koukla carolyn

I haven’t done an Everyday Matters Challenge in ages, but when I saw this one, I immediately thought of this bell and wanted to draw it. I have to say, this isn’t my usual style and I almost never touch pastels but this was an experiment all around. The bell isn’t really blue—it is a bronze bell that my mother has had for ages. But since I was experimenting with the medium, I thought it wouldn’t hurt to experiment with colors as well.

I painted this rose from a photo by Felicity. I spent a long time on this and it is actually my second iteration. I started painting this smaller and it just wasn’t turning out well, so I started it again. Normally, I would just quit after it didn’t work out the first time, but I was really determined to paint it. I am sure this would come out even better if I painted it for a third time, but there are so many other things that I want to paint as well. I am planning on using this painting for the front of my wedding programs, which I am in the process of designing.

I am starting to do more and more watercolors these days and I do think I am improving, although the progress is slow. I am starting to gain confidence, however. I used to get really nervous about even starting a painting in watercolor but now I am getting a lot more comfortable. I am getting to know how the paint will act on the paper and what it will look like when it is dry. Most of what I’ve been painting are florals because landscapes seem to be harder for me, but I think I am going to do a few more in the near future. I did this painting last November from one of the photos I took on my Blue Ridge Parkway trip. My favorite part of this is the sky.

I found this butterfly dead on my driveway. It was so beautiful so I couldn’t resist painting it. I accidentally dropped my brush on it and got black paint where I wasn’t meaning to so I had to improvise a bit to cover it up. Painting the black lines was a bit like applying liquid eyeliner—not an easy task. But it was fun and I’m happy how it came out. I painted it on a watercolor card so I can send it to someone.

Yesterday was the joint bridal shower for me and my sister, who is getting married in September. It is really hard to fathom that in less that one month I am going to be a married woman and moving away. I feel like I am taking on a new identity. I have some really nice things to bring to the apartment now—I feel like a real homemaker.

I said in a few posts back that I was thinking of deleting this blog and moving onto something else. I’ve decided to give it another go. My life in general is changing dramatically because I’m getting married and moving away, but I definitely think I will continue to make art a part of my life. Yesterday I did a lot of much needed site maintenance like upgrading to the newest version of wordpress and changing the design. I do like the way it is now a lot more because it seems a lot more clean and simple. My plan is to continue working in watercolor, hopefully doing some more of the everyday matters challenges.

Lately, I’ve been trying out watercolor again. Watercolor is something I never really mastered and I would love to be able to handle it with ease like some of the other artists I’ve seen. I love watercolors with a lot of glazes and deep colors and precise lines. I’ve never been one for really sketchy looking paintings. This lily shows more of the sketchy aspect though. Surprisingly, I like how it came out.