The Dark Side

(Private Collection)

Monkey in the Middle

(Private collection)

This Year's Crop

I started these tomatoes indoors in March. I worried about the straggly little plants when they were transplanted outdoors. They seemed so small and thin. They have proven to be the best producing cherry tomatoes ever!

Laurentian Sky

(Sold)

Purple and Yellow

Working small

 In order to make sure I work at painting each day and to simplify my studio routine, I've set up some guidelines:
- a consistent size: 3x4.5
- use watercolour only
- stick to a limited palette of 6 to 9 colours from which all colours are mixed
- work from still life arrangements or from photos I've taken
- post only the best!

This is the second in this new series. It's based on a photograph I took while out for a walk on Mont St-Bruno in Quebec in August. I loved the way the shadows fell on the path!

Starting Over

After losing all of the images on my blog, I've decided to wipe this slate clean! Some of the paintings, drawings and watercolours I'd created and posted from May 2012 until recently can still be viewed on my Etsy site at kathleenpaints.etsy.com. Today I'll be posting a recent watercolour which I made using a double primary palette. It includes the following colours:

- Ultramarine blue (Holbein, PB29)
- Winsor blue (green shade, Winsor & Newton, PB15))
- Lemon yellow (Holbein, PY3, 74, 111)
- Imidazolone yellow (Holbein, PY154)
- Scarlet lake (Winsor & Newton, PR188)
- Opera (Holbein, PR122)

I've included the pigment numbers since colour names change between manufacturers. Pigments numbers, though less lovely and more difficult to spot on the label, are consistent.

About me

 I have been painting and drawing, if not daily, then several times a week for much of my adult life. I teach art in a private school and am surrounded by children from the ages of 5 to 17 every day! It's a joyful place to be! I try to bring this joy to my paintings. I love to paint still life and landscapes.

 Each of these works is a small, original image which reflects what I may encounter each day. It could be a fruit, flower, landscape or other beautiful fragment which crosses my path.  I see my studio time as a time to slow down and be mindful. The process of setting up a still life, preparing my materials, drawing the composition and the layering of paint on paper or canvas are all part of my mindfulness practice.

I can be reached at menzieskat@gmail.com