Jacqueline’s Blog

Wishing you Sunshine, A peek inside my Watercolor Journal

Wishing you Sunshine, A peek inside my Watercolor Journal

Driving around the steep hills of the Island of St. Thomas, our car peaks a high point and we burst out of the lush vegetation to spectacular views of the emerald Caribbean Ocean below.  Then just as quickly, this gem is hidden again by the jungle overgrowth along the narrow roadside.  In this painting, I wanted to capture the colorful patterns and shadows created by the bright sunshine on the windy streets.  My hope is to depict warmth and light!
Painting in the Tropics, a Peek inside my Watercolor Journal

Painting in the Tropics, a Peek inside my Watercolor Journal

Spending a week in the tropics is refreshing for those of us who reside in a color stricken area such as Central Oregon in the drab months between fall and winter.  What a feast of color!  Even the Iguanas slipping into the bushes are colorful.  This ancient creature was sunbathing on a rock.  He actually had more color than I gave him!

Surprises along the way

Surprises along the way

Enjoying the view with a cup of Cortadito

We are traveling from Oregon to St. Thomas for a wedding and after 16 hours and 3 plane rides later, we were hoping for a good cup of coffee as we waited for our last flight out of the Miami airport.  Our layover was 3 hours.  I approached a perky looking petite woman holding an very official clipboard, dressed in a red skirted American Airlines suit and seemed open for questions.  “Is there a Starbucks nearby?”  “Just 10 minutes by the sky train,” she said.  She had a beautiful Italian accent and we struck up a friendly conversation when she offered that her favorite coffee is Cuban coffee and available just around the corner!  I was up to try something new and so was David.  “You have to go past the sit-down area and go to the coffee stand-up bar and ask for Cortadito“.  Which we did and absolutely loved our tiny cup of cortadito that we ended up having 2!  We also enjoyed Cuban pastries, savory and sweet.

Ladies at the coffee bar making Cortaditos
Making Plans for Painting in Provence, May 2011

Making Plans for Painting in Provence, May 2011

I met with Helen yesterday about our upcoming May 9-19 trip to Provence, France.  I am getting so excited about it that I can’t sleep past 4:30 in the morning.   We will be visiting  Roussillon know for it’s red-ochre colors and designated one of the most beautiful villages in France.  Here is a photo that I took when I was there with my family in 2003.  This photo is inspiring me to get to my studio today to paint!  Daniel Smith Art Supplies has a color I haven’t tried yet – Burgundy Red Ochre.  Described as a granulating, reddish-brown earth color, it sounds perfect for trying to capture the ruby glow of Roussillon.  They also have free shipping, so now is a good time to stock up on supplies if you need anything.

Kitty on the Velella – A Peek inside my Watercolor Journal

Kitty on the Velella – A Peek inside my Watercolor Journal

These pages started with a pencil drawing of the little kitty that is traveling with Prescott (my nephew) and Meghan, on her sailboat, Velella, as they sail their way from Seattle through the Panama Canal and over to the Atlantic Ocean.  We spent a weekend sailing with them in June as they have docked in L.A. for awhile to regroup.  This kitty did, as kitties do, the cute curled-up-into-a-soft-warm-ball-time-for-a-nap, as we sailed to Catalina Island, giving me time to sketch her.

I am finally getting around to working on and finishing these pages by adding watercolor washes, gold gesso, and water-soluble stabilo pencil.  I have been anxious to incorporate pages from the used Japanese paperback book that I bought at Portland’s fabulous bookstore, Powell’s.

I love how the kanji characters (the Japanese alphabet) flow gracefully downward.  They remind me of branches of a weeping willow tree hanging over a pond.  I used pages from the book to make the houses then painted a light watercolor wash, stabilo pencil and doodles over them.

More Watercolor Journeys Classes

More Watercolor Journeys Classes

I just finished teaching my Watercolor Journeys Class in Bend, Oregon.  We had a lot of fun and pushed the limits with mixed media: gesso, mat medium, mica powers.  (left to right) Karol showing the cover of her journal, Janviere has her colorful daisy painting, Michal is showing us the inside cover and vignettes on the go of her trip to the orient, Liz is showing us her image transfer cover and Chris worked on her journal about traveling to the Southwest.  Missing are Phylis and Ingrid, who had to leave a bit early.  Great Work!

Watercolor Vignettes from Ponet; a Peek inside my Watercolor Journal

Watercolor Vignettes from Ponet; a Peek inside my Watercolor Journal

Inspired by my blogger friend, Laure and her thoughts on using different formats, I thought I would share this page from my Provence, 2009 Watercolor Journal. 
Directions:  using artist tape, tape off some shapes on a watercolor page in your journal.  Paint a watercolor wash.  Here I used an analogous mix of yellows, greens and blues.  Draw in some little vignette drawings.  Then add some more color to increase the value in certain areas.  Pull off the tape and journal in the white areas. 
Be sure to check out Laure’s wonderful painting of a Canadian Goose using a long format!

A Lovely Time was had by All!

A Lovely Time was had by All!

Nine out of twelve of our Provence, 2009 group gathered for a reunion at Barb’s beautiful cabin along the banks of the Deschutes River.  We were thrilled that Irene flew out from Wisconsin for the occasion.  The weather was gorgeous!  Liz, as seen below, was into the pure spirit of painting plein air.  Others painted inside the house.

And others went on a fall walk instead:
Watercolor Journeys at Art & Soul, Portland 2010

Watercolor Journeys at Art & Soul, Portland 2010

Colorful Daisies, Students Work
Colorful Daisies, Students Work

Many thanks to all my wonderful new and returning students that attended my Watercolor Journeys, Inspirations from Travel’s class at the Portland Art & Soul Retreat 2010.  Your paintings turned out wonderfully beautiful and colorful.   No muddy colors here!  It was nice to meet everyone, especially those of you who travel so far:  Lynn from Cleveland, Denise and Lori from CA, Carol and Rosemary from WA and all the others from the Portland area: Lisia, Danielle, Tracey, Joyce, Mary & Carolyn.  Many of you were brand new to watercolor and I hope you enjoyed your introduction to painting.