After painting this one, I had a powerful urge to hop in a boat and row around on a quiet, still, remote lake. After rowing assertively, I wanted to drop my arm over the side and drag it through the calm, refreshing water. Sketching took a ridiculous amount of time to get things right, and the paper in my journal  didn’t accept watercolor well. I suppose I could have easily accomplished this one with colored pencils, but I wanted the watercolor effect because . . . well, it is water. 💧 

  I actually accomplished this one in the time limit that the challenge suggests.  Five minutes! Funky, whimsical, embellished lemon trees - spindly trunks with one huge 🍋 in various shades of yellow acrylic, flanked by brush-stroke grasses and a paint-splattered sky. 

For generations, my family has saved stuff, and I have inherited it all. Boxes and boxes of things - photos, books, slides, movies, lace, clothing, artwork, every letter that has ever been received, postcards, stamps . . . the list goes on forever. In an effort to organize it all and to decide which are keepers and which need a new home, I came across some real treasures.  An original, 1897, signed copy of this book. When I opened the book, pages fragile and brittle, it fell apart, and I was left holding this page. Of course, I couldn’t resist reading the page. Marital indulgence? Witch hazel or raspberry infusion? Wow, life before modern medicine! It felt logical (and even vital) to include a portrait of a woman that my grandma knew. I hope she never experienced vaginal prolapses.  Another treasure. Grandma’s shorthand stenography practice notebook filled with page after page of beautiful, elegant lettering.  Two more items - a postcard addressed to Grandma and an o...