A Background Story About Jade

Jade
acrylic on wood panel
2013

When I painted Jade back in 2013, I used an image of Whistler's Arrangement in Grey: Portrait of the Painter as my guide for color.  However, as you can see  when comparing the image below I didn't stick to the plan as my painting is far more green.  The image of the girl is a loose rendering from a photo of my aunt at the age of 14.  I was not trying to capture my aunt, I just wanted her pose and Whistler's colors, but in the end it did seem to capture her somewhat.

Arrangement in Grey:  Portrait of the Painter
James McNeill Whistler
scanned image from Whistler by Frances Spalding

 I almost sold my painting, but after having it around for a while decided it was best to keep it.  There was just something too special about it for me.  It now hangs in the entryway of our house along with a vintage find and an old photo of my grandparents and other Missouri mining workers and wives in 1930.  My aunt was the one who gave me that photo years ago and I had it professionally framed for my mother who kept it until she passed away last July.  Our new-to-us old house was also built in 1930 which adds to the meaning of this old picture.

The images that greet you at our house
2015

photo detail

My grandparents are the couple on the left, and the couple on the right are my great aunt and uncle I am told, though I never met them.  

The inspiration for Jade
AKA Mary Imogene

Wasn't she a pretty girl?

Bernadette's Bedroom

Bernadette's Bedrrom
11 x 14 inch oil on panel

This is an oil painting I started before I left for North Carolina and it is now finished.  In the beginning the background was just one big curtain, but it seemed so boring so I put in a smaller window and flowered wallpaper.  The carpet design was made by scratching squiggly lines into the paint.  I used a palette knife for the curtains and the bedspread. I thought about putting a vase of flowers or something on the nightstand, but decided to just leave it.  The wonderful thing about painting is you can always change it later if you want to.   I am getting more comfortable with oils the more I use them.  

Close up of Bernadette's Bedroom

My trip to North Carolina with my friends Carol and Kelly was a great time!  One evening, we spent some time drawing and I walked them through the steps of drawing a face with charcoal.  I think they did fabulous!  I really love teaching people how to draw faces, because they always seem to get so into it and really enjoy the process.  

Our drawings:
Carol's, Mine and Kelly's

Every year at our house we throw a July 4th party to celebrate Independence Day and this year we had around 40 people come.  We cooked on the grill, listened to live music...our son plays keyboards for a band and my mother and father in-law have their own 2 person band.  We also watch fireworks and it is so relaxing to sit in a lawn chair and watch our fireworks and all the others around our neighborhood.  Our street is full of families that really like to celebrate so it's quite a show.  I didn't get any photos of the fireworks this year, but here's a great one from last year...

July 4th fireworks at our house

Needless to say, it's been a busy couple of weeks and it will be nice to settle back into a routine and make some art!

See you soon.

♥ Lisa