Write it on your heart that every day is the best day of the year.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Saturday, May 31, 2014

Village Five: The Tangled Forest

Well...every village needs a forest nearby and that is the case with the Tangled Village.  This piece of Zentangled Inspired Art is a mixed media creation of black construction paper, prismacolor colored pencils, illustration board,white drawing paper, and Micron-Pigma waterproof drawing pencils.

The trees were   tangled into designs with white prismacolor color pencil on black construction paper and then cut out.  The illustration board was shaded into sky and snow with colored pencils and the trees were then glued down on top.  The branches were drawn with the Micron-Pigma black drawing pen and the cardinals were drawn on printer paper with colored pencils and then cut out and glued onto the composition.

This piece is 12 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches in size. 

Friday, May 30, 2014

Village Four: Green Acres

Surrounding every village will be farmland and farms, so today's tangle is "Green Acres!"  This tangle has a "too" busy sky - I guess I got carried away with tangling!  This tangle was created on white drawing paper (3 1/2" x 3 1/2") with Micron-Pigma waterproof black drawing pens and a green Sakura gel pen.

Thursday, May 29, 2014

Village Menagerie

This is the third in the Village Series - a real menagerie of weird shapes and designs.  This tangle is 3 1/2" x 3" and is drawn on white drawing paper with Micron-Pigma waterproof drawing pens.  To me it looks like a lot of crazy bird houses gone wild!  

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Village Two

This is the second tangle in the Village Series...it is also 3 1/2" x 3 1/2" in size and is on good white drawing paper.  It is also created with Micron-Pigma waterproof drawing pens.

Monday, May 26, 2014

Village One

I decided to take a little break this weekend from painting and did some tangling.  This tangle is done on 3 1/2" x 3 1/2"  white drawing paper.  I used   Micron-Pigma waterproof black ink pens in .005 and .08.

This is not officially a Zentangle since they are usually not representational shapes - I guess it would be called Zentangle inspired art.

Monday, May 19, 2014

Tim's Truck

This painting was designed as a lesson in composition using elements from separate photos and combining them into a  unified composition.  The truck is from a picture my brother took at a winery in the Napa Valley (it wasn't blue - it was rusty!)  The building is from a photo my friend Patricia took in the country outside of Wapakoneta, Ohio.  The colors/atmosphere of the painting come from another picture I saw on the internet.  I liked the yellows and violets in the sky contrasted with the blue truck and the purples in the building, combined with the bright greens intensified by the setting sun.  I want my painting students to see how different elements can successfully be used in one painting.

The painting is 9" x 12" and is painted on 140 lb. Acquarello cold-pressed watercolor paper with mostly Holbein watercolors..

Friday, May 16, 2014

Flaming Birches

This will be the painting for our class project this coming Monday evening after we finish the Stargazer Lilies.  This painting is 12" x 9" and is painted on Acquerella 140 lb. cold-pressed watercolor paper.  The original concept is from a painting I saw on the internet, but I have changed the format considerably, and I will not show or sell this painting anyway...It is strictly for the lesson.  I think the painters will love this one.

Sunday, May 11, 2014

May Art Show at Java Nation




May Art Show at Java Nation

May Art Show at Java Nation
I am honored to be a part of the art show at Java Nation in Celina, Ohio. There are 5 of us artists who are showing our work during the month of May - a nice variety of work in different media.
Stop in and have a cup of coffee, glass of wine, or a delicious sandwich or salad and enjoy viewing fine art while you eat or drink - a real treat!
Java Nation is in downtown Celina - not hard to find, either!

Sunday, May 4, 2014

Four States in Two Days: Young Family Genealogy Trip


My granddaughter, Jennifer, has been compiling the family genealogy information for both her mother and father's family - a massive undertaking...which she is certainly up to considering how much information she has gathered in the last year.
My maternal grandmother, Lula, was born near Terra Alta, West Virginia.  Jennifer wanted to find the grave sites for my grandmother's parents.  They are buried in the Terra Alta Cemetery.
So, the three of us traveled to Morgantown, West Virginia on Friday morning, from western Ohio - traveling through 4 states - across Ohio, into Pennsylvania, and down into West Virginia.  During the trip, we also traveled into the western panhandle of Maryland where I also have family ties - thus the 4th state.

The three of us at dinner at the Thai restaurant on Friday night...we certainly enjoyed dinner and also schmoozing with the owner who then took our picture.
After arriving in Morgantown we registered at the hotel in the downtown area-the Chestnut Boutique Hotel, a lovely new hotel, and then took off for rural Preston County West Virginia - where my ancestors came from.  This is a very mountainous area - winding roads  up and down and around but so beautiful. An hour and a half later (approx. 30 miles) we arrived in Terra Alta, where I, of course, had to take a potty break!
Beth and Jennifer searched the cemetery diligently until finally, they found the grave sites for the family.  Jenni took lots of pictures for her records while I soaked in the beauty of the area.
This is the grave site for my great grandfather Joseph Young and my great-grandmother, Elizabeth Nancy Teets Young, who was called by her second name, Nancy.  (She is remembered by some as "Fancy Nancy" because she loved flowers on her tables and lace linens, etc.)  This particular gene must have been passed down to my grandmother and mother, because they always had flowers on their tables, etc.  In the early days of her marriage, she would go to visit her mother on horseback,(probably 20 miles), taking the youngest child with her strapped to her back, and the the other children took care of the house.  At this time, the area was very primitive, this was a long trip by horseback - she was a strong woman.  I forgot to mention that she also had 9 children.

Across the state border from Terra Alta, my great aunts Agnes and Jessie, settled in Maryland.  This home was the home of Great Aunt Agnes Connell, who was married to Arch.  She was the post-mistress for Hutton, Maryland for many years.
This is a picture Jennifer took in Oakland, Maryland, where my parents were married in 1936.  They traveled from Cleveland to be married there, one of my mother's favorite places.  This was during the depression and there was no money for a traditional wedding.
We returned to Morgantown where we ate dinner at Chaang Thai Restaurant - it was delicious - I had the most wonderful red paste chicken curry and delicious plum wine which was plum wonderful.
Beth looks very dubious here - actually she was filled to the gills with her wonderful Thai seafood noodle dinner.  I fortunately was the recipient of her mussels, which she doesn't really care for.

We had breakfast in the rooftop restaurant of the hotel, and then took off exploring Morgantown, which is a delightful college town with much old river charm - old buildings lining the beautiful river..

In these pictures we are enjoying the tram which runs the length of West Virginia University - a godsend of students and visitors, because the university lines the bank of the river for many miles.  It is a beautiful campus - we were all impressed.

This is our selfie photo on the tram. Below is a picture of some of the university buildings.
All in all - we had a wonderful fun trip with lots of laughter and bonding!