Category Archives: Photos

A Visit With Natasha

Yellow Tree Sketch. 4 x 6 watercolor on paper. © 2018 Sheila Delgado

This super sunny yellow tree was in front of me when I parked at Hobby Lobby. Such a pretty shape. Like a Japanese dancer. I didn’t get it right. I’d love to do a full painting of it though.

Yellow tree.

Yesterday was a busy day. Capped off by a visit with Natasha Papousek. A longtime LYA friend. In fact I have her 2013 post card on my inspiration wall. Natasha was on her way to a class in Sedona.

She arrived later than she had planned, so we had a short time to see the sights. After a quick bite, we headed to Prescott. We caught the sunset view from the Prescott Casino and Resort on top of the hill. Thumb Butte is left of center.

Prescott sunset, April 19, 2018.

Prescott Sunset close up. April 19, 2018. © 2018 Sheila Delgado.

Next we went to Watson Lake. In fading light, we hurried to snap some shots. Thank goodness for Photoshop and the ability to brighten things up!

Watson Lake, Prescott AZ. © 2018 Sheila Delgado.

Natasha in the landscape.

There was so much more I would have liked to show her. She mentioned coming back again soon for a longer stay to explore the area more. With hiking, galleries, museums… plenty to do!

Natasha is a henna artist and she is blessed with the privilege of working in gorgeous downtown San Diego at Seaport Village. She is also well-traveled, well-educated, and even lived in Hawaii for a time. You can see the photos on her blog. Gorgeous! She is truly one of the most interesting women I have ever met!

LYA Side Swaps

Three more LYA side swaps arrived yesterday. One of them Natasha’s! From Lemon Grove, CA. I love this card, so pretty 🙂 On the back:

Creativity is inventing experimenting, growing, taking risks,
breaking rules, making mistakes and having fun.
~ Mary Lou Cook

“Peony Party”, Natasha Papousek. Handkerchief, Terry Owenby. Watercolor, Christine Brooks

Terry’s card is so lovely! It is an in progress “slow stitch” project. All done by hand. She has attached a worn, paper-thin vintage handkerchief to a sturdier fabric. A pink linen tablecloth. She is still creating this new piece but thought is was pretty enough to use for LYA. I agree! Very sweet and delicate, the details. From Gresham Oregon.

The birds is a wonderful watercolor from Christine Brooks in Flagstaff AZ. I love Christine’s work ! An addition to my growing Christine collection!

Thank you my friends for sharing your wonderful work with me! I love them all!

And an extra special thank you to Natasha for including me in her busy, artistic road trip! Such a pleasure to meet again after so many years!

Two Mingus starts on the table, plus the one that is bothersome.

#100DaysOfMingus – Day 12

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#12, After The Storm. 5.25 x 12 in. watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2018 Sheila Delgado.

I really like how this turned out. I delayed starting the second session, for fear that I would muck it up. The clouds. That wicked voice of doubt was telling me, “You can’t paint a sunset. You’ve never painted one before. It’s not going to turn out right.”

I learned a lot on this. Need to learn a lot more. Like timing, how wet the paper needs to be, how fast you need to work. It’s more chunky, and messy than I would hope. It’s more pink (Rose Madder Lake) and less peach. (Gotta learn how to make a good peach). I maybe went to dark on the front range.

But EVEN with all that could be better stuff in my head. I really like it. What do you think? Oh and here is the reference photo.

After The Storm, Aug. 3 2017. © 2017 Sheila Delgado.

I am feeling more organized with this project. Cleaned up my computer files, renamed the documents. A digital dust and sweep, ha ha. That’s a good thing, because the rest of my space looks like a tornado hit it. I added a gallery page for the project as well. It will be easier to look back, and see them all together. I will be adding prices at some point. I have a busy week in front of me and I need to paint ahead if I can.

Oh, speaking of wind. We had a windy one the other day. And Mama Dove lost her nest. It fell into the neighbor’s yard. Very sad. And she has not come back. But we did have Robins eating the berries, and a hummer outside my window. And about eight Pronghorn sheep walking through the neighborhood.

LYA SIDES

The Liberate Your Art side swaps are starting to arrive. WOO WHOO! I just love this leaf! The warm and the cool, the crumbly textures. Awesome 😉 You can see more of Michele’s photography on her blog. Michele has multiple interests including fabric and fibers, surface design, stitching, weaving, and photography!

SS#1 Michele Matucheski

Kathy can be found at SolSisterStudio. This card started as a magazine page and gelli print. It has acrylic, oil pastels, Citrasolv and napkin decoupage. I keep hearing about Citrasolv. Really an interesting technique. This card makes me think of festive Christmas decorations. And that just makes me smile.

LYA SS #2 Kathy McIntire

Thank you Michele and Kathy for swapping with me again this year!! So much fun! I always look forward to seeing your creations 😉

#100DaysOfMingus – Day 11

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Mingus Day #11. 5.25 x 12 in. watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2018 Sheila Delgado.

Officially caught up. Today, I will be painting right on schedule. Here is the painting. And the photo that I was working from. Loosely. Calling this done, but I am going to make a few changes.

Crags and Shadows. © 2017 Sheila Delgado.

All Caught up!

I went overboard with details. Too dark. Meant for Mingus to be bluish. But I am really happy with two-thirds of the painting. 🙂 I think I can go back in, and soften up the dark shadows, and get rid of some hard edges. Maybe I’ll just do a wash over the mountain, and start over.

I had fun though. Enjoyed the process. So it’s all good. I’ll keep you posted.

Here is yesterday’s sunrise for you. I waited, thinking it was going to get more vivid. But it just sort of evaporated. Became whitish, greyish, overcast mellow.