Circle of love

Easter weekend

 

Creating family memories over the holiday weekend.

xo

Go take a hike

One of my favorite local hiking spots where the diverse beauty of nature can be found along its well kept trails is First Landing State Park otherwise known as Seashore State Park.

The park, located one block away from the beach, offers a plethora of natural beauty beside its nine trails that collectively cover more than 19 miles.   In the course of a lengthy trail walk one can pass through a southern cypress swamp, edge a black water lake, cross a salt marsh nested by osprey, pass through a cathedral of Spanish moss and wind up along the bay. 

On a recent morning walk along the Osprey Trail with my friend Sara, we came across a group of oystermen busy at work on their oyster lines - underwater cables linked to hundreds of cages overflowing with growing oysters. 

Due to the dedication of a group of oyster loving environmentalists with the Lynnhaven River Now organization the river is being brought back to life through reduced contamination, education and restoration of lost habitats. 

We discovered these oyster cages sitting along the shore.   The rusted cages, covered with barnacles and oysters in various stages of growth, provided a wonderful juxtaposition of man made and natural textures perfect for picture taking opportunities.

 

Hikes along the various trails in this park offer much variety in the way of wildlife, natural beauty and diverse terrain.   A great spot indeed.

Housewarming gift

Custom home portrait hand painted on a ceramic tile.

 

The portrait sketched, outlined, and painted with ceramic glaze before it has been fired in my kiln.

Fresh out of the kiln this morning.  With a little bit of heat the colors become much more vibrant.

A keepsake gift for the new home owners.  

If interested, find more information on my home portrait tile's here.

Happy Birthday Tea Party

For my baby girl as she turns 20!

Where has the time gone?!  It seems like just yesterday when she was running around the house in a tutu and having tea parties with her baby doll and teddy bears.

The tutu is gone and her baby dolls have been replaced with a delightful group of girl friends, but she still enjoys a tea party.

 

The girls painted a bisque tea cup as my husband kept the tea flowing.

“Lastly, she pictured to herself how this same little sister of hers would, in the after-time, be herself a grown woman; and how she would keep, through all her riper years, the simple and loving heart of her childhood: and how she would gather about her other little children, and make their eyes bright and eager with many a strange tale, perhaps even with the dream of Wonderland of long ago: and how she would feel with all their simple sorrows, and find a pleasure in all their simple joys, remembering her own child-life, and the happy summer days.”

Lewis Carroll - Alice in Wonderland

Monday in the Studio

The process of painting sunsets proceeds as artists capture golden hues of light on canvas.

A solitary figure creates a tranquil silhouette in this starry night painting by Cindy McWaters.

Here Barbara proceeds to recreate variations of color as the setting sun casts shadows onto low hanging clouds.

The pink and purple color palette of a summer sunset is used in Julia's new landscape painting.

As I slowly struggle on with this portrait painting of my daughter.

The artist is a receptacle for emotions that come from all over the place:  from the sky, from the earth, from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape, from the spider's web.

Pablo Picasso

Surf's Up

Serve me some summer please.

Handmade pottery surfboard serving plates are ready for summer beach parties.

Stay calm and throw a party!

Available here

Pink

Carnation, Cherry, Coral, French Rose, Magenta, Salmon, Shocking ~ No matter the shade Pink screams Spring.

 

A pink tricycle calmly awaits the warm days of spring.

Monday in the Studio

Two artists capture the illumination of a skyline at sunset.

 Painting 1 - Sunset in Tuscany

 

The painting above shows an artists interpretation of a Tuscan sunset created during last weeks art class.  This week the artist decided to lighten the sky and begin anew.

Through the beauty of paint a different setting has originated and will continue to develop during the artists next painting session.

 

Painting 2 - Sunset in South Carolina

Shown above is an image of the painting taken at the end of last weeks class.

To this the artist added a deeper blue into the sky and created a cloud bank embellished with color.

The finished painting ~ Sunset in South Carolina - Acrylic on Canvas by Julia David

Meanwhile another artist continued to work her sailboat painting

A full days class.  Until next week...

“The canvas isn’t empty. It’s full of whatever you imagine it to be full of."

I heart playing with color

Inspiration provided by a box of Crayola crayons

Yellow Green ~ Verde amarillo

Carnation Pink ~ Rosado Clavel

Vivid Tangerine ~ Mandarina Viva

Aquamarine ~ Aguamarina

Nothing makes one feel more like a kid than a bit of free time and a new box of crayons.