Cows and a cat

I'm so glad today is Friday, and that it's a holiday weekend, because it's been a long week. It's a busy time for many lately as schools begin and I've been at school every day all day getting ready for the new school year with the other teachers.  I meant to have these new letterpress prints listed last week, obviously that didn't happen. But they are ready now in my shop!

Also this week we have temporarily added a cat to our cat family of three. When we were out walking Tuesday evening we heard this guy meowing in the landscaping along the nature trails. We spent a little time with him, asked around, and determined he seemed lost. I went home to get food, while M. stayed, and the kitty scarfed it down. So we brought him home, wondering if we were doing the right thing. We filed a report with the humane society, discovered he's not mircrochipped, and put up FOUND posters around neighborhoods. If his people don't claim him, I guess we will be looking for a new family for him. He's a darling old guy, very gentle and friendly, and follows us around. For the time being we are keeping him separate from our other cats. And for the sake of not having to call him "other kitty" or "that kitty", we're calling him Tommy. 

New! Water Paper Paint Card Painting Kits

The Water Paper Paint Creative Card Painting Kits are in! Yippee! The kits include cold press papers in the form of four large folding cards with envelopes and six postcards. The two round, wooden handle brushes size six and a smaller size two. I always use round brushes when I am painting with watercolor. And there are four 6 ml. paint tubes in red, yellow, blue, and green. The 32-page booklet provides a few tips on getting started, setting up the materials, and a little about color. Then it describes seven step-by-step project ideas to try on the paper supplied in the kit. All these goodies are nicely packaged inside a sturdy box with my art on the inside flaps. This would make a nice gift for someone who has never tried watercolor, and wants a few supplies and ideas to get started. 

Do you have someone in mind to whom you'd like to give a Water Paper Paint Kit? They are available right here. 

From around the studio

A few shots from around the studio for you today. (Click above to view images and description in lightbox.) I've been working on a new four-color letterpress print and a few smaller letterpress items lately. You can see a peek of the typesetting. We have such a collection of cow imagery that I thought I would start a series of prints using them. Today I will finish printing the final color layer on the first print in the series. 

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In the kitchen we've been making dishes that use our garden produce. There's an abundance right now, and I wish I were still not afraid of canning. That was something I wanted to learn this summer, but haven't. We may try fermenting some green beans and okra, though. On Sunday, we made two quiches with caramelized onions, zucchini brownies from the Simply in Season cookbook, green bean salad with garlic and basil, beet and kohlrabi chop salad, and last night we made zucchini pancakes, from a recipe recommended by Shari. We didn't have any green onions or chives for the pancakes, but they were still yummy. It was all yummy. 

Also this weekend we went to see The Way Way Back, and enjoyed it. Have you seen it? 

Have a nice mid-week!

New garden watercolor prints

I just want to let you know I added three new limited edition fine art prints to my shop. These are prints made from my original watercolor paintings and inspired by our summer garden, as I mentioned in my last post. Zinnias no. 4, from the Squares series is pictured above, along with two photos of our garden. Several years ago I began the Squares series, which is an ongoing collection of small-scale studies that I approach in a variety of ways. I work on them from time to time, and in between other projects. I have chosen just a few favorites, including Nasturtiums no. 2 and Zinnias no. 1 to offer as fine art prints. And be on the lookout for a selection of new abstract pieces from the Squares series, coming soon!

• Thank you to Nole at Oh So Beautiful Paper for the nice press!

Watercolor squares

I've been working on a series of square watercolor pieces lately. Some are really minimal and allow color bleeding, while other abstract ones are more complex layers of drawing and acrylic. These gestural watercolors are inspired by our garden. It's hard to stop making them! When I finish one, I think of something I want to try in the next, and it just keeps going. 

Plus, I want to mention, new customers can save on fine art prints in my shop through the end of July!