Splashing Through Life - Art by Patricia Henderson

There are still a few hardy Black-Eyed Susans in my garden. It's lovely to see a few pops of yellow in among the fading greens and browns. The language of flowers was used in Victorian times as a means of communication in which flowers were used to send coded messages. Each flower had a special meaning. The Black-eyed Susan meant "Justice." This ACEO is part of my Language of Flowers series. ACEOs are tiny 2.5 X 3.5 inch works of art to collect or trade. They look great in a frame, or put them together to make a great coffee table book! Perfect little gifts for the art lover. Each of my ACEOs are signed or initialled on the front and signed and dated on the reverse. They are shipped in a protective plastic sleeve. Check out what I have available in my Etsy shop HERE . Black-Eyed Susan "Justice" 2.5" X 3.5"

Okay, I've been slack with Watercolour Wednesdays, so slack that it's Thursday and I'm posting one. Hallowe'en is coming soon, so here is a little Scaredy Cat. Really little, it's only 2.5 X 3.5 inches! Not my very best work, but those eyes are less than 2 mm wide! Photo reference courtesy PaintMyPhoto

I missed last Wednesday's watercolour, but I decided to do a little ink and wash sketch of a little family of geese that we saw at the Brigden fair this past October. Just a little quickie painting to end the year! Happy New Year everyone! Mother Goose and Goslings 5" X 7"

The other day, when I was wandering around the yard, I noticed one brave dandelion that had gone to seed. It seemed unusual to see it at this time of year, surrounded by the golden autumn leaves. I was inspired to paint these three small watercolours. Each one is 5" X 7" and are available in my Etsy Shop . Buy all three and get a 10% discount!

I thought I had finished this piece 2 or 3 years ago. I had entered it into a show, but it was rejected. It's been hanging on the wall in my studio ever since, mocking me. I had just finished another piece ( Corny ), and I had all my collage materials spread out in front of me, so I started adding to it. I'm  much more happy with it now! And thanks to my good friend Lauren , it has a great title! I've already entered it in the show show where it was rejected before. I'm figuring there will be a different juror, so we'll see what happens! Here it is now: And how it was before: The Aftermath!

I've had a couple of weeks off from work and have been using some of that time to work on a new Paper Collage Painting to submit to the Desmond Juried Art Show and Exhibition. I thought I'd paint something we see around here A LOT. Corn. A lot of corn! I kind of like how this turned out. It's a bit more "abstracty" than some of my collages and was a lot of fun to do. Corny 24" X 12" Paper Collage on Canvas

There is a short time in my autumn garden when the sedum is so striking. The leaves fade to a lovely pale yellow and the flowers turn from lavender to a deep rose. I tried to capture this with a watercolour. I haven't done one in a while and so this was a good exercise.

I've had a week off work, and am nursing a cold, so I thought I'd get back to practising landscapes. I took a lot of pictures when I was in Belleville this past fall, so I thought I'd use some of those for inspiration. Here are "Early Autumn Drive" and "The Old Mill".