Brussels Sprouts

Brussels sprouts seem to always get a bad rap so I've never felt the need to try them.  I was really intrigued when I saw the unique way they grow.  I never gave it any thought but if  I were asked how they grow I would have guessed that they grow close to the ground like a cabbage.

I was in Trader Joe's last November and saw the brussels sprouts for sale still attached to the stalks and decided they would be an interesting subject to paint.  When I took them up the the checkout, the cashier asked how I was going to prepare them and I said "Oh, I'm not going to eat them, I'm going to paint them".  He was appalled!  Then he asked me if I was going to at least compost them and I had to tell him no.  I felt so guilty as I left the store that I decided I would try to eat them even though I had negative feelings about them because I'd never met anyone who actually liked them.

I took lots of pictures of them to paint from since it usually takes me too long to paint something this detailed and I figured the only way these would have a chance of being tasty would be if they were really fresh.

To prepare them I cut them in half, tossed them with olive oil, salt and pepper and roasted them.  I must admit they were pretty tasty.  In fact, I had some again last night.  They probably won't become my favorite vegetable but I do like them.  If anyone has a good recipe for them, please share.  : )

This is a watercolor on 300# Arches rough.

Brussels Sprouts
Image Size 30" x 11"
Watercolor

Cactus Flower II

We had friends visiting this week so I didn't have a lot of time to paint.  Here is a watercolor sketch on Aquabord.  I really enjoy working on this surface so it was a fun project.  It's so easy to lift the paint from this surface.  I was able to lift the spikes on the cacti and the light areas in the flowers with no problem.

Cactus Flower
Image Size 6" x 6"
Watercolor

I received some great news this past week.  My painting, "Gone...Again" has been accepted into the San Diego Watercolor Society's 32nd Annual International Juried Exhibition.  To say I'm excited would be an understatement!  Here's a photo of that painting:

Murky Waters

I painted this from a photo that I took in La Manzanilla, Mexico at a crocodile farm.  I wanted to have 'crocodile' in the name but since there are no crocodiles in the painting, I thought it probably wouldn't make much sense.

The crododiles in the farm looked fake.  They were so large and most of them didn't move until food was thrown to them.  They looked like they were made out of cement!  I didn't know that they could grow that large.  I've heard that they can move very quickly but these guys were very lethargic since they really didn't have to do anything to get food.  Crazy humans throw food to them all day - and yes, we were some of the crazy humans feeding them.  There was a place at the entrance selling frozen fish parts.  Watching them eat was gross and fascinating at the same time.  Ugh!  They sure are ugly and evil looking.

Anyway, in these murky waters, you can be sure that those creatures hide just below the surface.

Murky Waters
Image Size 22" x 30"
Watercolor

Silky Sunflowers

Here is the last of the silk paintings that I had started to use when I did the demo at Chemers Gallery back in April.  I painted a silk painting using these sunflowers several years ago but used a different background and border.  I like my first one better.  I meant for the blue border in this to be much darker and it is darker than it looks in this picture but not as dark as I wanted.  I just wasn't paying attention I guess.

Anyway, now I'll get back to my more serious paintings.  I have a few drawing done for some watercolor paintings so I'm excited to work on them.  I've gotten silk painting out of my system for now.

Here is the original sunflower silk painting which sold several years ago.

Silky Sunflowers
Image Size 17" x 17"
Silk dyes on silk