Category Archives: Trees

January Semi-Self Challenge

4 x 6 in. watercolor & pen on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2019 Sheila Delgado.

Made myself a challenge, knowing full well January might be busy. Not bad, managed to get thirteen paintings done for the month. The first two here, I painted for the Love Notes postcard swap. I forgot to scan the first card. So hey, that makes fourteen paintings! More I am sure, than I would have completed had I not tried for 30.

The table above, scanned much more red than the earth, clay tone that it actually is. I was unable to tweak it in Photoshop.

I apologize for the horrible photo below. This was a fun attempt at being loose after watching a video by Angela Fehr. I embellished with watercolor pencil and splatter.

4 x 6 in. watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2019 Sheila Delgado.

#9, 4 x 4 Watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2019 Sheila Delgado.

Sunset Light, 4 x 4 Watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2019 Sheila Delgado.

#8, 4 x 4 Watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2019 Sheila Delgado.

#7, 4 x 4 Watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2019 Sheila Delgado.

The four pieces below are much too tight, and over worked. I tried again, with better results. (See the four above.) I learned that with Quinacridone Gold and Gold Green you have to take care so they do not become dirty and dark. Lesson #1.

Lesson #2 – for either of those colors to be rich and not neon, you must layer at least three washes. Think that qualifies as a conundrum. For me anyhow. Fun in the learning though 😉

I am holding myself to a 30 piece challenge this month as well. It may be several days of painting a series of pieces and not daily painting. I have two gifts to paint. Something different on the way. 😉

If I were to choose favorites, they would be #7 and #8.

#6, 4 x 4 Watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2019 Sheila Delgado.

#5, 4 x 4 Watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2019 Sheila Delgado.

#4, 4 x 4 Watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2019 Sheila Delgado.

#3, 4 x 4 Watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2019 Sheila Delgado.

Layers. 4 x 4 Watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2019 Sheila Delgado.

Yo No Se. 8 x 8 in. mixed media on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2018 Sheila Delgado.

Lost And Found

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WIP, additional layers. 8 x 8 in. watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2018 Sheila Delgado.

Yo no se. I don’t know. I still don’t know what to make of this. One step further though. I think it is still a work in progress. It will have to gel awhile. First piece of the year. Crossed one unfinished project off my list.

This started with layers of watercolor back in October. I kept seeing a dark tree. There are many images of trees online, so I thought I was just channeling something I liked on social media. But it stuck. So I took a sheet of old music, and carved a tree. I added indigo watercolor, and some lines for texture.

The sheet music was a gift from my good friend Christiane Drieling. A wonderful, amazing surprise. An old book of Schubert music. Christiane creates wonderful collage stories using old papers.
Her blog is a treat if you haven’t seen it.

Schubert Book.

I searched for two days for this book. Hid it away, cleaning for company. Well, first I looked for the photos I took when it arrived. Couldn’t find those, so I needed the book. Yup, neat freak lost it. I mean, there are only so many places it could be. I knew I was probably looking right at it. And I was. It was exactly where it belongs. With art pads and papers. The book is falling apart, so I put it in a manilla envelope.

If you are on Instagram, you have seen the next two images. Just for fun.
My best nine Instagram posts. Six of them are from the #100dayproject.

Best Nine of 2018. Sheila Delgado

My Year of Colour. The app pulls color from all your Instagram posts. Artwork and photographs. It surprises me that there is such a small amount of yellow. Ha ha.

Year of Colour 2018. Sheila Delgado

We waited all year for snow to fall. It was a white New Years Eve.
Snowed 6 hours, slow and steady.

First Winter snow. SMD

The mountains were hidden in clouds, when they started clearing it was really pretty.
The hills had matching cloud cover.

Clearing up. SMD

Sunset the following day. The hills looked like iced oatmeal cookies.

Mingus winter color. SMD

The Year

What can be said in New Year rhymes,
That’s not been said a thousand times?
The new years come, the old years go,
We know we dream, we dream we know.
We rise up laughing with the light,
We lie down weeping with the night.
We hug the world until it stings,
We curse it then and sigh for wings.
We live, we love, we woo, we wed,
We wreathe our brides, we sheet our dead.
We laugh, we weep, we hope, we fear,
And that’s the burden of the year.
~Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1910

God Bless and keep you safe.
May you have a JOY filled year ahead!

While You Were Sleeping

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Getting wet at The Children’s Pool. La Jolla CA. SMD 2018

California Brown Pelicans. La Jolla, CA. SMD 2018

Cormorants, La Jolla, CA. SMD 2018

Tree to paint. La Jolla CA. SMD 2018

Mount Soledad, La Jolla, CA. SMD 2018

A quick trip to San Diego, only a couple of hours for sightseeing. Didn’t think there would be time for anything beyond chauffeuring. I had to drive Mom in for a minor surgery. Pleased as punch to find myself in La Jolla with time to wander.

I was able to visit two of my all-time favorite places. The Children’s Pool and Mount Soledad. It felt wrong to leave Mom alone, but she requested photos of La Jolla for a friend. While she was “sleeping”, Pete and I headed south. I took nearly 600 photos! In about an hours time. Mostly because I was trying to catch the animals, or the waves.

Haven’t had time to go through them. We’re on the road again to Phoenix, and our family turkey dinner. We were blessed to spend Thanksgiving Day with friends before heading home.

Happy (what day is it?) Monday to you!