The Joy of Embellishing

Some Thoughts on Embellishing...

One day over coffee, I was talking with a dear artist friend of mine about our mutual love of pearls.  She suddenly blurted out "Why don't you sew pearls on your paintings?".  I looked at her like she was from another planet (she probably is) and hastily replied "I can't do that!  I paint on Claybord, and I LOVE painting on Claybord.  For sure you can't get a needle through that!"

But when I got home, I remembered the eight 16"x20" giclee prints on canvas I had just randomly had made of some of my Mermaid and Merman paintings.  Hmmm.... for some reason!!  

Why not give it try with those canvas prints?

And so it began.

I got to work.  The prints definitely needed some vibrancy, so first I did some painting on top of the print.  When satisfied, I sealed it with two coats of medium to add sheen and protect the surface.

Then, time to sew on the pearls.

"Conversation with a Mermaid" Embellished | 16"x20" |

I noticed right off the bat that my needle needed to be very thin to get through that small hole in the pearl!  And guess what?  Thin needle, small eye.  A VERY SMALL EYE!  To be honest, microscopic.  I marvel every time I actually get the blinkin' thing threaded. I think I probably get some divine intervention.  Then once threaded, I realized that the canvas needed to be very lightweight, otherwise if I wasn't careful I'd break that very thin needle.  And trust me, I still do!  HA!  Leading to multiple f-bombs!

But of course some magical things happened as well.

I was revisiting my beautiful paintings in a new way, looking at them with fresh eyes.

All at once the process felt like meditation.

 The act of sewing reminded me of time spent doing embroidery and needlework as a young girl growing up in the 60's in the Midwest.  It connected me to those first joyful sparks of creativity.

"Oshun" Embellished  | 20"x16" |

And when I decided to add Czech glass bugle beads as well for some sparkle, 

I was taken even further back in time, perhaps even to a former life.

I often think I lived in the 1920's, and as I sewed on the pearls and bugle beads, I suddenly felt a strong connection to the gorgeous beaded gowns and bags that I adore from that era.  All at once I was incorporating that beautiful look into my art!  It felt marvelous, so very familiar... so very right.

"Two Mermaids in Pink" Embellished | 14"x11" |

So of course now I'm hooked.  I love the fact that when I make a print of my mixed media art, I can then use the embellishing to transform it into a new form of mixed media!  It's so much fun!

And let's not forget, the Embellished Prints are the ultimate fusion of my Mermaids and Pearls.  I'm delighted that I can offer these unique, one of a kind derivatives of my original work...

Jewelry for your walls!

"I Face My Shadows With an Open Heart" Embellished   | 14"x11" |

Thanks so much for taking the time to visit!  Please remember that when it comes to art there are no rules.  I hope my work can inspire you in some way to step outside the box with your own creativity as well.  

With Love and Light,

Linda

P.S. And of course thanks and gratitude always to my beautiful friend for her truly inspired idea!

Deep History, College and Culture in Montpellier

After our coffee in Sete, we continued on Wednesday to Montpellier for a quick walk through the historic center.  Montpellier is the capital of the Languedoc Roussillon region of Southern France, and the third largest city on the southern coast.  It has three major universities, and is steeped in history dating back to 985 AD.  The first thing I saw when we came up the stairs from the parking structure were these pillars that looked to me like Mermen, which naturally took my breath away.

Here's a closer look.

And a closer one yet.  The detail in his face is just great.

You're probably figuring out by now from my posts that this kind of building detail just makes my day.  Especially because they could be Mermen.  I haven't had much luck finding Mermaids in France, so these were really a bonus.  And on that same building, this was pretty interesting as well.

Dragging myself reluctantly away from the Mermen, we continued down the street, where I saw more beautiful details.  All of the architectural details in this part of town made me think of Paris.  Sigh.

And again there were plenty of those wrought iron railings on the buildings that are so prevalent in this area.

Of course there was no shortage of narrow streets,

and everything was so clean, thanks I'm sure in part to this adorable cleaning crew that was all dressed in green.

I noticed yet another one of those mural stickers that we've been seeing all around the South of France,

and although the church was closed at the time we visited, it of course had some beautiful details on the exterior.

There was a cute little tram running through the center of town,

and a soccer scoreboard outside of an Irish pub.  The finals were currently going on in Marseille.

All in all, we only had a couple of hours in Montpellier, so the things that most struck me during our very short visit were the building ornamentation, the cleanliness of the historical center, and the fashionable feel that you got there.  With more time, I'm sure there is plenty to explore, and I would love to visit this town again.

Thanks for following!

