Author Archives: Maria - FlowingWatersArt

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About Maria - FlowingWatersArt

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!

Color Lovers Challenge – Days 14 – 17

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I joined Jodi Ohl’s Color Lovers Challenge which runs 30 days so I’m posting several days at a time. If you missed my earlier creations, I’ll have links at the bottom of this post. These are my latest creations:

Day 14 – Forest/Mountains/Grass

I painted this a while ago in watercolor but thought it went well with the prompt.

Day 15 – Flowers

I decided to do a loose watercolor painting of flowers and of course couldn’t resist adding glitter for a little bling 😉 I added a quote by Henry David Thoreau which I love “This World is but a canvas for our Imagination.”

Day 16 – Sad

I had a hard time with this one because when I looked at all of my paint colors, they’re all bright and happy. That’s not a bad thing but definitely made it hard to paint “Sad.”
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So this was my take on it, an abstract watercolor, kind of a stormy day. I added a quote by Vivian Greene “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain.”⠀

Day 17 – Candy

Yesterday’s prompt was candy and with the holiday season fast approaching, the only thing that came to mind was a candy cane which I love. So I painted this in watercolor and added a little quote, “Candy Cane Wishes & Mistletoe Kisses.”

In case you missed my previous pages, just click the links: 

Day 1

Days 2 thru 5

Days 6 thru 9

Days 10 thru 13

I hope you’re enjoying my entries for the ColorLoversChallenge. Have a wonderful weekend!

Thanks for stopping by!!

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Thoughtful Thursday Homegrown Alfalfa Sprouts

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Photo by Maria Vidaurre

Alfalfa sprouts are mild flavored and very nutritious to eat. Studies have shown they are a high anti-oxidant, anti-aging food source. These little sprouts can help fight cancer, lower cholesterol and diabetes, prevent osteoporosis and more.

I used to buy fresh living alfalfa sprouts at my local grocery store but sadly they stopped carrying them. So I decided the freshest and safest way to get them was to grow them myself. I’ve tried several sprouting trays and they don’t always produce the best results.

Getting frustrated, I decided to go back to basics and try using a large, wide mouth mason jar with a sprouting lid. This is working beautifully and is very easy. I only need 1 Tbsp of seeds and in about 4 days, I have fresh organic alfalfa sprouts that are delicious and crisp. The sprouts can be stored in the fridge for about 4-6 days.

Alfalfa Sprouts taste great on salads, sandwiches, in smoothies and anything else you can think of. Below are instructions to grow your own spouts and links to Amazon.com for the supplies.

Instructions to Grow your own Sprouts:

  1. Fill a wide mouth mason jar with 2 cups of cool, fresh water and add 1 Tbsp of High Mowing Organic Alfalfa Seeds (I’ve had good results with this brand, the seeds are sourced in the United States). Cap the jar with a sprouting lid and soak the seeds for 8 hours. Then drain and rinse the seeds keeping the lid on. Store the jar upside down, in a bowl, at an angle so water can continue to drain.
  2. Rinse and drain the seeds with the lid on once in the morning and once at night. And again store the jar upside down, in a bowl, at an angle.
  3. Repeat step 2, everyday for about 4 days until your sprouts are ready.
  4. On the last day, depending on the light in your kitchen, you may want to move the grown sprouts to a window where they can get indirect sunlight to make them a little more green. You only need to keep them there for a few hours and then store them in fridge until you’re ready to eat them (also, I rinse the seeds before eating to remove the hulls).

I hope this inspires you in some way!

Thanks for stopping by!!

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Below are links to Amazon.com for the supplies:

High Mowing Organic Alfalfa Seeds

High Mowing Seed Sprouting Jar Lid

Wide Mouth Mason Jar

“Those who think they have not time for healthy eating, will sooner or later have to find time for illness.” ~Unknown

Color Lovers Challenge – Days 10 – 13

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I joined Jodi Ohl’s Color Lovers Challenge which runs 30 days so I’m posting several days at a time. If you missed my earlier creations, I’ll have links at the bottom of this post. These are my latest creations:

Day 10 – Happiness

I did a watercolor wash with a watercolor butterfly painted separately and then cut out. I added a quote from the Dalai Lama” Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.”
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After putting everything together in the journal I made a last minute change and decided to write the quote directly on the page. This is why you shouldn’t create art when you’re tired because I finished this late at night and well, I left out the word “made” from the quote 😂😂😂 Oh well…

Day 11 – Neutral

This was a little challenging because I love my bright, fun colors. I painted an abstract and added a quote by Teilhard de Chardin “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience… We are spiritual beings having a human experience.”

