Summertime is on my mind. Here's some recent sketches celebrating the season:
Me and my brother jumping on the trampoline with the water hose! Did anybody else ever do this?
This week I took some of these drawings and made them into paintings. This one in particular is a memory of watching shrimp boats at the beach.
I used a few layers of glaze here to give the ocean some depth. I couldn't help but make the ocean a turquoise-y blue cause that's how I think of it. For the glaze, I mixed up PVA glue with a little phthalo blue. The tricky part is remembering the glue will dry clear. You could also use a gel medium for acrylics but all I had on hand was glue.
I love the transparent hue a glaze imparts.
This may be my favorite painting from this bunch. I titled it "Diver" and it went through a few iterations. I first painted the water blue, (see below) but it wasn't working for me. Then I went with a soupy mix of the sky and tree colors, making a sort of clay soup. This works! It reminds me of swimming in the lake. We swam in the lake a lot as kids.
This next one was inspired by a mini painting I did recently. 
I wanted to revisit the kiddie pool and came up with this little scene.
I wanted to revisit the kiddie pool and came up with this little scene.
I hope you enjoyed seeing my work! You can find the paintings for sale in the shop.
Rhonda Clower on Jul 26, 2024
Sara, I really enjoyed seeing your summer series. Especially, the kiddie pool one. I missed the chance to snatch that one before it was sold. My brothers and I spent many summer hours in a backyard pool like that. City pool wasn’t available for us country kids!
Miss you,
Linda Greiss on Jul 26, 2024
Hi Sara! I so enjoy seeing your sketches & paintings! I hope it is not in the 90’s there like it is here in GA! My garden is really suffering. I look forward to your next post! Take care.
Melinda Dyer Martin on Jul 26, 2024
I loved your fabric, and now I’m loving your paintings. You have a way of capturing mood in the simplest way. Keep painting …💙
Karen Kassinger on Jul 26, 2024
Oh my, Sara! I love these! I so like seeing the movement from sketch to finished painting. Thank you for doing this ‘work of creating beauty’ in this time, in this world.🦋