Art while social distancing Zoom, Zoom...welcome to Spring 2020

I was planning two exciting work shops. One as the featured watercolor artist in Bastrop, Texas at Lost Pines Art Center during a long week-end in March and the other in Marble Falls in early April. Both had nice sized classes arranged and I was prepared when ...oops!  along came a pandemic. There go the best made plans and those preparations were no longer needed. Eventually both events were reluctantly cancelled along with two planned trips, one to Nashville and one to San Francisco.  Needless to say, everyone's plans were changed! That, as it turned out, was the least of our concerns. Many were afflicted and died, many in the healthcare industry became beyond overworked, many lost jobs, many ( who knew?) were living on the brink and required immediate assistance even with their next meal. No schooling, no graduations, no airline travel, cruising is OUT....it all ground to a complete and lengthy HALT. Grocery stores were wiped out, toilet paper and meat now rationed and smog lifted from the skies due to a lack of emissions left the air in its best state in decades all over the world.  No cure, no real rhyme or reason but corona virus, Covid 19 has taken over. Thank God New York had Mario Cuomo leading them as they were hardest hit. Turns our high rises and mass transit may not be best. We are just now testing the waters of reopening but this has changed forever how we will do things....

For those of us who simply had to stay at home, wash hands and not touch our faces, this has not been as horrendous.  We can take a walk in the fresh air, read books, stream movies and gain weight. But we do have whiners who don't want to wear a mask, including our Vice President (?????) while at the Mayo Clinic no less! But lets wish them well in Washington because our lives literally depend on them. And let's look on the brighter side:

1.  I  was quick to volunteer to teach an art class online via Zoom in late March to my 3rd grade grandchildren, Ella and Gray,  in the Bay Area. The class size quickly grew to 14 at times with classmates and their siblings joining in. We are currently ( week 5) working on a book that will be written and illustrated by each of them. Lots of fun on Fridays. Hopefully their books will be lifelong reminders of this time.

2. My friend and owner of Art School Marble Falls , Debbie Heatley, asked if I would like to teach my work shops online also via Zoom so we divided the normally 6 hour day into 3 Watercolor Wednesdays  per month and had some different interaction. The pros of this are that each student has the entire week to work on their paintings before we meet again.

 



    Barns, Bluebonnets and Babies....featuring Speckles and her calf was painted on April and we are doing a floral in May.




Using a favorite published procedure, I added some shapes and colors to this lovely poppy painting. Thank you , Lu, for the images of your longhorns.

                                         

and here is our May floral , Poppies:

                                      Graphite transfer for 15 x 22 Arches 140# paper

                                          Masked areas

First wash for background war Permanent Rose and French Ultramarine by Daniel Smith.

                                                    Stay tuned for the finished product.

3.   And last but not least, I qualified for entry as a signature member in Texas Watercolor Society! The show is being held in Ingram Texas but is available online at www.texaswatercolorsociety.org. I am so honored! Juror Judi Coffey selected my entry
 " Low Water Crossing" to be shown along with 38 other artists. All my future works will have TWS proudly displayed after my signature.

Please visit my Etsy store, Watergirl Art for in stock prints from me or have all sizes and even canvas prints of my art made at Fine Art America!

                                                                             Be well!