Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Cherry Blossoms
Every spring I like to go to the Tidal Basin in Washington D.C. and walk around admiring the blooming trees. I do a lot of people-watching, as tourists walk, run, roller skate, picnic, do ballet, and take photos. Often I carry my painting kit and will do a sketch if it’s not too cold or…
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Come, Spring, Come!
Spring Migration, watercolor, 11” x 16” We sit poised on the edge of Spring here in coastal Maryland. The daffodils and iris are pushing their long slender leaves through the soil. The maples are budding, becoming red and fluffy with stamens, in preparation for all the little whirling helicopters. The camellia bush outside our kitchen…
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A Celebration!
I just noticed that I recently had my 500th person sign up to follow this blog! In order to celebrate, and to thank you for following my art journey, I am going to be giving away two free note cards to the first 25 people who respond. Here are the two note cards: Each card…
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Happy Valentine’s Day
Today is the day when we send special messages of affection to those who are dear to us. I hope you day is happy and that you get to spend it with those you love!
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A Flock of Cardinals (#2)
As so often happens when I paint a picture, after I decide that I am done, I look at it a couple of days later and think of all the things that I wish I had done differently. And the only remedy for those thoughts is to paint the picture again, and sometimes several times…
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A Flock of Cardinals
It’s January, and as usual in southern Maryland, the winter is mild. We have temperatures above freezing and any indications of snow that appear in the weather forecast tend to evaporate before the day arrives and we get rain instead. It is the time of year when I start longing for snow, privileged as I…
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Where the Leaves Are Not
This is one of my favorite exercises in the autumn because it combines the colorful leaves with the concept of negative painting. We easily understand positive shapes because we can name them. They are things like leaves, chairs, circles, cups, cows, etc. Negative shapes are the shapes between positive shapes, like the hole between your…
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Red Chair
I saw this house on my walk this morning, and I loved all the red – the chair, the mailbox, the birdhouse, the flag, and the flowers. This is in a neighborhood where lots of people walk and others sit out and greet their neighbors. We did get a break in the hot temperatures though,…
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Monarch Butterfly
Today’s World Watercolor Month prompt of “Do-Over” wasn’t giving me any ideas, so I painted what I wanted, this monarch butterfly enjoying the nectar from some cone flowers. (Thanks to Virginia Westrick for the reference photo that I used.)
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Pose
World Watercolor Month is almost at an end. Today’s prompt is “Pose,” which is what these two are doing! Would you ride with these guys?
Got any book recommendations?
Ruth Bailey, artist 