Splashing Through Life - Art by Patricia Henderson

I think I'm finished with this one! Will be entering this and a couple more of my recent pieces to Eye 4 Art exhibition at the Thames Art Gallery in Chatham, ON. Great Blue Mixed Media (Torn Paper Collage/Acrylic) 18" X 24" X 1.5"

Time to stop for lunch! (Me that is! But this fellow could be fishing for his...)

Here's a peek at where I'm at on this one: Starting to take shape!

Every month I get together with a wonderful friend and we play! We try out different art techniques and media and  get our creative juices flowing. Yesterday we got out two books by Mary Todd Beam, Celebrate Your Creative Self and The Creative Edge . I was lucky enough to go to one of her week long workshops at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in Tennessee about 4 years ago. It was great to get out her books and try out some the excercises. It brought back some wonderful memories. Here are a couple of experiments that I tried yesterday: I Dreamt I was a Dragonfly 9" x 7" Acrylic on Mat Board Under the Mountain 14" X 9" on Mat Board

We all have days when it feels like a continuous uphill climb...just like this little lady bug. Luckily, if she gets tired, she can spread her wings and fly! Uphill Climb 2.5" X 3.5" Original ACEO Available in my ETSY SHOP

I seem to paint a lot of geese...I just find them so comical! This was a fast, little tiny painting, done this morning. I added a bow to this guy and he looks so proud! Christmas Goose Watercolour and Ink 2.5 X 3.5" (Border is computer generated) Find this cute goose in my Etsy store!

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"

Sometimes when I'm stuck for what to do in my studio, I get out the Clear Tar Gel Medium. What is this stuff? Well on the container of the Golden Clear Tar Gel, it says it "Generates fine lines by dripping from a palette knife or other tool." Here is a little demo I did a couple years back that shows how you can use it. CLICK HERE FOR DEMO . One of these days, I'll learn how to set up a video demo, but for now you are stuck with photos! I have a few of these on the go right now. Here are two funky flowers! Each one is 20" X 7.0" on Peterboro Illustration Board. I used Fluid Acrylic paints. Yellow Flower                    Pink Flower And here are some closeups:

I had taken a break from Watercolour Wednesday for a few weeks...(okay, I was lazy!), but it's back!! I was missing my little green tree frog that was sold the other day, so I decided to tackle a couple others. These guys are really colourful and fancy, and probably poisonous...but I thought they were cute! They are mostly watercolour, with a bit of ink and crayon. And both are available in my Etsy Store . Feeling Blue! ACEO 2.5 X 3.5" Fancy Frog ACEO 2.5 X 3.5" (Reference Photos courtesy of Morguefile)

My Bee Balm plant was abuzz this morning with Bumblebees, which Maggie the dog was trying to catch and eat while I was sketching! I think I got through to her that it wasn't such a good idea! Here is a quick sketch I got done in between chasing the dog away and dodging bees! Bee Balm (from my sketchbook)

Part of the fun at the Watercolour Meet was a guessing game. We were challenged ahead of time to paint a watercolour of a scene around the Dundas, Ontario area. There were 13 paintings submitted and it was really tough trying to figure out who painted what! The winner got 7 correct.  That person got to choose their favourite original watercolour from the bunch to keep. Second place chose next, and third after that. Once the first three chose, the paintings  were turned upside down and we randomly got to choose. I was lucky to receive a wonderful watercolour of a waterfall by Ursula (Uschi) Rodrigues. Here is my submission of a little run-down shed in a conservation area: These are some of the prints that were part of the game: (Photo by Sandee McMullen) And here is the painting that I won! A lovely waterfall.

