Some Thank-You Flowers...

Where did August go? 

For a brief moment, I thought we were just finishing up 

the delightful Summer Faire class. 

I had a blast as a guest teacher in Junelle's ecourse. 

It's such a joy and privilege to be part of her tribe!

Not to mention how inspired I still am, 

from all of the lovely work that was posted.

For a lot of us, this is the time of year 

that brings a season of change.

The sunlight is changing, 

traffic is picking up, as kids are back in school.

Bands are practicing, 

with anticipation of a fabulous football season.

Summer flowers are saying goodbye 

to make room for Fall blooms.

In this time of transition,  

I'm filled with inspiration...

working hard on creating some online goodness 

for the launch of my official website, 

painting away to fill a gallery show,

and sharing whatever artsy goodness I can 

with all of the lovely supporters 

surrounding me.

Stay tuned for more of that artsy goodness, 

coming down the road...

and enjoy this video I made 

to share with you all

with gratitude….

xo Valerie

Are You Ready? It's Getting Closer!

Just wanted to give everyone a sneak peek 

at some more lovely goodness that will be coming up 

in Junelle Jacobsen's online artsy class...

"A Summer Faire".

I'm so jazzed to be a part of the fun. 

I've been getting more and more excited with the postings 

Junelle has put up, giving us a sneak peek at the projects we'll be doing.

Her wreath.... oh my oh my!

And recipes from Rhetta...yummers.

Also getting more and more excited myself, 

making video's and projects to share with a most artsy 

tribe of  lovelies!

There will be herb pots and seed packets...

along with a lovely birdfeeder and birdies of summer.

Sure hope you'll feel inspired to paint, sketch,

and get silly with us. 

There's still time to sign up for the discounted price... 

Time to get your seed packets on!

It's right around the corner....

I can feel the gesso on my hands already!

I am always inspired by the artsy tribe that love all things Junelle!

Hope you'll join us...

Class starts Friday July 10th...

Open House is in one more week and

the discounted price of $32 

ends on July 1 

3 weeks of Summer Art Inspiration.
Click the link above to sign up today!
regular price 44.95 ~July 1

Seasons, Seeds & Summer Faire!

My oh my… I can feel the beginning of summer happening here. 

There's the sound of 'Pomp & Circumstance" in the distance, 

and names being called as diploma's are handed out. 

There are sounds of skateboards on concrete in the the neighbor's driveway, 

and the harmony of kid voices, full of excitement...  

knowing they are at 

the doorway of summer break. 

Every season brings it's own freshness… newness… 

and shift from one routine of life to another. 

As much as Spring is known, as the time of seedlings and new growth

summer brings a growth of it's own.

Brightly colored flowers, 

vegetable gardens, 

bike rides, outdoor play, 

barbeques and outdoor eating, 

summer camp, 

ice tea and lemonade…

Soooo... with all that in mind
what better way to usher in the "newness of summer" 
than with a Junelle class!
I've been busy busy working on a few projects to add 

to her wonderful Summer Faire lineup!
After having the opportunity to do a little offering 
in her Art of Spring class, I couldn't be more thrilled 
to be invited back as part of Summer Faire.

Look at the lineup she has in store for us all!

a favorite mailbox collection
market fresh wreaths
kitchen window cottages
ice cream & gelatos
tomatoes & "basil" the cat
potted herbs and vintage seeds
bikes & blooms - stops & smells
street fair treasures
summer porch art
garden steps, stoops, and stories
a big summer canvas (or creative art journal pages)
...and more!
(guess who's got the potted herbs & vintage seeds up her sleeve and more… hint hint!)

I hope you'll be as excited as I am to be part of the summer fun! 
I am always inspired by the artsy tribe 
that love all things Junelle!
Hope you'll join us… 

Class starts Friday July 10th
earlybird sign ups are 
happening now..
for only $32 

3 weeks of Summer Art Inspiration!

Click the link to sign up today! 

regular price 44.95 ~ July 1

pssst...I've got a secret…an Online Class...

So here it goes… I am over the moon and a little cray cray here.

A few weeks ago... one of my favorite online teachers, 

bloggers, and all around wonderful human beings 

asked if I would like to do a segment on her next online class.

Enter the "woot! woots!" and "happy dancing".

After spending the past couple of weeks figuring it all out, 

and prepping… 

I am thrilled to announce the launch of 

Junelle Jacobsen's 

Art of Spring!

Sign up's are taking place right now 

for the early bird price of $29

Open House is March 28th

Class starts April 1! 

I guarantee there's nothing more fun than getting creative with Junelle. 

Between her loosey goosey journaling style, 

happy flowers, recipes and her forever loving farm family of sheep

there will be plenty to play with as Spring arrives!

Oh, and then there's my part too… 

I've decided to teach a project using watercolor, 

wherein I can demonstrate some wet into wet watercolor technique 

and lots of glazing of color.

The image above shows my rooster and a couple of flower pieces 

that will be part of the little watercolor booklet we'll design...

along with the fun script lettering styles I'll teach how to draw.

Just enough of a simple project to share some watercolor 

love with you all!

So, here's the dealeo… sign ups are going on now…

I have one "FREE" spot to give away in this lovely class.

If you leave a comment HERE on the blog mentioning the class

or on my FACEBOOK page, (include the code: SPRINGART )

your name will be entered into a drawing 

for that FREE class space.

A name will be chosen by 4pm on Friday March 27th

and that person will be notified by email or personal FB message

or on the blog if I don't have your contact info. 

Good Luck everyone! 

