Red Rose on the Easel

In January I purposed to do only things that I had been wanting to do but didn’t find time in my ordinary days. One of those things was to do a paint along with tutor Katie Jobling, on Strathmore Papers. Strathmore offers tutorials on all mediums using their papers. I had been waiting for an oil painting lesson for a while and it came up in December. Since December was busy with Christmas preparations and long naps, I printed out the paperwork and saved it for January. Link to tutorials here.

I enjoyed painting this rose so much. Katie used an approach which was a little different than what I was used to, and I found that very interesting. We also finished it in almost one sitting which was also unusual for me. I loved that I could learn from another artist this way. It wasn’t actually on an easel because I used paper. Strathmore makes a paper especially for oils. I think it’s a great idea for small tryouts or paintings that will be scanned. It had all the texture of a canvas. It took a long time to dry, so when I was sure it had dried, I signed, scanned it and sent it to my granddaughter Olivia for her 13th birthday.

The Rose Is Now In My Society6 Shop.

I haven’t made website pages for my artwork yet. I have begun with patterns. Making pages was a huge learning curve for me, but now that I’ve had some practice, I think it will be much easier.

Helping Ukrainian Artists

More importantly, Etsy is making it easy to find artists in Ukraine who have Etsy shops. Purchasing downloadable art, is one way to support someone who is not able to ship anything but can still receive money from downloads. Recently I read that 10 US $ could provide a refugee with enough to buy a bag of groceries. I would like to spread the news about this. It is an easy way for someone like me to help, knowing that I’m putting money directly into the hand of a person who needs it. I downloaded this beautiful piece by Nastasia Viktorova and more including a couple of embroidery patterns. This piece is on my studio wall to keep my heart close to the people in Ukraine.

A Crown Fit for a Queen

In February I was talking to my granddaughter Harper on the phone. She was showing me her art and had made crowns for the queens. She made one for me too. I was so excited when I got it in the mail, I took a picture and sent it to her so that she could see me in the beautiful crown, fit for a queen. That made her happy.

Aren’t children wonderful? I don’t see my grandchildren and my two greatgrandchildren, nearly enough.

Thank you so very much for reading my blog. Sending love and blessings to you all, Hanna

Books for Easter