White Christmas

This year we were in the strip of white Christmas recipient. I have never seen flakes that hit like baseballs on the porch until this year. They would have been great to go out and let fall around us but they came down at a 25 degree angle. It was crazy. We drove the seven miles to the grandparents and sat and watched it snow for a while. Then came home and relaxed.

I am excited to say that my studio is now open again. Santa used it to store a barbie house for my girl. She cried more than once in the last two weeks to paint. I also could have cried. The only thing that keep my sanity was painting Christmas bulbs. Well next week we will pull the brushes out and get started.

God Bless

Pictures from the old

I found an image of my husbands farm from way before he was ever thought of.  It was when his grandpa raised hogs and life was simpler. It show the house his grandpa was born in and the way the land was set up when a life's wages could have been earned on an Oklahoma farm.
A neat thing to me is that Grandpa was born with in a hundred feet from where he took his last breath. Believe me, I do not think life was easy  back then, just a little simpler in some ways.

Please take time to make life simpler. Hug your children, talk with your family, laugh. Just put away the electronics for one night and play board games. Enjoy what Grandpa had.

God Bless you all as we think about a babe in a manger

Christmas in the Air

I am excited to say that I am like a kid with a count down. Enjoying Christmas food and family is a joy this year. Even seeing the lights makes me feel ten again. This is another Christmas ornament that I made and is on eBay.

Sunday we had to go and check on the cows because a new calf was coming and we feared that its mom was having trouble. But before we got there it was born. This is the one born a few days ago and she does not want to slow down for her picture taken. The new calf's mom was on high alert so we left them to themselves.

As we finished up feeding the sky turned a beautiful colors. Funny that when a cold front comes in is the best time for sunsets. During the night we got traces of snow and we were thankful for any type of rain.

Well I slipped into the studio for a few hours this last week and started a new image. Guess I am hung on the summer harvest. This I have add my aquafix and will let it set up before I get to adding color.

Well God Bless and have a Blessed Christmas.

Christmas Fever

What a week, with Christmas getting coming up it seems like the world whirls a little faster. On of the small local towns had its christmas parade this week and our little girl loved the candy and hated the noisy sirens.

On the farm, calves have been dropping by the full moon we had another healthy bull that makes eight in one pasture. They are so fun to watch; full of life and spunk.

Well as for painting I did not get into the studio like I hoped. I am out of Aqua fix, which for me just won't do. So I did turn my attention to painting some glass Christmas ornaments. This one I will put on ebay. If it has an interest I will add one next week. Well so much to do and so little time to do it.

THe John Deere bulb is on EBAY. It starts at $.10 Click on John Deere Christmas Ornament to get to the site.


God bless

Finished Roofing

Hope everyone had a great thanksgiving. My husband, how does not like heights is setting on the roof with his dad helping to take a few peices of decking off.

We spent Wednesday stripping the front of our roof. I am resting after a full day of clearing two layers of roofing off. Thursday morning we put the plastic tar paper down. Then on Saterday and Sunday we put the new metal up.  It is not totally done but at least today, in the cold air I can start working in my art studio again.

God bless you and remember that Jesus and his kindness is the reason for the season.

Farmers Attitude

Well painting has been out of the question. You see our roof needs to be striped and metal roofing put on. Well a farm says that he can do it himself and that is just what we have done. My farther, mom, me  and my husband have half the roof striped and all the trim fixed. In another week the other half will be done. If I get a chance though I will paint next week.

The reason for no pictures is I buried my camera this week. No I did not drop it off the side of the house (but I thought about it when it stopped working). So I am looking for my little point and shot that someone put up for safe keeping. We all know how that goes.

Well have a blessed week and remember no matter how crazy your family is....time is limited with them. Spend your time wisely and try to enjoy their company.

First Craft Show

Well Everyone has a first, first word, first steps, first day to school. My first craft show was the same very interesting and a great learning curve. I met some great people and enjoyed a beautiful day.

What a treat

Last Sunday finished the planting season for wheat and now we are watching a green fuzzy carpet come up where the ground once lay bare. This is my girl in the drill during lunch break. She had to have one more play in the seed before it went gone gone.

I was lucky enough to be granted a scholarship to go to Quartz Mountain Art institute. We worked for four days on making art. I learned from great artist and met old and new friends. We had a blast laughing together and working til dark thirty making wonderful art.

Well dark is coming and the chores are not done. I will show you more painting next week.

God Bless.

Cluttered Overload

Hove you ever been there? I had A few days off from work and my fun was to paint and finish the combine. My girl and I got into the studio yesterday afternoon. Early enough that I could get a lot done and I could not even turn around. I know it is fall but I had to spring clean.

Yanking everything out into the yard I went through it and trashed a lot of stuff. Also I decided I would finally put some sticky tiles in to my my floor work better. Well  painting may have to wait but my room will be a whole lot nicer to work in. Sometime life just bucks a little. Cinch down and hold on, the ride will at least be worth bragging about later.

God Bless

Planting Fever

All the farmers I know have caught it. Symptoms include the hurry-up-and-get-it-done attitude, staying out late, dusty clothes, and if rain comes the pace-your-house-til-the-field-dries-out.  Don't worry if farming does not run in your blood than don't worry because you can't catch it.

Around here planting fever comes around winter wheat season but I hear it hits other areas during different planting times during a year. The nice part comes in about two weeks (if we are lucky and without break downs) the fever breaks and life returns to normal, as normal as a farmer's life can be.

Well I did steal a little time away to work in my studio  I add the wheat in the forground and made it get smaller as it got further back. This is turning out cool.

I added some washes to help set the tone down but it made a mess. Well let it dry and think about how to fix. All mistakes lead to success with time.

God Bless.

Working on the combine I need really good references. These were taken on a sunny day. They are close ups of the same machine that my husband is running in the painting I am working on.

This on would be great for reference but I did not consider the shade. Well life goes on.

Back in the studio I start working the combine up. I use bright colors and exaggerate the image. This way when I add the shadow wash over the combine it will have more value to it. I always work up the important part and let it rest for a day. A fresh start always allows me a new perspective on the work.

If you are curios about my work here is my website.

http://www.nicholelorenzen.com/

God Bless.

Mud puddles have been few and far between this year but today an inch of rain fell over this area. We were all thankful for the much needed relief to hot weather and the joy of green in the fields.

I start with an aquabord. I have fallen in love with these. Yes they cost more per board than watercolor paper but you just drop them in a frame and done. It makes up in matting and glass. Also you can ship them. Start by running them quickly under the water to get the hole board damp and let it dry to get trapped air out.  A 1 inch boarder is put around the edges to help separate the image from the frame making a matte in some ways.  Taking my time to get the artwork draw has proven more valuable than any other step.
Well God Bless time to get back to painting.

 My passion for watercolors can be compared to a frog for a healthy fly, or maybe a farmer for rain. I love working the farm and painting. With this blog I hope to help other watercolorist with my experiences.

Expereince 1# Know your paint.

It sounds crazy but if you will take the time to do a few exercises with your paint it will help you be better at mixing. Below is a grid of the colors that I use. I drew lines going down the paper. Making sure to leave a 1/4 in. gap. Then painted the colors and labeled them. The next day I came back to do the same procedure sideways.    

The grid has helped me see which colors move more, granulate when mixed, and are opaque. Since I am a visual person, I can glance up and see my chart. This also shows me which colors to mix for nice deep grays.   Well hope this helps. God Bless