Hotel De Haro

 

I finished another piece for my Roche Harbor series.  For Mother's Day my son gave me a two day stay and I made the most of it.  I got up early to enjoy the quiet before the hustle and bustle of the day began and was treated to a spectacular sunrise.  This is the historic Hotel De Haro. 

 

8" x 11"

Watercolor, pen and ink and colored pencil

140# Arches hot press cotton paper

Available for purchase

Washington County Fair

Entries were dropped off today in Hillsboro.  Fair doors open July 30th - August 2nd.  Let the fun begin!

Columbia County Fair

St. Helens, Oregon
June 16 - 19, 2015

First place - colored pencil, landscape division
First place - mixed media, floral division
First place - mixed media, animal division

Note:  My mixed media is colored pencil with a watercolor foundation. 

Available soon.

In the works and available soon:

 

A blank notecard that can be sent as a postcard.
Detailed print.

Elegant matt finish. 

5" x 5"

Sets of five come with individual envelopes.
Single card purchases are mailed in its envelope. 

Sun Worshipers

 

Isn't it fun how the sun lights up these tulips? This one has taken quite a bit of time because I decided to go larger for the impact it would have and oh my gosh, I didn't realize how challenging it was to draw something so cheerful every day (and I'm normally an upbeat person!).
 
12" x 18"
Colored pencil and watercolor

I am careful to use only archival quality pigments and materials.  It has been mounted on a 1-1/2" cradled birch wood panel. I opted to seal the panel with black enamel.  The contrast looks stunning!  The drawing was mounted using archival quality glue and sealed with archival quality sealant.  I attached hanging hardware to the back of the finished piece so it's ready to hang.  No additional framing is needed.  This piece will last hundreds of years with proper care and keeping. 

Many thanks to the Holland-America Tulip Farm in Richland, Washington who welcome artists to come photograph, paint and in my case draw their blooms each spring without any charge.  You should see the ribbons of color in their fields!  What a tremendous inspiration. 

Mounted

Mounting on cradled boards is no easy task but the finished result is outstanding!  No additional framing required... or needed. 

The McMillan House - revisited

Here it is almost the end of May.  I know I haven't been posting because I've been super busy!  If you have been following me for a while, remember back about a year ago when I posted a drawing of the McMillan House in Roche Harbor, Washington.  I initially created the drawing as a wedding gift and the features behind the restaurant were intentionally edited out.  Turns out the folks at Roche Harbor are interested in prints of the drawing WITH the features added in behind the house so I did something I don't normally do.  I went back in to the drawing and added the hillside  behind the restaurant.  The tricky part is since I originally drew this is I've changed the brand of pencils I use (for better) so a perfect match of pigment wasn't going to happen.  Plus there was a significant challenge to keep the background from competing with the foreground features.  I think I found a happy medium: