Bex Hall

Exploring Creativity

Bex Hall > flowers

flowers

Another experiment on the books

Hats off to the artists who make hammering flowers on paper look so easy!

The hammering part is easy enough, but knowing the type of paper and flowers took experimentation.

I gathered dandelions, crocus, nettle, and random leaves and visited a florist who gave me some light pink, near expired flowers, too.

I used mixed media, watercolor, and printmaking paper, with the last being the best transfer using the crocus.

After it dried, I used a Micron PN to run some loose lines around the suggestion of the flower.

This was fun, and I will do it again. That said, if any of you who have experience with this and care to share any tips or tricks, they would be most welcome!

Until tomorrow, xoxo

What a bird might write for their bio

Midge the Pidge

Meet Midge the Pidge. She’s an independent homing pigeon who gives herself flowers, just because.

She’s fierce, determined, and able to balance on the slippery dome of a glass insulator with no problem. She can fly 600 miles in race competitions as well as raise up to five broods in a single year.

And she always finds her way home.

Day 94/100

Derwent water soluble sketching pencils and Derwent Inktense Poppy Red watercolor pencil.

Coneflowers have great qualities

Be like a coneflower

Coneflower watercolor sketch

The purple coneflower, Echinacea purpurea, is one of my favorites. There are the obvious reasons: drought tolerant, deer resistant, attracts goldfinches.

But the thing I love most is how each flower eventually lays its center bare to the sky, throws its petal arms toward the earth, and appears to surrender.

In the worst possible conditions, the blooms thrive. They grow side-by-side and find their strength in numbers. They give back—seeds for birds and nectar for bees. When it’s windy, they support each other. When they’re transplanted they adapt well. They return every year, a reliable companion.

Meet my friends, the coneflowers, in a quick little watercolor sketch.

Day 80/100