Using the smallest brushes

I don't think I told you.There is the most wonderful exhibit at Kew in the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of botanical paintings by Rory McEwen.I didn't know very much about him prior to viewing the exhibition, (isn't that the way it always is?), but boy I came away, again, in awe and tears. (Tears because you can never take me to a gallery without Kleenex. I get so moved by the art; especially if I find it amazing.)Robert bought me the book for a birthday prezzie and I haven't been able to look away since.So fuelled by the rest of my rosy chocolate birthday cake and inspired by the beautiful, complex watercolour McEwen paintings......I picked up some porcelain shards which I found in the fields after heavy rains a few years ago......grabbed my travelling painting box and the watercolour brushes I keep in my studio here, and decided to do some studies with the thinnest brushes I have.I wanted to do something with these lovely luggage tags I got from Kew and so decided to see how the paper would react to my watercolour pencils.First I sketched out and painted the biggest blue shards.And then the small blue ones and the brown one.Boy this takes some discipline, and please don't look too closely because I certainly didn't get the exact dimensions, but this was a great exercise for me in using very fine brushes because I usually paint with larger brushes.I certainly have a huge amount of respect for McEwen's art. It must have taken him hours and hours to paint in each fine brush stroke.By the way, does anyone else collect beautiful little shards of pottery or porcelain? I love to. I keep dreaming of one day learning a little bit of silversmithing and encasing each lovely shard in a silver frame and making a bracelet. How cool would that be? I also have about three jars full of beach glass. Wouldn't a blue beach glass and silver bracelet be fantastic? Especially if the glass was various colours of blue from the lightest aqua to the deepest cobalt. (sigh) How that would sparkle and glow....One day. :)