We are very lucky to live right by a forest. 

When we were searching for a new rental apartment , I pretty much knew immediately that I wanted to live in this one as soon as I drove up to it. The drive way turns off a quiet road, up a hill and the house is nestled into the trees. We rent the upstairs flat of the big house and are surrounded by the woods. The deck at the back looks out over the inlet in front, and to the forest every other way. 

It is summer holidays, and my three kids are getting older, two in their teens and one 11 year old, which means, if I get up early (normal working time) I have a few hours before they all surface! So, I have been using the last few mornings to sketch outside on the deck. There are plenty of trees to draw, so I took my paints and pencils out to the table and spent some time in the cool morning to try and capture the surroundings. 

I wanted to keep things loose, letting the watercolours bleed into each other and creating textures with different consistencies of paint and water. 

It is such a relaxing process , and I have learned more about how to use my little set of Deep Deep Light watercolours, and created some new sketchbook pages along the way.