Dabbling in watercolor

I'll admit, I used to think of watercolor as kind of a "wimpy" medium. All ho-hum, take a nap, landscapes and vases of flowers. Lately though I've started noticing (I say this with full knowledge I'm - like with most things- behind the curve on this) some really interesting work being done with watercolor. Stuff that doesn't at all feel like something an old lady does in her spare time - apologies to the old lady watercolorists. There are some beautiful paintings and multi-medium pieces out there (I'm loving EvaJuliet Atelier, Amy Borrell, and Geninne Zlatkis) but watercolor isn't just showing up on paper, it's on throw pillows, scarves, dresses, shoes, everywhere! Here are a few things I've found while scouting the web:

1. Amy Borell print.

2. Placemat found on target.com

3. Dress from Modcloth.

4. Palette pillow from CB2 (no longer available).

5. Dinnerware from Target.

6. Shawl by artist Virginia Johnson.

So while I've been re-discovering my "art habit," I started giving watercolor the eye. I never paid much attention to it before but I find myself drawn to it now for a lot of reasons: the loose, translucent quality you can achieve and let's face it, it's less messy than other methods of painting and I can move it to and from my kitchen table (a.k.a. art studio) rather easily. I'm really liking adding a little watercolor to my drawings. I recently took an online watercolor class with Nicole's Classes, which was great because it "forced" me to spend some time with watercolor and actually complete some paintings. I need a little motivation most of the time. Below you'll see a few of the paintings I did. I'm liking it, I think I'll keep the ol' watercolors around.