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I make mistakes so you don’t have to

Ebbing Tide

Some people might be thinking, “She sure does have a thing about crabs” but really, I have a thing about color. Crabs, shells, trees, etc are just a vehicle for playing with color… I think how wonderful violet and sienna…

Gray Day

When I was younger, all I wanted to do was paint with oils. I kinda thought they were the only “real” way to paint. But oils are expensive and time consuming. Living in San Francisco, I had to work a…

Detail

Sea Turtle

I’ve been looking at ripples in water. They fascinate me. Yes, I love waves, sea foam, reflections but ripples… I was trying to imagine how I could paint them. I went online to Unsplash.com and started looking at reference photos.…

Watercolor Detail

Mussel in Foam

This painting from 3 years ago came up in my Facebook memories this morning. I looked at it and thought, “Cool! I painted that?” but then immediately saw in my head how I could do it better. I am learning.I…

Water spray bottle

Pressing Needs

In college, I was taught to “stretch” watercolor paper. You would dunk a sheet in the bathtub, then place it on a large board. It would be taped down with brown “postal” tape. Sometimes, you would reenforce this with thumb…

Painting detail

Crab Redux

I was going through recent paintings and found this one. Now, there is a LOT that I like about this but… since I have improved and learned as a painter, this one just looks a bit pale… washed out. Feeble.…