It's A Foggy Day, In A Foggy London Town--Week 5

watercolor 16" x 20"

This week I decided to experiment. I did what I would consider a watercolor sketch. I decided to not get into the nitty gritty of the details and just capture more of the lights and shadows. It was fun and you can still figure out what everything is. I used a photograph that my friend Matt took while he lived in England.

Below are pictures of the boys room. I finally got it all pulled together. The quilt was made by Brian's mom. She also made Steven one when he was born. I'm sure they will be treasured by the boys for years and years. I now enjoy sitting in the boys room. The best part was that I didn't need to paint the words to the poem "High Flight" around the room, I decided it would be too much. So I'm calling it done. The pictures above the chest of drawers are of grandparents and family, and Sam's framed birth announcement, that my Mom framed for us as a Christmas present.

This week maybe I'll get the wallpaper down in the master bath. I then would be finished with every room in the house.



Steven did another masterpiece this week. Since week 1 he has been wanting to paint another canvas. The first canvas that he painted went to work with Daddy. We stopped in at Brian's work the other day and Steven got to see his art hanging on Daddy's wall. He was beyond thrilled. Since then he has been talking about painting the other canvas (which he calls Candice, he also has made art a verb, he tells me "Mommy I need to art", and can I use this paint for "arting") for Uncle Jon. He wants Uncle Jon to have a painting for his office. So as soon as this one is dry we will be packing it up and shipping it off to Puyallup, Washington.


acrylic on canvas 8" x 8"

Week 4 RB 66 posted at 9 a.m. Oh Yeah!!!!!

acrylic on canvas 36" x 48"

So this week, I couldn't help myself I had to finish my airplane series before moving on. Also I needed to get the last of the very large canvases out of my garage before I drove into them parking my car. I've had those 3 canvases sitting in my garage for a few months now, so I am thrilled that my painting a week experiment has allowed me to finish up this project.

This weeks plane is an RB 66, the last airframe that my mother-in-law's father flew, Col. Malcom Collins. I'm posting a little bit of information that I looked up on this plane. This was the only one that I'm not that familiar with, but after doing research I guess I have seen one in person because they have one at the Air Museum in Ohio, which by the way if you are in Dayton you must go and see the museum, it is pretty spectacular.

RB-66s were used as the major night photo-reconnaissance aircraft of the USAF during this period.(1956) 72 of the B-66B bomber version were built, 69 fewer than originally planned. Thirteen B-66B aircraft later were modified into EB-66B electronic countermeasures aircraft for the Vietnam War. Unlike the Navy's A-3 Skywarrior, which performed some bombing missions, the Destroyer was not used as a bomber in Vietnam.

The RB-66C was a specialized electronic reconnaissance and ECM aircraft with an expanded crew of seven, including additional electronics warfare experts. 36 of these aircraft were built with the additional crewmembers housed in what was the camera/bomb bay of other variants. RB-66C aircraft had distinctive wingtip pods and were used in the vicinity of Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis and later over Vietnam. In 1966, these were redesignated EB-66C.

Since I'm sharing a little more info on the planes I failed to mention that my first painting the C 17 I have actually flown on. In Charleston they do a really neat spouse flight. They fly a small group, around 20 of us, to a near by air strip, where we got off the plane had a nice lunch and then they proceeded to give us our own private air show. It was very cool! They dropped stuff out of the back of the plane, told us all the facts and did as many tricks as a large plane can do. It was all very impressive. On the way back we were supposed to have the back open so that we could fly over the ocean and see the Charleston landscape, but unfortunately our plane had hydraulic problems and we weren't able to see this. Still all in all a once in a lifetime experience. I can't imagine what it would be like to be a pilot and fly all of the time, pretty amazing!

So this wraps up my airplane paintings. Now I have to figure out what to paint next. Oh and I am proud of myself that is 9:26 a.m. and I am posting my painting. Yeah, me I finished early:)

Steven has been a water coloring fool. He painted several paintings this week. He did have a painting last week, but in my haste to just get a painting on here I didn't have time to photograph it and put it on here. So this week I will put two "series" that he painted. I must say they are beautiful. I like them so much I may frame a few. These are all watercolor on paper 11" x 14".





