A Tribute to Francis...painting completed!

What's on my Easel...

Let's start at the very beginning... I met Francis one year at my friend and mentor, Deb Festa's Open Studio Art Tour. Francis was out in Deb's courtyard, greeting everyone and making them feel welcome. I didn't know Francis well, but I know that he was a warm, generous man with a huge heart. Over time, I got to know him better, as Deb would share with me about her Dad. Francis was a very creative man -- he was a photographer, writer, gardener, and he loved making and improving upon things.

Francis is no longer with us on this earth, but his memory lives on today in a single flower -- an iris. Francis evidently had a love for irises, because he had a huge iris garden. After his death, his daughter Deb, dug up some of the irises from his home, and brough them to her home to plant. Deb in her typical generous way, shared some of the irises with my husband and I, and we planted a special iris garden in the front of our home. When the first iris bloomed, it was a beauty. It's funny how a simple flower can spark so much thought and emotion, but it did and I was prompted to paint a special tribute to Francis. I'm thankful for my friend Deb, for her open arms and open heart. I'm thankful for Deb's family -- they truly are an amazing family, and I'm thankful for Deb's Dad, Francis. I think of him and I feel lifted up. He lived fully, encouraged much and was so very warm and kind. This painting is my tribute to Francis...

It was painted on the computer using Corel Painter 11 and a Wacom tablet, following traditional painting methods. the painting started with a line drawing, followed by basic color choices for the finished painting...

Once I had the basic design and color choices made, I started on the background -- yellow, to allow a nice glow to the finished piece, followed by some random squiggles...

I then blended the squiggles, added more color, and blended again to make it look like undefined flowers and leaves in the background...

Then, I started sketching out and detailing the leaves...

The next step was to block in the yellow iris and start detailing it out...

With the yellow iris in, I then blocked in the purple iris and started adding details...

With the background, leaves, yellow and purple irises painted, it was now time to tie it all together. I added some yellow to the purple iris, some purple to the yellow iris, color to the leaves where needed, and darkened the background just below the irises (to ground them).

The completed painting follows:

Memorial paintings are quite an honor to paint, and it was certainly an honor to know Francis and paint this tribute to him.

From the Jewelry Box...

I had fun making this pair of earrings for Samantha, in honor of her 30th Birthday. I needed something special to package her earrings and painted this earring card with watercolor paints on 140# Arches watercolor paper, outlined the painting with a black waterproof marker, then punched two holes to hang the earrings. Happy 30th Samantha!

©2009 Deborah Jeffrey

Today's Quote...

"How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives." ~ Anne Dillard

Cover to Cover

Happy Tuesday to you! I am very excited about today’s posting because I get to tell you about a project that has been on the backburner for a little while now, but it is now something I can share…to a degree. I will be illustrating and formatting a children’s book!

The author is local and this is her first book. The book will be a self-published, 32-page, hardcover, children’s picture book.

Since this is the first book that the author has published, we have been learning about publishing together. Because this is a totally new endeavor for me, I thought I would share the research and process involved in illustrating, laying-out, and publishing a children’s picture book… Starting with my next posting = )

At this time, I would like to thank the individuals who have offered great advice on how to approach this project. Deb Festa, for introducing me to the author of the manuscript, Fay Sirkis, for teaching me how to paint digitally, and for sharing your layout, design and illustration experience; Susan Harrison-Tustain, for teaching me how to paint watercolor portraits and for the advice about how to approach the project and publishing; Karen Sperling, for your advice about self-publishing; Stephanie Roth Sisson, for your advice about illustrating books and publishers; David, Mom and Dad, for your unconditional love and support – THANK YOU!

And now, What’s on my easel…

I have completed the dog portrait. I mentioned before that it ended up being a digital portrait, but I printed it out onto Arches 100% cotton rag watercolor paper and added watercolor paint to it. It is the first time I have attempted this, and I must say, I like it! It added that special touch that makes this a one of a kind portrait!

The Tribute to Francis painting is coming right along. The yellow flower is there, but still needs refinement and finishing touches – these will be done AFTER the purple flower is completed. The purple Iris is started and here are a couple of photos showing the progression…



From the Jewelry Box…

In my last post I mentioned a necklace idea that was inhabiting my brain. Well I must confess, the picture in my brain is not at all how the necklace turned out. I don’t have a photo of it (in it’s current state), but suffice it to say that it WILL be remade!

So as not to leave you wondering if I accomplished anything in the jewelry-making area, I did throw together a pair of black and white earrings to go with another black and white outfit.



I’m not thrilled with the design, but as Thomas Edison once said…

Quote of the day…
"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." ~Thomas Edison

I Like to Steal Away…

Well, I thought I did, until I looked up the “proper” definition of Steal Away and found that it means to, “Leave furtively and stealthily - slip away, sneak away, sneak off, sneak out.”

I’m not actually sneaking off – just trying to get away during my lunch hour and read or paint. Anyway, since I just finished my most recent “read,” I decided to take my field painting kit and start a miniature painting.

My kit consists of a small plastic basket that I picked up at the dollar store. It is filled with a set of Watercolor Pencils, a miniature watercolor paint set (filled with my favorite paints), a collapsible brush, two bottles of water (one “clean” and one “dirty”), painter’s tape, a 4x6 pad of watercolor paper, a rag, pencils and waterproof pens, and business cards…(because you never know who you will run in to).

I thought the following tree in one of our local parks was beautiful,

So I sketched out a portion of it and will continue to work on it during my lunch hours until it is finished.
This painting is small, but will probably take awhile to finish – after all, I only have an hour to “steal away”, grab a bite, paint, and get back to the office.

