Posted in Little Known Facts, tagged Van Gogh, Vincent Van Gogh on March 31, 2015| Leave a Comment »
Van Gogh, Coquelicots et papillons, 1890
Yesterday was the birthday of Vincent Van Gogh in 1853. I didn’t want to let the day pass without recognizing him. While he never achieved fame during his lifetime for his paintings, now almost everyone recognizes his works…and they are quite amazing. Click on this link to enjoy his many paintings.
Posted in daily painter on March 30, 2015| Leave a Comment »
I am away from the easel for a few days but have been taking some reference photos. This morning while driving in South Carolina I saw the most unusual clouds in the sky.
Posted in Art Class, tagged acrylic, Art Class, capital, US Capital on March 28, 2015| Leave a Comment »
The Kids Art Class did a wonderful job painting the capital building this week. Don’t you think?
Posted in Crochet, tagged Crochet, crochet class, granny square on March 27, 2015| Leave a Comment »
small Popcorn flower
Granny Stripe
Large double petal flower
We are having a “Granny Square Crochet Class” at The Studio soon (check it out here) and here are a few of the patterns we will be learning in addition to the traditional Granny Square.
Why don’t you get out your hooks and join us?!
Posted in Throwback Thursday, tagged Prickly Pear, Throwback Thursday on March 26, 2015| Leave a Comment »
Throwback Thursday!
Hard to believe it was in the Fall of 2009 that I visited Arizona and then painted this when I got home. You can read about it here.
Posted in Little Known Facts, tagged Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum on March 25, 2015| 1 Comment »
Photo from Gizmodo- 3/18/15
Twenty-five years ago this week the largest art heist in history took place in Boston. You may remember that I posted about it a couple of years ago. (Read that here.) I have visited the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum several times and get an eerie feeling every time I come across an empty frame.
There are many theories about what happened to the art valued at $500 million and this interesting article in Gizmodo lays out a few. Take a look here.
What do you think happened to it?
Posted in Crochet, tagged Crochet, granny square on March 24, 2015| 4 Comments »
Granny Square with Flower made by Big Mama
Traditional Granny Squares
Different Granny Square patterns from Mes Favoris
Crochet is BACK! It’s cool again and so many people are rediscovering this fun (and addictive) hobby. We have been having classes in crochet at The Studio and so many people are learning how to crochet.
One of the standards in crochet is the Granny Square. You can make so many things from squares from blankets to ponchos to hats to sweaters and more.
Here are some samples of traditional granny squares as well as a pattern chart for some “not so traditional” squares ( from Mes Favpros Tricot-Crochet website) that we will be looking at in our next crochet class on April 12th. Consider joining us. Click here for more info on the class.
Of course, one of my favorites is this floral granny square blanket that Big Mama made me many years ago. I treasure it.
Posted in Crochet, tagged Crochet, crochet vest on March 23, 2015| Leave a Comment »
Vest in cotton yarn
Vest in bulky yarn
I found a super Lion Brand pattern for a crochet vest that I really love. I made it with bulky yarn (as the pattern called for) and was so pleased when it was finished. It’s REALLY heavy. And I like the design so much that I reworked the pattern to make it in cotton so I can wear it in the spring. Here they are!
And here is the link to the original pattern. Enjoy!
Posted in Paint Parties, Pet Portaits, tagged Paint Party, pet portrait on March 22, 2015| Leave a Comment »
We had a super fun “Paint Your Pet’s Portrait” Party yesterday at The Studio in Front Royal. Everyone did a superb job! I love seeing people paint portraits of the pets they love so much and hearing their stories. It is so much fun. Consider joining us for the next one. We have a Pet Portrait Party every 3rd Saturday. Why don’t you come?
Posted in Crochet, tagged Crochet, crochet shawl on March 21, 2015| 3 Comments »
Summer Cotton Shawl
For years I would only crochet in the winter time because I mainly used wool or acrylic yarn and it is heavy and hot. But several years ago I got hooked on cotton yarn. It is lightweight and fun to work with. I just finished this Spring Cotton Shawl altering a pattern I saw that I really liked from using acrylic holding two strands of yarn to the cotton instead. I like the way it turned out especially since this was a Yarn Buster for me using up some leftover colors from previous projects. You can find the original pattern here.
The Studio 