Congratulations, Kristen!

My daughter, Dana, made this video for her sister as a graduation gift. We all laughed and cried. You tend to forget over the years about all the things you did as a family. 

And now with our youngest graduating H.S., I'm feeling nostalgic and a little sad to close the door to their childhood.  Seeing these clips reminds me how precious these moments are and I'm so happy to have them to look back on.  I know I'm the mom, but I get choked up every time I watch this.

Check back.... I'm working on a post about how Dana made this movie...

Finals

This is my attempt of painting from the Donna Zagotta's demo I took the other day.   I took a picture of my daughter for this watercolor painting.  I love the mixed media look, so I added some papers and a touch of oil pastel.

Donna Zagotta's Demo and Lecture

I was so excited when I saw that one of my favorite artists, Donna Zagotta, was in driving distance so I could see her paint and talk in person.  I attended her demonstration and lecture at the Fallbrook School of the Arts in San Diego, yesterday. 


She's extremely talented, and I feel grateful that she shared her knowledge and experience with us.  Unfortunately, I couldn't attend her workshop due to my Mom's visit from NJ, but I was so inspired and can't wait to paint again in the "Zagotta" style.

It's a Wrap!

Not mentioned much here in my blog is that I'm an interior architectural designer.  The reason being is that I just wanted to keep this an art blog.  Today I cross over, basically, because a couple of my pieces will be used in one of our houses. In my haste to get the pieces to the designer, I didn't bother scanning them.  I just thought I was giving them to her to see my progress.  Next thing I know, there they were.  

So, I took  couple of shots during the installation today.

I'd love to show you the whole kitchen, but it was a mess with laptops on the island and cleaning supplies, etc.

  

This is the whole painting I described in the previous post. There is an appliance garage behind it.

This is on a wall to the laundry room.  My painting is the contemporary one 2nd from the left.  I know you can't see much, but just the collection here looks pretty against the blue wall.

California Tree

This was part of a larger watercolor painting.  For some reason I didn't think it was turning out well so I abandoned it and used the right side of the painting to doodle and practice strokes.  Later when I saw this tree with a fresh eye, I saw how beautiful the mix of colors were and thought how stupid I was to dismiss it so quickly.        

With that all said, I keep this quote from a famous dancer and choreographer, Martha Graham, pinned up on my inspo board, which I try to read often:

There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action.  And because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique.  And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium....the world will not have it.  It is not your business to determine how good it is, nor how it compares with other expressions.  It is your business to keep it yours, clearly and directly, to keep the channel open- Martha Graham.

Malibu Pier

Here's another little watercolor sketch of Malibu Pier.  5-1/2" x 12"

Santa Monica Pier

I made this little watercolor sketch of Santa Monica pier for a client.