This morning, since it's dreary outside, I decided to take some time to work on my owl painting. But I found that I didn't have one of the colors I wanted. It's from a greenish siltstone and makes a sage/grayish/yellowish green that's really nice for background hills especially for scenes set in fall or winter, or an underbody color for other seasons. So, first I had to make some paint. I'm working in thin layers for this painting, so it's going to take a while to reach the finish line. Every layer has to dry before I can add more. So not a whole lot gets done in each session. I won't begin on the trees, fence, or owl until I get the sky and background finished. But already I like the depth the distant hill gives to the scene. 1) where it started out 2) where I left it today 3) the rock and a pile of pigment from a rock like it, ready to make the paint

It's a really wonderful surprise that the bees have arrived! The last few years there haven't been many around here, after the summers of wildfires and drought. They are visiting the brand new apricot blossoms.

I’ve been busy with other stuff but making progress. I love having the paint making to play with. I have three that have dried. I did the screen grinding of the first one, #1 Red Rock. It’s beautiful pigment. That’s the one I am going to rewash cause I think I can get more. I think I just stopped before the water was clear the first time. I have the 4th one drying. I was able to pick up a dehydrator for $15 at a friend’s yard sale so maybe it’ll speed up the drying part. I don’t know if I I’ll make it to the call. I have some volunteer work I signed up for and may not be back in time. I do want to get some grinding time in today. I want to start nature journaling too.

Someone ordered a box of rocks from my website last night and this morning I stopped to gather them while I was out taking my run/walk. I decided to make a video of that, and then decided that this video would be a great value-added thing to do for every order! And then also decided that each of these videos would also make good promotional content for the product itself on YouTube. So a win-win-win this morning in my mind! Here's the video if you'd like to see what I'm talking about:

Hey guys, I just wanted to share some of my work. Like most of us, I'm a self taught artist. I'm still finding my niche and have dabbled in a lot of different mediums: acrylic, watercolor, oil pastels, alcohol marker, water based ink, collage art, and charcoal. I've yet to try oils or colored pencil. Here's an acrylic painting I did, goodness I think over 6 years ago (Ignore the clouds. I don't know how to paint those 🙃) And the other is the only charcoal drawing I've done. If you want to follow me on Instagram, here is a link to my page. Even though my progress has been slow over the years, I'm finally gaining confidence and experience to paint some original artwork, rather than using reference photos for practice. I've got a few pieces collecting dust that I hope to finish this year. 🤞🙏 https://www.instagram.com/saritathyng?igsh=bm93OWF5MGZ3dXc1