A stormy Sunday

Shells from the beach

This morning when I woke up I heard heavy rain on the roof and the wind rattling bare branches against my bedroom window. 

The weather forecast was for a stormy rainy day and indeed the forecast was correct when I looked outside.

I had a coffee in bed and time reading my favorite magazine "Daphne's dairy", because there was no hurry getting up at all.

But of course Ollie my dog wanted breakfast, so I had to leave my warm bed to feed Ollie.

I decided today was a good day for painting, I found some nice shells on the beach a few days earlier, and I painted two shell cards in watercolour in the morning.

I am selling cards at my hairdresser and she sold about five cards,so I have to paint some more.

                                              

More shells

The rain stopped in the afternoon and a beautiful rainbow appeared above the hop fields, our view from the lounge window.

Time for another walk on the beach with Ollie.

View from our lounge

I am part of bluechairdairy blog Sunday sketches 

Sunday sketch and art for the elderly

It is winter and this weeks Sunday sketch is a quick water colour impression of bare winter trees.

On Thursday morning I went with my therapy dog Ollie for our weekly visit to Jack Inglis, a local hospital and resthome for the elderly.

Every week Ollie,my dog and I visit this rest home and we do the rounds and Ollie gives a lot of joy and cuddles to the residents.

This week was a bit different because for the first time I did an hour workshop water colour painting with some of the hospital residents.

I made this water colour sketch as an sample for my small group of  elderly painters.

Ollie of course had to give everyone a cuddle before we started and then he settled next to the chairs and kept an eye on what was going on.

First we used water colour paints to create the back ground and then the ladies used a black marker pen to outline and draw in the trees.
The big brushes and marker pens are easy to hold for unsteady hands.

At work

 I had four ladies painting and after an hour everyone was tired, especially because this was the first time there was an art class and it was all very new.
We finished  just before lunch time and Ollie and I were happy with the results!

Some backgrounds finished.

Sunday sketch

This is the first Sunday I am part of Sunday Sketches, every Sunday I will post a new sketch.

I am part of bluechairdairy/sunday-sketches-pocketful-of-memories and different artists post a sketch each Sunday. Click on the above link to visit Alexandra.

Henk and I went for a picnic today on a winters afternoon near the river and the trees on the waters edge are so bare now. We are approaching mid winter in July.

I made the sketch with pencils of one of the trees in my sketchbook.

The last few nights we had frosts and in the morning our garden is white and the pond is frozen.

Pencil sketch

                                        

Our frozen garden

Winter has its own beauty and I have more time to be creative indoors close to the wood fire.