That's how I feel about Yvette. We met by her seeing my art at our local bakery, De Azucar in Oviedo. When she saw my work at the Great Day in the Country art show, she took a card. Since that time she's taken an art class with me and become a fast friend. I realized quickly that she's a kindred spirit. She's a petite, hard-working mamma whose been living near me, loves creating art, raising her kids, worshipping God all while being relatively close by. We even have been sharing some of the same friends without my having ever met her until this year. For me, the best thing about living in Oviedo is all of the small-town cross over!

When she wanted to host a watercolor night for her small group to celebrate a few milestones and memories, I was thrilled to be a part of it. 

Holli and I are setting up for the evening and being our normal "dorky" selves. 

Everything is ready with about 45 minutes of set up time. By the way, her home was absolutely beautiful!

These ladies put out an amazing, delightful spread. I purposely took a certain path around the tables when helping them paint to pick at these delicacies; I have a cheese addiction.

We started the family trees by drawing in clumps of leaf canopies.

Next we tape off the spaces where the family names will be placed. Once the tape is down, it is time to paint in those leaf clumps.

Some ladies planned to include siblings, some went with just there immediate family, others listed great grandparents.

This part of the project can often be an emotional journey as we think through our family history. Families take lots of turns and our heritage and lineage is not always simple or straight forward. In truth, it really doesn't matter how perfectly  symmetrical your family tree looks in art or life. When we put our trust in him, God can redeem all things in his timing.

Once the leaf clumps and trunks are painted, we were able to peel off the masking tape and put on any finishing touches. 

Most of the ladies will finish filling in the family names later at home using a fine tipped permanent marker.

Our beautiful hostess gave us gardenias fresh from her garden as a thank-you gift. These meant so much to me as I grew up with gardenias by my front door. The very smell of them brings me back to my own immediate family and my childhood. I had to take a little time to paint them. Thanks Yvette, this one is for you!

Aubergine is a fancy (mostly British) word for eggplant. I first saw this word in my European cookbooks and was intrigued by it. Truthfully, I'm actually not much of a recipe follower. I mainly throw everything into the pot and hope for the best. I'm certain that is why my baked goods never turn out quite right. 

I remember my mother trying to get me to look at recipes she wanted to try when I was a teenager, and I just couldn't be bothered. She still has a rating system in which she uses 1 to 5 stars to determine the validity of each recipe that she's tried. She also writes notes in the margins about feedback the family gave, substitutions she's made etc... I think cooking, nutrition and food are her art.

Now I find myself loving to look at cookbooks and recipes for inspiration. The combinations, the illustrations and the comfort of the infinite possibilities make me happy.

With a nod toward cookbooks, in the picture above, I put a little layer of texture behind my eggplant painting in Photoshop to create a faux cookbook cover or kitchen poster design.

Since I've been fascinated by eggplants (and since they have that great, shiny, reflective skin) I decided that they would make a good subject for studying highlights. With watercolors, you primarily preserve the white of the paper rather than using white paint. In my classes last week, we learned 3 different techniques to present highlights. 

I snapped a few photos of the students hard at work. Most of these women have never painted with watercolors until taking this class! I'm amazed at their progress and growth.

This past Wednesday, one of my students brought a little cutie to class, and she entertained us all with her expressive faces. She provided a fun distraction from eggplant painting.

Here is the young artist in training!

It is a joy to learn alongside my students as we paint together, laugh at our mistakes, challenge and inspire one another.

We are taking a break for the summer but are picking up in August with the following classes: 

Tuesday evenings from 5:00 to 6:15pm
Runs August through Mid-May
Open to middle schoolers through adults

Wednesday afternoons - 2:30 to 3:30pm
Open to elementary-age children 6 to 10 - supplies included

Wednesday evenings - 6:30 to 8:00pm - 12-week class held at Metro Church*
Adults

Friday afternoons - 1:30 pm to 2:45 pm
Runs August through Mid-May
Open to middle schoolers through adults
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I hope you'll think about joining in on the learning. All skills levels are welcomed.
Learn more about the art classes here...