The Lighter Side!?

Have you been dealing with too much to do?
These last few days have been filled with MUCH doing - making gifts, cooking food, eating food, sipping, of course, sharing lots of hugs and laughs,  wrapping, tidying, overwhelm-ing AND  trying to remember what I'm forgetting!
To top it all off I have been plagued with a bad case of FOMO AND acnestis.  Both of these conditions are exacerbated simply by thinking about them!  Tis the season methinks!
My friend,  heed this warning - spare yourself the aggravation and discomfort of these conditions by simply banishing them from your mind. Think all the happy thoughts you can muster and have a very merry time. You can thank me later.

Here's to your health, wealth, happiness and all the best in the New Year! Happy 2020!

May you be blessed with Peace in your heart, love in your life and joy through it all.

Dear Beautiful Creative
I wish you a joyful and happy season of love.
May you be blessed with TIME for
Quiet
Creativity
Laughter
Family
Friends
Feasts
Pondering
Remembering,
Resting
Refreshing
and time to COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS!

The Present of Presence

Hello Creative One

May you be forever light of heart and spirit

May you be filled with beautiful and new ideas.

May you be loved by all who know you!

May you know these words are sent to you with love, respect, gratitude, warm wishes, admiration, praise, great regard and deep appreciation.

Words are precious and powerful things.

These wonderful words were a gift from a dear friend...... it means the world to me!

Tis the season of sharing and caring!

May I encourage you to share loving heartfelt sentiments with your beloveds and otherwise too!

Send your ponderings in prose, poetry, on pretty paper...... or in a painting!

Mail it! Maybe? Who doesn't love getting snail mail these days?

Or gift in person with a big hug!

It might just be the biggest, bestest gift of all.

LOVE YOUR LINE!!

Fresh picked beautiful, bright wildflowers - a bouquet of fantastic shapes, just beckoning to be painted!! Such inspiration! Add to it a fine summer day** spent at a friend’s country home and you have everything you need for some happy art making. I wanted to capture the fresh and generous feel of the blossoms. (Thank you Mother Nature!!) I quickly pencilled in sort-of-where-things-go right on my watercolour paper. OK, I admit, I am not much of a sketcher and really just wanted to get some ink down and get PAINTing! I was going for a bright and happy feeling, using great lines, lots of vivid colour and a good dose of enthusiasm. I danced around with that line - adding, exaggerating and using it to break up the larger shapes. As soon those lines were inked, it was painted with waterbrush and my watercolour travel palette*. Don't leave home without it*!! What a fun and rewarding day that was! ....and warm- sunny and warm!!

Gift yourself some time today - open yourself up to inspiration.........set up a still life, grab a photo, or just freehand something that's in your head.........dance with that LINE - DESIGN and PAINT!!

"FRESH PICKED" Watercolour and Ink on Paper SOLD

What-iffing and Light Bulb Moments.

Struggling a bit in a workshop with nothing-to-lose on a now “experimental” piece, I gratefully shifted into “what if” thinking. I wonder what happens when I apply this clear gesso on top of this wanting-something watercolour. Small but mighty LIGHT BULB moment! The following layers of watercolour really liked the new surface. New ideas and possibilities nudge what-iffing forward. A bit more trialing

and – YESSSSS!! I can watercolour on large canvas. YESSSS!! I can watercolour on just about anything by creating this great surface.

The piece depicted here is on gesso prepared canvas. I free handed the image with a thin piece of snapped doweling dipped in India ink. This was all done while enjoying a long phone chat with my beloved daughter! Amazing what comes out of hand when the mind is preoccupied! It was then painted with watercolour using a waterbrush! Varnishing finished it nicely!

"WILD FLOWERS" 24" x 48" Watercolour and Ink on Canvas SOLD

Draw, Design, Paint

I have released my second instructional video for watercolour; Draw, Design, Paint. For a sneak peek at all the goodies inside, please check out the trailer below.

You can order your very own copy of the full Instruction video Draw, Design, Paint with Karin Huehold on our Products page by clicking the button below. While your there, get one for a friend too… share the love!

A WOODLAND STROLL ON A RAINY DAY

Recipes for Inspiration – Serves one or more. Best enjoyed in present moment. Memories can be stored and revisited any time. Keeps indefinitely. Can be freely and joyfully infused into your art.

