Splashing Through Life - Art by Patricia Henderson

I've planted a few Milkweed plants in my garden to hopefully help with the Monarch Butterfly population. So far I haven't seen any eggs or caterpillars, but hopefully some day I will! Milkweed 5.5 X 3.5" In my Garden Sketchbook

Well, it seems I've been neglecting my blog. Probably because I haven't been painting very much! I think one of my problems was that I had gotten into the rut of thinking I had to have "a project" or a "series" I should be working on. Then my friend Lauren told me to JUST PAINT! I have to remind myself that it's the process of painting that I love, just watching the paint flow on to the paper, and the colours mingling together. I also have to remember to "paint what I love". I love flowers and animals and nature. I have tons of photos to inspire me over the winter, so I'm going to just paint! I may jump from subject to subject, using many different techniques and mediums, whatever catches my fancy on that day. So off I go! I was in a mood for juicy reds today so am painting poppies. Here's a small 5 X 7" doodle I did the other day when I was in a blue mood! I'm taking a break from milkweed for a while!

I have a short workday on Wednesdays, so last Wednesday afternoon I got the sudden urge to work on another Milkweed painting! I tried to take into considerations suggestions that I received here on my blog and on some art forums I belong to. This one is quite a bit darker, and I tried to incorporate a lot of texture. I wasn't as successful with the Epsom salts this time, and had to get out the handy-dandy Proxa -brush to lightly scrub back to white for some of the seed fluff. I finished this up yesterday morning. I happy with a lot of this: My experiment with granulating medium and India ink worked fairly well and gave a lot of interesting texture particularly in the bottom part. I also gave the whole painting a light spattering of iridescent gold acrylic paint which is easier to see in real life. I think I could have done a bit better at composition, that's something that seems to get away from me sometimes! Here is a closeup of some of the texture: I think I've got a few...

Here's the third attempt at this subject, and I have to say that I'm actually kind of pleased with this one! The colour didn't come out on the computer as rich and gold as it is in real life, but you can get an idea anyway. I'm currently in love with using black paint and I used a lot of it in this painting. I believe it has its uses, especially in something that isn't super realistic. You often hear in watercolour or other artist circles to "never use black". Well, I guess I'm the sort of person, who when she hears something like that just has to try it! I used Epsom salts for the fluffy seeds this time, and really liked the effect. I read the outside of the box, and these salts have so many uses! Not only are they good for creating neat effects with watercolour, you can soak in them, feed your lawn and garden, and give your house plants a boost! I don't feel so bad now for buying such a big container of them. After I finished this painting, I set...

I've had in my mind that I want to paint some milkweed pods with the seeds blowing in the wind. I'm having trouble, however, getting the picture that is in my mind onto paper...(isn't that always the way?) Last weekend's experiment went well until it came to the silky seeds. I had used masking fluid, and the filaments came out too thick. I tried to fix it with some white paint. I like the background, but other than that I don't really like it that much. This morning, I thought I'd play around on the back of a failed painting, and ended up with this: It's a bit more like what I had in my mind, but not entirely. I didn't use any masking fluid, but did resort to a tad of white acrylic for the fluffy seeds. I also used some epsom salt which gave some cool effects. I also had fun playing around with some unusual colours. I used lamp black, and Quinacridone gold, with a bit of Gamboge. Back to the drawing board tomorrow!