Making Lavender Sachets

I love sewing, smelling lavender and painting so combining these three activities into one tiny bundle delights me to no end. Here you can see some of the steps it takes for me to make my lavender sachets. I grow the lavender in my front yard from two plants and my next door neighbor also is giving me her lavender now. Then I harvest it and let it dry in pillow cases and roll the cases to release the seeds. After I paint the paintings I take a photo of them and then copy them onto printer fabric. The fabric is then ironed and cut and sewn onto pouches. Then I clean up the lavender by sifting it etc. and scoop it into the pouches. There you have it: 72 pouches of lavender and 2 days later! I'll be selling these lavender pouches at my 4 upcoming shows in October, November and December. One of the shows will be at Villa Montalvo at their Yuletide celebration in November. Come on by! There's one with your name on it!

Watercolor Art Journal

A new art form for me! Here is my first Art Journal. I have 2 new jobs now and for one I'll be team teaching art with my friend Christine (from www.ChristinesArts.blogspot.com) at the Saratoga Senior Center. Our first 4 week class is going to be on how to make Art Journals. Christine came over for a few days this week and we each made one (I'm sure Christine will show you hers if you ask nicely.) You can make these for telling stories, dreaming about what you'd love to do, writing poetry, scrap booking, you name it. I decided to make my first one as an instructional tool for showing some color theory and watercolor techniques (for example, you can see I sprinkled some salt on the bottom right corner of the cover to get the paint to push away.) I haven't finished the last 3 page pull out yet. I'm thinking of painting an actual landscape painting applying all the techniques and demonstrating which brushes I use. (I'll add that when I finish). I'll take photos as I teach the class too and I'll let you see what they've created. So more to come! Special thanks and recognition to Teesha Moore for instruction on her blog on how to create Art Journals.

Villa Montalvo Stables

Today, 9/18/2010... Finished!!! Thankyou Deborah for your suggestion on finishing touches. And now (drum roll please Rich, on to the calendar!)

And now I'm almost finished, but what else does it need ?(beside my signature).

and then...Stables with more color and tree. Halfway there?...

The next day 9-17-2010...Stables with some color...

9-16-2010: Here is my preliminary pen and ink drawing for the Villa Montalvo Stables. I didn't even know it was at Montalvo until someone at the summer luncheons suggested I'd like to paint it. I found it off the last parking lot nestled in the woods. Now it is used as a ceramics studio and for other things, but I can imagine it as it use to be, with the horses nearby ready to retire for the day. Tomorrow I hope to watercolor it and then... I will have all the paintings I need to finish my calendar!! I love the challenge of completing a project. So rewarding.

A Window and Camellias at Villa Montalvo

I saw this while walking around the Villa and thought it was so pretty I just had to paint it.

Villa Montalvo Domed Resting Spot

I'm getting closer and closer to finishing the paintings for my calendar! Here is a pretty little resting spot at Villa Montalvo. One day last winter I parked in the lot and then was so surprised to see this dome when I looked up. This one probably will be December in the calendar. Two more to go!

Villa Montalvo in the Springtime

Villa Montalvo in the Springtime. I just finished this one today but I drew it out while sitting at the beach a few months ago.

Villa Montalvo Wedding Day

Here is a commission I just finished for someone I met at the Montalvo Summer Luncheons. It was fun to paint from the actual photos of this wedding, especially the people. This painting will also be in the calender.

Villa Montalvo Wedding Spot

Villa Montalvo looks good from every angle and that's why I think it's a great place to paint. Here is the back of the Villa where they have weddings. I thought I'd be finished with this and sell it during the summer luncheons, but I just finished it today (a day after the last luncheon day), so now I'll sell it at the Montalvo Yuletide in November.

I have 7 paintings completed and 5 other paintings from Montalvo drawn out and ready to be painted. Altogether I'll have 12 paintings of the Villa and grounds so hopefully I'll be able to make a calendar! (I love calenders and collect them so it will be fun to make one of my own.)

