Thank you!

I've found I seem to really enjoy insects and flowers as subject matter. I do a lot of moths and butterflies in my work too. I have a thing for peach colored flowers in general too, so they tend to feature in my work. One of my works in progress is a few Cecropia moths and peach Hellebores.

Cant wait to see the finished results!

cecropia moths are amazing. So detailed and beautiful. Had one land one a neighbors door jamb. it stayed for a long time. We got to see it's soft brown wings and antennae. It stayed still for awhile. What a treat. Yes peach hues are a favorite. I have Prisma colour and Stadler pencils and use each for different applications. Prisma colors are more blendable I think. Sometimes I use a Q-tip to blend and smooth.

Q-tips work great for blending! I have a box specifically for my art stuff. They're cheaper in the long run than those whatchamacallits...blender stick things. I've had those tear up over time. Q-tips you just throw away whenever you want.

I like the Tombow alcohol pens. They work nicely and smoothly.

I use Q-tips quite a bit too. Then I have Sofft tools for my pastels, and a brush for my oil pencils and solvent.

OK, where HAVE I been? Brenda was kind enough to tip me off that you all exist.
You are my people - gardeners and artisans.
I scrolled your beautiful thread and saw your work.
Hooray ! Wonderful.

I am a Prismacolor Premier colored pencil artist. I tested other pencils and the wet techniques, different papers. Nope, I decided to stick to one thing and work it.
Once a week I sit with fellow artists at a local studio, we bring our pencils and current work in progress, each using their preferred pencil and paper and it's there for 3 hours that we work.
There is an instructor hovering, giving tips, discussing the latest & greatest item or technique, offering specialized coursework on Sundays to expand our knowledge. These are artists Extraordinar; I learn so much from our time together.
Anything I will post is completed with Prismacolor Premier pencils on Stonehenge paper, peer reviewed, professionally scanned and then I mat & frame my work to protect & preserve.
Yes, I do commission work. I love to have a couple of projects going consecutively. Keeps things interesting.
Below is my daughter, age 13, photo taken by my Mom, prismacolor pencils, Stonhenge paper 9"x12".

Fantastic work!!

Thank you, Anne.

Wow! Beautiful! And welcome!

I wish we had a group like that around here. I live in a small town with nothing much around it though, so we're pretty limited. The only small studio I know of is... snobby... The same little group of people that doesn't like to let anyone in (mum's a professional artist and looked into it a while back). Which is the case for multiple things around here. People don't tend to be welcoming into their groups... Oh well.

I used to put my work in galleries. Never the most local one though. Can't display unless you have an internal invite. Which I did get once, but that was because I had a boyfriend 16 years ago with a relative in there. Once we broke up, invite down the toilet...

I realized I never shared the finished Leucadendron, only some progress photos. Here's the finished work:

It was done in charcoal.

Wonderful!

That's amazing, Kathy! TK, your charcoal picture is beautiful It'd be awesome to see more of your work in art galleries! So much better than some of the stuff I've seen…

Double posted

Such amazing talent! Kathy and TK and Anne. I haven't gotten back into my craft room in a year and I need to get in there. Too much external distraction kept me from decompressing and creating. I'll get there-eventually.

Kathy, beautyful pic!

Thanks everyone.
Winter is for artwork, but as soon as planting season starts, I'll be in the garden if you need me.
Vegetable/Annual flower garden:

Perennial garden:

Oh how I wish I had a veggie garden that size!

The only way to have so much garden, and enjoy it, is to be retired. And, by george, after 52 years of working full time, I'm retired and spending time in my happy place.

Got some more work done on my orchids. Moving slowly, but it's getting there.