Roberta Warshaw Art and Design

The Fourth of July here in Tucson is pretty boring. It is too hot to go outside and enjoy anything and fireworks are quite limited due to the high fire danger. Oh well.....just another day. I can't look at Facebook because everyone I know is either at the beach or somewhere where they can be outside enjoying BBQs and fireworks. Here I sit. I did do something positive today for my situation. I booked a stay at the beach near my son for the entire month of November. I will finally be able to have a real Thanksgiving with them. I was very lucky last year to be able to have Thanksgiving with my grandson and all his fellow soldiers at Fort Huachuca. That was very special. But other than that not many holidays get celebrated out here. That is what happens when you move too far away from your family. I think I had one Thanksgiving here with my neighbors maybe back in 2018 or so. I did have a New Years Eve dinner last year with some friends who are snowbirds when they had just arriv...

While biding my time here and trying to figure out next steps, I have never stopped painting for one minute. I take a lot of classes although during the pandemic when they were all online it was easier to do that. Now it seems everyone is offering workshops and classes in very expensive and exotic locations. I have no desire to schlep all over the world for a five day class. So I am taking a lot of classes on Skillshare and occasionally I find classes elsewhere especially when surfing on Instagram. Plus there are many ongoing challenges to become involved in though I have not frequented as many as I should. I lose interest after a while. I think that may have to do with my sadness over being where I no longer want to be. Homesickness is hard to deal with and it comes on quite suddenly. I try to stay grateful for what I do have but it is not easy.

It is the Fourth of July holiday weekend. All my friends and family back east are celebrating with BBQs and trips to the beach. And here I sit, yet again missing another holiday with my family. I never realized how much I miss that until I moved out here to Arizona and miss every single important holiday with friends and family. I really need to go home. Soon.

What can I say about the color "Potters Pink"? I love it. Yes, it is weak and you really need to work hard at getting it onto your brush and showing up on the paper but once you do, oh wow..... The granulation is not subtle. And if you mix it with Cerulean blue you get a lovely greyish purple with even more granualtion. Then add a bit of Goethite and just watch all that granulation go to work. If you are not a fan of granulation in watercolor then of course you will be appalled. But for me, watercolor is all about granulation. If I don't get granulation, I feel like the painting is not complete. This painting is just a few colors. I also added some Sap green and Hookers green for contrast.

It is still very hot here and we are still waiting for monsoon season to get going. We had a bit of rain the other day. Enough to make a puddle. Yes, that is how we know it rains here. We find a puddle. Not kidding. So summers here are so hot that I really cannot go out during the day. I get up really early and ride my bike from 6am to 7am. Then I am in for the duration. In the evening I go swimming around 6:30. As long as no one is in the pool I enjoy it. I don't like swimming with too many people in the pool as it is a small pool and gets crowded quickly. But there aren't that many people here at this time of the year so it is usually empty at dinner time. So being inside all day happens to be good for my art. There is no distraction as far as going outside so all I do is paint. I am really loving being back into watercolors again. It was my very first medium and after trying a host of other materials, I feel like I have come back to what I really love. Watercolor.

Many years ago I had a blog on here but I was lured away by the ease of Instagram. I still love Instagram but I miss having a blog. So here I am back. Starting over fresh and new.Since my last blog I have moved out to Arizona. It has been hard though being so far away from family. Especially since Covid. Not being able to travel back to see my family was something we never anticipated. We are finally going back in August for a week but it has been too long and a week is really not enough. We have thought about moving back but moving is a big project now that we are older. Much harder than it was before we moved out here. Plus real estate is so expensive right now it would cost us dearly. But we are still thinking about it. Anyway, I am still making art. I don't know where I would be with out my art. It keeps me sane and keeps me from thinking about things. Thats it for today. Just wanted to let you know I am back.