I am most comfortable painting on 9×12 size. Recently, a fellow artist friend introduced me to the little atc size cards and I decided to give it a try. First I cut up watercolor paper into 3×4 size.

I soon realized that there isn’t enough space to do a lot of details nor is there space to do much blending to cover up mistakes. The small size forces me to keep it simple and be deliberate with my strokes.

Given the limited space, I decided to go back to my first love, anime. Have not drew anime since I was a teenager. Painting them made me so happy, brought back wonderful memories of my youth when all I read was manga and I had sketchbooks of anime drawings. 

These are also really quick to do, perfect for the few mins in the am before I head out to work.

Simple tiny treasures in my life. 

Oh, and the beautiful thing is my daughter, loves anime too!

With winter just around the corner, I feel the yearn for spring colors, bright colors, cheerful colors. 

Was messing around with colors, again not knowing where it would lead me and she appeared… surrounded by blossoms of colors. I decided to shape the blossoms into flowers with my white Uni-ball pen. 

I like how she turned out… she looks like she is lying on a bed of flower petals…

Decided to pair this with the quote “your life is a canvas… make sure you paint a whole lot of colorful days”. Yup, exactly what I am trying to do… paint myself a whole lot of colorful days💃💃💃 

Here are some earlier pics..

Do you have canvases that you created in the past and just don’t like them anymore? I do. In this case, it is a mixed media canvas I did at an art workshop a few years back. 

I did not have a plan. Just wanted to play. So I slapped on some acrylic paint, added some collage, more paint, then added a face. 

The colors brought me under the sea. So I ran with this inspiration. Adding fishes, seaweed, changed her hair to orange (my favorite color hair💖).

Then I went on a business trip and had to take a break. The break was good as it allowed me to see the painting differently and noticed that I needed more contrast in values. 

Came home and played with it this morning. Added darker tones, glitter to her hair, glitter to the jelly fish, molding paste for the bubbles and pastels on her face. I can probably work on this forever (I probably will). But for now, I am happy with her. Will hang it up in my bedroom. I love everything about the sea.. 

I used all kinds of supplies for this. Acrylic paint, watercolor pencils, pastels, acrylic ink, glitter, spackling paste, scrap paper…love mixed media! 

Meraki. To do something with soul, creativity or love, leaving a piece of yourself into what you are doing. 

Exactly how I approach everything I do.. especially art. 

Here’s a little piece of me made with my soul, creativity and love. 

Thank you all for being so kind and gentle with it. It can be scary to leave a piece of yourself out there… for those of you who hesitate to do that, I can tell you that the rewards you get from putting yourself out there outweighs the vulnerability you perceive. Give it a try. 

This is mixed media with collage, acrylic painting, stamps, doodles and ink. 

Love messy painting! 

Decided to play in my altered book tonight. Had no idea where I was going. Just slapped on some acrylic paint, some stamping, more paint, some doodling.. all this while listening to YouTube videos about reactions to the latest trump tape scandal.

All this talk about it being locker room talk enraged me. Disappointed me. Reminded me of how women are often objectified. That our appearance and desirability seem to be so central to our existence and self worth.

We are so much more than our body parts, or how we look or how desirable others find us. Can you imagine a world where men were subjected to that?

Anyway, one thought led to another and this quote emerged..

“My existence is not about how desirable you find me.”

Yes! A good reminder for myself and for my teenage daughter. 

The leaked tape about Donald Trump’s lewd comments this weekend evoked a lot of emotions in me. It got me fired up, it got me thinking, it even got me engaging in twitter (for the first time) because I am so enraged and disappointed…. and my emotions found their way to my art.

Interestingly, I painted her on Wednesday but wasn’t happy with her.

I wasn’t happy with the background and I thought she was just too intense. She looked angry. So, I fussed and fussed with her… and then on Friday, I heard about the leaked Trump tapes. I was in shock. I was enraged. I could not stop listening to the news. I did not have time to work on her until Sat evening and she emerged, …..strong and determined.

In all the discussions I have watched, listened, read, it became clear to me that there is still no camps of thinking out there (unfortunately). One who condemn the comments and the other making excuses for them. This is the time to choose what you stand for. I stand with men and women who condemn the objectification of women, condemn excuses like “locker room talk”, “guys talk like that”. NO ONE should talk about women or any human beings like that! Women are so much more than the size and shape of our body parts. Our brains matter too. We have the right to what we allow to happen to us. Just because you are a star or in power, does not mean I will LET you do anything you want, that you don’t even have to ask!!! I believe that a leader has to have a certain level of moral compass. I would never stoop so low as to accept a leader who does not even have a minimum level of moral compass and decency to be the leader.

This is my tribute to all the strong, determined and smart women out there, who is not afraid of standing up for our rights.

I don’t know how we came to this point, but this has to come to an end. Enough is enough. We have to wake up, emerge from the fog and vote according to what matters to us.

I have faith that we will rise. Because there is no force more powerful than a woman determined to rise.

Watercolor for the girl, acrylic and ink for background, molding paste and stencils for the butterflies.

“She is fire and ice, you’ll fear the cold and crave the burn”. Watercolor painting.

“Be your own kind of beautiful”. Early am painting. Loved painting on my Arches watercolor block. Good paper really makes a difference. It makes the painting process a lot more enjoyable and I love seeing the watercolor “run” around the page. I really should stop being cheap and paint more on better paper😂 #teresalowart.

Here are some progress pics.