Love,
Linda

Impressions of the Enchanting Port City of Sete

Free to roam about the South of France, Julie and I headed over on Wednesday, June 29th for an afternoon visit the Port City of Sete.  Julie was on the lookout for possible interesting new locations to add to her agenda for Workshops in France.  On the drive over I noticed some fish graffiti.  Looks like this is about as close as I'm going to get to a Mermaid.

There is quite a bit of graffiti in the South of France, by the way.  And most of it is not that good.  I found that surprising for such an ancient and artistic place.  I think they need to step up their graffiti game!!

But what we did find in Sete was an absolutely enchanting town, built in the 1600's, known as the "Venice of the Languedoc" because of its network of canals, and bordered by the Bassin de Thau, an enclosed saltwater lake (where they raise oysters and mussels), on the southeast and the Mediterranean Sea on the southwest.

 It is definitely my kind of place.

You can see the ships on the Mediterranean Sea at the end of the Canal du Midi.

Because I live near the areas of Belmont Shore and Naples in Long Beach, California, I was reminded a bit of home, but with historic buildings thrown in.  It captured my heart.

Notice the sunken ship.  This poor guy had the one boat that was below the water, instead of above it.  Perhaps now a vessel for Mermaids?

There is a lot of wrought iron work in this area on the balconies of the buildings, and I remarked to Julie how they were just like New Orleans.  To which she reminded me, "No!  New Orleans is just like HERE."  Duh!  Of course!

The town center was filled with shops,

and of course, a Farmer's Market.  We just caught the tail end.

Boulangeries and Cafes lined the streets, and I got to have my first macarons since we arrived in France.

I went for the pistachio and the chocolate.  With un grand creme,

and a lovely view.

I also needed to give these little piggy cakes some press.  As my kids would say, they were totes adorbs.

 Here's an interesting boxed out window design that looked very French to me,

and some of the ornamentation on the Chamber of Commerce building.

But this is my very favorite building in Sete.  Look at these amazing figurative pillars.

Gorgeous work!  These kinds of architectural details just kill me.  One of my favorite parts about Europe.

I have since read that there are some very nice Mediterranean beaches in Sete as well, so I definitely want to revisit this beautiful place on my next visit to the South of France.

Next up, Montpellier.  Thanks for following!

Love,
Linda

A Trip to Venasque and Modeling for Our Art Group

Friday morning we headed out to explore some smaller villages that are off the beaten path.  When driving in Provence, there are several things that you notice.  One is the huge number of bicyclists you see on the streets here.  They are everywhere!

Another thing is that the roads are very narrow.  Almost always.  Our first stop was La Roque Sur Pernes, which was no exception.  We decided to keep moving, but did spot this really interesting old wash area on the way out of town, where the women of the village once did their laundry.

We headed for our next stop of Le Beaucet, but had to stop at a spontaneous lavender sighting!  This field was full and lush.  We can already see the difference in the lavender since we got here.  A week of hot weather has really increased the blooming.

After everyone got their fill of lavender pictures, we continued on towards Le Beaucet, and could see it off in the distance.

Still not quite satisfied with the winding narrow roads at the top of the hill, we decided to keep it moving and finally ended up in the most glorious village, Venasque.  It was there that we settled in to sketch, paint, photograph and explore.

The first thing that caught my attention was the mailman.  The streets are so narrow that he backed up the street to deliver the mail, then drove back down when he finished.  Good backing skills required for his job!

The town has a charming square with a fountain, surrounded by cafes and shops.  There were cyclists in the town, and this one had the most interesting nickname.  Sexy Lexy.

This brings me to another thing I noticed in the villages.  I am shooting way more vertical shots than horizontal.  Usually it's the other way around for me.  Anyway, the further I walked into the little village, the more interesting it got.  I spotted another great fountain,

and a beautiful old church that I needed to explore.

Here are a few of the elements in the church.

It seems I get moved to tears every time I enter one of these old churches.  I sit down, have myself a little cry, and then photograph like a mad woman!  LOL.  Crazy artist.

Of course there was a spectacular view of the countryside from the village.

We ate our lunches in the village, and then returned to the chateau, where I posed for a portrait session.  This was my first time posing for a group.  The put a mark on the wall so I had a place to fix my gaze,

and I did a series of twenty minute poses.  Thanks to Belinda DelPesco for the great photo of me modeling, with Julie Snyder's work in progress in the foreground.  I think I look a little too serious here, but it was my first time, after all.  Would love to do it again.

This is Brenda's interpretation of me.  Love it and love the title.

Ended the day with another great home cooked dinner, and a nice Chardonnay and Voignier blend.  Then off to bed to write my blog!!

Bonne Nuit and Sweet Dreams, all.  Thanks for following.

Love, Linda