arya and sansa

                               11x12

Painted from a rare photo of sisters Arya and Sansa sitting side by side; they usually fight!

Painting white cats, for me, is as hard as painting a black one, but in a different way!

I painted my back cat, Smilla, as a silhouette with eyes.

For the white cats I can never settle on what color to paint the areas in shadow, and also have difficulty with their soft edges.

arya

                               8x10

Started this painting of one of my cats, Arya ... got this far and decided it was done. (Though I think I will go back and soften the hard edges in her toepads.)

cardinal

                               4x6

Another take on a background: lightly (maybe too lightly) painted branch shapes wet in wet; lifted/blotted a little here and there; and once it dried a little, added a few more branch shapes.

I like how chilly it feels.

But if that cardinal was in my yard, he'd be getting rained, not snowed, on.

                                 4x6

This one didn't work out so well. You know how sometimes when you start out wrongfooted, you just cant fix it. This looks overwrought to me ... though I like the pine cone and needles!

carolina wren

                               @5x8

Wrens, Carolina and house, were numerous in my yard this some; a house wren even nested outside my bedroom window. Pretty little birds.

A little indecisiveness and impatience ( not waiting for the paper to dry), led to an unfortunate messy patch, but otherwise ...

catbird

                              @5x5

Another of my favorites! Very plentiful in my yard in the warmer seasons.

Decided to try to tone down my salted background....

Was contemplating adding more branches or twigs, maybe berries, but since I couldn't decide, I did nothing.

mockingbird

                              @6×10

To me, one of the prettiest birds, with the prettiest song. 

pine cones and holly

                                   8x8

I dont know what trees they're from, but I like the long, cooler, white-tipped pine cones.

                                 8x8

downy woodpecker

                              5x7

I like what I was trying to do here--the faint background, the wetness--but the execution needs work!

On the other hand, I am very happy with this hat I just finished knitting!

The pattern is called Celtic Hat and it's by Oh La Lana.

wren

                                  5x7

I tried something different for the background: I painted it, then dropped alcohol onto it, which created an effect kind of like those old Christmas tree balls that looked frosted ... but when the paper dried, the effect disappeared!

Speaking of Christmas tree ornaments, if you havent yet, take a look at Jo MacKenzie's YouTube videos about painting them.

I tried last year, with no success.

Going to work on it this year.

This is my 2nd effort: still a mess, but, believe it or not, better!