Daily Journal - Out with the Old...

 Just finished my current daily journal,

it was a fun experiment!

Trying to write and collage on the muslin pages

 was a bit of a challenge.

but yielded some interesting results.

I had fun pasting in some favourite old beer labels. 

Life on the Coast

I just love all the planes and angles in this harbor shot 

from my morning walk in Morro Bay.

From the Bookshelf

This book is fun, colourful, and full of wonderful sketches and watercolours.  The author/artist has spend time in Hawaii, British Columbia, Spain, Portugal, Venice and several parts of Britain and includes work from all these venues.  Good technical advice, a section on supplies and a nice over-all layout of the sketches and finished works.  Among the things I enjoy about this book are the pictures of Polperro in Cornwall  and those in Venice - both places where I've spent time  doing my own watercolour sketches.

Spray + Stencil = Cool!

 Love these stencils from Stencil Girl!

And Liquitex Spray Paints!

Two sets of covers

for more BIG journals!

Museum Monday - Wyeth Brandywine

The Wyeth Museum in the magnificent Brandywine River valley of Pennsylvania contains not only a wonderful collection of art but has one of the most beautiful settings of any museum in America.

Best known for its collection of three generations of Wyeths - N.C., Andrew, and Jamie,the museum is also host to many other American painters.  An unspoiled rural setting, winding country roads and tree lined pastures surround the old mill that houses the museum.

Cover illustration - Treasure Island - N C Wyeth

From the museum's website - In the mid-1960s, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania in the historic Brandywine Valley, faced possible massive industrial development.  The impact would have dramatically changed the character and future of a community that was then largely rural.  Appreciating the need for rapid action, a group of local residents bought endangered land and founded the Brandywine Conservancy in 1967.  The first conservation easements, protecting more than five and one-half miles along the Brandywine, were granted in 1969.  Today, the Conservancy holds more than 440 conservation easements and has protected more than 45,000 acres in Chester and Delaware counties, Pennsylvania, and in New Castle County, Delaware.

Winds from the Sea - Andrew Wyeth

In 1971, the Conservancy opened the Brandywine River Museum in the renovated Hoffman’s Mill, a former gristmill built in 1864 that was part of the Conservancy’s first preservation efforts.  The museum has an international reputation for its unparalleled collection and its dedication to American art with primary emphasis on the art of the Brandywine region, American illustration, still life and landscape painting, and the work of the Wyeth family. 

Jamie's Pig - Jamie Wyeth

Among the hundreds of artists represented are Howard Pyle, many students of Pyle who affected the course of American illustration, N. C. Wyeth, Andrew Wyeth, and Jamie Wyeth.  There is work by hundreds of famous illustrators.  Landscape, still life, portrait and genre painting includes work by Benjamin West, Gilbert Stuart, Asher Durand, W. T. Richards, William Harnett, John Haberle, J. D. Chalfant, Horace Pippin, and many others, while the major still life collection includes paintings by William Harnett, John Peto, George Cope, John Haberle, Horace Pippin, and many more artists.  Nearly 300 special exhibitions have been shown in the museum’s six galleries, along with constant installations of work from the collection.  A variety of educational programs is offered throughout the year.

On my visit there, the leaves were just beginning to turn and a tang of the coming autumn was in  the air. 

Suitcase Saturday Score - Portobello Market, London

On our last two days in England (back in 2006) we returned to London from the Cotswolds and spent the weekend in Notting Hill so we could attend the world famous Portobello Flea Market.  It was everything we had heard and more. So many vendors, so many shops, so many wonderful pieces of ephemera, and, so many old books.

 One of my suitcases was devoted almost entirely to books. Old books, vintage books; books from the 1700's printed on letter press,

books from the late 1800's with gilt pages ends 

and hand tooled leather covers.

Vintage stamps and coins were everywhere,

 I stocked up on farthings and shillings and big Victorian coppers.

This lovely, lush cashmere scarf was the only thing I purchased at the market that wasn't vintage or antique.

And after a long morning of trolling the booths and shops, a pint and some fish and chips at The Sun in Splendor pub went down a treat!

BIG Journals

 When I was at the Paso Robles Festival of the Arts people kept pulling out 10x20" canvas panels (that I had spray painted and stenciled) out of the bin and holding them up and looking at them.

A few sold, but I had 4 left.  As I was putting them away when I got home I thought, "these would make cool journal covers!"

A friend had recently gifted me with several huge sheets of watercolour paper, that would be the perfect size to make signatures with and bind into the covers.

I added papers from old sailing charts, maps, newspaper reproductions,

and more waterolour paper and came up with fun, interesting signatures for sketching and or journaling.

Huge size, big enjoyment!  Available at this September's Art Girlz in Autumn show at Altered by the Sea Studio in Morro Bay.

Score, Score Score!

My delightful daughter Jenny and her dish-y boyfriend Noah came over the other night and brought me a fantastic surprise!

The antique store next to their apartment was 

closing down and they threw out piles of ephemera.

So Jenny and Noah raided the dumpster and
brought me a plethora of vintage goodness.

Do they get me or what!

Life on the Coast

Ghost ships in the fog, Morro Bay Harbor.

From the Bookshelf

A delightful little book! An interesting introduction by Leslie Dutcher that looks at water color from an historical standpoint and then gives us a tantalizing peek into the styles of the dozen artists represented.

Each contemporary watercolor artist is given a short bio and 6-8 pages to show their work.  The layout is superb and the colors well reproduced, as is the norm for Chronicle Publishing. I found some of my favourites here including Danny Gregory, Virginia Johnson and Fabrice Moireau, but many were new to me.  I spent a very enjoyable evening with this new volume and I think you'll enjoy it also.

Beaded Journal!

 This beautiful beaded cover was a gift from a friend several years ago.  It's been sitting around the studio ever since and finally - one of those A-ha! moments.

It would make a great journal.  I searched through my papers and found a stack that I've been saving from Somerset Studio and they seemed the perfect fit.

Using my book making abilities, learned from

  Mary Ann Moss's Full Tilt Boogie Class,

 I folded, punched, stitched, glued and - 

Viola!  A beautiful small journal! 

 Available at this year's Art Girlz in Autumn in late September.

Spray Time!

Went down to the garage the other morning,

 put up the cardboard spray station,

  put on the mask, got out the stencils,

and  had me some fun.

 Using 11x14" canvas panels as the base,

 I layered and layered and layered some more.

And here's what I got!

I was very tickled with the colour combinations

 and the way some patterns peeked

 through the colours on top of them.

I'm thinking these will be covers for hand-made sketch journals.