Art Across the Miles

Even tho' we live almost 3,000 miles apart now,  my granddaughters and I remain close.  The love of creating art is something we share.  It makes me so proud to see that they continue to flex their artistic muscles as they become young women.   

Cameron used to love abstracts so that she wouldn't have to draw; she just wanted to get into that paint as soon as possible.  Look what she's doing now!  Her drawing skills are amazing. Her color choices are so beautiful, and I love the white spaces she left for highlights.  

  

Marcella, a senior ready to fly the coop, continues to grow as an artist.  Her drawing skills are superb, and the delicate hand she uses keeps her colors fresh and beautiful.  I love the way she repeated the colors to give the painting a sense of harmony.













Thank you to my two sweet granddaughters for sending me these pieces that I will treasure forever!!

Still making art

I don’t live close to my sweet granddaughters anymore, but they continue to create art. While they were visiting me in California, they painted these beautiful watercolors.

From Cameron:  Tutti Frutti

Marcella’s Koi  

Watercolor

The girls received new watercolor paper and had to try it out. 

Cameron concentrates!

Beautiful!

Marcella at play

Finished!

Cameron had one more piece to finish!
Can you tell what this is??  

Underwater Watercolors

Cameron composes her underwater scene.  Fish, a crab, some coral, some rocks, a starfish, seaweed, and a few bubbles.






La-Li helps Marcella with her composition.









Marcella uses masking fluid to save some highlights on her bubbles.

Marcella's completed work. What pretty coral!

Cameron's work dries before we frame it.  Notice that cute little crab.

Abstract

This is Cameron's own design.  She used watercolors for the background:  cobalt blue, cerulean blue, and cobalt violet.  She used acrylics in similar shades for her foreground.  Her last step was some fun spattering!










Beautiful! 

Watercolor

Marcella paints a blue vase in front of the full moon.











Cameron paints a background around her vase and moon.






Beautiful! Marcella says it's like looking through a window with rain dripping down.

Watercolor

We spent hours in the art room yesterday; the time passes so quickly when we're involved in a project.



Marcella paints her puppy in a flower pot.












Finished puppy showcases Marcella's excellent drawing skills. The other watercolor, a landscape with waterfall, shows beautiful shading on the rocks!









Cameron painted a gorgeous waterfall, complete with rainbow! She also painted the hoya vine on the bamboo arch that is growing in the art room window.

Woven Background

Too hot to go outside ... 100 degrees??? ... then, have fun with art!

The girls painted 2 watercolor backgrounds.
Next, they cut the backgrounds into strips (one in horizontal strips and one in vertical strips) and wove the two backgrounds together to make one.










They cut out some pretty photos from magazines and added embellishments (buttons/ribbons/leaves). They also glued the whole thing to a sheet of construction paper for stability and added a border.








Marcella's collage. Notice the "scratch & sniff" on the pink flower.









Cameron's collage with a new favorite word: "pizzazz!"

Seascape

Cameron wanted to learn how to paint a sunset. She learned about watercolor washes to blend purple, pink, and orange for the sky.






Wow!

Landscapes

I'm a little behind in publishing -- these paintings were created last December. The girls learned about background, middle-ground, and foreground. They learned how to make clouds with tissue paper, and they learned about shadows in trees.
Another great job!

Watercolors

A messy palette can lead to beautiful art!






Marcella experiments with lines and brush strokes.












Cameron's painting; she focused on balance and harmony.









Marcella's painting; she experimented with texture and composition.


Great job, girls!

Resist!

Marcella and Cameron had fun learning about products that resist watercolor. They used both oil pastels and masking fluid in these paintings.







As you can see, Cameron loves abstract!













Marcella removes the masking fluid from her painting.







Beautiful!

Homage to Dorit Levi's Golfer

Whenever Grandpa and Grams cruise on the Holland America line, they enjoy attending the art auctions on-board. They bring home the preview booklets for the girls to learn more about art and artists.

Marcella thought Dorit Levi's Golfer was a great painting. Here is her version which she drew while looking at a 2" x 2" picture. Notice the use of oil pastel on the golfer's clothes that resists the watercolor. You have a great eye for color and detail, Marcella!

Abstract

First, while the girls listened to music, they thought of a feeling they could express with watercolors. Taking their cues from the beat, they used white oil pastels to "doodle". Then they chose a red, a yellow, and a blue to keep their colors clean.




Here's Cameron's beautiful results.









Cameron had so much fun that she painted two more. Notice the beautiful watercolor washes.

Watercolors

We've been on vacation, but the girls got right back into their artistic mode! They had a lot of fun with watercolors. Marcella painted my orchid, and Cameron created this underwater scene from her imagination. Of course, the glitter had to go on both paintings! I love having little bits of glitter throughout my house... it's like fairy dust!