Saguaro Goldfinch and Flowers

14x11 mixed media and collage on Crescent matboard done last part of May. Using felt tip, ink, and acrylic markers, I colored in the flowers and saguaro. Various papers were cut and glued to the image. Lastly I cut out a watercolor goldfinch bird from my sketchbook and adhered it to the top floral area. Dilute white acrylic was lightly washed over the too pink background to tone it down. All in all, a fun creative piece that would fit into anyone's decor. COPYRIGHT Kay Smith 2026

Colorful Cactus Blooms

6x6 watercolor limited palette plus 0.3 fineliner Winsor Newton sepia ink pen and white gel pen. This imaginary desert flowering plant was done last month in my Master's Touch sketchbook, 80 lb paper. COPYRIGHT Kay Smith 2025

Saguaro Sunflower Bouquet

9x7 mixed media collage on paper from 80 lb sketchbook done last week. I used watercolor, acrylics, alcohol inks collage, ink pen (STA Lictin 0.8 pen. Two different alcohol ink florals were cut up and arranged on top of the cactus before gluing them. COPYRIGHT 2024 Kay Smith

Barrel Cactus Fun

6x6 mixed media started over a week ago using graphite watercolors (Kuretake's Gansai Tambi) and black india ink. In this imaginary cactus I've made the spikes seem surreal. This is on Masters Touch 80 lb sketchbook paper. COPYRIGHT 2024 Kay Smith

Another Confetti Cactus

Another Confetti Cactus 8x5.5 mixed media using acrylics and ink in new junk journal from the 1940s I created last month. This is the third fun yet funky decorated cactus I have done. The first one has gone to its new home so still have the second and this one. No two are alike. COPYRIGHT 2024 Kay Smith

Cactus Greens

9x7 mixed media on Strathmore Bristol 300 series 100 lb paper completed today, another in my prickly pear cactus series. After sketching with a black neon colored Magic pencil I sprayed water then scattered moss green Brusho. The mint green background is made up of Turner's Design gouache mixing white, turquoise, viridian, yellow ochre. Small amounts of watercolor are the added spots of oranges and yellows. Lastly, I took a wet #10 round brush and went over the cactus pads carefully blending colors. Some negative painting was done in the background to add more buds and blooms. COPYRIGHT 2023 Kay Smith

Cozy Cactus

6x6 mixed media in Masters Touch sketchbook 80 lb paper done last week, another imaginary cactus landscape. For this I used Brusho wc crystals in grey, olive and moss green, watercolor, and black India ink for line work. COPYRIGHT 2023 Kay Smith