Welcome to 4/2015 of 52 Paintings, which you can find on social media as #paintisaverb. This week my little craft station has been coaxing me, “come play, forget about stressful things for a while”. It has been great to lose myself in the paints and brushes.

Sometimes when I sit down, I have a rough idea about shapes I’d like to create, or colours I want to play with, and sometimes when I put my jars of water down and rip a fresh sheet of watercolour paper out of the quickly dwindling pad, I have no idea what’s ahead of me.

It always starts the same way.

This week there were some dreadful play dates, where nothing seemed to flow. I can see it so clearly when there’s no ease. Those works are destined for the recycling bin.

Luckily there were also times when things flowed easily.

My favourite work of the week was inspired by my bloggy pal Emily. You’ll read more about her in a bit.

I just love the way this one came out! 4/2015 made me happy. So cheerful and imperfect and bright.

I painted the squares and rectangles in a random order, choosing colours as I went along. I found my inspiration on Emily’s Instagram feed, and I love how she adds inky whimsy to her creations.

It was only last year that I learned that watercolours actually come in vibrant hues, as well as the softer tones that my brain had mistakenly thought “watercolours” was limited to. The things you don’t know until you do. Learning is awesome.

Here’s another couple of paintings from this week. I love the vibrancy of the larger one. I started out in wet on wet, then went over it wet on dry (that’s fancy artist talk!) and I am really happy with the way the colours pop.

I thought I’d share a few of my favourite Instagram artists with you this week. These creative people create and share such great stuff – it’s kind of amazing to have 24 hour a day access to such a diverse range of online galleries.

@squiggleandswirl belongs to Emily, who I know via Blog With Pip. I love Emily’s artistic sensibility – her whimsical drawings and doodles, her colour choices and her pretty ink flowers. Emily has been such an encouraging supporter of my adventures with the brushes. Thanks Emily!

@tinniegirl is a Melbourne based artist and I love her style. I met Cathy at a groovy craft market last year and I’ve been following her ever since. She’s been kind enough to suggest some great art resources to me.

@tracyverdugo is an artist Cathy suggested I follow. Tracy’s paintings blow my mind. I literally don’t know how she does it – I’m just a beginner, but I love the layers she creates and the bold colours she uses. I’d love to do one of Tracy’s workshops one day.

@surfistatomato is where you’ll be blown away by Andrew, who is a super talented photographer. He has the best eye. The best. His architecturally driven photography knocks me out. I love his composition and considered simplicity.

Each of these creative people has taken time to respond to comments I’ve left them on Instagram, to answer a question, share a tip or a word of encouragement with this inquisitive beginner. How great is that! Makes me wish Jackson Pollock had Instagram.

I hope you’ll check out these Insta-heroes of mine.

Who are your creative heroes? Do tell.

Keep making time to play.

Annette x