Jun 26, 2008

Le Artiste

I have no idea if I really typed a French phrase for my title or not, but it sounded good. :) Anyway, Natalie's been in art camp this week and is learning how to paint with watercolors. So I've been driving there and back every day this week (except for Tuesday, when I had to drive to Maryland and back). Drive, drive, drive...blah.

But, the classes are in the country and the drive is GORGEOUS! This picture does not even come close to doing it justice, but you'll get the idea:



The mountain that you can't really see in the back is breathtaking. It's just such a peaceful, tranquil place.

I stayed for the first class and listened to the different techniques closely. Then I decided to brush up on my own watercolor painting and used this for my inspiration:



And came up with this:



I blurred out my last name on the photo, so that's why there's a weird blue at the bottom. And those three blue dots to the left that look like a Picachu (sp?) face annoy the crap out of me. I tried wetting them out of there but it just faded the area around them.

Natalie's teacher thought it was fine and didn't need to be removed but she's probably just being nice to me. :)

There's a long story behind the meaning of the swan to our family after the loss of my uncle, but I am going to give this to my mom since we all think of him whenever we see one.

Now if I only had the time to study up and practice more. When my kids are grown, I want my own studio and I want to take dozens of classes. And my dream come true would be to have ONE piece in an art show.

My sister is an art major and her drawings/paintings have won numerous awards. She's now into glass blowing, though and made this vase for me for my birthday:



And she wrapped it in this paper that she painted herself:



So the desire to create obviously runs in the family, which is why I enrolled Natalie in these classes in the first place.

And finally a shameless plug, for my other artwork. Check out my Etsy widget in my sidebar to see the personalized children's wall art I sell at my store. The three on "display" are the ones I created for Natalie's room.

I've had zero time to promote my store so I have yet to sell a piece. At least I'm telling myself that's the reason. :)

17 comments:

Tug said...

I SO wish I could draw & paint, but no - that skipped a generation (mine)...I'm more camera/power tool building type of girl. ;-)

Deadman said...

L'artiste, c'est comment il s'ecrit.

;o)>

BlondeBlogger said...

~Tug- I could never work with power towels. Someone would lose a limb for sure.

~Deadman- Heading to Google's translate thingie right now, lol.

BlondeBlogger said...

~Deadman- Ahhhh...thank you! I knew I probably had it wrong.

PinksandBluesGirls said...

I love your swan watercolor... I would love to hear the meaning of the swan and your uncle, if you can share it. I love meanings.

Also, on your sister's wrapping paper, there seems to be a swan on the top right of the box... !

What a profoundly talented and artistic family!

Sharon - Pinks & Blues

Janna said...

You did a very good job.
I would never have noticed the Pikachu face if you hadn't said anything. :)

John D. said...

Schweeet! Have you ever been to the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria?

Pamela said...

me too. I want to win the lotto and then just retire...to watercolor

BlondeBlogger said...

~Sharon- Thanks for asking! It was something between his daughters (my cousins) and my mom (his sister). My grandma lives on the bay and from what I heard, this swan appeared on my grandma's beach around the time he died.

It's rare for them to show up, and the last time they saw it was at our family reunion there. It's like a sign that he's still with us.

Probably one of those have to be there moments, lol. But it means a lot to my family.

You're right about the swan on the wrapping paper! How weird is that???? Thanks for pointing it out and thanks for the compliments. :)

~Janna- Aww, thank you! :)

~John- Thanks! Our homeschool group had a field trip out there but it was one we missed. I'd love to go sometime. Have you been there?

~Pamela- Yes! And live on the beach too. :)

Not a Granny said...

I didn't notice the face either until you pointed it out.

You have a very talented family, love the story about the swan!

Letera said...

Beautiful vase. Love blown glass. You did good on your painting.
Good luck. That does look like a very peaceful place.

Amanda said...

God skipped over me when passing out the artistic talent. :P

BlondeBlogger said...

~Trish- Thank you! I'm glad you didn't notice my Pikachu, lol. (that sounds funny)

~Letera- Thanks! What's weird is the book I'm reading right now centers around glass blowing. That's the main character's job. I'm going to give it to my sister when I'm done with it.

~Amanda- LOL! I still have your painting of that flower sitting on my dresser, waiting for Dad to hang it up, and it's gorgeous!

And remember those carving things you did years ago? I think it was a wolf you did.

So you can't say you aren't talented. :)

bichonpawz said...

Creativity does indeed run in your family! The watercolor is very nice and that glass is gorgeous!!

BlondeBlogger said...

~BP- Thanks so much! :)

sybil law said...

It scares me - both that you know about Pikachu (again: sp?!), and that you subconsciously painted one. Except, I know about that awful Pokemon, so welcome to my club! Haha!
Your painting is great! And I LOOVE your sisters' vase!

BlondeBlogger said...

~Sybil- That comes from my son, who wore Pikachu underwear when he was about five. My grandma bought a pack for him (she had no idea what a Pikachu was either).

They had the face of a Pikachu right "there." So everytime he wore them it cracked me up.

Plus, he went through a Pokemon phase complete with the trading card frenzy. But I'm pretty sure it was Pokemon cards (or maybe it wasn't?) that had some really weird things on it that freaked me out so I made him get rid of them (one was a possessed creature...wtf?)

Anyway...I'm rambling...it's totally the insomnia, lol. Thanks for the compliments!