Jacqueline’s Blog

Today is the Last Day to Register for Menucha Painting Retreat

Today is the Last Day to Register for Menucha Painting Retreat

Sometime you just need to treat yourself to something special!  I treated myself this past March to a 4 day watercolor painting retreat at Menucha, Oregon and came home refreshed and rejuvenated.  I signed up not really know what to expect as I had never been there before.  Menucha was more than I had ever wished for.  The area was beautifully located on the Columbia River Gorge and steeped in history.  My roommates and I became great friends.  The food was delicious! 

I now have the incredible opportunity to teach my Watercolor Journeys Class along with paper artist, Mary Burgess.  Today is the LAST DAY to register!  My students tell me that they don’t have the time or the space to paint.  Well here is your opportunity to paint, try new ideas, and bond with fellow painters.  This will be so much fun!  Don’t miss out – register today.

Paintings-on-the-Go! Watercolor Journaling Presentation to the Watercolor Society of Oregon

Paintings-on-the-Go! Watercolor Journaling Presentation to the Watercolor Society of Oregon

I had the wonderful opportunity of being one of the presenters at the Watercolor Society of Oregon’s Fall Convention at Sunriver, Oregon this past weekend.  The focus of my talk was about painting while traveling.  After showing a packed room some my travel watercolor journals and a few demos, we did one of my favorite painting-on-the-go exercises.  Here is a recap of the lesson I taught – 
Materials needed:  Pencil, eraser, Flair pen, watercolor journal or good quality drawing paper (Strathmore 400), small watercolor brush and watercolor palette.

First, draw your subject with a pencil.  For this lesson we drew a door in Provence.  But this works well with any subject but mostly ones with large shapes.  Then trace over your drawing with the water-soluble Flair pen.  Add more ink in the darker areas of your drawing to create shadows underneath the doorway, stones and areas where the light does not hit.
Then, lightly and carefully add water to the pen lines leaving some areas white.   At this time you can add watercolor to the wash or just leave it as a monochromatic painting. Soften outer edges with clear water. 
I will be teaching this technique and many, many more at the Menucha retreat coming up in November – 4 days of classes, all room & board included, located in the beautiful Columbia River Gorge!

Using the window to trace our drawings

Rene painted a beautiful pineapple with this technique

Looking good!

Having fun!

Hard at work
Deanna shares here watercolor journal

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Remembering Provence, Corner Cafe

Remembering Provence, Corner Cafe

I just finished this watercolor painting, Corner Cafe.  The cafe is located just outside the ancient walls of the old part of the town of St. Remy de Provence, France.  The first rays of sun shines here in the morning and was a beautiful place to greet the day with our steaming cups of cafe au lait.

Corner Cafe  Buy Now
New Fall Watercolor Classes with Jacqueline Newbold

New Fall Watercolor Classes with Jacqueline Newbold

Mt. Hood with Lavender

***Watercolor Painting Classes*** at my Art in my Heart Studio (Tumalo, just 5 miles north of Bend, OR)

Refining your painting skills with watercolor warm-ups, composition and design.
Tuesday afternoons:  October 11, 18, 25, & November 1, 2011 from 12:30 – 3:30

***Rainbow Studies***
Unlock the secrets to creating vibrant and harmonious paintings.
Learn about color theory, successful color mixing, how not to make muddy paintings and how to understand the characteristics of pigments. You will make a color journal that will become a valuable reference.

***Watercolor Workshop in the Columbia River Gorge***
November 13 – 17, 2011, Check-in is Sunday night at 5:00 PM.  This is a “double header” with Jacqueline Newbold and Mary Burgess.  You will have two full 9 AM – 4 PM days with each instructor as they share with you their passion for art.
Mary Burgess: Hands-on Paper Design
Jacqueline Newbold: Watercolor Journeys, Inspirations from travels

Students will explore ways to make their watercolor travel journal interesting and reflective of their experiences through painting landscapes, vignettes and memoirs, and by incorporating collected treasured items. Learn how to make quick-on the go-sketches using colorful watercolor washes and pen and ink drawings.  Students will also experiment with stamping, stenciling, napkin collage, maps, and artistic lettering to enhance their journals in order to build a launching board of creativity for their next artistic journey

***Watercolor Journaling Painting Workshop in Greece, June 25 -29, 2012***
Watercolor Journaling in Greece with Jacqueline Newbold 2012
Travel Dates: June 25 to 29, 2012.
Contact Admissions at 800-487-8839 for more information regarding travel dates.
Learn to create your own watercolor journals and incorporate the benefits of art healing in your life or your holistic health practice.

Celebration, New Paintings for the Red Chair Gallery

Celebration, New Paintings for the Red Chair Gallery

I have been working on a series of watercolor paintings inspired by my trip to Provence in May.  The title of this one is Celebration.  We found this lovely village in the Drone area of France and what caught my eye was all the flags that were hanging from the ancient buildings.  This painting will be hung in the Red Chair Gallery for Bend’s First Friday Art Walk, October, 7, 2011.

Celebration, Watercolor
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!

A Peek Inside My Watercolor Journal – CREATE

A Peek Inside My Watercolor Journal – CREATE

Part of the fun of going to one of the art retreats is being able to take classes from teachers you admire.  I have always loved Beryl Taylor’s work and was fortunate enough to take a class from her!  I love her sense of color and design.  She mixes paints, fabric, and journaling.  Yes – I did actually sit at a sewing machine and do some sewing on the pieces in my journal above.  I have to tell you that fabric art has come a long way from when I used to sew!
The final project for this class was to bind the little pages into a petite book.  Instead, I ended up putting them in my watercolor art journal as I thought I would see them more often there and they will serve as a reminder to what I learned in this fabulous class:  painting on metal, painting on muslin, layering and creative edges. 
Thank you Beryl!

CREATE Mixed Media Retreat!

CREATE Mixed Media Retreat!

The poster outside my classroom

I have been in Lisle on the outskirts of Chicago for several days “doing art” at CREATE, 2011!  My favorite part was making new friends and sharing creative ideas!   I am already looking forward to the CREATE retreat in Irvine, California. 
I thought I would come home and clean up and organize my studio, but instead, I was so jazzed about the new things I learned and the encouragement I got about my journals, that before my suitcase was even empty my studio became messier than ever!  I think that I now have about 4-5 projects going – all in the different stages of completeness.  Watercolor, watercolor journaling, book pages, and even painting on fabric!  Yes, you CREATE fabric folks made an impression on me!
Is this how you like to create?  Or are you more of an organized, neat, finish one project before starting the next type of artist?

More photos from my Flip, Flaps & Fold-out Class at CREATE:

I love traveling through the San Francisco Airport.  They always have an interesting artistic display.  This month it was a look at old TV shows and board games.  Do you remember the Twilight Zone Game?  Lost in Space?

Chickens – Update….. 5 just born!

Chickens – Update….. 5 just born!

Just out of the shell and one still to come out! August 17, 2011

My brooding hen of 21 days reminds me of a painting I did a couple of years ago.  Chickens are a great subject to paint, practicing soft edges, reflected light and big shapes.  Sometimes when I am at a loss as to what to paint, I always dabble with chicken paintings.

Ethyl is Out, Watercolor
Just Pecking, Watercolor

The excitement around our house yesterday was that we heard little chirps coming from the six eggs we gave Laverne, our sitting hen.  While Laverne was up, stretching her legs and getting her self-induced regime of eating only once a day, I actually saw one of the eggs move! Today is the 21st day and the chicks will be breaking out of their calcified confinement. 

Laverne sitting on eggs

Curious onlookers