Mount Vernon Inspiration

Since we rented a car during this visit to DC we thought we should make our way out to visit George Washington's home at Mount Vernon.

The property is amazing and the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association who keeps up the home and property do an amazing job.

George and Martha Washington are buried on the property.

There is also a memorial to all the slaves buried on the property.  Unfortunately none of them have individual markers.

We also splurged and took the cruise along the Potomac at Mount Vernon.

Mount Vernon is in the background here.

 "The wind and Humidity WAS not kind to my hair"??? 

Do I know my grammar? 

Questionable.

The view of Mount Vernon from the river was gorgeous!

The cruise gave us a different view of the Washington Monument and the airport.

Fort Washington is just a little north of Mount Vernon on the Maryland side of the river.

 There was a lot of bird life along the river.

These Osprey built a nest on the buoy.

 And the seagulls love following the boats looking for treats in the water.

Inside the Education Center at Mount Vernon there was a display where scientists and artists used "unprecedented scientific processes involved in creating three life-size figures of Washington based on forensic anthropology."

This full sized wax figure of him at age 57 years old is what he would have looked like when he took the Oath as President of the United States.

I think he was a handsome man.

Not so sure about the long hair but I guess it was the fashion of the day.

Did you know George Washington was 6'3" tall?

And his wife, Martha, was only 4'11"

Such a wonderful love story.

Read Mount Vernon Love Story if you haven't already.  It is a well researched historical novel that will give you a new appreciation for the first president of the United States.

MLK Jr. and more

This week I am in Washington DC helping my daughter to find an apartment for Grad school.  This evening we took a few moments to go see the new Martin Luther King Jr. memorial on the mall.

It is amazing!

That is my Mother-in-law and Daughter standing in front of the monument.

It is enormous.

I love that there is a giant "mountain of despair" in which the statue was carved.

The detail in the statue is amazing.

We also walked over to the Lincoln Memorial.

 My Mil's feet would not allow her to take another step at that point.  

. . .Not even to the elevator. . .

So we sat and entertained ourselves while my daughter went up to the monument.

I love these half face photos.  They always make me laugh.

This one was my favorite of us.

 The Jefferson memorial was beautiful with the reflection in the water.

 The last memorial we visited today was the Korean War Memorial.

 The etchings of all the fallen soldiers is haunting.  

Especially this photo where their is a reflection of the statues on the wall.

Going for the Marble

As I was searching the internet for sketchbook ideas . . .one thing led to another which led to another which led to marbled paper.  I remembered reading about using inks on shaving cream to make marbled paper.  I didn't have instructions just a general sense of what I should do so instead of my usual hours spent researching before I do anything, I stepped out of my box and went for it.

1) A thick layer of cheap shaving cream on a plastic lid.

2) Drops of acrylic ink

3) Run the end of a paint brush through those drops to create a crazy pattern.

I was too excited creating to photograph the first try so these photos are of the second run.  The shaving cream wasn't as pristine but it still made a nice print!

The paper comes off the foam looking messed up.

OH NO did I totally mess it up?

Scrape off the shaving cream. . .

. . . and there is a pretty cool image.

The left is the first run and the right is the second run.

The paper is from the inside cover of my Sketchbook Project sketchbook.

I suppose I should have experimented more before trying it on something "so important" as the cover of my project sketchbook but sometimes you just have to go for it!

Colorwheels

I bought and read Dreaming From the Journal Page by Melanie Testa back in May.

I wrote a review on goodreads.com that you can read here.

There are a number of exercises in the book which I didn't feel I had time to complete when I first read it so I set the book aside on my nightstand with the idea that I would make the time for the exercises soon.   Well, the time has come.  I'm trying to work on my Sketchbook Project and thought I should do some exercises.

My first project: color wheels

Why color wheels?  They are such a basic project and always the first project you do in a beginner art class. I've made plenty of color wheels in the past but honestly I don't think you can ever do enough.  Each paint medium is different and more importantly the primary colors in each medium can come across differently.

A color wheel gives you a feel for each individual medium you use.

I started with a couple of paints I've been using on fabrics.

Daler Rowney FX Acrylic Inks. . .

 . . .and Jacquard Textile Color.

The paints work on paper so why not make color wheels on paper for my reference?!?

I want to do more color wheels using other mediums I have:  Derwent Inktense Colored Pencils and the watercolors I've had for 20 years or so.

OH and why not another with my watercolor crayons too!

There is always something fun to do in art!

Art & Apricots

This is why I don't get manicures:

 Not even 5 days in and I'm a mess.

Chips in the polish and paint & apricot in my nails and cuticles.

The price I pay for art and apricot jam.

P.S.  I hate gloves.

Beginning to Create

In the beginning there were blank pages and it was good. . .

Then there were leaves. . .

and a gelli plate. . .

and stencils. . .

and paint. . .

and it was all very, very good!

I decided to start my Sketchbook project off by monoprinting on all of the pages (plus a few more) using acrylic paint on a Gelli Plate.  You must try one if you haven't already.  Such a simple way of making monoprints!  I am hoping these prints will help me with the "blank page" fear I sometimes develop.  Just looking at the pages I'm afraid a new "I might ruin it" fear is developing.  The best thing will be to just dig in and go for it - after I admire the backgrounds for a few more days.

I am creating a new page on my blog to collect all of my posts about my journey with The Sketchbook Project.  You will be able to see all the posts together here.