See everyone next week!

C 141 Week 3

acrylic on canvas 36" x 48"

This week I have completed a painting of a C141 plane. This is the air frame that Steve my father-in-law flew. I put a blue tail on for McGuire AFB. While I was painting I was fondly remembering our first assignment in Germany. This was my first venture in to the Air Force and Brian took it upon himself to educated me on the different planes. I had a hard time differentiating them in the air so he broke it down into terms he thought I would understand. The C5 was the couch, the C17 was the love seat, a C 141 was a snake, the C 130 had propellers, and the C 9's had red crosses painted on them so those two were easily identifiable. It was a pretty silly way to look at it but I remember to this day.

This week felt like a trip down memory lane. I couldn't help thinking back on to our time in Germany when we saw these airplanes on a daily basis. I also just finished reading "My Life In France" by Julia Child and her nephew and am in the middle of "Bringing Home the Birkin" by Michael Tonello. Both of these books are set in various countries that I've visited and make me long for the days we lived in Europe. Hopefully we will get back there soon.

So I have officially completed week 3 (How many more to go?) I may take a breather from planes next week and paint something for fun. I enjoyed painting this plane and I hope you enjoy it too.

Why Oh Why

Acrylic on canvas 36" x 48"

So procrastination should be my middle name. I initiate my own blog and set my own deadlines and still I finished my second painting barely on schedule. I decided that each Monday I would post my new painting and here it is 7:24 my time and I'm just now posting it. I guess it could have been worse, technically it is Monday until midnight. See the procrastinator roars it's ugly head. I started this painting last night and I actually had it finished about 5:00p.m. today. It is a C 17, painted in acrylic on a canvas that is 36" x 48". It is a big! It will be going in the boys room. I'm planning on doing two other paintings same size for their room with other air frames. This one is a yellow tail, specified by Brian. I had in mind painting an airplane that my father-in-law flew. The air frame that Jon flies (brother in law) and Brian worked on, and an airplane that Brian's grandfather flew. As you can read this is an Air Force family. So this will look nice in their room. Their room is painted asparagus green and I'm planning on hanging the airplane quilt that Debbie (mother in law) made and my future paintings. I will post pics when I'm done. I'm also going to paint a neat border around the top with words associated with airplanes. it's going to look fab when I'm done. I'm excited!

The C 17 airplane painting was a risky endeavor, considering Brian worked around these planes 24/7 for 3 years in Charleston and Jon flies this air frame. It has to be pretty accurate. This painting got Brian's approval, so I'm hoping I've done the C 17's justice. I did enjoy painting it. The sheer size is pretty impressive. I'm looking forward to the C 141 I will be conquering this week.

This is not my first go round with a pretty technical painting. I told myself after I painted an old Ford truck with the hood up that I wouldn't do it again. But I did do another truck after that , I will have 3 airplanes under my belt, and I have my eye on another old truck that a co-worker of Brian's owns. Here's is the painting I did of the old Ford with my Grandpa that I did last year.

Watercolor 16" x 20"

Steven decided to get in on the action. So he will be doing a painting a week also. Until he decides he doesn't want to anymore. So here is his first painting. My little artiste.
acrylic on canvas 8" x 8"

The following picture is Steven helping me draw my airplane. He's such a helper. This is how you do it when you've got curious munchkins. Hopefully it will be a bonding experience.

Please sign up as a follower. I appreciate the 9 I have so far. It holds me accountable. Whatever motivation I can get I will take.

So I am working on my first painting for 2010. It's a beach scene from Isle of Palms in South Carolina. I did it in black in white, because I'm into that right now and I'm also thinking it will go to my Mom who is doing her Master bedroom in black and white. The artist in me understands that it is not very artsy of me to do a painting in a certain color scheme, but the interior designer side of me knows that I have to keep that in mind. I of course have designed rooms around a piece of artwork and I think that is a terrific way to find a color scheme.

This painting is still a work in progress. I've gone from hating it to kind of liking it. I'm toying with the idea cutting it into strips and doing something more abstract. This is sending me on a whole new train of thought for watercolors. So I'm sure I will be experimenting with these ideas in future weeks.

So I'm posting the entire work in progress and the painting in strips. I'd love any input.