"Azalea Sass" (watercolor; 8" x 8")

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Wednesday evening of the last week, I fainted at home and fell forward.  I lost consciousness for a few seconds.  When I came to, I was in excruciating pain in a big puddle of blood. I have several fractures in the nose and right cheek bone, which require surgery.  After hospitalization, several tests and more to come to find out what caused the fainting episode, I am taking it easy.

Even after a full recovery, things won't be the business as usual.  Life is precious.  Everyday is a blessing.

"White Lilacs in Rose Vase" (watercolor; 6" x 6") sold

sold

I got excited by the watercolor floral still life on a white background that "Daffodil Sunshine" was all about.  So I looked for old pictures of similar setups that I had taken this spring and in the past years and found a whole bunch.  I am in business for a while!  How do you like this simple, yet, lovely bouquet of white lilacs in a dainty rose vase casting deep purple shadows in the spring sun?

"Daffodil Sunshine" (watercolor; 8" x 8")

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A dainty bouquet of yellow and white daffodils in a green vase casts a lovely shadow.  Do you feel the spring sunshine?

"Rose Shadows" (watercolor; 6" x 6")

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Cast shadows on the rose petals, dark shadows on leaves, and deep violet shadows beneath! Don't you love all these beautiful shadows?

""Pale Pink Rose" (watercolor; 6" x 6") sold

sold

With the success of the white peony painting, I decided to try another pale flower.  The painting reads as a glowing pale pink rose, doesn't it?  I guess I shouldn't avoid white or pale-hued flowers after all!

"White Peony Rhapsody" (watercolor; 7" x 10")

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For the 26th painting of my autumn watercolor fest, I decided to challenge myself by painting multiple white peonies with little variations of values or hues in petals.  It took careful drawing, many a delicate glaze, and a Winsor & Newton paint called "rose dore" to arrive at "White Peony Rhapsody".  I am mighty proud of the result; it may be the best watercolor painting I have ever painted!

"Oriental Poppy Mystique" (watercolor; 8" x 6") sold

sold

The painting started out with a pure white background.  Photographing it turned out to be difficult.  So, last night, I turned the white background into something else.  A dark, mysterious background brings out the incredible form, color, and texture of red oriental poppies, don't you agree?

"Pink Peony Spring" (watercolor; 5" x 7") sold

sold

I was going through my 2013 spring photos.  Behold, I came across a picture that became transformed into "Pink Peony Spring".  Spring comes fast and furious.  When you don't have to capture them in paints, don't despair.  Just keep taking pictures.  Someday you will have all the time in the world and get to finally have fun!

"Red Poppy Passion" (watercolor; 5" x 7") sold

sold

I decided to paint poppies a little differently.  I glazed the flowers, stems, and pods in several layers (in the left flower below, you can see the first yellow layer), whereas the background was painted wet-in-wet.  The painting looks intense and tropical, doesn't it?  I love it!

"Bountiful Peonies" (watercolor; 8" x 6") sold

sold

Peonies are bountiful flowers. They are big; their perfumes are intoxicating; and so many buds on a stem that it is nearly impossible to prop them up to keep their pretty faces away from dirt!

"Morning Irises" (watercolor; 8" x 6") sold

sold

Curiously, some of my irises started blooming at the end of September.  After a rainy week thanks to Hurricane Joaquin, the sun finally returned to my garden.  My spirit soared to the sky at the sight of purple irises glowing in the morning sun!

Irises blooming in my autumn garden!

"Firebird" (oil on stretched canvas; 12" x 16") nfs

nfs

A beautiful young model in an unusual leather outfit came to Danni Dawson's portrait painting class two weeks ago.  She is apparently a "fire spin" dancer!  Although her outfit of vest with harlequin patches, opera-length black gloves, and laced-up red boots were fascinating, I decided to focus on her even more fascinating face.  Unfortunately, no matter how hard I tried, I could not capture her likeness.  Her face exuded the audacious and vivacious spirit, which was beyond my ability to transcribe in paints.  Perhaps I will try again as this is supposed to be a five-week pose.

The painting looked like this after the first week.  During the second day, I gave more life to her flesh tone, strengthened the shadows on her face, and made the background flat and redder.

"Rose Glamour" (watercolor; 8" x 6") sold

sold

A peachy rose bush at its peak. What a gorgeous and glamorous sight!

"Rose Sunshine" (watercolor; 5" x 7")

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Rain, rain and more rain.  Hurricane Joaquin veered off to the ocean, but has still managed to dump a lot of rain along the East Coast for the past few days.  I desperately need sunshine!  What do I do?  Paint a peachy rose in the sun!

The Collage of My September 2015 Paintings

The Collage of My September 2015 Paintings

Time to show off the collage of the previous month's paintings!  There you go.  Lots of watercolors!  Which painting is your favorite?  By the way, I am not yet done with the watercolor fest: more peonies, irises, and roses to explore!