Getting ready for Valentine's Day

In our house celebrations are big. Valentine's Day
has been a big deal to Steven and me since we met
years ago. I used to hand cut and paint paper hearts
and string them all over the house. Now I'm a bit
more restrained.

Side one of the "card" to be
watercolour on watercolour paper

A couple of years ago I was teaching a seminar
called Art Bypass that I developed to help artists who
hadn't painted for awhile, and wanted to get
back into it, but were afraid. One exercise I thought
of, which I've talked to you about in an earlier post
was the watercolour background collage.

Even the cats are excited about Valentine's Day
Maybe we'll have a special meal at home --
salmon or chicken? They're ready
Timbah (in the box) Fiona looking on

This year I'm planning to send my mother a watercolour
collage Valentine's card, so I started the background today.
I'm using 140 pound paper, in a small, block format.

Side two a bit more jazzy
(Don't worry my Mom can't see this --
she doesn't have a computer)




Last Summer
acrylic
by Nova Scotia artist, Flora Doehler
30 by 36 inches

Last night I dreamt about my friend Flora Doehler's paintings,
which have all the exuberance and more of watercolours.
http://floramary.wordpress.com/2009/02/06/evolution-of-a-painting/
I absolutely love her work. When she was in Toronto
it was always a creative hit for me to spend some time
with her in her studio. Now that she's in Nova Scotia
I can only appreciate her talent through her images on
her blog. But she is absolutely original. Just Flora.
She loves painting Flowers, and has Bob Burridge's
exciting abandon when it comes to painting.
http://www.robertburridge.com/

So I began my little watercolour background just
thinking colour. I painted some pretty plain
hearts on one side, which I'll jazz up tomorrow,
and on side two I used some watercolour crayons
to up the oomph. Much of my background will be
covered with images, but it still needs to have some
punch where it shows around those elements.

I hope you're getting ready to dazzle someone you
care about. Or everyone you care about.

Have a thinking-about-the-ones-you-love-and-smiling day.