Day 12 – Vibrant

I debated on using this but it just went perfectly for the prompt because it is most definitely vibrant. This is actually a work in progress. I’m painting a 24″ x 36″ canvas with bright fun happy colors. So stay tuned for the finished piece.

Day 13 – Spring

Since I used a canvas for Day 12, I thought I’d continue with this 9″ x 12″ one. It’s one of my favorites for spring. When I think of spring, I think about cute little bunnies. There’s lots of color and texture on this piece. My favorite part is the crocheted flowers. What do you think?

In case you missed my previous pages, just click the links: 

Day 1

Days 2 thru 5

Days 6 thru 9

I hope you’re enjoying my entries for the ColorLoversChallenge. Have a wonderful week!

Thanks for stopping by!!

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Color Lovers Challenge Week 2

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As you may know I joined Jodi Ohl’s Color Lovers Challenge. It runs 30 days so I’m posting several days at a time. If you missed my earlier creations, I’ll have links at the bottom of this post. These are my latest creations:

Day 6 – Soft & Cuddly

I can’t think of anything softer and more cuddly than Winnie the Pooh. I made this little Winnie painting a while ago and had it set aside so I thought this was perfect for the Day 6 prompt, Soft & Cuddly. I added a Winnie the Pooh quote “Nobody can be uncheered with a balloon.”

Day 7 – Favorite Color Palette

I love happy colors so my favorite palette is pink, blue and yellow. I painted very loose flowers with leaves and added a quote by Abraham Lincoln “We can complain because roses bushes have thorns or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”

Day 8 – Warm

For warm I came up with a palette of yellow, orange, red, purple and pink. I applied a coat of gesso to the pages and after it dried I painted them with acrylic paints. I added the quote “Love warms the heart.”

Day 9 – Autumn

I love the colors of Autumn leaves so I did a loose watercolor painting of leaves with lots of glitter. Got a little carried away with the glitter. I added the quote “Autumn paints in colors that Summer has never seen.”

In case you missed my previous pages, just click the links: Day 1 and Days 2 thru 5.

I hope you enjoyed my ColorLoversChallenge entries. Have a lovely weekend!

Thanks for stopping by!!

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Thoughtful Thursday Arteza Watercolor and Mixed Media Journal

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I recently bought a pack of 2, 8.25″ x 8.25″ Arteza Watercolor & Mixed Media Journals online. They’re beautiful journals with a hard cover. Each journal has 68 pages of 110 lb, cold pressed, double sided paper. They also contain a ribbon book mark and an expandable pocket on the inside back cover.

As most of you know, watercolor is my favorite medium and normally I paint on 140 lb cold pressed watercolor paper. I thought it would work well enough since it is marketed as being “Ideal for Watercolor Techniques & Mixed Media.”

I’ve been using this journal for the ColorLoversChallenge and was really bummed when I saw how badly it handled water for my first full watercolor painting. Notice the clear clips on each side in the photo below. The paper was curling so bad that I had to let it sit overnight with heavy books on top to flatten it out and then use clips the next day to hold the pages down for the photo.

The painting below was made by coating the pages with gesso and then painting with acrylic paints. The paper still buckled and curled but no where near as bad as with the watercolor. That’s partly because the gesso and acrylic paints add weight to the paper to keep it flatter and there is less water/moisture involved.

But watercolors are my favorite medium so I had to improvise if I wanted to continue using the journal for the challenge. I came up with the idea to paint on 140lb watercolor paper, cut it to size and then glue it into the journal as in the photo below. The perk with doing this extra step is that if you don’t like your painting, you can toss it and do another one before gluing it in. This way you’re always happy with the end result 😊

Bottom line is these are well made journals with quality paper that has a slight texture to it. However, I would not recommend these for use with wet mediums because they just don’t handle the water and moisture well.

Out of a 5 star rating I give these a 3 ⭐⭐⭐

I’ve had a lot of fun experimenting with colors in the challenge and it’s been a bit of a challenge working with this new journal. But I love an adventure!

I hope this review helps you before making a purchase and if you have any other questions about these journals, please let me know.

Thanks for stopping by!

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Color Lovers Challenge

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Last week I entered Jodi Ohl’s Color Lovers Challenge. I posted Day 1 this past Saturday. Since it runs for a full 30 days I thought I would post a few of these together. I’ve been enjoying adding quotes to all of these and I think I’ll continue doing that. Hope they inspire you in some way 💖

Day 2 – Teal and Orange

I painted the background teal with acrylic paint and made some marks while it was still wet. I painted a piece of watercolor paper bright orange and a page from an old book, green. I cut out all the pieces and glued them in place. I added the quote, “Sometimes you have to make your own Sunshine!”

