A Beautiful New Art Book!!

I'm still in the process of deleting messages from my inbox after our return from France.[ I had over 1800 unread, even though I tried to keep up with it on my phone. :/ ] Buried deep down was a message from Gabriela Perdomo of Stampington.com.  In this message she congratulated me on being published in the new art book Digital Inspiration. And she has asked me to share this new publication with you on my blog, so I am doing just that!  

This book is a compilation of the best of the artwork from past issues of Somerset Digital Studio.  I had received a copy of this marvelous book in early April, and was delighted to have my 8 page article from March 2010 reproduced here among some really amazing digital artists and photographers, including my German friend Mario Von Middendorf. Although I buy every issue of the magazine, it is wonderful to have so many of the best articles gathered in one place.  It is inspiring me to get back to work!

I also smiled to see one of my favorite photos used as a background for the beautiful woman on the cover!

Here is my original image

Lilac Moon

I hope you can find this book at your local bookstore.  And if not, perhaps you can encourage them to carry it.  Or, you can order it online here.

I just realized that this was my 99th post!!  That's hard for me to believe, as I post so infrequently.  I guess I had better plan a doozy of a 100th post, n'est-ce pas?

Amitiés,

dawne

A Wonderful French Artist...Jean Boccacino

A few posts ago I  mentioned the French photographer who had photographed the collection of "reliquaires d'amour", here, Jean Boccacino.

Well, Jean is also one of my favorite Mixed Media painters 

There is something so ineffably French about his paintings...

Can I just say that I LOVE this work of art? 

He is also a wonderful art photographer.

I have put together a Gallery of his work, which you can see

HERE

To see more of Jean's work, and learn more about him, check out these links:

fr.blurb.com/books/1701848
fr.blurb.com/books/1606266
boccacino-galerie.blogspirit.com/
circus.hautetfort.com/
lesangesdebocca.canalblog.com/

Thank you, Jean, for allowing me to post your work!

plus tard, mes amis,

Dawne

l

A virtual Art Exhibit on RedBubble

Join me at SoJie 9, Solo's Juried Invitational Exhibition...

The show opens today! Here is the image that was chosen...

Le Flaneur

I'm honored to be among such wonderful artists nominated for this exhibition!

Update:  Well, I didn't win the SoJie, but I did win a nice award for Excellence in Urban Photography :)

Mercerie Bonneterie

It appears that we've survived the winter, but with the sad events in the world, but I have not felt much like working on digital art lately.  I've been glued to the news in Japan, and spending some time on the World Vision site, appalled by all of the suffering in the world.  I really wish I were one of those artists who could create art that would make a difference, but that type of art does not come easily to me.  I do often see images taking form in my mind when I'm at prayer or even during Bible study, but I have never been able to bring those images to my work.  So I continue to make art that is "pretty'.  Art that seeks to take our minds off pain, and to hearken back to a "better time."

That's what I thought when I saw this painting by William Tarbell.  She looked like a woman who had just gone shopping for a new hat, maybe in an effort to alleviate some pain she is feeling...but her thoughts are still heavy.
The textures are from Leslie Nicole, an artist friend who lives in France, and offers fantastic textures, brushes, and tutorials on her site Photo Artists Textures
  The text I used above is part of a new group of textures called Douce France, and features old French documents that Leslie has found at the brocantes in the Loire Valley.  I know she would love to have you visit her site and sign up for the newsletter.


Note:  I just got a note from Leslie, and she has changed the name of her texture site to French Kiss Textures What a great name!!!

Missing Venice

These are both made from the one good image I got of this iconic view in 2005. When I went back in 2009 , it was covered in scaffolding

Santa Maria Della Salute

I've been thinking about Venice this week, as it was the week when we are usually in Venice, the time of Carnevale.  There is no place as exciting and colorful as Piazza San Marco [ Saint Mark's square ] when it is filled with thousands of revelers, many in the outrageous Baroque costumes which are worn by the true celebrants of Carnivale.

