Postcards from the Lake -- More Visitors, More Art!

We had our first no-art day (or at least, as I write this, the one day when neither of us did art). But there was a good reason. Absolutely grim porch weather (and that's where we work) kept us inside. That's changing as our temps return to normal and the rain and gloom is a thing of the past. 

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That doesn't mean we haven't been productive or having fun at our two-person art camp! The past few days have been very productive -- and also fun!

Yesterday, my cousin David came by and we had a good long talk (with more to come). And on Saturday, friends Mark and Jan stopped by, returning home from vacation. They brought us pie and a wine called "Chaos," which seemed appropriate for what turned out to be a politically charged weekend for those following US politics!

We hit another farmer's market and Kate brought some beautiful flowers for the porch. I did a very crummy painting of them but it was a good warm-up for other things.

I decided I needed to do some bookmarks for the November sale and I did a few (Christmas trees, flowers) that are the right size (or will be, once I slice the paper in half). Then I decided I should make a bigger painting and plan on slicing that into five or six bookmarks. So this is the full piece. I'll cut it up when I'm home and maybe ink in a few details if needed.

After that I decided to get bold. I'm terrible at painting people but Monique inspires me (on many levels) but especially with her "Paris People" -- all painted from behind. I thought I'd give that technique a try. While this photo of our grands does have a face (the one I painted looks NOTHING like our little guy) it's a start.

Here's the finished piece. I can see I need to adjust the skin tones now that I've photographed it. And hopefully, fix the mouth!

Kate, meanwhile, has been plugging away on a few projects -- a wonderful loon that hopefully will find its way into a 2025 calendar and some mushrooms, among other things.

This one is mixed media with watercolor and watercolor pencil. (And she's even finished more of it now!)

I had seen a technique someplace online where the artist taped off areas of the painting with a grid before painting a landscape behind a window. I thought I'd try it. Here's what it looks like. First I drew the scene, then taped off the "window panes."

Then I painted the scene in. 

 

Finally, I removed the tape. I'm not thrilled with the results here -- that blank green "grassy" square in the middle is bad composition -- I should have had something there. An extension of the house? A tree? The house with the thatched roof on the left should be wider or taller; even I can't really tell what it is. Also, the tape was really too wide. If I do this again, I'll use a narrower tape or a bigger piece of paper. But the technique was fun and I may try it again, having learned a few things.

 

While my cousin David was here, we noticed we had yet another visitor. Or, at least one flew by, landing in the neighbor's tree.

I rarely see our bald eagle. And when I do, I don't usually have my camera with me. Or, I'm inside and afraid to spook him while he's on the beach.

Today I was lucky.

These photos were taken from two lots away from the tall tree where he's hanging out (zoomed and cropped). They're a tad soft if you look at them too big.

But I was thrilled.

Apart from one day where the weather was cold, gloomy and damp enough we couldn't be out on the porch to paint, the weather has been pretty good. We've enjoyed most dinners on the porch after cleaning up our painting messes. And yes, a bit of wine, too.

 

We did have one deluge! I was glad to have a good roof and no basement to worry about.

Art camp continues and today looks to be lovely. There's much on the agenda so. . . 

 

. . . Gotta fly!

(P.S.) A note to "unknown" who had asked about the commenting and questions and later wrote to apologize for offending me. I wasn't at all offended by your question, though it was very kind of you to apologize. It's always good to reiterate things like that a comment and reply policy every now and then so I thank you for asking the question and motivating me to do it! And with, or without, your own blog, I hope you return! 

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