I'm a self-taught mixed media artist and have been creating art and a positive atmosphere in my life for as long as I can remember. I live in sunny South Florida, which serves as my inspiration for my use of bright fun colors with a whimsical flair.
My goal is to inspire and empower you to find your inner happiness through creativity, as I have in my life. This website includes different tips and techniques that will hopefully inspire your inner muse to create.
Welcome and join me on a wonderful journey in creating art!
Most of you may know, I’m a bit of a color nut and love painting in bright bold colors. But I thought I’d challenge myself to create a journal layout using only white and gray. It was much harder than I thought but this was my creation in my Strathmore 7.75×9.75″ watercolor journal.
There are lots of layers and texture. Plus I added a quote which reads: “Sometimes to move forward we must face our innermost darkest fears.”
This wasn’t intended to be sad but instead a gentle reminder. Life will throw many obstacles in our path. But we each are endowed with an inner strength that if we will allow, it will rise up and conquer that which we fear most enabling us to move forward.
Hope this inspires you in some way, thanks for stopping by!!
I’m an avid collector of inspiring quotes and found these beautiful words by Maya Angelou and thought I’d share them with you. They’re featured on one of my abstract watercolor paintings:
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” ~Maya Angelou
A gentle reminder to treat others with simple gestures of kindness and touch their heart.
Hope you enjoyed this today, thanks for stopping by!!
I had a bit of fun over the weekend and created this in my Strathmore 7.75×9.75 inch Watercolor Journal. I painted it mostly with acrylic paints but what I love about using a watercolor journal is the thick 140lb paper which stands up well to just about anything. I have thoughts I journaled on the first layer followed by watercolors, then decoupage, gesso and acrylic was the last layer.
I love roses but I’m a little rusty painting them so I’ve decided to add them to my daily art schedule so I become more fluent in painting them.
Hope this inspires you in some way, thanks for stopping by!!
I wanted to have some fun creating watercolor abstracts in my Strathmore 8.5 x 5.5″ watercolor art journal. To create this fun design simply add your watercolor paints to the paper (leaving them fairly wet) and cover it using plastic wrap. Set it aside to completely dry. Then remove the plastic wrap and see what fun shapes you have.
For this design, I saw mountains emerge and went with that. Some areas turned out too light so I used colored pencils to give it more depth and to define the mountain tops a little more. It was still needed a pop of color so I added I added pink flowers and of course finished it off with a little bling.
Hope this inspires you in some way today. Have a fantastic weekend and thanks for stopping by!!
Yesterday was Valentine’s Day and it got me thinking. Valentine’s day is a day to express our love to others and that’s a wonderful thing. But what about giving yourself some love?
We lead such hectic lives and seldom take the time give ourselves love. As important as it is to show others you care for them, it’s just as important to care and love yourself. When you neglect yourself you may have a tendency to be impatient, not feel your best, have low energy, feel stressed, overwhelmed or all of the above.
Take the time to eat fresh healthy foods; processed foods will tend to make you more sluggish. Take the time to enjoy some quiet time to meditate and reflect on your own thoughts and emotions. Take the time to go the spa, or create a spa day at home maybe with aromatherapy or sound therapy; whatever makes you most happy. Take the time to get outdoors; soak up some of that glorious sunshine energizing and soothing your mind, body and soul. Take a break from all electronics; enjoy the inner peace and get a better night sleep.
Simply take the time to care for yourself and give yourself some love. It doesn’t have to be a whole day affair, but at least try to fit a small block of time somewhere into your schedule just for you. You’ll be better equipped to handle any obstacle that may come your way and and be the best person you were meant to be!
Hope this inspires you in some way, thanks for stopping by!!!
This week I’ve been busy working on a new abstract plus I’m enrolled in an online course called Birdsong & Blossom by Lindsay Green a very talented floral artist in Northern Ireland.
These birds were a warm up exercise for the class and I wasn’t crazy about them at first but I kept my faith and found it amusing how one by one, each bird took on it’s own unique personality. By the time I finished I was in love with them and thought they turned out pretty cute 😊 So stay tuned as I’ll be posting the finished painting shortly.
I recommend hopping over to Lindsay Green’s website and browsing her art and online classes. You can also find her on Instagram at @lynsaygreenart.
Hope you’re having a fantastic weekend, thanks for stopping by!!
Share the Happy💖
“Every artist dips his brush into his soul and paints his own nature into his paintings.” ~Henry Ward Beecher
I remember shopping at the grocery store when I was a kid with my mom and being able to buy fruits only when they were in season. I also remember everything bursting with flavor and aroma. But if you go shopping today, pretty much every fruit is available year round from all around the world and sadly they don’t taste or smell as good as they used to.
After doing a little research I found that many fruits are artificially ripened using different chemicals and here’s why: In order for fruit to ripen naturally, it must contain ethylene, a gaseous plant hormone. Green, unripen fruits have low levels of ethylene. But as the fruit matures ethylene production increases and signals the plant it’s time to ripen the fruit. Even after the fruit is harvested, ethylene continues to be produced and as a result it decreases the shelf life of fruits.
Scientists came up with a way to extend the shelf life of fruits by picking them while green and ripening them with artificial ripening agents. However, this process is highly contested around the world because of the health risks associated with these ripening agents. It is said that consuming fruits, on a regular basis which have been artificially ripened can cause heart conditions, lightheadedness, and even skin ulcers depending on the ripening agents used. Thankfully most of the world banned the use of the really toxic agents but there are a few countries which still allow them to be used.
The reason the fruits don’t taste as good as they used to is because by artificially ripening the fruits only the external peel actually ripens. The inside of the fruit will basically remain green and raw. I’ve had avocados which I left out to ripen on the counter but they never did. After some time I ended up cutting them open only to find they were rotting from the inside out and now I know why.
With almost 80% of fruits being artificially ripened, I’m left scratching my head. It’s hard to tell what has been artificially ripened and what hasn’t unless you contact the companies and find out. Apparently, organic fruits aren’t excluded from this process but are less likely to be artificially ripened.
So what do you do? Fruits are very important for a healthy diet. Your best bet is to go back to the old ways and buy locally grown produce that will “hopefully” not be treated with these artificial agents. An even better idea is to plant a small garden and grow your own food. Mother nature made growing many plants fairly easy and you’ll have better control over your health plus you’ll reduce your grocery bill too.
Hope you found this post helpful, thanks for stopping by!!
Share the Happy💖
“A garden feeds more than the table, it feeds the soul.” ~Unknown
Painting trees and mountains is something new for me. I got a card in the mail with a beautiful sunset painting on it and thought it would be fun to create it in my Linden Art 5.5×8.5 inch watercolor journal.
It was certainly a learning experience. I made a lot of mistakes along the way, some of which I was able to fix while other stayed. Overall it turned out pretty good. I’m not totally thrilled with it but I do love the sunset background and this color combination. Plus I had lots of practicing to paint trees 😊
Hope this inspires you in some way today. Have a wonderful day and thanks for stopping by!!
Share the Happy💖
“As practice makes perfect, I cannot but make progress; each drawing one makes, each study one paints, is a step forward.” ~Vincent Van Gogh
Creating in this 6×12″ Strathmore Watercolor Journal can be challenging due to it’s size and shape. But I’m down to my last couple of pages in this journal and wanted to create a little whimsical Valentine painting and this is what I came up with.
I did a sketch first and then painted everything but wasn’t happy with it because it looked too plain. So I ended up adding splashes of color. I finished it off with a little shading using a colored pencil and pen plus glitter for sparkly magic.
Hope this inspires you in some way today. Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by!!
Flowing Waters Art 