April 26, 2013

Happy Friday friends!

I just got home last weekend from driving baby girl back to college.  That's her in the top pic, she is so darling.  I am missing her terribly, but proud of her for getting an education.

Painting is always good therapy for me when I'm feeling low.

Here's what I've been working on.

Sending love to all my artsy sisters and friends!!!

xoJenny  

 

I love to paint!

Hi Friends!

This week has flown by and I have painted every night after work.  

I painted on my lunch break, I painted in between loads of laundry,  I painted in the wee hours before work.  I love to paint.  

Here's a couple of pieces I worked on. :)

Stages of a painting

work in progress

I'm off to the beach for the weekend and yes, I am bringing my paints!  :)

Wishing you all  a Happy Happy Weekend!!!

Much Love,

Jenny

Art and some of my favorite things today!

Happy Friday!  

I'm happy to be home today painting and cleaning house while the paint dries.  

Easter snuck up on me this year... Much to do the get ready for the weekend.  

I need to pick up everyone's favorite candy, cadbury mini eggs.

I have some art to share along with my new favorite chapstick and I want to share my friends new book!  I am so excited for her!

This is a painting I started in Italy

I made a photocopy of the painting then cut it up and made a new collage painting with it.

I love how it turned out!

I try to document my paintings from start to finish.  It changes so much from beginning to end.

The pictures below show different stages of the same piece.

A portrait of my darling niece

Close up

I think this piece is finally finished!!!  It's been through several stages and I finally feel happy with it.

My friend Lynn Cohen just had her first book published!

Click on the photo below to find out more about it!

I was honored to write a review on the back of the book.  Check it out, I know you will love it!

Lastly, I wanted to share my new favorite chapstick.  I was in Portland last weekend for my sons baseball tournament and we stopped at New Seasons market in between games.  

I saw this chapstick called Portland Bee Balm and thought I'd give it a try.  Oh my goodness, I love it!

The best part is that it's locally made and totally organic!  

If you live outside Portland you can get it online at Portlandbeebalm.com.  

Thank you for stopping by!  

Wishing you all a Happy Easter Weekend!

Kindly,

Jenny xo

Happy Spring!!! It's a good day for a giveaway! I

Hello Friends!  I haven't blogged since November...life has been busy with family, work, and friends.  I am sorry blog, I neglected you.  I will try to do better.

The calendar says it is officially spring.  Trees are flowers are budding and some are already in full bloom.  It is green and glorious around  here.  I am so excited about some lavender seeds I started in my window sill!  I am still looking for lemon verbena seeds to start.  The combo of verbena and lavender will be awesome!   

I have a few pics to share and news about an artsy giveaway!!!

Add caption

close up of a work in progress

on my studio table

Now about the giveaway!  

This is my friend Regina Lord!

Yes, that's her on the Martha Stewart Show!  

Regina is a talented passionate mixed media artist.  

She is offering an online art class!

Regina is offering one of my readers a free spot in class!!!

Just leave a comment on this post and I will choose the lucky winner in a random drawing on March 27th by midnight!  

It could be you!  

Find out more about the class and sign up HERE!!!

Use the code JENNYLEE for a $15 discount!

Happy Weekend!

Love,

Jenny :)

In the Studio...

Sending belated Thanksgiving wishes!

We spent ours over the river and through the woods at Grandmothers house.  They literally live in the woods.  We love spending time there, it is so peaceful.  

Here's a few things I've been working on in the studio lately...

The first two are the same painting in different stages

The start of a mother daughter piece♥  

A friend asked me to paint her a moose a long time ago, I'm still working on it...

Just a piece I painted on a scrap of water color paper

My attempt at the Madonna inspired by my trip to Italy

Happy News!!!

I'm published again, I am so thrilled!!!  

Thank you Somerset Studio!!!

Hi from Lucy!  She loved Thanksgiving in the woods.

Hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving!

Much Love,

Jenny

To Italy and back again Part 2

Hey Friends,

I am finally here posting part 2 of my adventure in Italy!  It is 1am right now.  I started a draft of this post awhile back but haven't seemed able to finish it.  So before I start another week at work I really wanted to share the rest of my journey.  

After a couple of magical days in Roma Jeanne-Marie and I packed up our things and headed to the train station in the rain.  I was so glad we were together.  We figured out which train we needed to take and bought tickets.  We had to wait a couple of hours until our departure then we were finally on our way to Orvieto!

Bill, one of our hosts was there to greet us when we landed.  We had a little time to freshen up before heading to a group dinner and meet the rest of our family of classmates for the week.  There was a chocolate waiting for me on the table in my room along with a print from Sharon and a beautiful card and gift from a friend that I've never met, Glenda Hoagland.  Glenda was in Orvieto for a class the week before me.  I burst into tears when I opened the card.  I would love to meet her in person and give her a big hug♥ 

Our first time in the studio we were given a handmade folder of goodies from Misty.

The picture above was on the inside.  That moment it just hit me...I was here, I made it!  I had a dream and it actually happened!  I quickly ran out of the studio and to my room and cried my eyes out.  

Okay, back to the studio now.

We had an assignment to walk around the town and take pictures or rubbings of anything that spoke to us, something we could use in our work or make a stamp out of. 

The town was so charming, I absolutely loved it there. 

View from the city walls of Orvieto

standing on the cobblestones

I used a photo of this door knob to make a handcarved stamp. 

We had lots of time in between painting to experience the beauty of this place and of course the food...

The food was Amazing!!!

The picture below is where we had breakfast every morning.  Always a variety of teas, fruit, bread, and cereal.  Some days they had hard boiled eggs in adorable little egg cups.  

Did I mention we stayed in an old convent?  

It was full of art and history.  The convent is home to several very old frescos.

kindred spirits

Here's Misty demonstrating color mixing.  

We all loved seeing her in action, she really is amazing!

Here are a couple of pieces I painted,

And some beautiful work by my amazingly talented classmates! 

We had a show & tell at the end of the week and we each took turns sharing our work.

Jeanne-Marie Webb

John Hammons

Dot Longmore

Lorraine Lewis

Renee Plains

Sharon Tomlinson

And of course our Awesome teacher Misty!  
Misty was so encouraging and really wanted us all to learn and grow as artists.
We loved watching her do her thing!
If you don't have her book yet, go get it HERE!!! 

Thank you Misty!

Pictured below are Kristi and Bill our hosts.  I love these two!

They are so kind and took such good care of us. ♥♥♥

Jeanne-Marie found a little heart shaped rock while we were touring a local winery.  

I had to take a picture.  I love this girl and miss her so much.  

The whole experience is something I won't soon forget.  Misty taught us all so much.  She is a generous soul.  

I feel truly blessed to have been there.  I left with heaps of inspiration and new kindred friends.  

I think of them often and hope we will all return to Orvieto.

 Thank you for sharing friendship with me, love you guys.

Thank you to all of you that supported me on this journey, you were all there with me in spirit.

xo Jenny