Where I live, I have a different routes to drive home if I’ve been out gallivanting. On one of the ways I can come home takes me past a big stretch of green grass in front of some houses. On this stretch of grass the council planted some seeds for meadow flowers to grow in order to encourage and help bees with their jobs.
They’ve actually done this all over the Dorset area in various places, which I’m so thrilled about – but this particular area, being probably the biggest ‘patch’, takes my breath away each time I see it and makes me slow my car down just so that I can drink in the wonderfulness of it and nature in general.
So, when I sat down in my craftroom on Friday afternoon for a bit of watercolour painting on an ATC, I wondered if I could capture the mass of colours and beauty as they swayed in the breeze, of all the meadow flowers which always took my breath away. And this is what I managed to bring about via a few paint brushes and some colours.
I began by first working on the background which I desperately wanted to fill with the glory of the almost mental array of incredible colour which my eyes and heart registered as I came upon the flowers. It was difficult to pick out particular flowers as it was all such a wonderful sight.
Once the background colour was done (and I’d waited for it to dry …. helped after fifteen minutes of waiting – which is the limit of my excitability, patience wise) I then was able to pick out some of the colours and turn them into flowers.
I began with the blues and turned them into cornflowers. Followed by the red poppies, and lastly the tiny buttercups appeared low down. After this I just added some colour – mostly a watery green, to add to the depth and try to give that feeling of what it looked like as I slowly drove past this wonderful display and gift from nature. It truthfully takes my breath away each time I see it, as if I was seeing it for the first time. Just incredible.
All of the flowers were painted using the box of paints you see in the photo above (yes, that’s my desk…. and my mess). This was taken just after I’d finished painting the ATC and before I’d cleaned up my three water containers. One a large pot thing which has a brush scrubber at the bottom, a second pot which is what I rinse my brushes off in, and a third pot for cleaner water which I can dip my brush in if I require just a little more ‘wet’ to my paint(s) if the colour is drying out.
And that’s all there was to it! 🙂
Well now …. time for some coffee chat …. Happy Saturday! It’s so lovely to meet up with you for a coffee today. I have some biscuits (‘cookies’ for our USA folks) in the cupboard … shall I get them out for you?, or perhaps you might like some buttered toast? We can all eat, enjoy and chat around the table together.
Thank you so much for coming for a visit. It’s a total delight to see you here and I’m so glad that you dropped in and shared a coffee with me. I hope you have a truly lovely day, and that when bedtime comes, you feel that today was a great day to be alive.
Sending squidges to you in your corner, from me in mine ~
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The Art of Cobwebs 
What a beautiful picture you have painted…both with your watercolors and with your words! The green area must be a wondrous sight. And…how about the view from the houses! I would love that! When you say “council”…is that the city leaders such as the mayor, etc? Or is it a Chamber of Commerce or a tourism group?
Have a very good weekend, Cobs! Hugs to you!
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Hello Kindergarten.
Happy Saturday!
Ahhh … Council … I normally try to explain things that might puzzle folks outside of the UK, but this one slipped right past me! tsk tsk.
Council … Well it’s Local Government for the area in which one lives. Each area of the UK has it’s own ‘Council’, voted for by the people of the area. The majority vote wins.
So although we have a Consersative Government as the head of all Governments, each area has it’s own Local Government run by different parties depending on who was voted for in a local party election.
The Council is the Local Government. But … in some cases there are a tier of Governments who ‘look after’ different things. These tiers are called: County Councils and District, Borough or City Councils.
Each one is responsible for various services across the areas. EG: Social Care; Fire and Public Safety; Education; Libraries; Trading Standards; Council Tax; Social Housing; Planning Permissions. etc etc etc.
There’s more to it than I’ve summed up here, but I think you might ‘get the picture’ without me getting too complicated and fuzzing the whole thing. lol.
Thank you for your lovely words about this little painting KinderG. Bless you for coming.