Today’s Quote: “Painting is just another way of keeping a diary.” -- Pablo Picasso

Introducing: What's on my easel...

Welcome to my new Tuesday post, "What's on my easel", where I will be sharing about the things that I am working on at the moment.

1. A commissioned watercolor pet portrait (unfortunately I can’t post an image because I don’t have the owner’s permission). The portrait is being built up layer- by-layer and quite tight.
2. A non-commissioned pet portrait of a welsh terrior. This is more of a practice piece and is being done in watercolor, following a more direct painting method. I started with a washy background and let it dry, then wet a large area on the dog and added a LOT of paint to it, in 2 to 4 colors (side-by-side or dropped on top of another color) and let it mix on the paper. The sections were divided into tail, hind right leg, front and shoulders, back and belly, and head. There is more to do, so check back for an update…

From the jewelry box…

I just completed a wire-wrapped bracelet for a friend. She has a family home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and she loves all things Southwest, including turquoise jewelry. Sharon, at Beads of Sharon, introduced me to “mosaic turquoise” – it is made from turquoise that has been mined and cut, then the remaining bits of stone are "repurposed" and pressed together (somehow), to form a beautiful mosaic bead. No part of the stone is wasted, and it is really quite beautiful. I thought it was unusual and fit the bill perfectly! Happy Birthday Michelle!

Quote for the day: “Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.” Scott Adams

Gallery at Marina Square

Sorry for the lack of posts lately -- I have been working on a new blog for an art gallery in Morro Bay.

There are still a few minor edits to do, but now that the major elements are completed, I will continue working on the Morro Bay Collage and Tribute to Francis.

Stay tuned!

Genius or idiocy?

It is 2 AM and I can’t sleep, so I thought I would get in a little painting time. I started these clay board paintings a couple of weeks ago, but haven’t had an opportunity to work on them…until now. I don’t know if it is a good idea to work on a painting at 2AM. I’m awake, but a little groggy…. Oh well, I have to remember, this is all experimentation anyway!

I made what looks like a dark hole on this one, so I will either lighten up the space between the first two flowers, or darken the bottoms of all the flowers and the edges of the pitcher. I'll post the revised version as soon as I've had another painting session...hopefully NOT at 2 AM = )

If You Always Do What You've Always Done...

You’ll always get what you always got.

I guess I should call this “my experimental phase.” I have always used Arches 100% cotton rag watercolor paper -- 140# cold-pressed in the early days, and 140# hot-pressed and 300# cold-pressed more recently.

About two years ago I heard about clayboard, a clay-coated hardboard panel that is comparable to cold-pressed watercolor paper, but allows color to be lifted back to white easily, while also leaving the richest, most vibrant color possible. The truly amazing thing about clayboard is that finished watercolors can be sealed with a Fixative and displayed without glass!

Okay, so not only did I “hear” about clayboard, I actually bought 4, 4-inch squares to try out. Well, those squares have been sitting in one of my "supply" drawers…until Saturday. When I took a break from my “collage” painting, I was in the mood to paint and found those little squares of clayboard. I grabbed them from the drawer, drew a quick pencil sketch directly onto the board, and started painting. I couldn’t believe my eyes! The surface is very much like painting on cold-pressed paper, BUT there is much more freedom, for people like me who like to work tight and detailed.

The clayboard surface allows you to paint in layers, but the colors are much more vibrant, and I’m sure I used less paint! And the true beauty is that if you make a mistake, I mean, if you change your mind = ), it is easy to lift off and re-work an area.

One painting

Led to another….

There is still work to be done on both, so I will be fine-tuning and re-posting them so you can see the finished product.

Have a good day and try something new!

The HAPPY Card...

First, let me say thank you to everyone who voted with your design preference for the Happy Card. The card is now finished and a blank Happy card will be distributed as a special thank you, to those who provided their input prior to the completion of the card.

The second design was the favorite, and the finished card is shown below.

Each card will include the following abbreviated story about how the card came into being –

A special thank you to our friends David and Melba! David and I love you and the girls. Our lives are certainly much richer because of you!


Have a Happy day!

Why a Chicken?

Are you wondering why I have a chicken portrait on my blog header? Well, when my husband and I moved into our home 18 years ago, our neighbors gave us two baby chicks as a housewarming gift. Growing up in the city, I had no idea that chickens were for anything other than eating, but these chickens became pets and we loved them dearly.

The first two chickens were named Margaret and Alberta, after my husband’s two spinster aunts. They were wonderful, but eventually chicken heaven called Margaret and we were left with Alberta. We couldn’t have just one chicken, so we got another baby chick and named her Hope. When it was evident that Alberta wasn’t long for this world we got a baby chick and named her Faith. So, there we were with Faith, Hope and Alberta. It turned out that Faith was a sitter and would sit for days on end on her eggs in her nest. Problem was we didn’t have a rooster, so she sat in vain. We decided to “help” the situation out a bit and replace two of her eggs with fertilized eggs. Unfortunately we couldn’t find any so we did the next best thing. We purchased two baby bard rock chicks. That’s when the fun began…

That night, my husband and I went out to the chicken house, removed a couple of Faith’s eggs and replaced them with the baby chicks. Faith slept through the whole thing. The next morning I ran out to the chicken house and waited for Faith to realize that she had two babies. Before long, she felt movement and as only a chicken can do, bawked a welcome to her new babies.

Faith was a great Mom and she and her chicks hold a special place in our hearts.

…and that is the story of the chicken portrait.