We had our first–soon-to-be-annual–event today. Watched Groundhog Day streaming. Ate salad from close by. Held hands.
Author: Martha Keim
Interview with Charlie O’Shields – Creator of Doodlewash and founder of World Watercolor Month and World Watercolor Group
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I am so excited to turn the tables and interview Charlie O’Shields! Charlie has been featuring other watercolor artists from around the globe since he started painting and blogging. Charlie has built an amazing and supportive community of artists who love watercolor.
Charlie O’Shields is the Creator of Doodlewash and founder of World Watercolor Month (July) and World Watercolor Group. He currently lives in Kansas City, Missouri with his Parisian partner, Philippe, and a temperamental basenji named Phineas.
What made you start drawing and painting AND posting?
Well, my partner, Philippe, decided to try watercolor and it looked fun so I started doing it with him and I was immediately hooked. I began by Urban Sketching, which was super fun, but ended up just learning many fast sketching techniques, as I didn’t often want to sketch only what was in front of me. I also use a mixture of reference photos and bits of…
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It begins
Noonish Friday
Blah blah blah
Trying to get well… paint on paper.
Good Sunday to ya
Winter solstice
WIP watercolor on Yupo
Hail to the Chief
Thinker, writer
Ladies and gentlemen, here is the President-elect of the United States of America.
God help us all.
please
And more
Once more with feeling
October is breast cancer pay-attention month
For your consideration
Today
#Inktober
I voted today
Another one from a few years ago
For #inktober
And another
Matthew is here.
Tonight we wait for Matthew
The heat, the colors, oh boy
Happyhappy buzzbuzz coffeeeee
another older one
WC
Red hot tulip watercolor
I shared this one on Facebook the other day and got lots of positive responses, so I’m doing it again. We need more positives now. The world is a mess, all colors, sizes and political practices. We are so polarized in this country that I am sad.
So I stop political rants, yes, again and post or share only art, music and things which feed us.
Ergo, Peace on the day after. Thanks. More to come.
Today I have to rant. Then I’ll go paint
I’m so pissed off about Donald John Trump–AKA the yapping yam–that I am going to repost this spectacularly well-writ piece by Keith Olbermann. All of the attributions are there, the way journalists were taught to use them. As a former journalist–now artist, blogger and ranter–I just cannot stand it anymore! Even an exclamation point!
Wake up, America. Trump is a danger to us all.
Now I need bourbon.
Go watch Broadcast News for the late great Albert Finley. After you watch this video by Keith Olbermann
Florida heat WIP
Hot air, great skies
Work in progress
Celebrating the colors, heat and humidity of Florida. I’ve survived eight months now, including the h0ttest month ever. The natives tell me I will make it.
Color here is just so HERE. From living in upstate NY and wearing black, seeing gray skies and loving it there to here has been a culture shock. I love, love the hot food, always fresh produce, the choices, and even the nightly fireworks sounds from, I think, Disney.
We accidentally got caught in the come-hither-purple Disney web the other day. Moving toward the gates, I screamed “No, no no!” But thankfully a worker there told us how to get out. It is a machine, Disney. People like zombies in the heat waiting in line to pay too much money. Enough.
Here’s a work in progress for today.
#worldwatercolormonth
Full moon in the Keys
From the Keys, from the Keys, from the beautiful Keys
We took a complicated road trip last week, involving Key West. Good. And Jeep engine gone. Not good. I got to swim in the ocean and romp with our dog in the ocean. My sweetie and I cooked yellowfin tuna, drank iced coffee and beer.
I painted some, but those are for a later post.
Here is a Key West sunset
A week way south (the Everglades and the Keys, w00t)
This week has been full of adventure: a dead Jeep (being repaired); our first RV trip with Charlie (below) our beloved rescue dog. Charlie is almost as hardheaded as James Michael Pensinger, my first and now last sweetheart.

Charlie goes south. Our handsome rescue dog.

James Michael Pensinger, my beloved, driving our RV down to the Keys. Just because.

