Thursday, June 18, 2015

Sunset Clouds

Clouds...beautiful to look at, harbingers of rain, symbols of happiness when puffy and white, depression when dark and gray.

I spent some time painting clouds using different techniques yesterday.  Here is one that I liked well enough to finish as a gift for my husband for Fathers' Day on Sunday.

Marsh Sunset, Jeanne Turner McBrayer, 2015


A highlight of our Sunset Beach vacations is always watching the sun set over Madd Inlet from the cottage on 40th Street at the end of the island.  

Here are some of the other cloud studies.


Wet paint blotted with tissue.


Watercolor wash dried, then re-wet with cloth towel, and color lifted with towel.

Wash of colors for sunset clouds.  This one led to the colors used in the Marsh Sunset painting at the top.


It has been extremely hot here in Raleigh, NC, this week.  We are heading for the hills for the weekend.  We have not been to our cabin for almost a month, and we are needing a fix, as well as a respite of cooler temperatures!

Monday, June 15, 2015

Journal Pages

I got caught up on my Fun and Fabulous Journal Challenge pages.

The first prompt was something like "Play Date."  I got out my Tom Lynch book of 150 Charts:  Watercolor Workshop Lessons, and did this one on making juicy, loose color combinations.  I used my new Holbein watercolor paints, which Tom recommends.  They definitely have rich, bright color!



Today's prompt had something to do with Time.  I already had the background, chair, and lamp on this journal page.  I used a watercolor background, then sprayed with diluted watercolor paint in a spray bottle through a stencil.  A quick look through a catalog in today's mail produced a clock to match the patchwork decor.  A little lettering with a Sharpie completed the page.



Today was the first day of preschool for my little two-and-a-half-year-old granddaughter, Charlie.  I have kept her two days a week since she was three months old.  What a joy she has been to teach, play with, and love.


My husband is phasing out of his work as a financial advisor, and we hope to spend much more time in the mountains.  Now if we are up there on a weekend and don't feel like coming home on Sunday, we'll just stay!

But I sure will miss my little girl.


Sunday, June 14, 2015

Here's Something I Made

It has been a very busy time since Memorial Weekend!  We just got back from a week at the beach with our family.  Our granddaughter Lily had a birthday, and I finished the patchwork bag that we started together when she was on spring break.




The lovely posy was made by my friend Tama Brooks as a remembrance after my father died.  Lily selected the rest of the fabrics to make up the front and sewed them together.  I then added enough patchwork to fold over and make into a tote bag.  





The way I have been making sturdy tote bags is to make a regular quilt complete with binding, then hand-sew up the sides.  The back of the quilt becomes the lining of the bag.  I also make handles that are quilted, and securely sew them to the bag.





Unfortunately, we left the bag of birthday gifts at home, (along with all our towels and the paints and papers I meant to bring) so she will have to wait until we see them in a couple weeks to get her finished bag.

She will also be getting tho framed print of pears on a windowsill.  She was going through my stack of finished paintings and expressed an interest in this one, which surprised me.  I thought she would want one of my more vibrant paintings.  I think it turned out very nice matted and framed.



I have continued with the Fabulous and Free Journaling Challenge with Irresistibly Moi on Facebook.


The "Stamp It Out" prompt produced this ocean scene, just before we left for the beach.  I used a commercial stamp for the ship and also for the little shore bids in the foreground.  I tried some home-made stamps from a carved Styrofoam food package for the clouds, sun, and waves.  Then I brushed on some more paint to make it look more artistic.


Another prompt, "Numbers," happened to fall on my anniversary.  So, I had fun with the 44 years we have been married, and the wedding date.  Watercolor, markers, and white dimensional paint.


I did this quick watercolor painting in response to the "Monochrome Mania" prompt.  It is of course inspired by the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina.



Here is our family group at the beach.  We had a wonderful time, great weather, good food.


And I will leave you with one of our glorious Sunset Beach sunsets.