Directions to My New Blog

You are officially invited to my new blog and website www.barbararothanywhereart.com

Come right to the  website by clicking on the images on the home page and the topics on the top. If you want to go directly to the blog from the homepage click on  BLOG on the top right navigation bar. Then, please sit down, have a cup of coffee and hear my news. 

Please leave a comment on the blog.I will have one of my beagles select a random name from all the commenter's and that person will win a goody bag/tote filled with artist necessities.  The winner will be selected at the end of May. If you comment several times, that will increase your chances of winning the goody bag. 

I will be posting on the new website blog from now on, but will leave this blog online in case you want to check out an older post. 

Starting tomorrow I will be posting from the airport on my way to Venice to teach an an art workshop.  I would love to have you join me on the trip via the blog as we travel through Italy making anywhere art.

My Hair is Standing On End From the Process of Building My New Website and Blog

"I am a mature adult, I completed 5 years of college, I raised a child, I can do this."  This is the mantra I keep repeating to myself as I learn the ins and outs of website building. Squarespace.com has very good tutorials and lots of nice people you can email to get your questions answered when you need help. However, because I was born pre-internet, I believe learning something technical online is not a natural process for me. Us baby boomers were brought up on book learning and internet learning is a process I am in the process of adapting to. The good news is I am learning by trial and error and trying to remember when I get frustrated to go take the dog for a walk instead of eating all the chocolate in the house.

Can An Old Dog Learn New Tricks? Or Can An Artist Build Her Own New Website?

new website logo

Well, we shall find out the answer to the question in the title of my blog post very soon. I have been very busy learning the ins and outs of creating a new website using my favorite modern template provider, Squarespace.com   It's wonderful to be able to build and change your own website. Now that there are "drag and drop" website building tools out there I don't have to know any special programming code to change my website. I hope you will like my new website and find it easier to navigate. It should be done this week. I'll let you know as soon as its finished!

Learn to Paint A Garden in Watercolor or Keep a Garden Journal

Spring has sprung in Southern California and gardens are full of color everywhere. When I first started painting gardens I was overwhelmed. I  had difficulty figuring out how much to paint, how to paint all the different colors of greens in the garden and how much detail to paint. So, I'd like to share with you all the things I have learned about painting gardens, flowers and foliage in my April workshop.I had the good fortune to have garden designer, Ruth E. Wolfe and master gardener, Beth Jurecki take a series of workshops with me recently. These two taught me so much about their love of gardens and have allowed me this special opportunity to paint in one of their gardens on Friday, April 11th. Here are the details:

Sketching More Teacups in Preparation For Garden Painting

I am painting more teacup gardens as fast as I can. Its a race against time to finish the painting before the flowers wilt. 

Here is my almost finished painting. I want to add a few more darks. An added bonus from posting my paintings on this blog as I look at them from more distance and can see more then from it just sitting on my desk.

These paintings are also a great way for me to prepare for my Watercolor Workshops in Gardens around San Diego.