Category Archives: Clouds

February 2020 30-Day Creative Gathering Collage

What a difference a month makes! February flew by. I didn’t feel a loss of momentum until the final week. Being in pain will do that. In preparation for the challenge, I put together a file full of images to paint. I still have enough for another 30 paintings. Haha. Ideas abound. I intended to paint more abstracts. Planned on using Yupo more. Never enough time.

Each time I do the 30-day challenge, I wonder if I “grew” or developed new skills. I can never see it until some time has passed. I did try new subjects. Some that I never attempted before. The Cholla image, day 28, I took in 2012. WOW! I meant to paint it, and it has taken me this long. A little bit, out of sight out of mind. But also fear of painting so many spines. My first Cholla is not great, but it is better than I expected.

February 2020 30-Day Creative Gathering Favorites Collage, Sheila Delgado

Thanks so much for following along this month. I hope I did not bore you with my fascination with pointy things and desert natives. I appreciate your support and enjoy your comments and suggestions. 🙂 Thank you! It means a lot!

Congratulations and high five to the group artists. Whether you did 3 or 30, high five for making the bold attempt. For getting your art out into the world, and for encouraging others on their artistic journey! Thank you for taking part, and for making the group so lively and diverse! You ROCK! Hope to see you in September! HaPpY creating to you!

February 30-Day Creative Gathering, Days 29 And 30

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Day 30, FEB C.G., 8 x 8, watercolor on Arches cold-pressed 140 lb. paper. © 2020 Sheila Delgado.

For day 30, a Red Barrel Cactus. I don’t often paint with red. This barrel is orange, purple, mauve and magenta. And green. And what do you need for a night at the ball? A glass slipper of course. Haha. Watercolor, and for the spines, gouache that was left on my palette.

Day 29, FEB C.G., 8 x 8, watercolor on paper. © 2020 Sheila Delgado.

I painted this Aloe early in the month. I love the clean, curved lines. I started by scribbling some white Caran d’Ache Neocolor on the leaves. Next a mix of Juane Yellow and Winsor & Newton Turquoise. I mixed in some of the color left on my palette, and the result is far too turquoise. I love it, but I may go back in and make alterations.

I was trying for more of a greyish, blueish, whites green. As seen on Day 7. This is what I remember from the Iceplant succulent ground cover so popular in Southern California. There are many plants with this coloring that I love. Blue Fescue, Blue Chalksticks, and Dusty Miller to name a few. Aloes come in fresh green, dark green, and dusty sage green.

The night before last I could not sleep. Not sure why. Maybe it was the adrenaline from the challenge. I got a lot of work done. And I was still awake when the sun came up. I have had neck pain all week, Somehow I tweak my neck at night. An old auto injury. I was hit from the side, and it tore my shoulder and neck. I ordered an ergonomic pillow, relief is in sight.

Well Val, all that “blue” was for you my friend. Haha. And Sea, here is one of my Ikea studio solutions. It is the Ostbit plate holder, I use it to hold paper. There’s a month’s worth of, paper (paintings)! Haha. Plenty of room for more.

Later this afternoon, I will post my 30 Day collage. It is always fun to see all the paintings together. I am looking forward to seeing the group’s collections!

The Choice
The intellect of man is forced to choose
perfection of the life, or of the work,
And if it take the second must refuse
A heavenly mansion, raging in the dark.
When all that story’s finished, what’s the news?
In luck or out the toil has left its mark:
That old perplexity an empty purse,
Or the day’s vanity, the night’s remorse.
W.B. Yeats

February 30-Day Creative Gathering Day 23

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Day 23, FEB C.G., 8 x 8, watercolor on Arches 140lb. cold-pressed paper. © 2020 Sheila Delgado.

Day 23, Prickly Pear cactus. Flubbed this one big time. Ruined the sky. Tried to fix it and lost my cloud shapes. Ended up with blue clouds. Haha. Flubbed the sand. This is sand after a windstorm. Twigs and debris everywhere. Haha. I picked that up from the stormy, weird weather shows I had on. Flubbed the cacti. It just wasn’t working last night. So I gave up. Walked away defeated. Haha. I lost some of my pencil lines and had to fake it.

I came back this morning, surprise! It’s not as awful as I thought. Not quite.

Maybe it is just a sign. My mojo has left the building. I pushed through last night. But today, when I had a handful of pads to finish and ALL those spines… it was like dragging a five-year-old to the dentist. So I am calling it done. Calling it won.

Rain, rain, come our way…

Yesterday was cloudy and mucky, and wonderful. Mostly light drizzle, but for a few minutes, we had hail (tiny). The storm came from the south. At one point, I looked out and it seemed as if Mingus had been chopped to pieces.

Afterward, it cleared. Sunny and bright. Then the sky turned a weird shade of yellow. Mingus vanished in a misty sort of fog. A solid wall. That’s when the rainbow appeared.

Today is partly cloudy, and teasing rain. Mingus had snow overnight!

Let the rain kiss you.
Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops.
Let the rain sing you a lullaby.
Langston Hughes

Rain hangs about the place, like a friendly ghost.
If it’s not coming down in delicate droplets, then it’s in buckets;
and if neither, it tends to lurk suspiciously in the atmosphere.
Barbara Acton-Bond