April showers bring May flowers .....

I don't know, where the time goes. I am really trying to post more often, but it feels like an impossible task lately.  So once again, here are some photos from the last few weeks. Lots of sun, lots of rain as well, but I managed to get out in the garden and planted broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, beets, carrots, onions, peas, potatoes, cilantro, parsley......well, you get the idea. The more delicate plants have to wait for warmer weather, tomatoes are in the greenhouse and peppers still "live" in our kitchen.

Nevim, kam ten cas leti....  Snazim se venovat tomuto blogu vice nez jen jednou za mesic, ale nejak se mi to nedari. Takze opet " fotkova okupace" z poslednich par tydnu.  Hodne slunicka, hodne deste a prace na zahrade zacala! Vysazela jsem brokolici, kvetak, ruzickovou kapustu, zeli, cervenou repu, mrkev, hrasek, cibuli, brambory, petrzelku.... no jiste si to dovedete predstavit.  Rajcata jsou zatim jeste v kvetinacich ve skleniku nez je presadim do zeme a papriky a dalsi teplomilne rostlinky stale jeste "bydli' v kuchyni.

 I love our walks where the river joins the ocean, with a  little airport on the side. Thus the name Air park.

Mam rada nase prochazky okolo reky, ktera se vleva do more pri ceste parkem, ktery je z druhe strany obklopen malym letistem.

 When working on the portrait for my friend I decided to take watercolor classes on the internet. First exercise was this pear and then yesterday I started working on the daffodil. Hopefully I'll be able finish that one tonight.  What a difference from this picture three weeks ago. I am enjoying it so much,  working on my drawing as well as learning more about watercolor.

 Pri malovani obrazku pro kamaradku jsem se rozhodla, ze se prihlasim na lekce akvarelu na internetu. Prvni cviceni byla tahle hruska a vcera jsem se pustila do narcisky, kterou bych dneska chtela dokoncit. Je to velky rozdil v porovnani s timhle obrazkem pred tremi tydny.  Moc me to bavi a mino malovani akvarelkami se ucim lepe rozumet i kresleni.

all photos © monika opatril

one step at a time

Exploring  watercolors  day after day. I am painting a portrait of ( and for ) my very dear friend. Her birthday is coming up and I decided to give it a try and dived right in. I am a self taught painter ( I wouldn't call myself an artist)  and I just learn as I go.

Den po dni se seznamuji z akvarelkami. Nejsem malirka a vse co vytvarim se ucim sama, krok za krokem. Tentokrat jsem se rozhodla namalovat portret me velmi blizke kamaradky. Blizi se jeji narozeniny a jestli vsechno dotahnu do konce, bude to jeji darek.

 Can you tell that I am a bit obsess with deer lately? ....  :)
Asi uz jste uhodli, ze jsem se posledni dobou zblaznila do vysoke zvere....  :)

all images © Monika Opatril

❉

I finished my beetle watercolor painting last weekend. I had to buy another brush for all those tiny details. I am finding out what I need and like (and dislike) as I go. I still didn't purchase any set of more expensive watercolors. I am quite content what I have right now, which is the student grade. Oh well, the time will come ;)

Minuly vikend jsem dokoncila akvarel brouka. Musela jsem si koupit dalsi stetec na ty malinke detaily. Postupne zjistuji co potrebuji a co me vyhovuje (a nevyhovuje). Jeste stale jsem se neodhodlala koupit drahe akvarelove barvy, zatim jsem spokojena s tim co mam, coz je studentska kvalita.  No coz, ten cas prijde ;)

Nature is waking up.
My peach tree is still in the pot and I put it in the greenhouse for the winter. Its already flowering ♥

Priroda se probouzi.
Broskvicku ve vekem kvetinaci mam zazimovanou ve skleniku a uz krasne kvete ♥

 Plum tree outside.
Svestka venku.

Heather
 Vřes

 I am very happy that I found black elderberry shrub plant at our nursery. There is red berry variety growing everywhere here, but it is not edible.  I came across one black elderberry once, but I was not able to propagated it.

 Mam silenou radost, sehnala jsem v zahradnictvi bezinku. Tady je rozsireny druh z cervenymi bobulemi, ktere nejsou jedle. Na jeden ker cerne bezinky jsem narazila ale nepodarilo se mi ji rozmnozit. A to se rika, ze bezinka je plevel!

 Lots of greens are growing all winter as we have such a mild year. Kale, parsley, arugula, swiss chard and of course the winter staple leeks.

Letosni zima byla opravdu mirna a tak mimo porku, ktery vydrzi celou zimu roste kaderabek, rukola, swiss chard, petrzelka.

 I've got some new pictures of the boys from my daughter. They grow way to fast!

A jeste par fotek nasich kluku, ktere jsem dostala od dcery. Rostou jako z vody! 

 all images ©Monika Opatril

KOH-I-NOR watercolor

I am sure, most of you probably already came across the "photo to wood transfer" tutorial on the internet. I wanted to try this for years, but never really got to it.  Well I am going to celebrate my friends birthday next week and I wanted to make something special for her. So I took a photo from our Hornby getaway weekend and make her this "photo frame" with her pooch Juno in it. I hope that she will like it! I found this piece of wood with nice thick bark still attach to it and I thought that that will be the perfect "canvas" for this project. I like the rustic look and I know that's the look my friend likes too.   Here is a good tutorial if you want to give it a try yourself.

Jsemsi jista, ze jste uz na internetu narazily na tuto techniku prenosu fotky na drevo. Ja se ji chystala vyzkouset uz nekolik let ale nikdy jsem se k tomu nedostala.....az ted. Pristi tyden slavime narozeniny me kamaradky a tak jsem ji udelala tenhle "ramecek" s fotkou jeji cubicky Juno. Vyfotila jsem ji pri nasem pobytu na Hornby a ted se me to naramne hodilo.  Vybrala jsem tenhle kousek dreva s tlustou kurou, je to v rastickem stylu, ktery ma ona moc rada. Jestli si tuto techniku chcete vyzkouset, nasla jsem pro vas navod  zde.

 I found this Czech KOH-I-NOR watercolor wheel set in our craft store. I was stoke! It brings back so many childhood memories :)

Minuly tyden jsem u nas ve meste! objevila tyhle KOH-I-NOR vodove barvy. Musela jsem si je okamzite koupit, vzpominku na detstvi jsem tam proste nemohla nechat :)

  

My resolution to paint daily is not really working, but I try to sit down and "doodle" as much as I can. Our time is changing tonight and with longer days I may have more time to paint :)

Muj zavazek vytvorit alespon jednu "maluvku" denne se mi moc nedari ale snazim se zasednou a malovat jak jen to cas dovoli. Dnes v noci se u nas meni cas a z delsimi dny to snad pujde lip :)

Do you remember the rabbit on my shelf.  Anyway, this was an attempt to pain him....

Pamatujete si na tohohle  zajicka na me polici? Takhle dopadl pokus ho namalovat...

 I was home alone all day today. I painted three pieces of furniture with the chalk paint and also started this beetle painting. I hope I can show you the finish picture next time. Productive day for me, wishing you a wonderful weekend as well.

Dnes jsem byla cely den sama doma. Natrela jsem tri kusy nabytku "kridovou barvou" a pustila se do tohoto brouka. Priste vam ho uz snad predvedu dokonceneho a v plne krase ;)  Pro me produktivni den, preji vam krasny vikend.