Milky Way Over Sundial Peak & Winter Blues

There’s something to be said about noticing when you’re in a funk and acknowledging that it’s okay and just rolling with it. I first noticed it with my kids. We’re all cranky and mornings are tougher than usual. I told them both that it’s normal for this time of year. The holidays are over, it’s cold, it’s dark, and spring and summer feel a million years away. It feels like there’s nothing to look forward to like we had in November and December. My kids and I have deemed it the Winter Blues.

*Not to be confused with actual depression. Seasonal depression is real too, and I dunno, maybe I get a touch of it this time of year?

Somehow, acknowledging that we’re all feeling it made it suck a little less. We are hanging in there and simultaneously enjoying the snow we’re getting and also anxious for spring to get here.

Last week I realized I hadn’t done any painting since the end of December. And before that, I hadn’t painted since August. I had no motivation or inspiration; which sucks because I live in such a beautiful state!

Imposter Syndrome loves these moments and chimes in with little tidbits that sound like, “you aren’t skilled enough to paint that,” “don’t even start painting that, you won’t finish it,” and the ever popular, “paint that and everyone will learn how awful/fake/not-a-real-artist you are.” She’s a sneaky bitch.

Last summer, during one of my weekend shows, a guy asked how I made the stars on my Milky Way paintings. I told him that I was trying out different techniques as I went; some I used masking fluid, some I used white ink, some I used both. He commented that on a couple, it was hard to tell if I was going for stars or snow. I took no offense because his comment came from a place of pure analysis, but it did make me think. A few of my paintings are small, 8x10 or smaller. So when I’m using masking fluid, it can be more challenging to paint smaller stars if; especially if I’m just flinging masking fluid off of a brush.

One such painting was this one of Sundial Peak and Lake Blanche. This is a local mountain to me and one I am hoping to hike or backpack to this summer. The first time I painted it, I used masking fluid to make the stars. I splattered it on the page and then erased it off when the painting was done. It acts similarly to rubber cement. This original is maybe 8x10 inches, and I didn’t have the patience to make smaller stars by using a tiny brush and doing one at a time. You can watch a time lapse video of how I made this painting here.

I wanted to repaint this mountain on larger paper and see what I could come up with. This version has a bit more snow, more sky, and less of Lake Blanche. I skipped using masking fluid this time and made all of the stars with white pens.

This one took me more than a few days. I would paint a small part and step away for a day or two before coming back to it. I wasn’t thrilled with the mountains, feeling like they lacked some depth. Then I wasn’t happy with parts of the sky; the blues not inky enough. I wasn’t sure how I wanted to show the little bit of Lake Blanche that shows at the bottom. The reference images I had showed dark green spots where it was iced over.

I overthought this one a lot. Heck, I still am. I already know a few spots I want to change in Photoshop; like that stripe of snow down the middle that I didn’t intend to go almost perfectly vertical, LOL. I’ll scan this one and make it into prints and stickers…. after I’m happy with it.

Here you can watch the time lapse of how it was made.

Here’s a list of the supplies I used; including links. Some are affiliate links.

• Daniel Smith Watercolor

• Fluid 100 Cold Press 300lb Watercolor Paper

• Polina Bright Watercolor Brushes

• Princeton Velvetouch Brushes (Long Round in sizes 4, 8, and 12, and a flat 10)

• Pocket Palettes from Art Toolkit

• The World’s Colouriest Watercolor Set from Culture Hustle

• Uni-Ball Signo Broad Point White Gel Pen

• Zebra Fude Waterproof Brush Pens

…and the desk lamp that also holds my iPhone so I can make these cool videos.

What should I paint next?? I really want to paint locations that are outside of Utah, but I don’t love painting the same views of the most popular spots that everyone takes photos of. I kinda want to continue with public lands and National Parks too. Decisions…

Hand Painted Wood Ornaments

A while back I bought a box of little wood slices with the intention of painting them all with little landscapes and giving them as gifts. If I could get enough of them painted before Black Friday, I was considering selling them to hopefully make a few bucks before Christmas. It was mid November before I painted any, so yeah, I think I’ll have to buy another box and try again for next year.

Instead of stressing over getting a bunch of ornaments painted and shipped before Black Friday, I prepped all of them with Watercolor Ground and had the kids who joined us for Thanksgiving paint them. Ages ranged from 4 to 18 and they went to town making some really awesome ornaments. I brought Tombow markers, some inexpensive acrylic paint, and a set of iridescent watercolor that was on sale. I was so proud that they all had fun and spent a good amount of time painting their ornaments on Thanksgiving. It was a great activity for them to all do together that wasn’t a video game.

