I'm living in a swamp

Little Paintings, originally uploaded by Melsky.

It's 93 degrees and very humid. Yuck. Can we have winter back now, please?

I bought a chaise lounge so I can go in the basement where it is cool and read. We don't have air conditioning. Our windows won't fit an air conditioner!

This morning I went to yoga and now I have been busy painting all day. These are indoor/outdoor paintings on wood. They have a protective varnish on them. I think they would be fun on a porch, especially the welcome sign ones of course. But since I am doing the Art on the Porches festival next weekend I think these are very appropriate.

Wildflowers

Wildflowers, originally uploaded by Melsky.

Also known as weeds! I got these from my back yard. This is a like an abstract floral painting, except it's a photograph.

I'm getting ready to do my street fair in one week. I'm very excited. I have a lot of new paintings. They are indoor/outdoor paintings/signs on wood. Some of them say welcome.

Tomorrow I'm going to yoga early in the morning and the rest of the day I'm staying at home and painting. I also need to design some business cards and promotional materials.

Summer Night Sky Cat

Summer Night Sky Cat, originally uploaded by Melsky.

I've finished a new painting. I decided to paint with acrylics today and see what happened. This is the result and I'm very happy with it.

This one is 8x10 on watercolor paper.

Summer Night Sky Cat painting for sale

I'm going to be doing the Art on the Porches festival on June 14th. It's really exciting to be doing a festival again, I have not done one in a long time. I hope the weather is good.

That's one thing I miss about California, the certainty that it would not rain on festival days. It doesn't rain in the Summer in most of California. I do like that it rains in the summer here in New York, it's just that I would like to be able to choose the days!

Summer Day

Summer Day, originally uploaded by Melsky.

A new painting. This one is a watercolor and ink, but with brighter colors.

I've listed it on etsy:

Summer Day Watercolor Painting for sale

I've been working a lot with my Wacom tablet. That's a method of using a pen to draw digitally on a big tablet so you can do drawings that will show up in an illustration program. It's hard to get used to drawing and painting with it but I am getting better.

I plan on starting a new watercolor soon, something with a cityscape theme I think.

I also went horseback riding last weekend which I enjoyed a lot, and to a picnic.

I did some gardening, mostly pulling up weeds. I'm not sure if I'm going to have any sunflowers in my garden though. I found a lot of sunflower hulls where I had planted them. In related news the birds and squirrels around here are looking fat and happy. Maybe I should try again and bury them deeper.

Spring Makes People Happy

Spring Makes People Happy, originally uploaded by Melsky.

Spring even makes me happy, grouchy old lover of winter that I am. But I am enjoying doing some gardening. Most of what I planted is seeds and I can't wait until they come up. I planted four varieties of sunflowers, dill, marjoram, basil, cilantro, chives, mint, cosmos, and a a bunch of packets of mixed flower seeds.

I've also been doing more watercolors. They are coming out great, I'm very happy with them. This one is for sale - Spring Makes People Happy Painting for sale on etsy. It's an 11x14 watercolor.

Orange Sunflower Watercolor

Orange Sunflower Watercolor, originally uploaded by Melsky.

I just finished another painting. It's good to be back to painting again!

Orange Sunflower painting

I've cleaned up my studio too, so it's a lot more pleasant to paint in here.

Today I was walking to the library and I walked into a branch on the sidewalk and it punctured the top of my foot. That really hurt! So now I am trying to stay off it and I will go to the doctor tomorrow if it doesn't get better.

Oh and I quit my job, if I didn't mention that already.

Surreal Joshua Tree Watercolor

Surreal Joshua Tree Watercolor, originally uploaded by Melsky.

This is my first new painting for quite a while. I started and finished it this weekend.

It is watercolor over pencil and I didn't do any ink lines on it. I wanted to do a familiar subject but with new materials and style.

I have been accused of laying watercolor on with a trowel. Yes, I know that watercolor is supposed to be much more watery, but this is the way I do them.

I tried doing my tumbleweeds in a new style. They look just like cabbages! Little desert cabbages. That's a funny image.