Splashing Through Life - Art by Patricia Henderson

I was having a hard time thinking of what to paint today. Then I remembered that I hadn't done one of these little dandelions in a while. So here you go! Dandelion 2.5 X 3.5"

I have finished my latest little fruit collage, and I'm particularly pleased with this one! It has my favourite turquoise background (although as usual, my camera won't pick up the exact colour), and I just love the orangey-pinky colours of the grapfruit sections. Available in my Etsy Shop , or by contactim me directly. Pink Sunshine 6 x 6 x 1.5" $45

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"

Phew! I've been working on this one for over a week. It's been a while since I've done a larger full collage, and I forgot how much work goes into it. But I enjoyed every minute. It's quite meditative. Since I don't have ducks and geese walking around my back yard, I've based this on a couple of fun reference photos, from Paint My Photo and Wetcanvas. This is:                                               Duck, Duck, Goose!                                                                    12" X 24"                                                           ...

This is supposed to be a lamb. The more I look at it, the less lamby it seems. So I'm going to stop looking at it now. Another quick Wednesday sketch. Ink, watersoluble pencil, watercolour pencils and regular old watercolours. Based on a photo from a great Facebook page, Artist Reference Photos. Baa 3" X 5"

While I was working on my Geese collage, I had an idea for another mixed media painting.  For this piece I experimented with using various types of paper adhered to the canvas and did a wash of watercolours to get a muted background. Then using paper, twigs, leaves, feathers and an acorn cap, I made the nest. The eggs are hand painted paper. This was the first stage. After looking at it for a few weeks, I decided it needed a bit of  "oomph". (this photo is not the best, it was taken in bright sunshine and I couldn't get rid of the shine.) Today I added more hand painted tissue and rice paper, and it has a bit more of the oomph that I was looking for. I might be finished. Or not. But probably!