Day 3 – Cool

There’s nothing better than a nice cool night under the stars. I tried something new, it didn’t quite go as planned but I still like it for my first attempt. I added the quote by Vincent Van Gogh “I know nothing with any certainty. But the sight of the Stars makes me dream.”

Day 4 – Black and White

I painted the background with black acrylic paint and made a few zentangle tiles. I drew in a few doodles and added a quote from Lau-Tzu: “Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.”

Day 5 Anger/Hurt

This was a tough one for me because I love happy colors. So the only colors that came to mind were all the warm colors like red, yellow and orange. I painted an abstract in my journal and added a quote by Benjamin Franklin “Anger is never without a reason, but seldom a good one.”

Stay tuned, there’s more to come…

Thanks for stopping by!

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Laduree Watercolor Journaling

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Laduree is French for bakery and who doesn’t like a sweet treat now then? Anything with chocolate is good with me.

This is a cute painting I made from “The Artful Sketch” by Mary Phan. It’s a beautiful book with detailed step by step instructions and lots of photos. Mary used Copic Alcohol Ink Markers to color her sketches in this book. However, you can easily change it to any medium you like as I did to watercolor paints.

Mary Phan is a very talented artist and if you want to learn more about her, visit her site VeryMaryInspired.com. I highly recommend her book!

The Artful Sketch by Mary Phan

This was made in my 5.5″ x 8″ Strathmore watercolor journal. After following the instructions, I felt it needed some Parisian flowers to complete the look. So I filled in the top space a bit with colorful roses.

What’s your favorite sweet treat?

Have a wonderful weekend!

Thanks for stopping by!

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Color Lovers Challenge Day 1

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In case you didn’t read my earlier post, Jodi Ohl, a very talented mixed media artist is hosting a Color Lovers Challenge. It runs for the next 30 days until October 15th. Yesterday was Day 1, Summer Vibes.

When I think of summer, I think of the lounging on sandy beaches and enjoying the ocean with it’s beautiful colors of blue and green. So this was my creation in my Arteza 8.25” x 8.25” Watercolor/Mixed Media Journal. I added a quote by Wyland: “The ocean stirs the heart, inspires the imagination and brings eternal joy to the soul.”

You can still join if you’re interested. The rules are, there basically are none. You can create a piece of art of any kind, big or small, using colors of your choice. All you do is follow the daily prompts. The link to the list of prompts can be found on her Color Lovers Challenge page.

So join in on the fun!!

Thanks for stopping by!

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Thoughtful Thursday – How Color Affects the Mind

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This was a watercolor painting I created as a background for an inspirational quote that I’ll be adding to it. It’s made with bright, fun, happy colors. At least that’s what I intended for the viewer to feel. What does it make you feel?

Color is amazing in the power it has in the mind and it’s affects on how you feel. A painting can be pleasing to look at, or not depending on the colors used. Some colors make you feel happy while others make you sad or depressed. Colors can even impact your shopping and hunger pangs.

Have you noticed how a lot of restaurants and fast food chains use red and yellow in their branding? It’s no mistake, it all comes down to psychology. Red has a tendency to make you feel hungry. While yellow tends to make you feel happy. When you see these colors while driving, you may pull in for a quick bite to eat even though you’re not necessarily hungry. So it’s no wonder that this is a popular color combination for them.

Blue can evoke feelings of serenity and trustworthiness and purple evokes feelings of luxury and romance, while pink is associated with femininity and innocence. I can go into great more detail about color but I think this gives you a pretty good idea of how it affects our minds. So stop and take notice of how you feel when you see certain colors.

Speaking of colors, Jodi Ohl a very talented mixed media artist is hosting a Color Lovers Challenge. It started yesterday and runs until October 15. Every day you have a new prompt to create a piece of art of any kind, no rules using colors of your choice. The link to the list of prompts can be found on her Color Lovers Challenge page. I entered and will be posting my creation for yesterday shortly on this blog, so stay tuned.

Would love to see you join and have some fun!

Thanks for stopping by!

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“I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way.” ~Georgia O’Keeffe

Watercolor Journal Angel Ana

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Having lots of fun painting angels in my Strathmore 5.5″ x 8.5″ watercolor journal. I named her Ana and thought I’d try keeping her more simple. Love how the colors blended on her wings.

Would love to hear your thoughts.

Have a wonderful week!

Thanks for stopping by!

Share the Happy!!