I was eager to try this class, as it brings back memories of my college days in the midst of Amish country. And as a result of that, my many years of quilting and pattern making.

This was great fun! I enjoyed having shapes to fill in (as opposed to my 'blob' making, free-form flowers! lol) It was a nice change. I had to focus, which in turn, tuned out the world. I like when my artwork becomes meditative.

For my color palette, I kept it simple and stuck with two colors I could use out of the tube - red & black. Mixed up some pink & gray (two favorites of mine) to compliment them. I used some circle templates and an old bendable ruler from back in the day to draw some of the shapes - the need for 'perfection' still runs through me. haha. I am making great progress though, in practicing painting them in and NOT getting them perfectly round. So there's hope! And look at that line-work!! To die for, right?!?! HAHAHAHA!

Here's my pattern play pages. I stayed very loose here. I used up the leftover gray, and you can see the color varies. I was using a new sketchbook and the paper was not heavy-weight, so it curled a bit. I wanted to see how it would hold up with the gouache... not too bad for just playing around!

My taxonomy page. Back to the good watercolor paper for these beauties. These were a LOT of fun to do! When I started I had no idea what designs I should do, but one thing led to another and here you have it! I added some details here and there after I had the main flowers done, to spruce them up.

What I learned from this class:

- I enjoy having to 'color within the lines' at times. It challenges my skills and helps me focus. It's meditative.

- Sticking to a limited color palette challenges me to make creative choices. And it's calming.

- When deciding on designs - I just need to START somewhere and new ideas will start forming as I go along.

- I am starting to really appreciate and love the beauty of hand painted designs. It gives them character and infuses a piece of my heart & soul into each one.

Thanks, as always, Peggy, for an awesome and fun class!!!