALL the birds after awhile. I was really young, and we called them the "peep peep" cards. I sure wish I still had that set....
I like the way he thinks too Kelly.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great painting!! You have got LOTS of talent.
Oh I'm going to write out that quotation and stick it up somewhere! I love coming across people from hundreds of years ago that think exactly the same way about things (esp nature) as we do today :)
ReplyDeleteAnd that is a beautiful piece of painting! I've never been brave enough to paint..
Beautiful Kelly!
ReplyDeleteKelly, I think you are an especially talented nature photographer, but I also love watching you grow through your paintings! Your leaves are so vibrant, just like they were picked off the tree! And your painting of Marie Antoinette's "cottage" makes me want to wander through the gardens of Versailles!
ReplyDelete-Krista
www.kristameister.com
I can almost hear the leaves crunching under foot...
ReplyDeleteI think I'm gonna pass on yard work and go out to the park now!
Thanks!
Your paintings are beautiful Kelly!
ReplyDeleteOh, Kelly, you've got buckets of talent!! Photographer extraordinaire, super potter and now budding watercolourist! Do hope you'll post more of your paintings -it looks like a fun course and I'll look forward to watching your progress!
ReplyDeleteI love your trip down memory lane. Your Grandma sounds like a wonderful lady. I love your water color paintings. I took a class years ago...I will look into Laure's..never knew you could do this via the web!!!
ReplyDeleteHi Kel, That's neat that you have such great memories of your Grandmother.. All of mine were dead BEFORE I was born. Sigh!
ReplyDeleteYou never cease to amaze me---you and all of your incredible talent. WOW!!!! I missed that gift when it was passed out. ha...
Great watercolor.
Hugs,
Betsy
Mona...cool. You should pick it back up!! You've got some wonderful reference shots!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Robin!!
Mischi...thank you. Take Laure's class, she'll teach it to you!
Sue....I used to have bird flash cards too. I call them my first field guide!
Joan....don't know how much talent I have, but I have fun!
Kitty....I know what you mean. That's why I love reading old texts. You should give it a try. It's easier than you think!
Thanks, Jayne!
Thanks, Krista!! You're such a good artist. I'm glad we're in class together. I've learned a lot from you!
Dave....Yeah! Yard work can wait (and remember, housework is bad for your health....)
Thank you, Wanda!!
Caroline...thank you--you're so nice! Eventually, I hope to do more bird paintings. That's my goal. (Now...you really are a talented artist!!)
Susan....I hope you join Laure's class. That would be so much fun. Laure is from your state too--another Florida girl!!
Betsy...thank you. I have tons of memories and wonderful stories about both of my grandmas (Grandma B and Grandma Rose). They were both fabulous ladies.
Very nice, great painting and bird pics, you are very artistic in everything. Congrats, Kelly and thanks for sharing. Hugs
ReplyDelete...thanks, Enita-Bonita. You are too!!!
ReplyDeleteWow Kelly - I didn't know you painted too. Samie is my resident artist I'm going to point her towards the classes.
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures as always.
I have missed commenting on some of your lovely posts again Kelly :( I do struggle to keep up sometimes!
ReplyDeleteI have read and enjoyed them all and it was lovely to see the Nuthatch on your feeder, I would love to see one in my garden! The Woodpecker and Flicker photos were beautiful also.
You are so talented! Your paintings are lovely, as was the ceramic bird feeder on a previous post, is there anything you are not good at? :)
Great leaves Kelly...I agree about being outdoors as much as possible at this time of year..which I love because it smells so nice because of all the fallen leaves.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations Kelly on two excellent results here. The Queen's Hamlet is just brilliant.
ReplyDeleteI'm no expert but these look real good to me.
ReplyDeleteStunning work Kelly !!
ReplyDeletePS. Did you get my last email ?
Jeni...Sammi will love the classes because she can work at her own pace, and it's a very supportive environment. Laure is a very good teacher....
ReplyDeleteSongbird...thank you. I'm way behind visiting my favorite blogs too.
Susan.....ohhh...I love that smell too....I always think it smells like the forest is drinking a cup of tea--nature's tea!
Roy...thanks! That was a new subject for me. I usually stick to drawing birds.... It's a great online class.
JPT...thank you very much. I'm not an expert either, but I'm enjoying the process of learning.
Nick...thank you! Yes...I did! Can't wait to get the calendars you made!
Beautiful painting of the Queen's
ReplyDeleteHamlet! I've always wanted to go there.
oh Kelly, your watercolors are gorgeous! You're very talented!
ReplyDeleteKelly, I so enjoy seeing your paintings. Both of these are just fabulous.
ReplyDeleteYour watercolors are so pretty! I love that Paris one! Beautiful! I used to play authors while on vacation with my cousins, and thought that Hawthorne was very nice looking :-) I can still recite the 4 books by most of the authors that were in the deck. How nice that we got an education and had fun at the same time :-) I still have a deck and also a version called American Authors! I think my daughter ordered them from the Smithsonian gift shop.
ReplyDeleteI will never think of Mr. Hawthorne as anything other than 'Ol Blue Eyes' from now on! And what a smart lad he was, understanding the value of autumn sunshine.
ReplyDeleteHope your watercolor class works out well. It sounds like an interesting way to get familiar with it.
I absolutely love your painting of the Queen's Hamlet at Versailles - gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteThese are beautiful! I am envious that you get to take classes. I would be helped greatly by some formal learning instead of just the trial and error methods I'm working with now! Look forward to seeing more!
ReplyDelete