Erica's Collection

As she walks home from university, Erica collect things for me to paint; this week cotoneaster berries and a big fat rose hip. The pelargoniums are still going strong in the window boxes, so I threw one of those in to compliment the red theme. And the hydrangeas? Well they speak for themselves.

Orchid Contours

Another exercise, this time doing contour drawings of orchids. I have to admit, I did lift my pen off from time to time. But heck. It's my page so I can do what I like. These orchids were the most odd and beautiful shades of yellow, gold and orange with touches of red. They were a gift from my mom and dad during a recent visit. All of my live orchids were afflicted with a strange white mould last year and slowly died off. This new batch of cut orchids inspired me to go out and start my live collection again. I picked up a rescue orchid at the local hardware big box store. It was marked down to a very low price but still had several buds yet to open. Score.

Lemon Fresh

This was part of a lesson from Jane Lafazio's online class. I should have made more of a page of it but the lemon looked so bright and fresh that I could not bring myself to mess with it. And so, the lonely lemon.

More Hips

I spent an afternoon volunteering at my friend's art gallery. I snipped some rose hips before I left home, wrapping them carefully in a cloth, more to protect me than the rose hips. Gosh those rose thorns are sharp and spiky. The gallery was quiet on All Hallow's Eve, so I took the time to slowly look at the rose hips and eventually cut one in half to see the seeds. I love the way the watercolour makes the hips glow and look shiny.