811 Hollyhocks

A friend posted a beautiful photo of her hollyhocks and gave me permission to paint them.  I struggled with this as I do with most things yellow.  I wonder if other artists have difficulty getting a certain color right.

Many thanks to Jeanne O'Dean-Wotnoske for the great photo.

"811 Hollyhocks"
watercolor - 16x10.5 in

http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/diane-campion/811-hollyhocks/501405

810 Super Girl

Loulou, a 17 year old 12th grader looks like any other girl her age, right?   Loulou lives in a refugee camp in Northern Lebanon and she is passionate about soccer.  Last year, ANERA (American Near East Refugee Aid) built a soccer field in the camp so that kids could play safely.  Here is what Loulou had to say, "Now, with the new field, my friends and I have a safe place to play. My teammates call me 'Super Girl' because I'm a fast runner and I'm always urging the team on. I help them learn new tricks. I think this is how we improve and move forward."  Loulou is making the best of her situation and is a leader, and I admire those qualities. 

 "ANERA uses soccer and other sports programming as a tool to cross cultural divides, cultivate gender equality and teach conflict resolution. Their staff works with local sports clubs to organize tournaments and practices with professional coaches."  ANERA improves lives in the Middle East by renovating and rebuilding schools and hospitals, providing warm clothing, blankets,  food and distributing medical supplies.  They do great work!

"810 Super Girl" is the seventh in my series of paintings for "The Innocents Project."  I'm a big fan of ANERA's and am hoping to raise awareness and funds so they can continue their work.  You can read more about their work by going to their web site at www.anera.org.  They are located in Washington, D.C. and if you are so inclined to make a donation, please reference "The Innocents Project."

I have revised the previous six paintings and you can see them by scrolling through my blog, or in my Daily Paintworks gallery, www.dailypaintworks.com/artists/diane-campion-3732 where they have all been updated.

809 Basil in the Morning Light

The Whitefish Bay Garden Club is always involved with interesting projects.  Our plans include a garden walk next July, which has somehow branched out to our participation in our Village's annual sidewalk sale, which is now called a Sale-a-Bration since there will be a street party with a band.  For this event, the Garden Club is partnering with a not-yet-opened farm to table restaurant, Moxie, and our members are donating fresh basil from our gardens, from which Moxie's chefs will make bruschetta to serve at the party.  We also painted Lake Michigan stones with images and herb names, and will be offering them as gratitude for a donation to our Club.  One thing leads to another.......but one thing for sure is that we always have fun serving our community and promoting healthy growing practices.  We keep young and healthy by playing in the dirt, too.

"809 Basil in the Morning Light"
watercolor - 5x7 in

http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/diane-campion/809-basil-in-the-morning-light/500163

dianecampion.blogspot.com

808 Adjustable

This was a little mind boggling, especially in the drawing stage.  Yikes.  I originally thought of painting this in a large format, but decided I should try a smaller study first.  I do think it would be a cool painting if much larger.  I love to paint the texture of old and rusty things.  In case you are wondering, these are hardware spindles.  They were used with doorknobs and could be adjusted based on the depth of the door.

Should I paint it larger?

"808 Adjustable"
acrylic - 12x12 in

http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/diane-campion/808-adjustable/499398

dianecampion.blogspot.com

807 Orchid Cactus

I've had several projects going at the same time in the last couple of weeks, and in one recent day,  I painted with three different mediums---oil, acrylic, and watercolor---hopping from project to project.

I am enjoying a renewed interest in watercolor.   Watercolor was my first love as far back as high school, then post-college, but I've set them aside for many years.  These are not the same watercolors as they used to be---they have so much more pigment, and are so vibrant!

I took the reference photo for this painting at the Lincoln Park Conservatory on the grounds of the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago.  I love going there in any season to see all the beautiful plant life.

"807 Orchid Cactus"
watercolor -

http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/diane-campion/807-orchid-cactus/498911


www.dianecampion.blogspot.com

806 Sunflower

It has been a long time since I last painted with watercolor, probably during my feather/nest series.  The reference photo begged for watercolor interpretation, so I listened.  It was more difficult  than I thought it would be, but I am happy with the result.

"806 Sunflower"
watercolor -

http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/diane-campion/806-sunflower/487692

805 Inspired by Nature

As an artist, it is very worthwhile to take time off to "play" and try new things--new media, new techniques, subjects, etc.  This certainly has been a week where variety played a big part.

I  broke out the water-soluble oil paints and made a big mess.  I played around with alcohol inks and have dyed fingers I hope will come clean by the weekend.  Lastly, I hosted my Garden Club friends two days for rock painting, which was loads of fun.  I love encouraging others to discover how much fun being creative is!

The above painting was an experiment.  I photographed mushrooms in my front lawn and thought they were very interesting and pretty and, again, "had" to paint them.  A Canadian artist, Sandrine Pelissier, has been very inspiring to me to try new media and techniques.  There are so many different inks/paints/other products in this painting and while I am not sure they are all compatible, it was indeed a learning experience.

"805 Inspired by Nature"
mixed - 8x10 in

http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/diane-campion/805-inspired-by-nature/486945

please see blog: dianecampion.blogspot.com