Sending love and Happy Saturday wishes ~ Cobs. x
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So tonight I was in one of my favorite craft stores. You totally have inspired me to try water coloring. I bought tablets of watercolor sheets. Maybeeeeeeeeeee I will give it a try tomorrow =) BTW this one is gorgeous. I love the beautiful colors… especially the blues =)
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Ohhhhh Tami!!! I’m just thrilled to bits and pieces that you’re going to give it a try. When you begin … just play. Don’t expect too much of yourself to start with because you have to get used to how they move and react depending on how much water you’ve got on your pad, or brush, or how much water you add afterwards.
Hold a tissue in your none brush hand (the hand which isn’t holding the brush) so that you can gently ‘dab off’ colour and see how that works too. (That’s a great way of making a cloud in the sky too!)
Give yourself plenty of chances to play so that you can begin to see how easy it is to produce something that you fall in love with.
Oh … and don’t throw away ANY of your pictures that you make. Date them, on the back, and let them dry out (over-night pref.) then you can save them in a wallet or a folder etc.
Do this because it allows you to actually see how far you’ve come in your journey and how much you’re improving.
Sending heaps of love and painting vibes — oh and thank you for your lovely words about the little Meadow Flowers painting. ~
Cobs. xxx ❤
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Ohh Yay.. Thank you so much for the tips ! I really appreciate it. This is a new thing for me. I used to be reallyyyyyy good at pencil sketching and unfortunately I didnt stick with it and when I was younger colored chalk. This is a whole new experience. It looks soo fun =). I greatly apperciate your feedback. I am looking forward to a moment to try it out . I will keep you posted. xoxoxoxoxoxox =)
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Totally Gorgeous ATC Cobs. I like the darker but also like the green. They do alter the look of the ATC. That’s a nice idea to plant meadow flowers. What a nice council. We were only talking about the bees yesterday. We have had hardly any in the garden this year and normally it is full of honey bees but it has been an odd year garden wise.
Hugs Flo x
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Hello Flo
Thank you so much for the lovely words about this little Monet’esque’ (ish) Meadow Flowers painting.
Bees … aw how miserable that you’ve had so few Bee visits to your garden this year. I have to admit that we seem to have fewer bees this year too, but not too many … however those who have come are going to give someone some fabulous Lavender flavoured honey. They love the Lavender and it’s been a joy to sit and watch them.
Thanks for coming Flo.
Squidges ~ Cobs. x
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I love wild flowers, they always feel so happy and welcoming, and I love that it’s like a slice of home wherever in the country you see them. Gorgeous ATC, really captures the feel of the flowers
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Awww thank you so much Isn’t She C.
I love wild flowers too. So much so that if I got the chance to do my wedding over again I’d want wild flowers as my bouquet. They have a language all of their own and a sense of love which is unique to them. Love them.
Thank you so much for your fabulous comment. You’ve lightened my heart and lifted my spirit.
Bless you.
sending love and squidges ~ Cobs. x
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Ooh coffee and hot buttered toast sounds incredible about now 😉 I LOVE this watercolour – the colours in the background and then focusing on the flowers in the foreground working from the cornflowers down to the buttercups. It looks great in the blue mount as it lets the colours pop. I have always wondered what the Gansai Tambi watercolours are like.
Happy Saturday Cobs. Hxx
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Slipping a couple of slices into the toaster as we speak, just for you! 😉
Ohhh thank you so much for the lovely words about this little painting Hannah.
I thought the blue mount was the ‘one’ too.
The Gansai Tambi watercolours … I recommend. They’re more of a solid gel type stuff, than the hard block of powdery colour that you can find in pans.
I love using them as their colours are so intense – but I flit between tubes of colours and the Gansai – depending on how I feel, and what look I’m aiming for.
Wishing you a happy Saturday too Hannah … Oh…. there goes the toaster. I presume you would like butter and not that alternative stuff – spread. Yeah … let’s live a little. Butter it is. Yum!
