Category: Watercolor

Floral and Fairy Watercolor Paintings

Pick a Color, Any Color–Except Beige

I hope my colorful home series has inspired folks to let go of their color inhibition and fear of making mistakes and pick up a paint roller (or two) and a few gallons of paint and add splashes of color to their spaces. For more inspiration on adding color to your home pick up a copy of one of my favorite books, The Comfort of Color by Susan Sargent. It’s a fabulous source of inspiration that’s packed with gorgeous photos, unique color schemes, and tips to help you get started.

Want to add color to your home? What are you waiting for? Just pick a color, any color–except beige–and get started.

Delphiniums

Watercolors on Acquarello Artistico 100% cotton paper by Fabriano. This is my variation of a painting by Wendy Tait.

My daughter, Greta, joined in on the painting session and produced this lovely version of the same painting using watercolors and Pigma micron pens:

Want to try your hand at watercolors? Pick up a copy Watercolor Flowers by Wendy Tait.

Step Away From the Beige and Nobody Will Get Hurt

Every decade has unique interior decorating trends: the 60s had flower power, the 70s had shag carpeting and appliances in avocado green or harvest gold, the 80s were pretty in pink (remember pink wall-to-wall carpeting?), the 90s had minimalism, and the 2000’s and beyond had beige–ugh. For the love of beige, I just don’t get it. Who wants to surround themselves with this drab, non-color? It doesn’t get any more boring, depressing, or predictable than beige. For the last 10 years, open any decorating magazine or interior design book and all you’ll see is page after page of beige rooms. You’ve seen one beige room, you’ve seen them all.

I got so frustrated with this bombardment of beige that I stopped subscribing to decorating magazines. I’ve been waiting for the tides to wash in and color our world in delightful hues once again. Yes, I know that beige is considered a safe, tasteful choice. But who convinced American consumers that beige is tasteful? Retail stores, that’s who. It’s more economical and profitable for retailers to mass create furniture and accessories in neutral tones and convince consumers that this is the epitome of good taste. But who wants their home’s interior to resemble the home next door or the home down the street? Not me.

So enough of this beige bombardment already. I need color. And lots of it. My next series of posts will focus on color–lively, high saturated hues, how I’ve used them in my home, and what I used for inspiration. I hope you enjoy the show.

Simple Design is the Best

There’s beauty in simplicity and detail in the lack thereof. Sometimes it’s best not to over think things, or over design them. This plain white pitcher from Target’s new White Dinnerware line and simple colorful bowls from Pottery Barn’s Colorful Serve collection make a delightful display when left to shine on their own. Beautiful pottery doesn’t have to be fancy, or costly.

Love on the Rebound

I thought my recent “I Love You” painting might be more interesting if I gave it an aged appearance to match the cute note my daughter wrote me many years ago. So I brewed up some tea today, soaked a sheet of watercolor paper in it, placed several teabags on it in an attempt to give it a mottled effect, and let it dry. Here’s the result. I think it’s an improvement over my first attempt. What do you think?


Colorful Teapots

It all started with a picture in a magazine–a worn-out looking white enamel teapot filled with fresh daisies perched in the center of a kitchen table. I loved the juxtaposition of the antique teapot and the freshness of the daisies. So, I asked my neighbor to join me in a hunt for a similar teapot at a local antiques shop. I wanted to fill it with spring flowers from my front garden. It looked fabulous holding all sorts of flowers. I had an abundance of pink tulips in my yard that spring and decided that they would also look amazing in a pale yellow teapot, so I grabbed my neighbor again and away we went in search of a yellow teapot. That led to a search for a green teapot, a blue teapot, a red teapot, and so on. An obsession was born.

My neighbor and I spent many months searching for teapots in all sizes and colors. And when we’d found antique teapots in every color of the rainbow (except the elusive purple–I never did find one), I refocused my search on patterned teapots.

My collection eventually found a home on my family room bookshelves. I think the best way to display a treasured collection is to showcase all the items together. It packs a much greater visual punch than placing individual pieces or small groupings in multiple areas within a room or home.

Here’s a peek at my teapot collection. I’ve limited the selection in this display to colors that match my family room. But a rainbow display in a monochromatic room would also be amazing.

Colorful Bowls

I just love these Colorful Serve bowls from Pottery Barn. I love the bright, primary colors and the simplicity of their design. I love them so much that I’ve given them a starring role in my kitchen. They look particularly beautiful when filled with fresh fruits and vegetables in shades that match the bowls. Do have pieces of pottery that you love that you’ve stashed away in a cabinet or closet? Take them out of their hiding place, put them to use, and give them a starring role in your home.

The Love Note

I was searching through a box of artwork my daughter created when she was young looking for inspiration for my next painting when I came across this cute note she passed me when she was 8 years old. It was so typically girly that I just had to save it. I call this painting “The Love Note.”

My digital sketch:

My daughter’s sweet note:

My painting:

My daughter’s painting:

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