This class is truly a blessing in so many ways!

http://yesandamenblog.blogspot.com

 p.s. my website is getting all spiffed up and ready for a launch in the very near future…

keep your eyes open for  http://valerieweller.com  …more watercolor… coming soon

What have you been up to?

It never ceases to amaze me how fast time goes. 

I wanted to send out some  artsy  l o v e  to everyone 

and to fill you in on my artful expeditions this year.

I've been spending a lot of time teaching watercolor & mixed media 

privately while building up my own body of work.

I've been working toward crafting my artful life, 

and am seeing clearly now how it's falling into place.

The teaching is incredibly rewarding and has inspired me to grow in my own process.

Nothing speaks more volumes than working with people you  l o v e

and doing what you  l o v e.

I've also finally found the right vibe for my website 

that I've been trying to build for quite some time now.

I can tell you that I am getting closer and closer to a launch 

and I'm over the moon about it. 

I struggled to find the right way to share myself with the world, 

and even felt a bit embarrassed about not having a "real" website by now…

but as with everything…

when you work through a process, really good stuff comes.

I've learned so much and am getting close to sharing all that.

Next steps will be the concept of workshops. 

I am doing all of that privately, but so many have asked me about 

online courses and workshops on location.

That is all part two of the big plan.

I will have more information on all of that after the launch of the website.

So… good things ahead in this year of 2015. 

All having to do with  l o v e!

l o v e 

for what I do and why I do it.

l o v e

for the people I am so blessed to work with and share an artful life with… and…

l o v e

for the ability to be a creative!

Pure happiness working with all these lovelies!

Thankful time...

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; 

they are the charming gardeners 

who make our souls blossom.
- Marcel Proust 

I've been missing out on giving my blog some love lately,

 as I've been consumed with the joys of teaching watercolor, 

building my website, and planning online classes…

seemingly...a "never ending process" these days.

This time of year, always brings pause for 

thoughtfulness & thanks.

I can't tell you all how grateful I am, for the support, from so many 

on my artistic endeavors. 

There is so much joy that comes from this artistic life 

and the connection to all of the lovelies 

we meet along the way...

you are all the ones 

that make my soul blossom.

In that spirit…

here's a tutorial on how to watercolor a "couple" of pears.

Afterall, what's one pear without the other?

A quick sketch and some water wash on the sheet ( I used arches 130LB)

Then a little leaf green- loosey goosey.

A little water where you want the color to go and some cad. yellow.

we're working light to dark… the leaf green has yellow properties.

more cad yellow...

A  little quinacridone gold in spots where you see the bruises and the darks on the pear.

A little cad red medium glazing over the still wet yellow...

Building up the cad red a little...

A touch of leaf green for some sparkle… 

careful, as it will get a little brown when mixed with the red. 

A light hand is best… a little brown will be ok, but too much will look muddy.

If it gets too muddy, lift it lightly with a corner of paper towel and add more.

The cadmiums aren't as transparent as other colors.

a touch more….

Quin gold over the wet cad red …gives that pear a little texture, 

almost like the rough skin on a pear.

Introducing…. indigo over the wet leaf green area. 

The darks are going down!

(I normally might go to ultramarine, but indigo has a dark blue black feel- 

looking for some drama here.)

a touch of leaf green again...

a little more indigo...

Drying down… the color fades a touch as it dries…

quinacridone started in the stems… 

For the stems… a little clear water first… 

a touch of quin gold over the water.

Then some paynes grey ever so lightly dropped into the stem.

Paynes + Quinacridone Gold make a beautiful earthy branch, twig, stem color.

This image also shows me adding a touch of cad over the dry area.

Finishing some paynes gray over the quin gold on the green pear's stem.

Background time… a wet wash in order to drop some complimentary color on...

I'm feeling some turquoise, 

to add some glow and enhance the color in the pears...

Viola! 

Signature time… or whatever style you prefer to finish with.

I chose a little rubber stamp today.

Two haPPy friendly pears with a glow of color.

My gift to you! 

haPPy Fall…Winter…

Season of Blessings…

Season of Giving.

At Long Last… and a Video too!

 Finally… at long last… woo hoo!

Thank-you, thank-you, everyone... for being patient with me.

 This is the second installment of my blog series… 

step by step watercolor.

In my last post, I had shared a bit about what kind of materials 

I like to use when painting my watercolor sketches, 

as well as a bit about my palette. 

I mentioned that I would do a colorful veggie sketch...

but actually was inspired by this lovely bunch of flowers I found 

at the Ballard Farmers Market, while visiting Seattle.

(No worries...I'll definitely do a veggie sketch on another post.)

I decided to put a little video together, so you'd have 

a true step by step experience.

The biggest take away I believe, will be 

the way I like to use my color wet into wet,

 and glaze over color, 

both, when wet & dry.

Many have asked me how I get such vibrant color…

I do believe it's the combination of mixing paint,

 to create great color

(not straight from the tube all the time)

as well as layering, 

one on top of another.

And of course, leaving some sparkling white of the paper 

to keep those little shimmers of highlight, on your subject.

Here's a little

step by step...

Take a peek and see what you think…

Flower Watercolor Sketch Video

The sketch in this video is done in my Stillman & Birn Beta sketchbook ...

a perfect paper for watercolor and glazing.

Next post will be another glazing process- maybe veggies… 

then we'll roll into some how to's... of the script handwriting 

that I like to do on my sketches and my signature block.

Stay tuned…. 

Feel free to leave any comments or questions... 

Check back if you're interested 

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( see connect block in left column.)