Watercolors-watermark test

I painted this as a result of reading about using Art as a way of healing the soul. Since I was trying to find my way out of a bad turn in my life, I figured it was worth a try.

These eyes have been doodled by me for years beyond count. I decided to paint them and just let myself go. I haven't shown the piece outside of friends and family before now because it seemed too personal and strange. While I still see it as strange, it doesn't bother me to share it any longer. Maybe someone else will identify with it.

The question is: Did I put a watermark on the piece or not?

New blogger - Old painter

It is my goal to present some of my artwork, past and present, and talk about how I became an artist, and how it relates to my lifestyle here in The Mad River Valley in Vermont. (A tiny state up in the North East in the United States for those of you who may never have heard of it before.)

Since I am 62 years old, I will undoubtedly end up chatting about friends, books I've enjoyed, the locals, the visitors, my dogs, and anything else that inspires me one way or another. I am new to blogging and hope you will forgive me if I make some silly mistakes getting started. Being self taught in the use of computers, with the help of a very dear friend, I have decided to leap into this world of blogs. Perhaps some of you will enjoy reading the ramblings of an old woman who has done a fair amount of different things and is now a Granny and a painter of watercolors, I hope so.

Watercolor - Becoming a Painter

Being a painter of watercolors began as a fun thing to try my hand at and later became a substitute for taking anti-depressant drugs. It wasn't that I had never painted before, it was that I'd never been a care-giver for the elderly before. I'd been dabbling in a bit of drawing and making an attempt to paint for a little less than a year when I had taken on caring for two very old in-laws, both capable of driving any sane human to want to take extreme measures. I needed a good reason to run away from home for a few hours whenever the opportunity came my way and painting was my salvation. At the time I believed I would have my own life back within, at most, a year. It would be six years (1994-2000) and many workshops and paintings later before I ended up on Wellbutrin anyway. Just to give you an idea, one of the visiting nurses commented that she'd been doing her job for over 30 years and that Auntie was the worse patient she'd ever had to deal with and my father-in-law wasn't a charmer either. So I am convinced that rediscovering my artistic side, along with taking meds, kept me from running into the woods howling like a banshee.

At first I just drove 30 miles to Montpelier, the capital of VT btw, to pick up some very basic watercolor tools/elements/necessities and have a look see at what was available up here in the boonies. I purchased a few tubes of paint, a couple of cheap brushes, a portable easel, and some paper. I dug out my old sketch books and pencils and dug in. Then I got some good books and just followed the directions. Wasted a fair amount of paper and paint in the process but it is a good thing to get used to if you want to take a stab at watercolor painting. A good place to look for supplies on the net is www.cheapjoes.com