Watercolors by Celia Blanco

Geranium Light   watercolor on Cartiera Magnani paper 35 x 49 cm./ 13.5 x 19 inches Available I started this painting back in September and decided to lay it aside soon afterwards. Honestly, I felt daunted by painting in a larger format, which I used to do often before but had finally put aside ( 20 years ago, yikes!). I pulled it out and decided to finally face the music. I love the beautiful light pattern created by the rising sun shining from behind the flower. I was worried whether placing the flower in the middle would work or not, a few thumbnail sketches to work out my ideas first solved the problem. It was challenging to work on the larger size , working on unfamiliar paper added much stress. I bought loose sheets back in September, by Cartiera Magnani, that I used for this project. In the end, it was fun. I just needed to get into a different mind-set. thumbnail sketches always help I hope everyone is enjoying the coming of Spring!

photos from my trip to Crete Hi everyone! I feel energized, I am looking forward to painting again. We visited beautiful Crete on vacation. I took many photos, there is inspiration lurking in every corner! I did a lot of snorkeling, swimming and soaking up the sun. I ate a lot of yogurt and feta cheese (gained some weight ... oh, well) ! We visited the Palace of Minos at Knossos. We had a wonderful guide (the lady holding the yellow umbrella in my collage) who gave us a fascinating tour of the site. We also visited Chryssi Island on the Libyan Sea, a protected uninhabited island.I have never seen such incredible blues and turquoise. I thought it funny that amidst all of this ancient rich history there is even a Starbucks! My husband and I have been doing some maintenance work around the house this past week. We repainted the kitchen and some of the living room. With weather in the 100's we feel slow. I am hopeful to at least have prepared some paper and bought extra gator b