The Fortune Teller



Sister SoLean, w/c on arches, 14x10

I went to Sister SoLean
Who sat against the wall 

Her table was tilted
Her hand covered the ball 

And I saw what she saw
Lillies--yellow and bold 

"The future's iffy" she said
"You've reached the age OLD" 

I put down my dollar
and jumped out of her trailor

Then went to the Pub
and danced with a sailor.

Today I am 70.  I thought I'd be depressed.  I'm not--I am just as semi-sane as I was yesterday; nothing changed.  I will admit to eating just Mrs. Smith's Blackberry Cobbler for dinner.

I've been playing with this watercolor for some time because I couldn't spend quality time in my workshop.  I was undecided--paint the faded Good Will photo of a tiny lady or paint my photo of a yellow lily on a blue bowl.  I chose both and tried everything you shouldn't try with watercolor.  Then I needed a story.

My husband's having out-patient back surgery on Monday so I may be "on-call" for a while. 



A Leftover Chicken

What Chicken? w/c on arches paper, 6x6

It was raining today so I played with my new watercolor sticks--they came with brushes but no directions. I pulled out a faded b&w Goodwill photo, turned it upside down, and painted the face, leaving two blank spaces for the eyes. Then I worked right-side up.

Here's what I think I learned. 1. I should probably sketch first. 2. With acrylics, I begin with the background--watercolors might require planning and I should probably begin with the nose or foreground (a bit like sculpting). 3. Dipping the brush in water and swiping it across the end of the stick is no way to control color.

I can't decide whether she resembles me when I was younger or Prince Charles.

This was fun but the beribboned hat was boring. I had leftover chickens from my 2009 painting of Miss Lulu. Why paint feathers when you can paint the whole chicken?