Tuesday, December 2, 2014

The River Road

This is one of my favorite times of the year. It's right after all of the leaves have fallen and before the first snow. When I focus a little closer and adjust the way I "see" a bit more, I begin to notice all the subtle colors bursting from every living thing...different shades of purples, yellows, oranges, reds, and even greens. It fills me with happiness and wonderment.














Stopping in Maiden Rock and Stockholm, Wisconsin to browse in the local shops and for a treat at the Pelican Bakery. Yum!







After visiting the Red Horse Gallery in Fountain City to see our dear friend and artist, David Eberhardt's majestic, raw photographs of Mississippi river punks and the Mekong river in Cambodia; he showed us a gem of a community a few miles south where homes were settled on the edge of the river, built on stilts or with plastic barrels underneath to float them when the water is high. We can't wait to go back!



Back on the road, traveling across the Mississippi River.









We had an hour before closing time and were in awe of all the fine art works including a special exhibit of Ansel Adams photographs at the Minnesota Marine Art Museum in Winona, Minnesota. The surroundings were just as captivating with wild flower gardens, barges on the river and yes...an industrial river terminal processing facility.












Looking into the window of the museum reminded me of some of the paintings we were just looking at.


















On the horizon, the natural gas plant looks like a beacon of light drawing you closer.  While taking the photos was a last minute decision, the outcome created interesting markings of light across the dark sky...some repetitive...some fluid...some random.








Links to the artists and places mentioned: 
Minnesota Marine Art Museum https://www.mmam.org/     

Monday, November 17, 2014

Día de Muertos


My daughter has been watching some craft tutorials lately and asked if we could make a Day of the Dead mask. Of course I said Yes! We enjoyed it so much that we had a couple sessions of mask painting!




 These are my daughter's creations!




Monday, November 3, 2014

Zentangle in Color



The first Art Experience began with the idea of doing portraits... I stumbled upon a couple of artists Linda Lovenstein and Ana Strumpf. Both are redesigning fashion magazine pictures with a zentangle, colorful feel.  It reminded me of a pen and ink artwork I did when I was 8 years old, filling in spaces with lines and shapes. These artists brought it a step further by using color, which I love!

Using chalk markers, I began filling in the spaces. It's the relaxing movement of the color gliding across the glossy print that brings joy and serenity to the moment. One that I would continue to do without stopping for hours on end reminding me of the times I spent as a child drawing and doodling.

After a couple portraits, I wanted to use other images. I found some black and white pictures and then moved onto animals. Now I want to experiment with my own photos! Yea! The experience never ends!


 


These are my daughter's creations!






My son saw how much fun we were having and decided to make some of his own!



Take a peek at the work from the artists mentioned, here:
http://www.saatchiart.com/account/artworks/482055
http://www.anastrumpf.com.br/en/index.php/trabalho/categoria/35

Sunday, October 5, 2014

Yum!



This was requested one evening for dinner, so I picked some basil from the garden, added a few ingredients and voila! Delicious!

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

I'm in...an Apartment Therapy contest!

Hello Everyone!  I'm so excited because my "living room" was selected to be on the Apartment Therapy website for a contest called "Room for Color 2014".  Here is one example from the photos I submitted...




Please check out my entry and while you are there browse through all the other spectacular rooms too!  If you are inspired by mine or one of the others, please vote!

Guess what? Voting ends October 3rd at 12pm eastern time.  Being added to the contest today is winning for me!! I'm squealing with happiness!

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/anns-color-me-happy-room-room-for-color-contest-211077

Update: October 6th, 2014 
I was so thrilled to be a part of this contest!  With the support of friends and family, my entry went from 22 votes the first day to 84 the third in which my entry was in the top 10! The judges then chose one entry from the top five in each category. Which my entry was number 8 by the closing of voting, so the contest ends here for me.
I will always remember the feeling I had when I learned my entry was accepted into the contest! Pure joy! Thank you so much for your support and encouraging words! Love, love, love to all of you!