This is typical of the kind of costume you see

I took this one on the back side of the island, in an attempt to escape all the tourists [ the "other ones"] around San Marco.  A bit darker than my usual process, but I wanted it to look like an old master's painting.

A Venetian Romance

Some of my friends were actually in this shot, but I cloned them out [! Nothing personal, I assure you!] and added these19th century figures.

This was actually taken in the middle of the day, and it was quite odd that I got this without any people in it.  Carnevale just ended on March 8, but there's always next year...Anyone up for going?

Hydrangea Hill

Snow, sleet, ice, rain, gale force winds.  In like a lion.  Out like a lamb. Or so we pray.

Off to Mama Joan's 97th birthday party today.

More Paris Dreamin'

This is a Mixed Media collage I made a few years ago to remind me of Paris.  As if I needed reminding!!!!

Parfum et Ladurée 

I had surgery about a week ago, and while I'm not in awful pain, I still don't have the energy or desire to be creative right now.  So instead, I'm taking time to catch up on my reading, movie watching, and net surfing. I've just finished a wonderful book, Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky, which I highly recommend, as it was written in France during the German occupation. The  author died at Auschwitz before it was finished, but the first two parts that she completed are excellent.  Now I'm just getting into The Girl Who Played with Fire , the second in Stieg Larsson's trilogy. As soon as I finish it we'll rent the film, as the first one was excellent.  Also saw a great French film the other  night, MicMacs , directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, the director of our all-time favorite, Amelie. [ Which I watched for the umpteenth time again last night!].   Also watched a very sweet French Rom-Com, Heartbreaker  [L'arnacoeur] which had my DH fleeing to his office to work on his computer, but mom and I loved it.

I've also found a few great French blogs.  I subscribed to French Word-A-Day, written by Kristen Epinasse, and caught up on many back issues of  ParlerParis.com/issues/readpastissues.html.

AFor

And I found

Old Yellow Barn

It has been a wonderful winter so far!  I love snow, since I rarely have to drive in it.  I love looking out the window across the snowy pasture and up to the Gazebo, like an ornament on the frosted field. And I love feeling like I have to stay home and use this quiet time to get things done.  I have been working on my new iMac  quite a bit and I will share a few new pieces.  The barn above is part of the dearest farm down near Grandma Moses old place, and I drive by it every Friday on my way to Bible study. There are about 5 barns on two neighboring farms, so I plan to get more shots of this cheerful architecture....Like Lemonade in a snowstorm.

Wood Smoke at Dawn... one of the most comforting smells I know

And this one, from last fall...Seen Better Days

Home From Sledding

What a wonderful thing it is to spend a Saturday sledding and playing in the snow with your family! Although this a compilation of several of my images, it captures the feeling of our day. I hope to add it as an illustration in my children's book "The Book of Boo." [ And yes, that is BooBoo in the lower right.  What an amazingly sweet little doggie...]

Au Revoir mes Artistes!

Last night was the last night of a Mixed Media class I have been teaching this past month.  I taught 9 lovely women, who made so many beautiful works of art that we could have had our own art show.  My big thanks goes to Cheryl Baldwin, director of the Georgi Museum, who wrote the grant, and to Larac, the local arts council who granted it, thereby making this class very affordable for all.
Below is a finished piece by Dee Romack, using an avian theme for our Nature assignment.  Now, I'd hang that in my home, wouldn't you?

To see more works by these artists, click on the "Workshops" tab at the top of the page.

Summer Art Exhibits

Our county is home to a thriving Artists' Community, and last weekend saw many events focusing on the arts, both visual and performing, as well as the local art of cheese making.  I was involved in two art exhibits. the first which opened on Friday night at Gardenworks. In a unique barn setting, my painting teacher, Janine Thomas, presented Lessons from the Country, a show of her work and the work of 52 of her students from over the years.  As before, I won't show you my painting, but I did show this  Mixed Media piece:

l'oiseau de novembre

Here're some of my friends and their work:

Pat and her painting of the brook through her garden

Kathy and her chicken

...and Janine and her chick.  We are all part of the "Georgi Girls", as Janine teaches our class at the Georgi Museum, and we traveled together, with two others, Holly and Susan, to Provence 2 years ago.

