Surprise! I'm Back!

Hello out there to any of my followers who might still remember me after a three-month absence from my blog.  We're still here...Charlie is doing a little better with his blood counts following his last radiation.  I had a total ankle replacement in Charlotte on January 9, which has left me in non-weight-bearing status since then.  We go back to Charlotte on January 26, and hopefully will get rid of the giant heavy cast and switch to a walking boot.

On Monday, January 29, we go back to Sarasota for Charlie's six-month check-up at Dattoli Cancer Center.  We are looking forward to the warmer weather and visiting with family who live down there.  We have had an exceptionally cold winter so far here in the North Carolina mountains, so it has been a good month to hibernate inside.  Even though I stay on the couch all day, I can see outside through our glass door and big windows.  Here are some visitors that I spied on one of the snow days.

I was really getting motivated to finish organizing my basement studio when deer season arrived, then  Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Had to add air beds downstairs for company and a table for a gift-wrapping station.  The painting side is in pretty good shape, but not the fabric/quilting area.  Maybe when we get back from Florida.

I did paint some winter scenes and a Christmas card before  I got laid up.

Snowy Woods

Snowy Woods was this year's Christmas card.

Light in the Forest

I started Light in the Forest four years ago.  One of my former workshop instructors, Karlyn Holman, wrote a step-by-step tutorial in Watercolor Artist magazine about creating a snowy woodland scene.  I did not like mine at all and put it aside.  Four years later I got some new ideas and am very happy with this luminous scene.  In fact, it is sold!

I have done a little art journaling, as well.  My brother Chris sent me a photo of a very angry screech owl he encountered while mowing his grass, and I tried to paint him.

Here are my last three journal pages for the Monthly Art Journal Challenge Group on Facebook.  The moderator always suggests a theme for the month.

November:  Glitter


























It's a little-known fact that when my husband and I ride the Gator through a dark piny section of our mountain, he often quotes lines from this beloved Robert Frost poem to me.


December:  Poinsettias


















Inspired by a watercolor painting on Pinterest

January:  the year 2018

I painted this luminous angel some time ago, but never finished the page.  I used a white Sharpie paint pen (extra fine point) to add the journaling, halo, and flower.

I have done quite a bit of Bible journaling while recuperating, and will post some of those pages next time.

Thank you to my sister-in-law Alice Turner for requesting that I start blogging again!  I needed a nudge!

Mountain Weekend

We just got back today from a trip to our cabin in the North Carolina mountains.  Beautiful weather and beautiful scenery make for great times with family.

There were sunset rides to the top of the mountain..

Visits with my sister and her husband and grandchildren...and donkeys...

and her  pet cow, Sampson...

I spent a little bit of time on artwork during the football games on Saturday.  Here is a Bible journal page.  I borrowed the hummingbird image from a set of coasters given to me by my brother Jeff and his wife Anna.

I also added some doodles and journaling to a background that I had previously painted.  I used some wooden chipboard designs from Michael's to stamp the round shapes.  I hope it looks joyful!

A Little Like Frida

I have posted before about a once-a-month journaling challenge on Facebook where you "visit" a different country each month.  That challenge has now been continued by several of the participants, who chose Mexico as the destination for May.

Just in time yesterday, I finished my painting inspired by artist Frida Kahlo's self-portraits.

A Little Like Frida, Jeanne Turner McBrayer, 2016

This was so much fun...I loved the loose interpretation and the use of color for value change.

I have also posted in the past about my persistent headaches, which have now lasted six weeks.  Tomorrow I am having an outpatient surgery procedure that I hope will cure them.  I didn't have sinus infection at all, just severely deviated septum blocking air flow.  I will probably not be blogging for a few days after that.  Wish me luck!

Signing Back In

It has been a very busy couple of weeks!  A weeklong stay in the mountains, four days at Merlefest, a house full of company, and then a sinus headache that has lasted for 13 days have kept me occupied.  

We finally got the propane gas heater installed in the basement of our mountain cabin.  Just in time for summer!  Doesn't matter, I am looking forward to being able to quilt in the colder months.  One of these days, we will also have a ceiling, sheet rock walls, and a floor!

Here is another journal page on the Amazing Race Facebook challenge...next stop Italy.  Of course I thought of the great wines of Italy, and decided to try to paint wine glasses/bottles.  For this I looked once again to the free Bob Burridge videos on You-Tube and on his website.  He gives such insight into how light is reflected and bounced around in glass and liquids.

