Category Archives: Watercolor

Bee Blessed

Petra Rau and Karsten Peters of Galerie Faszination Art. Bee Art, Galerie Faszination Art, Hamburg, Germany. May 2014.

Remember that blue Carpenter bee I painted? He is happily hanging in Hamburg among a handsome horde.

Petra Rau posted these photos and has generously let me share them with all of you. I am so grateful to her for the opportunity to see the show.

From the Faszination Art Gallery website:

International Art Exhibition and aid for bees. “Bee Art” was initiated by artist Petra Rau. What started as an appeal for artistic action to protect the bees in social networks, turned into a collaboration with the Hamburg gallery Faszination Art. Petra soon had the participation of more than 35 international artists.

Roughly 80 diverse works of art in various mediums including drawing, painting, printing on paper, canvas, wood, plastics and glass art. The opening reception was Thursday, May 08 2014. The show runs through May 28th. Numerous exhibits were donated by artists to aid in bee protection.

“Bee Art” is part of the project “Hamburg-hums!” with patron Daniela Schadt supporting. In cooperation with “Hamburg-hums!” are activities that have been developed in conjunction with the exhibition. Included are a concert, raffle, and honey sales.

Why So Much Attention For Bees?

Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) is a serious problem threatening honey bee health and the economic stability of commercial beekeeping and pollination operations worldwide. The cause of CCD has yet to be determined.

Bees pollinate 80 percent of our flowering crops, this is about 1/3 of everything we eat. Losing them would affect dietary staples such as apples, broccoli, berries, nuts, asparagus, and cucumbers. Beef and dairy industries could also be threatened if alfalfa is not available for feed.

On December 1, 2013 the European Commission (EC) imposed a two-year ban on a class of pesticides known as neonicotinoids, now the world’s most widely used type of insecticide. Neonicotinoids are one of the leading suspected causes of colony collapse disorder. The EC action will restrict the use of three major neonicitinoids on seeds and plants attractive to bees, as well as grains.

The U.S. has fallen behind in their commitment to protect bee populations. The U.S. EPA still won’t follow Europe’s lead and suspend or ban the use of neonicotinoid pesticides. They have however, awarded $460,000 in funding for research into integrated pest management.

Learn more about what you can do to help bees survive. Just for fun, take a look at these amazing photos of bees. Share if you care!

A Pastel Floral

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Flowers for Mama. Pastel, 5 x 5. © 2014 Sheila Delgado

I am so happy with how this turned out.

I found these pastels in the clearance aisle. The set is missing six, all warm, and mostly yellows. Explains why I am leaning towards the cool end of the spectrum. I only spent $4 on a set of 36, so I don’t have that feeling that I am wasting expensive art supplies. Freeing, when it comes to learning a new medium. I can play and just have fun.

I started out thinking I would paint Bougainvillea. Maybe close up abstract shapes. Not what this is at all.

I started with some loose pink shapes in watercolor. I worked the entire piece, but left the flowers until the end. I absolutely love the light green in this, light sap green. Using that with light blue, and indigo and seeing how they play off of each other. The darks in this are all indigo, sometimes mixed with green.

My composition could use tweaking. I have an even amount of buds, and they line up a bit more than they should. I could have divided the layout better, had more of the sky, and more of the shadows. Blah-blah-blah. But I did manage to seal this one without destroying it!

Still for all the blatant mistakes. I like it! Maybe I am hallucinating, I think it really looks good on a pillow. And that is what I intended.

What do you think?

Flowers for Mama © 2014 Sheila Delgado. Zazzle.com

Lumbar Pillow

A bit of spring to brighten your abode!

Mother’s Day Sale ~ 20% OFF ALL ORDERS! Ends 4/29/14

Pastel Disaster

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AAUGH!!!

Daring whispered in my ear today.

“Hey, wouldn’t it be fun to do a pastel to celebrate Earth Day!”

“YEH!”, I thought.

Never mind that I do not know much about pastel painting. It felt only right to work with my hands, to get them dirty. Pastels get you dirty. This is only my third ever, pastel painting.

I spent almost three hours this afternoon working on what you are about to see. Ok, maybe more like two hours, because I was checking on the split pea soup, and changing loads of laundry too.

This is small, five inches square. It is a good thing I really had fun working on this. Otherwise I would be really, REALLY, REALLY upset.

I apologize for the horrible photos. This is a quick look at the process. I was happy with the result. That is, until I decided to seal it, so I would be able to scan it for this post.

Brilliant, bloody brilliant Sheila.

It didn’t help, that right when I started to spray sealant, the wind kicked up and spread a fine dusting of little yellow specks from the trees nearby.

pastel progress. Hydrangea, 5 x 5, watercolor and pastel on 140 lb. watercolor paper.

I started with a watercolor wash. Then a few layers of pastel to get the basic shapes. I changed my mind, and decided the leaves looked better on the side, instead of the bottom. Little by little, I added details. I used Prismacolor NUPASTELS.