On Saturday there was yet another show at the Georgi, called "Gems at the Georgi".  Since I was one of the planners of this show I opted not to exhibit, but my daughter and husband did.  The receptions for both openings were marvelous, with all sorts of  wonderful local foods, handmade cheeses, and breads.

And the art was top notch.  Here's a painting by Will Moses, Grandma Moses grandson.

And Serena's gourd pottery

Cheryl Baldwin, on the right, is the director of the Georgi.  Here she relaxes with her friend, after the excitement of the Opening winds down!

La Rentrée

A few weeks ago in France the children returned to school, and so must I also return to this poor neglected blog!  But it's been hard to post anything here, for I've been so busy on RedBubble, my new Photo and Art site.  Not only can I post my work, but RB also handles the sale of all art work, including cards, prints, and calendars. The people are lovely , the art is superb, and there exists an air of civility that I have not seen on other sites.  Com'on over and explore the Bubble! Just click on the Button below.

la laitière et sa vache

La peinture en plein air

Recently I took a plein air painting workshop with  Harry Orlyk, the best landscape painter in our county.  I am certainly no painter, but I love the discipline of workshops that force me to get out there, set up an easel in God's gallery, and really spend time admiring creation and trying to put my impression of it on canvas. Harry has a great love of the land, and his distinct style captures the wonderful feeling of our rural area. I spent 3 days in some beautiful locations, in sublime weather and even though my paintings aren't finished yet, I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Harry's palette.  I was surprised to see how much paint he puts out!

                                                                          
Here Harry begins to paint a scene at the river's edge.  Look at how large his brush is, yet he wields it like a pencil, sketching in his scene.

The painting is taking shape, but the light is changing.  He'll come back tomorrow to finish it.

Other students did great work!

Cindy lives close by, so I expect to see many more of these by summer's end!

This students filled her whole trunk with paintings...

Somerset at last!

I kind of always thought that I'd see my work in Somerset Studio, the Mixed Media publication.  But month after month, I never could get up the nerve to submit my work . Then the publisher of all the Somerset publications. Kellene Gillhof, [bless her heart!] discovered my photography online, and invited me to be in Somerset Digital Studio!  I was so nervous, but I managed to get the article written last November and the magazine came out on March 1st.  I loved doing it and working with the Editor Jana Holstein was so much fun.  I thought they did a bang-up job on the article, giving me 8 pages, with 15 photos! I know some of you who are now following the blog came here through the article, so you know what an fabulous publication Somerset Digital is.  My friend Mario von Middendorf is also a featured artist in this issue, and he is incredible.  The next issue will come out Sept.1, 2010.  You can buy it at better newstands or order it ">here

A Virtual Visit from an Old Friend

I had the nicest surprise yesterday. An old friend from my online art days, Lloydene Cook, found my article in Somerset Digital and contacted me via Facebook. It was so great to hear from this lovely lady who was the creator and moderater of my favorite virtual Salon, BELLE PAPIER. I did many mixed media swaps with the members of that group, and have that artwork, which I received in trade, to this day.  I also fondly remember the "zines" that Lloydene and her friend would hand assemble, with photocopied pages of our artwork, and very special "inclusions" ranging from snippets of pretty ribbons and fibers to stickers and sprinkles and tiny charms.

I went looking in my my old files and found a couple of pieces of artwork that I did during that time 10 years ago.  The Via was a cover for our  Belle Papier Address book and the collage was sold in 2000.  The Travel card was made as a thank you to the Bigelow Foundation, who awarded me an all-expense paid month in Paris. Those were some good, creative days!