Both of these paintings are in acrylic, and are blatant copies of Bob's paintings as I try to learn his methods.

Then...off to Germany.  I decided to try to paint like Wassily Kandinsky, who although a Russian, spent a great amount of time in Germany.  Here is my impression of his painting Houses in Munich (1908).

I love the bright colors of his palette and the freedom of his brushstrokes.  I painted this freehand with no drawing ahead of time.

I am also working on two paintings of flowers inspired by Bob's videos.  They involve painting bright splotches of color, and then forming the shapes of the flowers and vase by negative painting around the original colors.  Mine are both works in progress on top of some old unsuccessful journal pages.

You would never believe what these two pages once looked like.  I like being able to paint over some bad attempts.  These are both done in acrylic paint. It is much easier to do the negative painting with a more opaque paint than watercolor.

Next up are some more Bible art journaling pages.

In the first one, I used Bob Burridge's techniques again to apply the light pastel colors of the angel, and then use darks to negative paint the shape of the angel and wings.  This one is done in watercolor. I like that you can still see some of the original bright colors under the dark blues and purples of the background.

Judges 6:12

Here are some other recent pages.

Psalm 145

Hebrews 4:10-11

Romans 5:8

Jeremiah 31:3

On Wednesday, I babysat for my three-year-old granddaughter, Charlie.  I used to keep her two days a week until last summer, and I still enjoy having her stay with me when possible.  We did lots of painting together, and I used her paintings to make a Mothers' Day gift for her mommy.

We painted the butterfly and bubbles together, and she painted some vast expanses of paper with colorful glitter paint that were cut up and used in the flowers. 

And here is a beautiful bouquet of my own from my South Carolina family.  Inspiration for a future painting?

We are lucky enough to live close to our other son and his family.  This morning it was church and brunch.  Here is Charlie with the balloon from her Mack-Mack that did not get away or get popped all through breakfast.  I am looking forward to my luxurious pedicure with which they gifted me!

That's it for now.  I went to my quilt bee meeting last week and have a few photos from that meeting.  

Happy Mothers' Day to all of you beautiful mothers out there!

The Amazing Race Journal Challenge

I have enrolled in another online journaling challenge hosted by Susan Lazar Wojtkowski   ("Irreversibly Moi") on Facebook.  This one will feature different geographical locations around the world.

The first stop is China.  Susan provided lots of geographical and cultural information, as well as links to learn more about Chinese culture.  I decided to browse the paintings at the National Art Museum of China.  Lo and behold, I fell in love with this lilac painting by Xiao Shufang.

Some of the other participants went all out and made special journals just for this challenge.  I decided to just fill up some pages in the watercolor and mixed media journals that I already have.

I went to my studio to grab one, and this was lying face open on my table.  

The night before the challenge began, I applied gesso over an acrylic painting that I did not like, and then sprayed purple watercolor paint over it.  I decided this was meant to be...and I used it as the background for my version of the lilacs.

It did not take long...the illusion of the light shining on the florets was already there, along with lots of texture.  I added some areas of color, the pottery vase and table, and then darkened the background.  A little time adding some flower petals and foliage, and it was done!

Lilacs, Jeanne Turner McBrayer, 2016.

There have been lots of great responses to the challenge already, including bamboo brush painting and paper cutting techniques.  Looks like this will be an interesting challenge with a variety of creative responses.

Angels Among Us

The other day I mentioned that I had been painting.  Just some pages in my art journal and also my art journaling bible.

I had a request for a painting similar to this one with scripture.

So I have been practicing painting angels in my journals...in lots of different colors.

Most of these are not finished yet, but I will add some more darks for contrast and perhaps some scripture.

Here are a few other journal pages.  Some have acrylics as well as watercolor.  All are waiting for some sort of text.

And I have really been enjoying my Bible art journaling and have made a few more. Sometimes I am inspired by the great masters of art when I read the Scripture verses.

Monet, anyone?  The iconic bridge at Giverny.

 Van Gogh and his exuberant shining lights were called to mind by Matthew 5: 13-16.

It has been COLD and WINDY here in Raleigh, NC this weekend.  We kept our granddaughter Charlotte last night, and then we all went to Saturday afternoon service together this afternoon.  The wind had knocked out the power in the area, so there was a sort of acoustic music program, which was very nice.  Then we went to Full Moon Oyster Bar for supper.  A good weekend so far!