Watercolor Ground is a painting medium that can be painted onto porous surfaces to allow them to be painted with watercolor or gouache paint. I applied two coats to each of the wood slices and it allowed the wood to behave a little like watercolor paper. It’s not nearly as absorbant and you do get some bleeding or weirdness from the grain of the wood, but it’s overall a much easier surface to paint on than if I’d just painted on raw wood.

Of course I had to paint one wood piece to see how it would turn out and made this little painting of Half Dome from Yosemite National Park. I LOVED how it turned out. The medium doesn’t behave exactly like watercolor paper, but it’s close enough to make for some fun little paintings. On this one I used a combination of watercolor, gouache, and water-based brush pens. I made a TikTok video showing this process that you can see here.

I had so much fun with that first ornament that I had to make another one… or a couple more.

This time I tried for an epic sunset at Joshua Tree National Park. With the sunset I tried harder to get more of the look of a watercolor wash. The paint doesn’t blend quite as well as it does on paper, but I was happy with what I was able to achieve. Then I used gouache and brush pens for the trees and foreground. What a fun and unique park to explore! Here’s is the TikTok video I made of the process.

The next one I did was a Christmas gift for my son’s 2nd grade teacher. She has two parrots and my son had the genius idea to paint her beautiful birds onto one of these ornaments. He sent her an email asking which breeds they are (Blue Fronted Amazon and Solomon Island Eclectus) and she sent him a few photos. I was more than happy to paint them onto the little piece of wood and he wrote his name on the back. You can view the TikTok video here.

The next ornament I made for my sister of Babylon Arch. She and I hiked to this beautiful arch in southern Utah last year while we were both on a women’s retreat. It’s such a magical place with beautiful views of the Virgin River and gorgeous Navajo sandstone. For this ornament I used gouache for the whole thing. It’s been fun to re-remember how to use gouache, get the right consistency, and how to layer to get the affect I want. Here you can view the TikTok video.

For the last ornament I made this year, I made this scene from Coyote Gulch for my friend Michelle. She and I, along with another rad woman, backpacked to Coyote Gulch this past spring. I wrote a long blog post about it earlier this year. The third night of our trip, we camped under this alcove and it was such an epic camping spot. Here’s the TikTok showing this ornament’s progress.

Making these ornaments has been such a joy this fall that I'm planning to order more wood slices and then spend the spring and summer next year painting a stock of them that I will sell online and locally. I am hoping to get into some local arts and crafts fairs and festivals next year selling prints and stickers, so maybe I can sell some of these ornaments there too.

What are some epic locations you’d like to see painted on an ornament?

Sundial Peak Watercolor

I have been struggling to have the motivation to paint the last month or two. I really want to make more paintings that I can turn into stickers and maybe even sell as prints, but motivation just hasn’t been there. My kids are back to attending school in-person too, so it’s not like I don’t have the time. Sometimes it’s kind of like exercise: when I don’t feel like doing it, if I force myself, I feel so much better afterward and feel glad that I pushed myself.

This was my mood the other night, so I made myself a mug of hot tea, put some Star Trek: Discovery on my iPad and set to work on a new painting. I wanted to do another starry night sky, so I chose a mountain that is relatively close to home rather than a spot in southern Utah: Sundial Peak and Lake Blanche. Lake Blanche is in Big Cottonwood Canyon and it’s a hike I really want to do this year. It’s more challenging than ones we’ve done before, so I haven’t been able to go with my kids. I have heard that we can backpack up there too, so I’m going to try and convince my oldest to go backpacking with me up there. The promise of a lake with fish should be enough.

By the way, I bought myself a second Pocket Palette so I can keep my warm and cool colors separate and I am loving it!

I chose not to go over this one with black ink. I felt it really didn’t need it. I also need to stop using blue painter’s tape and get some proper masking tape. I keep having issues with the tape tearing the paper. I’m betting thicker paper may help too.

I don’t know if I will turn this one into a sticker. I like how it turned out, but there are a few tweaks I’d like to make to the colors before I will be happy with making it a sticker. Plus, it’s part of National Forest land, not sure my “I heart public lands” verbiage really works. Should I do something else? Maybe a short quote about wilderness or exploration? I will have to think on it for a bit.

In the meantime, here’s a time lapse of how I made this painting:

By the way, are you following my YouTube channel? If not, here’s the link. My kids keep telling me I need to post more, so I’m working on that. The fact that I have no formal video-editing skills is quite apparent.

