Let me introduce you .....

I hope my incomplete title caught your interest .... as I have something exciting that I want to share with you. I recently came across Leslie Fehling's charming Irish travel journal on her blog and I think you will enjoy it too.

Leslie recently traveled to Ireland with her mother and she has captured priceless memories of their adventure in her sketchbook journal. It has been fascinating for me to follow along as she has posted the different pages on her blog. Leslie's images that I have posted here are just a small taste of what is waiting for you over on her blog. Pour yourself a cup of coffee, take a stroll over to Leslie's blog, and have a look at her charming Irish Journal. You're in for a treat!!

P.S. The link I provided above will go to the most recent post on Leslie's blog - which right now is the last portion of the Irish travel journal. Use this link to go directly to the first page of Leslie's Irish Journal.

My home away from home in New Orleans

This is the second 2-page spread in my NOLA journal - pages 4 and 5. I loved the Place d'Armes Hotel and I felt right at home in my room. I loved the quaintness, homey feel, and even the quirkiness of the hotel - and my room was an obvious choice to capture in my journal. It was GREAT that we were living right in the French Quarter - it really made me feel that we were 'living' the adventure - rather than commuting in to be a 'visitor' (or 'observer') to the French Quarter each day.

The beginning of an unbelievable adventure

Just a month ago I stepped out to do something very different for me. I had been looking forward to this trip since early in the year, and I was super excited and filled with anticipation as the time grew near. My adventure started as I took a week off of work and flew by myself to New Orleans to meet (for the first time) Laure Ferlita and 7 other women for NOLA Live! The adventure truly was "An Artist's Painting Holiday"!!!

I'm not used to traveling alone, I'm usually with family members. So there were more than a few butterflies in my stomach as my plane took off! Once I landed it still felt a little unfamiliar to get a cab by myself and just show up at the reserved hotel. I checked in, got my key, and went to my room by myself to unload my things. It was a quick stop as I hurried back down to the lobby to meet the group and go to dinner. It was an amazing intro - from the moment I met everyone it felt as if I had just rejoined a bunch of long time friends. During the magical week we explored the quaint French Quarter together, sketched and painted in our journals, walked and walked, chatted a bunch, and ate amazing meals too! It was all so much fun!

We had numerous sketching opportunities during the week to work in our journals. Since I have returned home I have continued working on sketches and adding memorabilia to my journal to record my adventure. Tonight I'm posting the first 2-page spread in my journal, and I'll continue to post the other pages as I work my way through my journal.

Pointing out a couple of things on these 2 pages - the portable chair that I carried EVERYWHERE to use for sketching, and Tujagues a charming old restaurant where we enjoyed our first meal together (Sunday dinner).

P.S. I am excited about the watercolor journal that I used for the trip. It was made by Lori Vliegan of Elvie Studio. The cover says 'Always follow your heart' and that is just what I did in traveling to New Orleans for this special adventure.

Leaf reflections 2011

Happy Fall to everyone!!

Where did the summer go? .... A view of St. Peters

This is a view of St. Peters in Italy. You might be thinking that I visited Italy over the summer... well not quite. I took another imaginary adventure with Laure Ferlita, and loved journeying through Italy from my dining room table. It would have been even better if I'd really been in Italy, but I'll have to save that experience for another time... when all the kids are out of college.

Admiralty Head Lighthouse - view from afar

First view of Admiralty Head Lighthouse (WA) - Claire

This page was painted from a photo that my son sent me back in June of the Admiralty Head Lighthouse in Washington state .... he took the picture as he passed by on his bike. He knows how I've developed an interest in lighthouses over the years. I looked up this lighthouse on the web to find out more about it. To my surprise.... I found out that my son's view of the lighthouse only captures the top floor. There is more that you can't see from this image.

We later visited my son and I got to see the 'whole thing' for myself and take pictures for future paintings.

They just caught my eye....

These are tiles on a retaining wall in San Luis Obispo, California. I discovered the tiles when we took our middle son back to college. We were actually in route to an art festival, but I couldn't resist looking at these tiles as we parked the car. I decided to snap a quick photo of them to use for a sketch later. Just a reminder to me .... that I can find a subject to sketch just about anywhere.... and its time to get back into the practice/habit of frequently sketching and painting. I'm glad to be back!!

P.S. This is painted in my handmade leather journal that contains handmade paper. It is a different experience working with the handmade paper, but it is fun to work with something that feels so organic or relaxed. It contributes to the informal style of the sketch. This isn't the journal that I usually work in, but it is fun to work in it for a change.