Flight Delay

11x15 watercolor still life on Arches 140 lb cold press paper done at beginning of the month using Daniel Smith paints. I set up various personal items from home then used a strong lamp for shadows. The small birds on the pink scarf draped over the top served as the theme while the realistic parakeet kept all others in line below. Studying still life arrangements, placements, shadows, and other design elements was my students' assignment this month. COPYRIGHT Kay Smith 2026

Tequila and Talavera

8x8 watercolor on 140 lb cp paper by Master's Touch completed today using White Nights paints. This is a half mannequin woman with cute hat that with the Talavera and margarita glass were part of a display in an antique store in Ruidoso, NM. COPYRIGHT 2025 Kay Smith

Vegetables on Talavera Mosaic

18x12 watercolor on Canson 140 lb cold press paper still life I set up of two onions and a red bell pepper on tile surface.  The pattern areas are Talavera pottery pieces along with rusty iron and concrete parts.
COPYRIGHT 2020 Kay Smith

Calla Lilies Talavera style

22x30 watercolor and ink on Saunders Waterford 140 lb cold press paper.  Taking a cue from Talavera pottery that I collect and love, I used a single white calla lily and drew exaggerated shapes then added pattern one might see on the famous designs.  These wild and crazy blooms are done in desert colors of taupe, raw sienna, quinacridone gold and burnt orange, indigo for the stamens, and mixed greens for leaves.

Balancing Act - vegetable still life

18x12 watercolor of two onions and a red bell pepper balancing on a sunflower mosaic vase I'd turned on its side.  They're resting on cut glass mosaic top of an old hospital stretcher in my studio.  At upper left is a portion of Talavera pottery holding plants.  I set up this still life last year then drew and painted it before the onions and pepper got too ripe sitting in the sunny south window.  This is dry brush on Strathmore 140 lb cold press paper.

Balancing Act - a vegetable still life

18x12 inches watercolor on Canson 140 lb cold press block. Drawn from my fresh vegetables I placed on the side of an overturned mosaic sunflower vase, I placed in a sunny south window and painted wet on dry. Patterns you see beneath are those of glass shards and a metal cross embedded in another mosaic (it is the top of an antique gurney). Top left is the side of a Talavera pottery garden pot.