Here are the materials I used for this painting (many of these are affiliate links):

Daniel Smith Watercolor
Trekell Watercolor Brushes
daVinci Travel Watercolor Brushes
Pocket Palette (x2)
Grumbacher Miskit Masking Fluid
Fluid Cold Press Watercolor Paper
Phone Holder/Ring Light Thingie (quite handy!)

I never regret forcing myself to paint… but occasionally, I start a painting and never finish. I have a painting started on my desk right now, and I’m not sure if I will finish it. I want to do two more paintings on Utah’s public lands and then I will offer a deal on buying the whole set of stickers. I need to get that finished.

Any suggestions on beautiful spots you’d like to see painted?? I have some ideas saved, but I would love to hear more; even from spots that are not in Utah!

Plein Air Painting

More than a year ago I bought myself an Art Toolkit and this summer I was finally able to use it. In mid-July we hit up one of our favorite fishing spots in the high Uinta Mountains and the reflection in the water was just beautiful, so I gave it a go. It turned out much better than I expected. The Uintas are a place we go to escape the heat of the Salt Lake Valley in the summer. We’ll bring a lunch and spend a whole day out there; lounging, fishing, painting, and enjoying the quiet with no cell service.

Pass Lake, Uinta Mountains, UT

Since then I’ve used my Art Toolkit a few times on some of our summer travels and even in my friend’s backyard.

Split Mountain Campground, Green River, Dinosaur National Monument, UT

This was such a wonderful little spot to spend an afternoon. We explored some of the Utah side of Dinosaur National Monument, but we had no idea what there was to see other than a museum about dinosaurs. We found some day-use parking at the Split Mountain Campground and we thoroughly enjoyed this beautiful spot. My husband and my oldest son did some fly fishing while my youngest and I chilled in the shade painting and building a sand castle. I cannot wait to get back there someday.

Lucerne Valley Beach, Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area, UT

Fishing with my son at a local pond

I was reluctant to share this painting when I took my son fishing one early morning before it got hot. I’m actually not happy with it. I had a plan for the water and then a bunch of ducks kept swimming by and made me change it and before I knew it, the water was a mess. Oh well. It was a learning experience. I did go back over the trees with black ink to flush out some of the shapes and I was a little happier with it. But still not happy about the water.

Lone Peak, Wasatch Mountains, UT, view from my friend’s backyard

The Art Toolkit is really thought-out and obviously curated by an artist. It comes decked out with all of the little essentials you’d need for some plein air watercolor painting. It comes with a water brush, pencil, waterproof pen, a tiny squirt bottle, a syringe for refilling the water brush, a little, plastic ruler, two tiny binder clips, and a notebook of watercolor paper that fits perfectly in the big pocket. Lastly, you can choose from a variety of options for the Pocket Pallete

I have since replaced the pen with a couple new ones since I wore out the one that came with it. I have added a second Pocket Palette to my kit; one with warm colors, the other with cool colors. I added a couple more water brushes and I keep a few business cards in one of the pockets. Sometimes I can bring a cup of water with me, so I keep a couple of my favorite regular brushes in there. I never would’ve thought of the little binder clips that come with it, but I use them each and every time I paint.

I really hope to fill up the book that came with the kit. It brings me so much joy to be able to capture a little moment when I see a beautiful landscape.

Strawberry Reservoir, UT

Hike it Baby 30 Challenge - 2019

I had the pleasure of creating stickers to commemorate the two Hike it Baby 30 Challenges for 2019. In previous years, they used to have four challenges every year, but decided to cut it down to just two in April and September. You can see the stickers I created for 2018 here.

For 2019, we stuck with a similar watercolor and ink style and I made the April sticker quintessential to spring with blooming crocus, green grass, patches of melting snow, and the sky streaked for a sunrise.

In an effort to get more folks out on trail with their kids, they created a secondary challenge called Take it Outside. Participants received a sticker that loosely coordinated with the HiB30 sticker along with two sheets of little stickers to use on a calendar page that they printed out. Each day on the calendar page gave ideas for a daily activity designed to motivate people to get outside every day. I love how these turned out and it was awesome to see folks using the calendar page and stickers throughout the challenge.

Here’s the calendar page that I created for participants to download and print:

They received this sticker sheet in the mail shortly after signing up:

You can see a mini version of the Take it Outside sticker too!

When the September challenge rolled around, I created a new sticker and we added a few more hikers to the artwork, wanting to give more of a community feel. The Smoky Mountains in Tennessee and North Carolina were the inspiration for this sticker.

To go with the September sticker, they did another Take it Outside challenge for new members too, this was the coordinating sticker.