A work in progress of a beauty in the Everglades

The old bridge to the Keys, from the seven mile bridge. Whoopeee

The view from our windshield on Sugarloaf Key. This is a seven-acre saltwater lake.
Now I go out to the day. Stay tuned and thanks for reading. Watercolors await.
Martha
Yep, I did it
Everglades
One from my bucket list. We are in a park here in the titillating swamp with our little house on wheels. Today I will try to ride an airboat. May chicken out. Stay tuned. Meanwhile here’s last night’s sunset looking east toward Miami. There was a big storm which caught the sun’s last rays.
With classical music in the background, we watched the coming storm.
This week
Hello reader,
I have gotten my life back together, am divorced and happily living in Florida (!) with my first–and now last–sweetheart, Michael Pensinger. Even entered Watercolor Artist annual competition. I was a finalist in 2014, so I’m gonna brag, just a little and post it here.
Watercolor painting is interesting down here. I paint outside our home on wheels (RV) and sometimes need to take paintings inside to dry. Humidity is a factor. Anyway, that’s all for today with my 2014 painting:
Feeder fodder for the birds, donated to the children’s center for an auction fundraiser.
For your critique
This is a quartersheet watercolor, taken into Paper53 to add the orange. I can’t decide if I want to add the orange in real paint. Any observations are welcome. I think this painting has something to do with the heat and humidity here in Florida where I live. The colors here and the stretching blue skies are whelming, maybe overwhelming at first. It rains every afternoon lately so we get all kinds of sky shows.
Now that they are hung …
I am happy to have donated five 4″ by 4″ inch watercolors to the Just Add Water exhibit at the Kirkland Art Gallery in tiny Clinton, NY. The hook for me was Golden QoR watercolors. Participating artists were given QoR sample packs and paper. Great fun to be splashing and flinging on small sheets. Thanks to Linda Bigness for inviting me.
And here they are:





They are only $20 apiece. All proceeds go to KAC.
Thanks for looking.
Martha Keim (-used-to-be St. Louis)
Alive
I am tears I am rage I can be both inside the sadness and happiness I am the colors I am dead yet i am living
Source: Alive
New RV life; new/old love
Tulips
Monday monday
Zestful
Zestful from my friend in North Cyprus.
I was talking about my life yesterday, since it’s coming up to twenty years since I got fibromyalgia and a damaged spine, and I commented that – despite the challenges – I’d managed to lead a zestful life.
Then I was reminded of a section in Elizabeth Gilbert’s “Eat, Pray, Love” which I re-read recently, and how she was trying to work out what word described herself.
I know I’m a fully paid-up member of the Awkward Squad, I’m eccentric, I’m unconventional and I can drive people quite around the twist because I’m stubborn and opinionated. And yes, I’ve had some ups and downs in life, but I’ve always enjoyed life and gone at it full tilt.
So the light went off in my head – yes, my word is “zestful”.
The next question is, of course …… what’s your word?
Along the Erie Canal
Sold!
Oh, Well….
Read this guy–funny, profane, godly sometimes–always thinking while driving truck
My stats suck.
I guess I’m not doing it for the fame, though.
I started my blog as a therapy tool and it’s fun when people take the time to visit or comment.
But, it seems like here recently, most of my visitors are web-bots and scammers….
I know I’ve been writing about religion a lot lately but, I can’t help it. I’ll be 52 this year and I’m feeling my mortality and my morality.
I’m sure it’s a stage everyone goes thru; I’m just glad it doesn’t involve hot flashes.
I’m just glad I get visitors when I do and I appreciate y’all spending whatever time you can with my little blog.
Thx, Trey
p.s #ReblogsRock
Ten by ten
I just entered a 10 x 10 art sale at View Arts, Old Forge, NY. This is where part of my heart will always live. When I was a kid I helped Mirnie Kashiwa and friends hang the first of many annual art shows at what would become the Central Adirondack Art Gallery, hosting shows after shows until it gained national prestige.
This month, a fundraiser called 10 by 10 is being held there. We artists send paintings measuring ten by ten inches and View Arts (new name) sells them for a hundred smackers. We artists accept $50 and donate the other $50 to View Arts. I am delighted to have sent six little guys. Please make a trek to Old Forge in May and scoop up a few. Many thanks.
I sign Keim now, having almost divorced the St. Louis part. Look for me, please?
Work in progress… Or finished?
Joy of the figure

A week ago I had the immense pleasure of attending a weekly live model drawing session near me in Orlando. Above is the last of 15 drawings in two hours. Practice, practice practice. I was rusty but like this last one. Five-minute ink drawing.

This is the same pose but 20 minutes, next to last drawing before I wore out. I love the extreme foreshortening the pose required.
These next three were finding my way. Just below is just a quick gesture sketch. Below it are one with some color and one with the torso made too long, but I like the expression on the lively young model’s face.































































