Thanksgiving cards

I took the leaf studies and stamped Give Thanks on the backs, inserted them in plastc sleeves and gave them to friends as thanksgiving cards.   My collection had grown so rich, they needed to be distributed.   

The stamps I used were hand carved a few years ago.  

Here a leaf, there a leaf

Adding inky doodles to the watercolored leaves.    Takes them to a different level.    

Halloween came and went

This year I went to a Halloween party in the evening.  I rarely venture out after dark but it was close by and I had good friends to go with.    This was a very last minute plan, so was unprepared costume wise.    And I was feeling like painting.   So I painted strips of canvas with green paints and cut out leaves to pin onto a dark brown sweater. I perched a stuffed bird on one shoulder and pinned a nest on the other one.  Yes, I went as a tree.

Sharing a new passion

My mixed media group is now painting leaves too.   A friend and I dropped by the senior center to collect a bunch of leaves, and the next day when mm girls showed up at my place,  they could pick out leaves to draw and paint.    We had such a good time we did this two meetings in a row.    At the first class I provided watercolor paper with the outlines of leaves drawn on and backgrounds painted in acrylics.   This was for those that always say, I can't draw.   No excuses accepted.    And it was fun to do. In fact so much fun, I painted another batch of backgrounds to use myself.  Lol

Autumn leaves at Senior Center

On Monday mornings a group of art enthusiasts meet at local Senior Center.  Some paint in oils, some acrylics , some watercolors.  There are several who draw.   Some do needlework.   A new group has joined us with another teacher who supplies everything and has them painting rocks with craft paints.    During our time together we wander around to chat, and critique if asked, and just socialize.  Some if us have been there for years, some more than a decade.   Ages range from 55 to 88 currently.   Husbands and wives may come together but often are at different skill levels and interests. 

I had been drawing the brilliantly colored leaves found in the courtyard outside the art room, using colored watercolor pencils.   One day I was inspired to take my watercolors and try to capture the colors.      Here are a few.