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Category: Jacqueline Newbold

Watercolor Warm-ups

Watercolor Warm-ups

I often like to do little watercolor painting warm-ups before I settle down to a larger piece.  These mini-paintings are fun and spontaneous.  This is a great way to work out color  and composition.  I recommend that you try this watercolor warm-up!

Artist Reception

Artist Reception

Blue Vase and Polka Dots
I am the featured artist at Alleda Real Estate for Bend’s First Friday Art Walk tonight.  There is an artist reception and I will be there from 5:30 pm until 9:00.  Please stop by, see my new paintings and say “Hi’!
25 NW Minnesota (next door to Thump Coffee), Bend, Oregon
Les Baux de Provence

Les Baux de Provence

The Mistral has arrived for a few days.  Our painting site is Les Baux de Provence and we try to find a painting spot out of the biting wind.  During the Middle Ages Les Baux de Provence became the seat of a powerful feudal lordship that controlled 79 towns and villages in the vicinity. The ruler claimed ancestry from the Magus king Balthazar and placed the 16 pointed Star of Bethlehem on their coat of arms.

I found a sunny spot to paint but it was still windy!

Our picnic lunch site at the upper end of the village.  Sunny and sheltered

The view of the old castle from the vineyards below.

Helen & Marie exploring Les Baux de Provence

Cute street

A Peek Inside Our Provence Watercolor Journals

A Peek Inside Our Provence Watercolor Journals

We have been busy painting on location at some wonderful towns in Provence.  Our afternoons are pleasantly spent catching up in our watercolor journals.  We have our favorite spot under the honeysuckle vines at our lovey Hotel du Soleil where we play with some mixed media and work on our watercolor paintings.  For the last two days we are experiencing La Mistral!

Following in the Footsteps of Van Gogh

Following in the Footsteps of Van Gogh

One of my absolute favorite places to paint on location (in the world!) is the Saint Paul de Mausole Monastery.    The grounds are full of gardens including a lovely lavender field and a few sundials.  This was the home of Vincent Van Gogh during his very troubled time of May 1889 to May 1890. Vincent’s small room had a window looking out over the gardens behind the buildings.

We use our library voices once we enter the grounds because we automatically experience a feeling of reverence and awe.  We are literally walking on the same grounds where Vincent Van Gogh walked, stood and painted.  He lived here for a year and produced almost 150 paintings! 

Painting out back
The lavender rows gave us great practice on perspective!

Our lesson for the day was how to draw and paint arches.

Suddenly a flock of French school children descend upon as and give us painting advice.

 

The Trip from Bend, Oregon to Provence, France

The Trip from Bend, Oregon to Provence, France

In order to help us pass the time on the 11 hour flight from Salt Lake City to Paris, we pull out our watercolor journals and palettes and do some painting.

Here is Helen’s cute little palette that she made out of an Altoids Box
Tired but upright we await the train from Paris to Avignon
I try to capture some little hill top villages from the train window.  I end up with lots of blurred photos!
Helen’s cute drawing of me taking photos out the train window

Our train is going over a hundred miles per hours.  We reach Avignon in just three hours!  The French really know how to travel

I am so happy to be out on the ground again.  We spend time walking around Isle sur la Sorgue  
We are enjoying the colorful buildings and the lay of the land in Isle sur la Sorgue.  The river Sorgue surrounds the city as if to hug it. The canals run between the narrow ancient streets. There are little bridges to cross and great wheels to look at with mossy blades turning in the river. 
Isle sur la Sorgue      
Friday morning we take our trusty little Renault, Kangoo for a tour of the countryside.
Colorful window dress display

We meet some wonderfully nice French people.  This lady is showing her Obama hat that someone sent her.  Everyone is exited to talk to us about Obama and “Bean Ledanne” (Bin Ladin).
We come to a screeching halt in our little Kangoo to take this photo of one of France’s 100 most beautiful villages, Gordes

Finally we start to see what we came for, Poppies in Provence!

More Poppies!

The Creative Process, A Peak inside my Empty Watercolor Journal

The Creative Process, A Peak inside my Empty Watercolor Journal

Do you enjoy the anticipation of an upcoming vacation or trip?  Do you practice packing your suitcase with your favorite clothes?  To me the journey begins way before walking out the door, suitcase in hand.  I love preparing my art supplies for my travels.  Planning for my upcoming trip, Painting Poppies in Provence, France, I decided to take two watercolor journals.  (Two spots just opened up on this trip to Provence, so let me know if you want to join us!) One is a 14 x 10 Arches Watercolor Book with 140 pound Arches paper.  The other smaller one is a Strathmore 400 Field Watercolor Sketchbook.  For years I have had a love/hate relationship with the Strathmore field book.  Every other piece of (crappy) watercolor page alternates with a piece of drawing paper.  This drawing paper is where my mixed-media imagination soars and I have probably filled at least 10 of these journals with art from my travels.

Pages in my journal prepared for the trip

First page in my new journal with inspiring quote.

Well, this year I decided to quit complaining about the (crappy) watercolor paper and tore my Strathmore Sketchbook apart.  I kept the metal coil and the black hard covers.  I  filled it with Arches 140 paper alternating with Strathmore 400 series drawing paper.  I prepared the drawing papers with colorful backgrounds and finished the first page with an inspiring quote for my upcoming trip: “To Paint…. to travel…. the combine the two is to celebrate life”  (Jack Brouwer). 

The cover of my new “Strathmore” journal now filled with Arches watercolor paper!

Stay tuned for my upcoming article in Cloth, Paper, Scissors magazine’s special edition, PAGES, on how to prepare these your jouranl pages with mixed-media and watercolor.
How do you prepare for your upcoming journeys?  I would love to hear what special techniques and ideas you have!

“Spring in Central Oregon” – Featured Painting

“Spring in Central Oregon” – Featured Painting

Spring in Central Oregon, watercolor by Jacqueline Newbold

The Assistance League of Bend, Oregon picked my watercolor painting, Spring in Central Oregon as their 2011 Kitchen Kaleidoscope Fund Raiser Event featured painting.  This fun event will be June 18, 2011 and will include a tour of seven beautiful homes located in North Rim and Northwest Crossing.  The Assistance League of Bend is an all volunteer, nonprofit organization consisting of a dedicated group of women with a passion for supporting the local community. Save the date for this fun event with a such a worthy cause!

Featured Artist at the Red Chair Gallery

Featured Artist at the Red Chair Gallery

This is me (Jacqueline) in front of my new paintings.

Art Hop night in Bend, Oregon was a fun event.  It was our first warm day in months and downtown Bend was the place to be! I was honored to be the Featured Artist for the Red Chair Gallery, located on the corner of Bond and Oregon Street in the historic O’Kane building.  My paintings will be up for the month of April.