This lesson with Annie Hammon was interesting, painting a portrait without sketching, using a brush, proving once more that I need lots and lots of painting practice with a brush. We were required to let out our inner child and just play and then go back in and recover the painting. It’s one thing to paint a sketch and quite another to paint with nothing but a small photo to follow shadows plus just letting go of what you have just created to start again.

A vase of flowers, creating a vessel of tenderness with Pauline Agnew proved to be a difficult lesson for me .. still life is not something I do well, it’s not something I do a lot of .. I abandoned a first try feeling it was too dark. I am not a ‘dark colour’ person but I felt I had to try. I feel the vase is too large and didn’t allow the flowers to rest comfortably around it and some of the upper flowers look like they are floating in space but this painting is lighter and I prefer the flowers in this one as well. The tutorial was beautiful and I loved it and I will come back to this one again.

Life Book 2016 has begun and it’s been a busy busy busy month. This first piece is a warm up with Tamara Laporte. Lot of fun with paints and collage.

The main lesson for the first week was to choose a word and the title was Happy Traveler. I of course chose the crow and my little dragon as my happy travelers, my word for this year is serenity. I need to learn how to become quieter, to pause my busy life some days.

Week two brought us two more lessons. One from Tam and another from Ivy Newport. Tam’s was a zentangled butterfly, leaving the angst behind while reaching for the sun. Tam wrote her words on her butterfly trail, I wrote them down and then covered them up with a pretty flowery trail .. they are gone, gone, gone.

The main lesson with Ivy Newport brought us lots of glitter and gold and some soul searching. I laid down a woman reaching for her goals, ready to go through the door and see the pretty butterflies in her world. I sometimes need reminding to search for those butterflies each and every day.

Week three gave us a lesson with Melody Ross. We painted a woman hugging a box with all the things we have accomplished to remind us that we are awesome just as we are.