Necessity is the 'Mother' of Invention....

I feel as though have been struggling with some kind of block - like I'm going backwards - so have spent a lot of time practising washes and colour matching on various flowers.  Have been using the time to play a little and feel more comfortable with paint and paper.... however it still feels like something is missing ... perhaps it's my own attitude and seeing this more as work than enjoyment, probably also due to my health and work commitments at this time of year.

 

Strangely our roses are still blooming randomly, even though we are in the middle of Winter ... there was a perfect bloom on our Good Samaritan rose so I began with washes of the colour I thought were a good match, however each time the paint dried the rose seemed too pale and too pink.  I realised I needed a deeper, richer red which I don't seem to have.  I enjoyed painting it though and didn't want to see it end up discarded.  I did not want to feel as though I had lost yet another day  - I hadn't managed to get out to buy a birthday card for my Mum and I knew I could turn it into something for her.   I was not happy with the edges and used my Micron pen to outline the rose and turn it into something a bit different.

Hence the title of this post - my Mum really is the most supportive and caring person and has been a real cheerleader for me in this late venture into botanical art.  She kept some of my really early drawings and even framed them (eek) and like so many mothers, would be proud of everything her kids do.  I decided to transform the painting into her card and so it became a labour of love.  I had painted the rose in early unfurling stages to one side of the paper so instead of wasting it I decided to include it on the back page by folding between the two.

Voila!!  Hand made birthday card for the best Mum in the world.

Happy Birthday Mum xxx