Sending love ~ Cobs. xxx
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Butter always! 😆
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Toast and coffee please. I truly love this little painting. Just looks like it could be from your own garden. I do understand driving past a lovely patch of wild flowers. While living in north Alabama ,20 some odd years ago, there was a spot on the interstate that went up to Chattanooga that had a hill full of red poppies. Just breath taking.! And here , in late summer, the road side is full of Black-eye-Susan. Isn’t Nature wonderful?
Now…do you cut your own mats. I learned how ,long time ago, but don’t have a mat cutter . Of course they can be cut without one but the right cutter just does it so much neater.
Have a great weekend…I will be cleaning all next week trying to get this cottage ready for my children to come for a family dinner. I haven’t done that in a pretty long while and I think it is time. Before I completely forget how to do it. LOl XOXO
.
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I’m presuming that you mean the mats of matting and layering on a card? (hope so ….)…
If it’s mats to walk on – nooo, never have, can’t see me doing it either.
Matting and Layering mats … I cut them using (normally) my little guillotine which I keep on the desk next to where I sit. But I always measure them out before I cut as I’ve learnt that the hard way.
Sometimes though … things can happen and I might be a little bit ‘out’…. but it’s not normally by much, and we crafters have our ways of hiding our creative happy accidents. lol.
So happy that you like the little Meadow Flowers ATC. I wasn’t entirely confident about putting that on the blog, but Himself said that he liked it because it was very ‘Monet’ and different. He liked all the colours too. So that was enough encouragement for me to say “ah, fish to it, I’ll post it”. So I did.
Not sure if it’s brave, bravado or simply a case of nitwittedness.
(It’s the latter. It’s most definitley the latter.) lol
I can truthfully imagine what that hill of Poppies must have looked like, and how it made you catch your breath. What an incredible sight to suddenly come across. Nature is indeed wonderful Bev.
We are SO Blessed.
And you, my dear friend, enrich my life in ways you cannot imagine. I am so thankful for you.
Love you, Madam. ~ Cobs. x
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A nice array, Cobs. Bold… vivid… colourful!
I see my Seedlings in your painting! 😀
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When those seedlings have grown, bring ’em over and I’ll hot glue them to the picture. They really will be in it then! lol.
Aw but seriously … I had a bit of a wobble over that one. I’m normally a ‘neat and tidy’ kind of gal, so to be splattering paints and water all over the place, and spraying the paints with more water from a bottle in order to encourage them to blend into each other … well it felt like being a child in a sandpit.
When it was finished I really loved it. It’s funny how we go through love it/hate it/like it/don’t like it/love it again … when we make things.
We are are own worst critics.
I wish I could say something to turn your creative vibe back on.
~ Cobs. x
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I love the colors in that painting! Vibrant and full of life. I am so glad you explained what a biscuit is in USA terms. I would never have guessed a cookie. I was thinking along the lines of our biscuits and gravy (which is kind of a little baking powder bun thing) (That really wasn’t a very enlightening explanation on my part was it?) Anyway…..now I need to know what a crumpet is……..
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Ahhh … I knew what your American Biscuits are. They’re a LITTLE BIT like our Yorkshire Puddings – but your ‘biscuits’ are more solid, whereas our Yorkshire puddings are light, airy and … s.i.g.h. … GORGEOUS!
An American friend described American Biscuits to me and told me how they’re eaten. Hence the reason I qualified what our Biscuits are. Sweet, crisp and we have a tendance to dunk them in our tea/coffee.
Now then … Crumpets. Ooooooo well … these are mostly round – but recently we’ve had some cheeky shapes appear (and disappear too) such as Christmas Trees (at Christmas) or Easter Egg Shaped. [sigh] None of us quite understand why they bother, but some mummies will buy them and pay double the price. (eek)
I found a very helpful video …
It’s very tongue in cheek though. lol.