Ingredients: keen fellow curiosity seekers, camera, climate correct clothing, a place to meander, enthusiasm, imagination, sense of wonder.

Head out as soon as you can after meeting – no dilly dallying! Open eyes – Open mind – Camera at the ready. Be eager to explore and be inspired by ANYTHING!!

We three chose a woodland path –   lots of fir and deciduous trees, rocks, moss, leaves, pretty ground cover, branchy things, clean air, and a fresh spring rain to make everything brighter and drippy.

What a “walk”!  So much banter, oohing and aaaahing – “oh – come look at this” we share excitedly …. Textures, colours, shapes – brilliant.

We let ourselves be amazed and transformed by all this beauty and the wonder of it all.  Inspiring, exciting, humbling.  An hour and only 50 metres later we have achieved some sort of natural high – our minds bubbling over with fresh painting ideas.

Add your own delicious experiences to your visual vocabulary. Now go make some art!!

Contest Winner Announced

CONTEST WINNER ANNOUNCED

Our contest has come to a close. We wish to thank each and every one of you for entering, and for your enthusiastic support during the contest.

And now, we are so pleased to announce the winner of this exclusive, original watercolour painting “Midnight Dreams” valued at $1,500. The lucky and happy!! winner is A. McNear of Calgary, Alberta. Congratulations!!

Details: Midnight Dreams is 29 x 19 inches on original watercolour on paper.

Karin’s inspiration behind “Midnight Dreams” is “to show how magical the lights are – the sense the peace and excitement at the same time – how drawn we are to the beautiful night sky – the challenge and joy of capturing that in watercolour.”

WATCH FOR MORE INFORMATION ON UPCOMING WORKSHOPS AND SHOWS. I ALSO HAVE SOME NEW PAINTINGS IN THE WORKS, AND SOME FUN AND INTERESTING IDEAS FOR DAYLONG RETREATS AND GETAWAYS…… ALL GOOD FOR THE MIND, SOUL AND BODY!!

GIFTED TIME

Recipe for Inspiration – Wisely used impromptu moments add great flavour to your day. Enjoy by yourself or share with present company. Best savoured spur of the moment. Can easily and quickly be stored for later appreciation.

Ingredients -portable tiny painting kit, unexpected change of plans, eager and willing to make the most of the situation.

We’ve all experienced it… Occasionally the best laid plans can go astray. If you find yourself having been gifted unexpected waiting time… here is a great idea… whether in a waiting room, airport, traffic (as a passenger of course!), restaurant, dockside, wherever!!….you might find yourself in for a bit of impromptu creative time.

This makes up for those moments when you are facing life interruptus!! Plans foiled and the paints and paper put aside until later.

Then there are times when we are unexpectedly gifted with some time – a window of opportunity to pull out a few supplies and have some creative time.

Pictured above is my teeny tiny paint kit - a couple of small pieces of watercolour paper and a fabulous dagger brush.

This picture was sent to me by a student. She unexpectedly found a few extra hours with a delay at an airport.

So – hooray for her – she got out her little mini take everywhere (why not?) watercolour kit.

While waiting at the Houston Airport!

Painting Prompts: Paint a watercolour landscape with only a flat brush

Painting Prompts Video: In this video Karin demonstrates how to create a beautiful, fast and easy landscape using only a 1” flat brush on a very small piece of watercolour paper. Using a large brush on small paper encourages use of minimal brushstrokes and intuitive colour choices.

PAINTING: THE GREAT GATHERING

The Great Gathering

This piece of art was such a pleasure to work on.  The creative process is quite involved and very rewarding.

This 30 x 30 in (76 x 76 cm) piece of art features 64 small original watercolour paintings mounted on birch panel.  The board was first sanded and sealed.  I chose black and dark grey in layers and applied crackle medium to add a bit of texture.

The 64 images, each measuring 2.5 inches were arranged and rearranged many times until the composition felt just right.  Each little watercolour was then adhered with a gel medium and then three coats of a glossy pouring medium were applied to each piece. This gives each little painting a glossy tile-like finish. I finished it with a couple of coats of satin varnish around the little paintings and glued on small matte beads for embellishment.

p.s. There are 125 beads in all!