Villa Montalvo Gift Shop at the Summer Luncheons 2010

Charlene and Christine selling art at Villa Montalvo

Montalvo Summer Gift Shop

Ladies at the Montalvo Summer Luncheons

Hi again! I was pretty busy this summer and couldn't get to my blog, but now it's time to give you an update on some of the things that kept me so busy. Every Wednesday in July and August I was a vendor at Villa Montalvo for their summer luncheon series. This is the first time they tried having a gift shop while the ladies lunched and had a fashion show. For three of the eight weeks I shared a booth with my artist friend, Christine (check out her blog at http://www.christinesarts.blogspot.com/). Across from me was a fantastic jeweler, Cynthia Sasakia. At the other tables were Big Paws Oils and Vinegar, Narsai David's Specialty Foods and the Montalvo Service Group. By the time the 8 weeks were over I became much more familiar with all the setting up and packing away you have to do with a temporary store. So much work, but the funny thing is, now I think I'll miss that routine. It was a great experience and I will consider doing it again next year.

Yellow Iris on a Fountain Tile

Guess what's happening to my Irises! They're being put onto a very large (15 x 35") high quality tile! This is going to be used as a sample of my artwork on tiles which are suitable for outdoor fountains, patios, pools, on buildings and other places. Wow, this teaches me to never get discouraged if my paintings don't sell right away. These five paintings went from the gallery to the farm to a tile! They may be meant for people and places I've never dreamed of. Woohoo!

Nola's Iris Garden Show on Mother's Day Weekend

On May 8, I participated in a show with the East Valley Artists (www.eastvalleyartists.org) at Nola's Iris Garden in San Jose, CA. To get to the garden you have to drive up the mountain for a few miles. Once you get there the beauty of it all takes your breath away. This is the show I painted five iris paintings for at Easter time. By the way, Nola sells online if you want a place to buy bulbs. Also, did you notice the rose bush I took a photo of? Someone near by told me it's called, "Joseph's Coat of Many Colors." I've never seen anything like it before.

Gamble Garden Spring House and Garden Tour Art Sale

Here is the living room of the Gamble Garden House where we sold at their spring house and garden tour in Palo Alto, CA. Christine Harkins (paintings and jewelry), Allison Kreft (blown glass), and Judith Turner (flower photography), were sharing the show with me. This time we went as members of the arts and crafts group called Fabrication.

Gamble Garden Gazebo

Here is my version of the gazebo at Gamble Garden in Palo Alto, CA. After I set up the sale tables in the living room of the house and put my paintings on easels near the front door, I discovered that there was a large contest that had taken place one month earlier. The artists' tasks were to paint Gamble Garden. The winning painting would be printed on the advertisement for the house tour and it would have posters made of it. Over 40 artists entered and 20 were chosen to show and sell their paintings at an Art in the Garden Show this coming July.... I hadn't heard about the contest before this. What a coincidence that I was painting this gazebo along with many others and I didn't even know it. To tell you the truth, I like mine and I think it's a winner too.

Gamble Garden House in Palo Alto, CA.

Last weekend I had a show at the Elizabeth F. Gamble House in Palo Alto, CA. They were having a house tour of six houses and gardens in the area with Gamble Garden being the last house on the tour and lunch was provided. Since I was selling there, I thought it would be nice to paint the house and the gardens and make prints, cups, and magnets with the images on them. What a weekend it was. The gardens were filled with flowers, vendors, strolling musicians. people milling around enjoying the wonderful weather. The fragrance of flowers and flowering trees, crepes and scones was in the air. And even though I was working, I got the benefit of being in wonderful company on a perfect weekend.

One Creative Family!

Here's a little window into my life. Paint the paintings, clean up to color eggs and have fun with the fam (yes, those monocles are really egg holders!), clean up to frame the paintings... Can anyone ask for more? I'm really blessed.

Easter Iris

Here's the 5th painting in Iris Collection. I call it Easter Iris because I finished on Easter Sunday, a day before I had to hang the paintings in the Gallery. As I was framing them I started to go slower and slower and realized soon afterward that I was getting sick with the flu. However, before I quit to lie down, I looked at the painting again and thought how much of a coincidence that it was in the shape of a cross and on Easter. Other things began to stand out to me too. The flower is purple like royalty, the leaves are like the thorns on Jesus's "crown", the top petal looks like linen and like an empty tomb, and the red, yellow and orange color around the flower is like a choir of thousands singing with triumphant voices that "He is Risen!" Yes, He is risen indeed!

Iris, Blue

Want to know what happened with this one? Again, I thought I was finished and signed it but the background was so bright that it looked more like a cut and paste or a poster to me. So I thought I'd paint more leaves here and there to set in the flower. It became more wild than ever!...but I like it and think I might have started something.....