Pages

Wednesday, April 09, 2008

Foolin or Fibbin?


Was I foolin' or was I fibbin' on Sunday when I promised a peek of my early birthday present from Diahn?
Neither -- I was just forgettin'... which is just proof of how far I am on this side of FABULOUS!

She got me this totally GREAT Maruman watercolor accordion book and a Maruman sketch accordion book, recommended by Laura (we suspect that she funds her travel habit with secret commissions from art supply stores -- but Diahn is right when she says that if Laura recommends something it's usually good!) I also got a piece of Masa paper to experiment with (evil scientist laugh!) and an amazing little travel palette that she made from an Altoid tin. Absolutely BRILLIANT -- she experimented and found that Fimo didn't work well with gouache -- so she made the dividers USING HOT GLUE. She is a GENIUS.


Now I just have to figure out WHICH eight colors to put in here ...





So, yesterday and today, I just couldn't stop working in the watercolor book, painting flowers from the yard. Page 1 & 2 -- an azalea and a weeping cherry...



Pages 3, 4, & 5 -- Virginia Bluebells and a Bleeding Heart...



Page 6 - Celandine poppies ... nearly gone ...

Oh yeah -- I'm having a blast and will be ordering more of these sketchbooks! Thanks, Diahn!

Posted by Picasa

16 comments:

Nancy Van Blaricom said...

I'm absolutely loving your posts recently. Love the sketches in the new sketch book.

Bonny said...

A VERY belated happy Birthday, Linda!!!

Wow! I love the little folded watercolour book! Have to see if I can find one of those. I'm thinking it would be good for taking notes and doing colour swatches in my watercolour class.

Your flower paintings are really lovely. Not much in any gardens here yet, although our Magnolia tree in front of the building is going to bloom in a few days, I think.

Linda said...

Thank you Bonny - but that would be an early birthday greeting!
:-D I visited you site and saw your beautiful photos -- you certainly have plenty of subject matter! ;-)

annie said...

I agree, Diahn is a genius for figuring out the divider problem!

And I love seeing the flowers from your yard. All of them are beautiful.

annie said...

Hmmm, "All of them are beautiful."

Is that a bad piece of Southern grammar or just awkward sentence structure??

Oh well, you know what I mean--beautiful work!

Jennifer Lawson said...

Lovely watercolors in your new sketchbook. I have never tried the accordian style. I'm still trying to get my arms around my tiny horizontal.

Happy Birthday

Jennifer

Lin said...

LINNIE!! This is absolutely grand-glorious!!! And those flowers are superb!! What a great idea -- GO DIAHN!!!!! Happiest of birthdays,cara! What a terrific treat for a well-deserving, talented lady!

Teri said...

OMG, these paintings are just gorgeous!! I need to get one of these sketch books esp. since I discovered how fun it is to go across pages (accordion style). Then I need to go tell Diahn when my birthday is :)

caseytoussaint said...

What great birthday presents - I've been saving little metal boxes for a while but never got around to doing anything with them. Thanks to Diahn for the tip about hot glue.
I love your sketches too - what a great way to use your accordion book, with a single theme. I bought one in Paris, but I haven't even taken it out of the plastic wrapper yet. You inspire me to start.

Lynn said...

Your flowers are breath-taking! We had a huge dump of heavy wet snow that snarled up traffic, so thank you for bringing a bit of sprint into my life.

Sandy said...

Juicy and vibrant and just wonderful, keep us posted on the pallet choices for the new tin box!

Lindsay said...

Not only are the watercolors beautiful but the hot glue gun tip is wonderful!! Thanks for a great post.

Ann said...

Beautiful! What an enjoyable post. And you have flowers blooming already! Things are just beginning to poke up from the ground here, it will be weeks yet. And snow is in the forecast.

Unknown said...

Look at all your wonderful flowers!! Yay!! I knew you'd do something lovely with that book...

So...whatcha putting in the tin??? :-D

Tami said...

These are gorgeous! The Altoids tin is a cool idea too!

Laura Frankstone said...

Oh, what FUN to see! I am so in love with this sketchbook format and it's great to see my buddies falling for it, too! I, of course, would fall for a sketch/painting by you done on a cardboard insert for pantyhose, so there you have it. ;D