Category Archives: Flowers

Thoughtful Thursday Claude Monet

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Claude Monet was a famous impressionist artist who was born in Paris, France November 14, 1840. As a young child he loved to draw and would make money creating drawings of people that were quite good. His mother supported his interests in becoming an artist but his father felt he would do better to stay in the family business as a grocer. Luckily for all of us, he chose to pursue his passion in art.

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries (1867 – 1886), Impressionism art was born in France. It was a major movement of that time. Impressionism is a style of painting that attempts to portray visual reality with transient effects of color and light.

Claude Monet became known as one of the principal painters of this style. It is his work that inspired me to try impressionism painting which I love. It was much harder than I had anticipated and as a result gave me a greater respect for the amount of work that goes into creating one of these paintings.

Claude Monet, Frederic Bazille, Pierre Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley along with other well known artists would work together and influence each other’s art especially during exhibits. But it was Edouard Manet, an established artist who greatly influenced Monet’s work in the 1860’s.

The painting above titled “Woman with a Parasol” was painted by Monet in 1875. It’s an oil painting on a 39.4 x 31.9 inch canvas (100 x 81 cm). This painting belongs to a series that Monet created during the summers of 1875 and 1876. His wife Camille and his son, Jean served as his models for this painting which were set in the gardens surrounding his 2nd home in Argenteuil, located in the suburbs of Paris.

At the age of 85, Claude Monet passed away on December 5, 1926 in Giverny, France. He left us a legacy of stunning art that is admired and inspires us today.

Hope you enjoyed this art history post, thanks for stopping by!!

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“Everyone discusses my art and pretends to understand, as if it were necessary to understand, when it is simply necessary to love.” ~Claude Monet

Thoughtful Thursday The Joys of Spring

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Photo by Alesia Kozik on Pexels.com

The first day of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere is coming this Monday, March 20, 2023 and it will run until June 21, 2023. You may have already noticed the warmer temps moving in, birds nesting and beautiful flowers beginning to bloom. Also, on this first day of Spring the hours of daylight and night are almost equal. It always takes some adjusting to the new longer days ahead.

On my lovely morning walks I’ve seen many squirrels busy building their nests. You can tell the difference between a bird and squirrel nest from the ground because birds primarily build their nests with twigs. Whereas squirrels use fresh branches with the leaves attached. You may also notice a lot of small pieces of fresh branches with leaves on the ground.

This was a photo I took with my phone of a squirrel nest. They’re easily seen once the leaves dry and turn brown. Squirrels can have anywhere from 2-4 babies usually between the months of February to May. They have a hefty appetite and will eat their own body weight every week which is about 1.5 pounds. I love watching them in the mornings with their high energy, it motivates me on my walks 😊

Have you checked your yard for signs of any new babies that may be coming soon?

Hope you enjoyed today’s post. Thanks for stopping by!!

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Watercolor Abstract

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I thought with Spring upon us very soon I’d share with you, this watercolor abstract I made a while ago. I used my Cricut machine to cut out the letters for the word Imagine and I framed it in a 12 inch square frame. This painting hangs in my studio because it was one of the first things I painted when I came back to my art after a somewhat long hiatus😊

I love that the flowers are loosely painted and you have to use your imagination to see them. It was also a fun way to experiment with the paints and let the colors mingle.

Our imagination is so important in our everyday lives. We use it for everything our minds dreams of and we create from that. So have some fun today and use your imagination✨

I hope you’re week if off to a great start! Thanks for stopping by!!!

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“Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere.” ~Carl Sagan

Watercolor Flower Journaling

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I wanted to share with you a fun journal page I made in my Strathmore 6×12 inch watercolor journal. I started with a loose, watercolor wash for the background and once that was dry, I drew in the flowers using a Sakura Micron 003 pen. It’s a good way to have some old fashioned carefree fun! As most of you know, I have a thing for sparkly magic so I added accents of glitter throughout the design✨

Hope this inspires you to create art today😊

Have a fabulous day and thanks for stopping by!!!

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“Flowers are the music of the ground, from earth’s lips spoken without sound.” ~Edwin Curran

Poppies Mixed Media Art

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I thought I’d share with you today one of my older pieces of art I created a while ago from a tutorial in Zendoodle Magazine which sadly isn’t published anymore. It was a beautiful publication with eye catching designs and tutorials I really enjoyed.

This mixed media art was made using collaged tissue paper which is a medium that’s such fun to use. To this day this is still one of my favorite pieces of art for many reasons. I love the bright colors, texture, doodles and overall design. What do you think?

Thanks for stopping by!!

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“Flowers are like friends, they bring color to your world.” ~Gerard De Nerval

Sunshine Abstract Painting

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Sunshine Abstract by Maria Vidaurre

We all need a little Sunshine in our lives. I wanted to create something bright, cheery and full of sunshine.

So I thought I’d try something new with this painting and I started by collaging pieces of torn paper from a book. It was still was missing something so I added a piece of paper doily. Before I knew it, the painting came to life. What do you think?

Have a wonderful weekend. Thanks for stopping by!!!

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If interested, Sunshine is available in my Etsy shop.

“Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine.” ~ Anthony D’Angelo

Celebrate Flower Painting

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Everyone needs to Celebrate the wins in life. Whether you’re cheering on a friend or you’re simply happy to have reached your goal. Big or small, they deserve recognition and so do you!

This painting was created with lots of texture on a 4×12 inch canvas with bright cheerful colors of blue, pink and purple. It’s accented with a little glitter and is overflowing with pure happiness.

It would make the perfect gift as this flower will last a lifetime! Celebrate is available in my Etsy shop.

Have a wonderful day!

Thanks for stopping by!!!

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Courage – She Blooms in Ink

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This is another painting I created in my Strathmore 11″ x 14″ Watercolor Journal. She was part of the online course from “She Blooms in Ink” taught by the very talented artist, Tamara Laporte at Willowing.org.

The quote reads “Be brave, follow your 💖, live your dream.” I love the bold colors in this painting. May we all find the courage to live more boldly!

Hope you’re having a wonderful weekend.

Thanks for stopping by!

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Imagination Abstract Painting

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Imagination Abstract Painting by Maria Vidaurre

Imagination is the beginning of all great things. Albert Einstein is quoted as saying “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” Where would we be today if we didn’t use our imagination?

This is my newest abstract painting, Imagination. It’s painted on a 9×12 inch canvas with gorgeous hues of blue and pink. There’s lots of texture and splashes of purple and yellow plus a little glitter for magic. Imagination is available in my Etsy shop.

Thanks for stopping by!!!

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Thoughtful Thursday April Fools’ Day

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Photo by Polina Kovaleva on Pexels.com

April usually marks the beginning of Spring but this Friday is April 1st also known as April Fools’ Day. It has been the day of countless practical jokes. Some funny and some not so funny especially if the joke’s on you. Here’s how it all began…

In 1563 France was called upon by the Council of Trent to change from the Julian calendar which recognized the new year beginning with the spring equinox around April 1st to the Gregorian calendar which recognized the new year beginning with January 1st.

Historians believe that the people were either slow to get the news of the change or simply didn’t care that the start of the new year was moved to January 1st and they continued to celebrate the new year from the last week of March through April 1st. As a result the jokes were called April fools. Some pranks even went so far as to have a paper fish placed on their backs symbolizing an easily caught fish and a gullible person. Wouldn’t want to be that person, definitely an incentive to stay up to date on changes 😂

I hope you enjoyed this little history snippet. Thanks for stopping by!!

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“April showers bring May flowers.” ~Unknown

Photo by John-Mark Smith on Pexels.com