"Les trois derrière”

My daughter and I had a fantastic time on vacation in Quebec City and Montreal.  We laughed a lot, ate a lot, climbed a zillion staircases, and slept a lot. We both enjoyed keeping track of our daily activities in the travel journals I made for us.

Inspiration is everywhere.  I took many photographs, of course.  The weather was perfect for outside dining.  We took full advantage of that in both cities' many cafes and restaurants.  

The inspiration for my 9x12 mixed media painting on wood panel

My interpretation:

Just having fun with it!!

the background in acrylic paints

Oil paints to complete the composition

Voila!

Solitude...

Lightning, thunder, rain, and gloomy skies today.  Perfect time to work in the studio and finish a painting I started yesterday.

Finished work - oils on 20x20 gallery-wrapped canvas

Quick pencil sketch over an acrylic-painted background

Oil painting using a limited palette

Rather than using a rag, wipe the excess oil paint onto the background

Lightened up the background by brushing over the wet paint with Gamsol and little white oil paint

Our Great Escape...

My daughter and I are going to Canada in July.  Jennifer has never been outside the United States. We are very excited to take this trip together!

I always make a journal to take with me on my trips.  This time, of course, I made two. (It's a surprise!)

I challenged myself to make one signature comprised of (8) 7x10 pieces of 70lb. drawing paper.  Each sheet was folded in half.  I needed to make a tiny signature, number, date, and/or identify each "page" as a template to print on both sides of the paper.  (I'm not happy unless I make things as difficult as possible!!). I did this in Photoshop - a slow printing process, but luckily it worked without any mishaps or wasted paper.

heavy paper with holes punched to use as a guide for punching holes in the signatures and covers

These are the middle pages of the journal

The journal covers:

Untreated canvas as substrate; glued down large strips of crushed tracing paper, newsprint as well as cheesecloth.

Addition of acrylic paint - mine is blue

Jennifer's favorite color is green

After adhering silk to the back of the canvas (Wonder-Under), I trimmed the covers to 15.25" wide x 7.50" high; zig zagged stitch around all the edges; punched holes then hand-stitched the signature(s) to the cover(s); hand-sewed antique keys I had in my stash which look really cool as the journal closure; looped with 1.5 mm rattail cording

Cherry Blossom Time

My dear granddaughter, Samantha, is a traveling surgical assistant.  She's currently working in Olympia, WA.  She's keeping me updated with photos of her weekend adventures.

I absolutely love this photo of Samantha.  

I simply had to paint the scene!  6x8 canvas board (acrylics)

Her favorite color is purple so naturally, I chose to paint her jacket accordingly.

Orchids in the Garden

Rather than paint from a photograph, I chose to paint from memory the orchids I saw on display during my recent visit to the Naples Botanical Gardens.   It's doubtful a botanist would recognize these as orchids, but that's how I remember it!

9x12 oils on oiled canvas

I Need a Hug...

It's been 9 months since my dear husband, Richard, passed away.  I'm still struggling with my grief.  I cried while I created this mixed-media piece.  It helps to keep busy.

9x12 mixed media on wood board (acrylics)

inkjet transfer printed on deli paper