Palettes of color....

"I think palettes 

are a glimpse 

into the soul 

of a painter. 

Yep, you're going to heaven."

~Brian Schnetzer 

(friend extraordinaire)

When I posted a photo of my watercolor palette on facebook recently, 

one of my dearest friend's 

left the words above on my page.

I was so touched...

(well, he's that kind of person- one of those rare & cherished friends)

...he gave me cause to think...

our palette says a lot about who we are 

and how we approach our work.

If you've been on this blog space of a journey with me ... 

you are probably well aware of 

my affinity to 

w a t e r  C O L O R. 

(with an emphasis on the color part.)

 So many sweet friends have been asking about what colors I use, 

what type of paint, how etc. 

I thought it might be fun to start sharing some posts 

on the "how to's of what I do's".

I kind of see myself as a "rebel" when it comes to following (NOT) 

hard core "tradition" in watercolor. 

The very essence of the medium, evokes freedom and lack of control...

which is probably why I love it so. 

I am always learning lessons on 

 l e t t i n g   g o

a n d

t r u s t i n g,

when I create with watercolor.

Upon taking a deeper look at my palette, 

I noticed that I didn't have all of my colors lined up exactly 

with warm and cool colors in their proper place. 

I tend to put random bursts of color 

"outside of the box"

so to speak.

I also noticed that a lot of times, those random bursts of color 

are used in my work, as that color gem- that little sparkle added to the page.

Wow, there's more to your palette when you start to really look at it.

It's kind of a metaphor for how I like to create

and live my creative life.

What paint?? I am asked often...

I like a combination of Holbein & Windsor Newton brand.

You can see from my journal book pages 

that I am a big fan of wet on wet and glazing techniques.

I believe those techniques, allow me to achieve a lot of depth, 

as well as an organic feel to my work.

The "pear and lavendar" spread above, is from one of my journal books-

inspired by all that I learned from Wild Art classes with Junelle Jacobsen.

I am sooo in love with journal pages...

as it allows the freedom to explore and create 

for a larger work.

Tomorrow starts a "new session" of Wild Art  called 

Wild Art Summer.

I'm feeling like a little kid... so looking forward to creating new projects, 

and connecting with an incredible group of people.

If you like the idea of creating in a journal, exploring with watercolor 

and so much more... 

I would highly recommend signing up for Junelle's class. 

It starts tomorrow, but is a go at your own pace online e-course.

It's most inspiring for those who like to

"color out of the lines"... like me.

photo above: Junelle Jacobsen's wild art class

What colors are on your palette?

In my next post, I'll share a little on how I go about painting with glazes 

using my "out of the box" color palette.

Hope to see you in the Wild ART Summer group.