Green Tea Watercolor and Purple Leaves

I was inspired by green tea this week.  I found a little book on green tea at an antique store so I drew my own little green tea illustration and have been putting it on cards in my shops and made an embroidery pattern out of it too for my needlework shops.  I didn't realize how many varieties of green tea there are and that it grows in several different countries.  The health benefits are great too.  I drink Tazo green tea in the morning and like that blend. 

Winter walking at the lake I found some leaves and twigs on the sand and I liked their arrangements so decided to sketch them.  I added a little purple color to depict the chill of the season.  I like to draw leaves a lot.  I like to challenge myself with trying to get the curves and angles right.

Medicinal Herb Illustration and Broken Bowls

I used to grow a lot of herbs and loved to try all different kinds.  I hope to again someday when I have a larger garden.  I illustrated several different herb related drawings: herbal soap, potpourri, herbal tea, kitchen herbs and this medicinal herbs illustration.  It was fun to do the research and note what each herb is good for. 

We finally got some snow and rain!  I loved it.  Before that, a couple weekends ago, my husband and I went exploring in the desert and I found lots of broken dishes.  I usually see quite a few broken dishes and some china chips, some of which I keep for my collection :)  But this time I found big pieces of broken bowls and plates and teacups.  I wanted the challenge of trying to capture the curved bowl so concentrated on those.     

Watercolor Digital Collage Sheets

With Valentine's Day in mind I designed pink hearts from my pink paintings and put a few digital stripes in there to for a bit of coordinated contrast.    

 I've been designing digital collage sheets this week with my art work.  This one has two inch squares of blue flowers hydranges, lilacs, cornflowers and other watercolor flowers. 

I made a sheet with one inch and two inch squares with yellow flowers  and some complimentary colors for spring.  The yellow background has a bit of texture with some different spring colors.  These have been really fun to make!

Tree Man and Valentine Cards

Last weekend we went to the lake to see how much the water had gone down and explore a little.  The lake was still pretty high and some of the trees were uprooted on the beach, but at least there was some beach now.  Over the summer the lake was so full there wasn't much beach at all.  I walked a bit looking for things to draw and looking at the trees.  I saw this uprooted tree stump that looked like a figure and someone else did too as they had put a pair of sunglasses on it and left them there.  I had to draw him.  I thought he was really neat.     

 I've been working on Valentine's Day cards and felt a little romantic with this one I guess.  Has a vintage feel to it also, like the color of tea stained cloth.  I made another Valentine card with digital elements and it was fun also, but I like working with my own artwork best I guess.  Hoping for snow or some rain here - still seems like spring except for nine degree mornings...  Hope all is well where you are.  

Gourd and Cattail Still life with Windflowers

 I set up a little still life in my backyard last fall.  Last weekend I got in a spring yard cleaning mood, since it seems like spring around here, and I threw all my gourds away.   They were beyond their prime.  To commemorate them I wanted to post a little still life I made of them.  I picked some cattails and other seed heads and put them in an old bottle we found in the desert.  The old bottle and cattails are still there.  I need a little something for decoration.  Still hoping for some kind of moisture here in the desert! 
  

I had windflowers planted a few years ago and

made a study drawing of them.  Their petals are so delicate and only last a day, but then there are more the next day.  They spread happily all over the place.  I think I'd plant them again sometime.   

Vintage Watering Can and Shasta Daisies

My seed catalogs have started to come in the mail and it makes me dream of flowers and spring. I think it would be great to have a little section of the garden with vintage watering cans with flowers growing in them, color billowing out this way and that. I think I may start searching flea markets and antique stores for some. I have several old rusty bucketsI've found in the desert that I plant flowers and tomatoes in and a watering can or two would go nicely with them.

And a shasta daisy plant or two. I've not had great luck with my daisy plants in the past and I'm not sure why. I've not been able to plant them in a spot where they are happy. A lady down our street has lovely daisy plants that get bigger and prettier every year. Need to ask her what her secret is. They are planted in the front yard, maybe that is what they like - or they just don't like my backyard...

Hyacinth, Lemons and Pesto Recipe

Last year I bought this little hyacinth flower from the grocery store and painted it a few times and once on really nice paper after I'd gotten to know it a little better. I loved the little pink vase it was in, although I made mine purple blend. I eventually planted it in my front garden and they emerge every spring pink and lovely.

I think lemons are so fun to paint, especially with the leaves. I don't paint with yellow much. I painted some lemons and an artichoke for a "lemon artichoke pesto" fabric design to enter into a contest on Spoonflower.