WATERCOLOR WHIRL: More Travels

Commissions

I accept COMMISSIONS to comply with your individual tastes.
Are you looking for a distinctive piece of art to satisfy a special need?
I can help you artistically portray a cherished possession, or immortalize a visual representation of your home. Some, like my husband, love old automobiles. I can visually recapture that vintage car you once owned (or still have).

You can have your particular mental image depicted on individualized stationary or cards.

I just completed this commisioned painting of two brothers in a scene from last summer's vacation.

We love to Travel

My husband and I love to travel. Some of my paintings are inspired by the places we have visited. Next week we leave for Southeast Asia. My husband served in Viet Nam in 1965-1966. He has always wanted to return and now we have a chance to do it. We'll also travel to Bangkok, Thailand and Angkor Wat, Cambodia. I intend to keep a sketchbook and to eventually recreate my impressions in paintings when we return. Look for them here his summer.

In December, we travelled through South America and Patagonia in December. I have sketches of it in my travel journal. However, I really haven't had an opportunity to paint that experience as yet.

The next two paintings were inspired by our travels in Israel. We were there in December, 2006.

Painting in Layers

I took a gentler approach here in the "Gardenia" painting. I softened most edges as I painted wet-into-wet. Slowly I painted it petal by petal, and leaf by leaf. I added one subtle glaze over another, waiting for each glaze to dry before adding another layer. In addition my aim was to create visual links in the painting to carry your eye easily around the painting. This process was more time-consuming than the way I previously painted, but I found the process quite rewarding.
In the end I added increased values to instill greater drama. Below you can see the painting as it looked when I finished it, before framing. I really like this style of painting and will continue to paint this way in the future. Since posting I’ve had the painting beautifully framed.

Sunday, May 11, 2008

More Travels

We've done a lot of travelling in the past 6 months. In December we took a cruise and saw Patagonia - Argentina, Cape Horn, Chile...the Andes Mountains, and Penguins. The cruise was rather eventful. In addition to all of the above, our ship crashed into a barge carrying luxury cars and we were stranded at sea for several days as a result. In fact, we're fortunate we didn't sink because the accident created a huge, gaping, JAWs-like hole in the bow of our ship. . . all part of the adventure.

In April we travelled again. This time we visited Indochina...land tour this time (we weren't ready for another ocean sail after the last fiasco). This was fantastic. We got to visit some of the Natural Wonders of the world. After visiting Bangkok, Thailand, one of these Natural Wonders was our adventures in Angkor Wat in Cambodia. WOW! ...fantastic ruins of beautiful temples in the middle of the equatorial jungles. This was where Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom was filmed. From here we visited Viet Nam. Since my husband was a Viet Nam vet, he was anxious to see the country again. We travelled North from the Mekong Delta, Saigon and on to the Cu Chi Tunnels. Of course we had to experience it all and we got to crawl through some of those tunnels. Then we travelled further north to Hue, DaNang, China Beach, Hoi An, and then on to Hanoi. Hanoi is a beautiful city. It is very French in appearance. We loved it. Then we visited another Natural Wonder - Ha Long Bay. Wow oh Wow! I took some great photos on our trip and am anxious to get started in painting the sights we visited.

2008 Exhibits

Dec. 6, 2--8 - Jan. 3, 2009 Rocklin Library Holiday Exhibit 5460 Fifth Street Rocklin, CA

Nov. 8, 2008 - 4-8 pm

TOAST OF THE TOWN ...a fundraising event for the City of Rocklin Station Xtreme teen program. Wine tasting, dinner and art show. Rocklin Sunset Center, 2650 Sunset Boulevard Rocklin, CA 95677

Oct. 9 - Nov. 13, 2008
PLACER ARTS 25th Anniversary MEMBERSHIP SHOW
...juried by Diana Daniels,
curator at Sacramento's Crocker Museum.
The Arts Building Gallery
808 Lincoln Way, Auburn, CA 95603

October 18, 2008 - 5 to 10 pm
KOBRA CRUSH 29 WINE AND ART SHOW
Civic Center Plaza - (311 Vernon St.)
Downtown Roseville, CA

August - September 13, 2008
Rocklin Library
5460 Fifth Street
Rocklin, CA

July 26 - July 27, 2008
Spascapes
4447 Granite Dr. #702, Rocklin

June 2 - August 29, 2008
"Insects in Art Exhibit"
Martha Riley Community Library at Mahany Park
1501 Pleasant Grove Blvd.
Roseville, CA 95747

May 16 - July 11, 2008
"Out of the Blue" Membership Show & Competition
Blue Line Gallery
405 Vernon Street
Roseville, CA 95678

March 14-15, 2008
"Expressions Exhibit Spring Arts Show and Sale"
Maidu Community Center
1550 Maidu Dr., Roseville, CA 95661

May 3, 2008
"Art in the Garden"
Annual House and Garden Tour - sponsored by Roseville Arts. Original artwork of local artists will be offered for sale in one of five garden venues in the Roseville area.

May and June, 2008 -
J.D.’s Café -
3700 Midas, at the corner of Midas and Pacific in Rocklin - JD’s in a favorite gathering spot for coffee for locals and where I will be exhibiting some of my selected artwork.

May 10-11, 2008
Rocklin Fine Arts Membership Show
This was the first membership show for this new organization and it featured a wonderful array of very talented artists and their work.

The painting below is an example of my watercolor collage works. To gain added effect on this one, I threw various types of cut threads onto the collage papers in order to enhance the "wrinkling" effect.

It depicts an aging woman reminiscent of my maternal grandmother, Sarah Leah Burnstein.
The framed painting dimensions are 23 ½ x 19 ½ inches

I entered it in two juried competitions.
The first was 2007 Sacramento County Fair and was thrilled when it won a 1rst prize Blue Ribbon. Recently I entered it in the 2008 Snowflake Art Show in Rocklin, CA and won 2nd place for Mixed Media.