Tide pool with crabs

This painting was done at two separate times. The tide pool (bubbles) was painted first and allowed to thoroughly dry. The crabs are painted over that. It was tempting to add some rocks, but I skipped that so it would not be cluttered, conflicting the crab motif.

Dragonflies

This is an experiment in layering rice papers, that is, three are glued together. The middle layer is painted on separately. The main painting is on the top sheet. The third layer is Masa paper, a machine made paper of great strength. The other two are delicate Chinese papers which tear readily when wet. It is always a challenge to cleanly attach various papers without wrinkles ocurring. In some cases the wrinkles are desirable and become part of the art, as in paintings depicting water or great action - the wrinkles add a demension of interest. In this painting I am making a decided effort to depart from realism and branch out into more abstract, free-form art.

At the birdfeeder

All the birds are out today. One cat sits directly under the birdbath - they have learned to ignore her. The other cat watches from the cattree in the kitchen window. The sharp-shinned hawk watches from the neighbors rooftop. By afternoon the three squirrels will have moved in to cleanup.