OH and DON’T SAY THAT WORD WHICH HE SAYS AT THE END when he sees the washing up. Despite what you might have heard from other sources, it DOESN’T mean spots.
Probably the nicest crumpets in my opinon are from two places: Aldi’s own brand crumpets, and Warburtons.
You toast them and as soon as they’re out of the toaster, you spread them with butter. And eat them straight away!!! That last bit is very important. However … they are hotter on the bottom, so just be careful about that.
If you leave them for even a moment, they cool quickly (I think it’s all those holes) and you don’t get them at their best then.
You can also put honey on them; peanut butter; chocolate spread; I’m told cheese – but I’ve never tried it. And a variety of different things according to taste.
If you can find some nice ones Chicken, give them a go. Your first bite might be a surprise and you might think you won’t like it, because it’s kind of bouncy and springy … but stick with it. Try it at first with just plenty of butter – which will sink into those holes. Be careful, because they will drip – so hold your plate under your chin.
Thrilled you liked the painting.
Thank you for coming for a visit Chicken. Love seeing you.
Squidges ~ Cobs. x
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Now I am wondering if your Aldi’s is the same as our Aldi’s? If so I will need to be on the lookout for crumpets….I think honey would be wonderful!
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I think it’s the same Aldi.
I know talking to a friend who lives in the US, she can buy the same stuff as I can here in the UK.
Before you try the honey on crumpets, just try one with butter first. Make it through the whole crumpet to give yourself chance to get an idea of the whole new thing going on in your mouth.
The reason I say try butter first, is because that’s how they were designed to be eaten. The addition of new tastes is a very recent one and only happened in the last handful of years. So do try them how they’re supposed to be eaten first … then you can experiment.
Oh … try Aldi’s own brand of Jaffa Cakes out too Chicken. They’re lovely.
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I will do that the next time I get to the bigger city that is about 60 miles from us. They have two Aldi’s stores.
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Stock up on those Jaffa Cakes Chicken. 🤗
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The flowers look like they are dancing. Are you sure the ones you see are attached to the ground?
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I feel like they’re all dancing, Anne, every time I see them. With just a tiny little bit of wind they seem to sway to and fro and all look like they’re having the best time. I’m convinced that if I wound my window down in the car, I would hear them all giggling together.
lol
Sending squidges to you Anne ~ Cobs. x
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And flowery giggles back to you!
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Oh what a beautiful little painting! I can just see the roadside filled with these beauties! I think I like this one the best out of all of your little paintings! Just plain beautiful! 🙂
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awwww, thank you Nancee. You are so kind.
Bless your beautiful heart.
Thank you. 😀
love ~ Cobs. x
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Lovely capture of the poppies, you can really sense the movement in the picture. And yes..definitely Monet-esque..although his were ENORMOUS…have a great day 😺💕xxx
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Nods … enormous indeedly!
Monet would scoff with disdain at the size of these. they’re smaller than my little fingernail! lol.
Thanks for coming and for the lovely comment Samantha.
Squidges ~ Cobs. x
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I especially love this one-oh to have biscuits and coffee with you!
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Any time you like Rabbit. 😊
Thrilled you like the ATC.
I drove past the real flowers today and was SO glad that the really bad rains and winds we suffered yesterday hadn’t damaged them. (my garden is another matter altogether!)
I would have stopped to take a photo and share it … but I’d left my phone in the house. So I’ll go again tomorrow and see if I can catch a good photo of them. (providing it’s not hammering down with rain!)
Squidges ~ Cobs xxx
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some how, you belong in a meadow with other wild flowers! love Michele
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ohhhhh that is such a beautiful thing to say Michele. Thank you so much. Bless your beautiful heart. ~ C. xxx ❤
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cobs, I love this painting! poppies and cornflowers are two of my favorites.
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Aw thank you Salpal.
Apologies for the late reply – your comment (along with another one on a different post) went into hiding and I only found it today. tsk tsk.
Sending squidges ~ Cobs. x
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