Memorial Day

Memorial Day 2010

Thank you Veterans 

for the sacrifices 

you made

to serve and protect

 America.

Thank you for freedom.

We will never forget

what you have done.

God Bless You

A weekend with Katie Kendrick

As I left for work one morning,

and saw these beauties.

Aren't they gorgeous?

Esmerelda the praying mantis is there for the photo op...

~~~

I left work a little early to drive out to

Valley Ridge Art Studio

Katie Kendrick taught

"Untold Tales- A Big & Tall Book".

It was indeed a Big & Tall book.

Absolutely gorgeous-

highly textured-

thick with pages

full of collage and paint.

Be still my beating heart.....

Here Katie demonstrates the steps in putting the cover together,

creating the surface by

gouging,

texturizing,

painting,

sanding,

painting,

sanding,

glazing....

Katie shows us how she paints her book pages

these are only the beginning stages....

She uses all different weights of papers

it only adds to the interest.

~~~~~~~

I was pretty wound up when I got to the farm where I was staying. 

 I baked a sweet potato, sauteed some kale in olive oil dressed it with a little balsamic vinegar, a few walnuts and dried cranberries, a dolop of goat cheese on the potato.  Accompanied by a glass of wine--maybe 2.            

~~~~~

I thought I took scads of pictures...but it wasn't so.

This is how my cover turned out.

I'm really happy with it.

Especially with the layer of encaustic medium over the top.

It is indeed, big & tall...

....and a close-up

Love the wax.

Katie is a most generous teacher,

sharing so many very cool techniques.

I will never look at cardboard the same way.

It seems that so many artists (I was one of them)

got on this "acid free" bandwagon.

Looking around-there are a good many artists

that repurpose anything & everything.

Gluing rusty this to weathered that.

Acid free?--notsomuch

I have seen drawings done by Georgia O'Keefe

drawn on whatever support was available.

Years and years later--they still look great.

I think the aging of the material 

is part the of art.

My perception about cardboard has changed.

It's been overlooked and shunned

because of lignin and acids.

Encase it in acrylic and/or wax,

I think we've got a winner.

Cardboard is readily available

and

it's FREE!

Thank you Katie,

for opening my eyes to cardboard

a very versatile support.

Scenes from Door County

Charlene's Gallery Ten - Gills Rock

This is where my pear series is hanging out

(oooo bad pun)

hopefully they will find their way to good homes.

I love the way the girls arranged them.

This hall is near the front entry way.

On the second floor of the gallery

my larger copper pieces grouped together.

The past few years I've taken to making clocks.

Fun and useful. 

Do you remember this quote?

It's an old nursery rhyme....

You have probably heard it if you've watched

"Singing in the Rain"

Copper is so hard to photograph,

it looks really cool in person.

One of my favorite bible verses

The Bible in 50 Words

I thought it would fun to try to illustrate the text.

Paul is combing the shoreline for agates.
He a bit of a rockhound...

This is the Green Bay side of Door County.
It's just beautiful here.

We found a sweet Inn to stay at.

The tourist season doesn't begin until this coming weekend.

We were fortunate to have missed the crowds.

Many of the shops and eateries weren't open yet.

It was wonderfully quiet!

Perfect for a getaway.

Evidence of spring.....

the uncurling of ferns

Paul and I were trying to figure out what these were.

They are tulip leaves.

Neither of us had ever seen markings like these on tulips.

Who knew?

Paul and I went for a loooong walk one morning.

Isn't this a cool cedar tree?

The gnarls make fabulous shapes.

A grand Victorian house on the top of a hill.

Leaded glass....the whole bit.

Lilly of the Valley just getting ready to open.

oh, that fragrance!

Those few days were over all too soon.

Though I feel refreshed

I would have loved to stay longer.

We didn't have time to go to the park.

Penninsula State Park has terrific hiking and biking trails.

So much to do and so little time...

Always leave something for next time, right?

 ;D