Just this week I finished my latest 11 x 14 watercolor on masonite board. I've decided to do a whole series of seed packets in watercolor and I started the series by painting some Foxglove, a flower that I have always thought is so very beautiful.
I had some beautiful Foxglove photos from a trip we took to Mohonk last year (lots of photos of our Mohonk outings are in my Out And About section to the right) so I decided to use those as a reference for this painting.
I wanted to do a series of really unusual and fun paintings and I got the idea for seed packet paintings by looking around on line, at vintage seed packs that were for sale. I just stumbled across them one day and the idea hit me out of the blue.
I wanted to make the border of the painting very colorful as I plan to make tee shirts and tote bags from this design , as well as the other seed packets that I paint.
I finished this set of paintings after I got back from my trip to Mohonk.... I wanted Among The Branches to be a piece with earthy tones and lots of different looking textures.
It is amazing all the textures and designs you can create with lots of fun and unexpected tools. For instance, my husband's old shirt made its way out of the basement again to create the swirled blue and burnt sienna background.
I have to admit that instead of going for a clean piece of shirt, I reached for the paint encrusted piece I saved from last time. It was mostly stiff as a board but somehow it worked beautifully to help me create the background.
Luckily we have many more of these old and torn shirts in the basement as we like to use them to wash the car and any other wet and messy chores that come along. Anyway, a few cut pieces of shirts will not be missed but my paintings sure enjoy and benefit from them.
This painting is available on my ETSY site at: www.artfulcreations.etsy.com 
