This image was created for the upcoming REMP-ARTS '09 Flowers and Nature Exhibition in Langres, France.
I bought this cute little plant from a Houston native plant store last August. It came in a 4 x 4 inch pot. The painting is to actual scale. When I finished, I planted this little monster in my garden. By the time Hurricane Ike hit it was almost as tall as me and it had it's second bloom spike, which had approximately 80 blossoms on it. I've since learned that it will grow to 30 feet in height, with a span of 10 feet.

Ten some years ago, I was afraid to do any portrait paintings, and I somehow gained some confidence and tried with photos of my children. This is one of my very early attempts at portrait painting. It's a 14"x17"(originally 15x22). I was, and still am satisfied with the outcome of the hat and her hair, but her skin tone is a little muddy and her ear isn't quit right. Expressions on face/body,lights and the mood are my inspiration.

The Hats project gave me an excuse to paint this image based on a photo I took of a woman viewing a painting someone had done of her that was displayed at the art center where I lead a figure/portrait group (see blog).
The woman (an artist herself) was greatly moved by the painting, and I was intrigued with how we each see ourselves and others. How we present ourselves, with the covering and clothes and gestures is all quite interesting to watch. The woman creates her own head coverings. This painting was done quickly, on a half sheet of Fabriano paper, primarily with M Graham watercolors and Silver brush black velvet brushes. More of my paintings at : http://portraitsandstilllifes.com
Comments always welcome!

This queen Mum was at a resort luncheon with her red hatters' group.. I could not resist painting her fabulous head gear!

I painted it on Kilimanjaro Baby Block from a photo I took at a "cute" shop in Freestone, CA, next door to an amazing bakery. Loved the bread more than I did that shop, except that the hat display caught my eye.

After teaching a watercolor portrait class, I gave the class an assignment to paint their self portraits. Then I felt guilty, because I had never painted my own self portrait. So here it is, painted two weeks ago from a photograph my sister took about 8 years ago. This is pure transparent watercolor.
I've made a slide video demo of the steps I took in painting it. Here's the link

This is my entry into the March theme project – hats. It is entitled “Ladies at Four” and depicts a time long past when ladies wore hats in the afternoon.

I went to MX knowing I wouldn't get any painting done down there, but I was open to new ideas. The first day, I looked out the balcony and saw the shadow of a palm tree on the sand, and later, my wife went down and sat in its shade. Bingo! I had it, and I did the painting when I got back.
I titled it "Dos Sombreros" for two reasons: first, it's from Mexico; second, the English word "hat" does not give the connotation of shade that "sombre" the root of sombrero does.

This approximately 8 x 10 watercolor, done on Arches cold press paper using mostly W & N paint, was inspired by one of my favorite photos taken many years ago. My husband and I were on a horseback trip in the Canadian Rockies. My husband is in the middle and the two other cowboys were our guides. The three of them in their hats were as handsome and jaunty as they could be! It was a wonderful trip and the photo was a great reminder of the good times we had. Now this small watercolor painting will also bring back the many good memories.

Judy Silver

The pulp character The Shadow relied on anonymity and obscurity, his costume was his hat and scarf, meant to hide his features from the world.
In homage to the four color printing process of the pulp magazines, I aimed to paint this with only 4 colors (but ended up sneaking in a 5th) in a sketchbook of Arches 80lb Cold Pressed paper.