This past weekend I attended the Ninth Annual Wetcanvas Watercolour Ontario Meet, which was held in Dundas Ontario. This is a bunch of artists who met on the Wetcanvas website over the years and have become good friends. The weekend usually consists of a watercolour workshop and various other demonstrations, lots of good food and conversation, and tons of fun! This year, my friend Charlene McGill demonstrated how she paints glass jars in watercolour. She is an excellent teacher, very patient with all of us! All of the paintings turned out great. Mine isn't quite finished yet, but I did get over my fear of painting glass! While Char was teaching, and when people had a free moment, I demonstrated some Gelli® printing, which we also played with the next day to make covers for some fun books Char taught us to make. More on that later! Here is my mostly finished painting: Char's Jars Char demonstrating her techniques: And the "Wall of Fame", al...

In between puttering around the pool and garden this morning, I did a quick little sketch of a flowering shrub. I believe it's a type of Spirea, and has lots of little tiny pinkish purple flowers. I had to transplant it last year and I wasn't sure if it would survive the winter, but it seems to have recovered very well! Spirea (in my small garden journal)

Last week I missed Watercolour Wednesday! Eeeek! I haven't done that since I retired. We have had someone in to do some painting (walls) and a lot of "stuff" was "stuffed" into my studio. Today, it was so lovely outside that I decided to bring my watercolours into the garden. Not too many perennials flowering yet, but I managed two ACEO's and a sketch in my garden journal. When I got my garden journal out, I realized it had been FOUR years since I had last made an entry! I couldn't believe it had been that long. I've promised myself to keep up it updated better. Weigela 2.5 X 3.5" Orange Sneezeweed 2.5 X 3.5"

I've had little green frogs hopping around in my brain all week! I was commissioned to paint a bunch of tiny tree frogs by a lady who found me on Etsy. So far I've done five 3" X 5" paintings. Then I realized that it's watercolour Wednesday! So I stopped what I was doing and did a sketch of some of the paintings! With my client's permission I might be able to post the originals at a later date.  It was coincidental that I saw on Facebook today that scientists have discovered a  tree frog in Costa Rica that looks just like Kermit!  Real Life Kermit Kermit's Kousins From my Sketchbook 3" X 5"

A little history for those who are new to my Facebook Page or Blog. I recently retired from my "day job", and have been enjoying spending more time with art. I've really fallen in love with collage or "torn paper paintings", but want to keep in touch with my  watercolour  beginnings. I challenged myself to do some kind of watercolour every Wednesday, just to keep my brushes wet. And then I post them, no matter if they turn out good or bad. It's also a good drawing exercise, as I have been starting to sketch the majority of them from life.  The Easter Lily that my hubby got for me is still blooming away on the kitchen counter, so I sat and sketched it this morning. I love the unpredictability of Hot Press paper. It is not very absorbent, so the paint sits on the surface a little longer while wet. It tends to create some interesting "blooms" here and there. Especially when you are impatient like me and don't let things dry long enough! Easte...

It's funny how Wednesdays sneak up on me! Thankfully I had done a very quick sketch earlier this week of some of my African Violets. I've never had violets like these that are almost ALWAYS blooming! I love them. Wishy Washy Violets (from my sketchbook)

I finally got my shipment of 6 X 6" canvasses, so I'll be doing some more of my fruit collages. I had some strawberries in the fridge, so I got out three nice ones and decided to warm up by doing a small watercolour study in my sketchbook. Stay tuned for the collage next! Strawberry Study 3.5" X 5" Moleskin Sketchbook Holbein Waterbrush, Pigma Micron 005 pen

Here is a very small quick sketch I did today of the swan that decided to take a brief rest in the field behind our house! He was kind enough to pause long enough for me to take a few photos. Swan Sketch 5 X 7" Watercolour on Arches 140 HP paper

It's the dead of winter and I'm daydreaming about summer days and dragonflies. I know that it is Watercolour Wednesday, but today I've painted in a mix of Water media.  What is watermedia you ask? Well in art circles it is basically any media that is soluble in water. So it includes watercolour paint, acrylic paint, inks, dyes, etc. This tiny painting was  started with watercolours and ink and finished with a washy mix of acrylic paint. You can't see it here, but the wings were covered in a pearly iridescent paint. Dragonfly Daydream 2.5 X 3.5"