Greetings , Art Friend!
We returned to Virginia on the 5th from our month-long road trip around the US. We had one week in the Oklahoma/Texas area visiting family and friends and one of our long-time supporting churches. We also had a week with our son and daughter-in-law in St. George, Utah. The other two weeks were driving across our incredibly varied country. We began by driving through the West Virginia Appalachian ‘old’ mountains. After our time in Texas, we were able to spend a day around the Grand Canyon. It was bigger and more awesome than I had ever thought possible. If you ever have the chance to go, don’t spare any expense to make it happen! We drove in the desert, buttes, and mesas of the Southwest. After Utah, we drove through the Colorado’s 14,000 foot tall mountains, then thousands of acres of farmland, and back to our gentle Shenandoah Valley.
I had fully intended to sketch as we went along and watercolor when were in Air BnBs for longer than overnight. But, it didn’t happen! When we stopped, I was tired, but so very happy! I did take hundreds of pictures though that will be inspiration for painting for a very long time. I also picked up rocks the color of the SW landscapes so I can paint those pictures more accurately than my memory would serve.
Since I’ve been home, I’ve been doing more of the “mark making” classes I’m taking. The first four images are some of the exercises.
The Brancion line and wash was from a demo Paul Clark shared. He was splashing colors, painting shadows purple and roofs yellow. He was basically breaking all the usual ‘rules’ of painting buildings. I just couldn’t let go like that, so I used it is an opportunity to practice ordinary Line and Wash. Since I didn’t really understand the architecture of the ‘barn’ in the front, it went a bit wonky. But anyway, I thought it was worth sharing my practice in this email.
I am happy to be home and getting back into the swing of drawing and painting most days. I would love to hear how you are. What have you been doing or what you need God’s grace or healing for?
Yesterday we took a short drive in the afternoon to the Belle Grove Plantation. It is one of our favorite places in the area. It was a warm day with a lovely breeze. The sky was blue with wonderful cloud formations. We sat in our car with the windows down. We could hear a mockingbird singing his repertoire of different bird calls. We were quiet. Each of us being refreshed in mind and spirit as well as by the sun and breeze. I thought, “What a gorgeous sanctuary to enjoy our Father’s presence.” What peace! What trust comes in moments like these. I pray each of you is able to have a time like this soon in the Presence of One who loves you eternally and longs for you to share some quiet moments with Him.
God bless you!
Diane
If you want to see all my art work that I’ve posted, please click: Artistic Inspiration