Welcome to the tenth issue of Good and Beautiful Things. I started this newsletter back in December of 2022 and so far I haven’t missed a week. This week I ran short on writing time but I have a gallery of art to share instead. Thanks for reading!
A Daughter Traveling Abroad (Actually, two)
One of our four children is living abroad in France for her sophomore year of college. Our oldest daughter joined her there this week and they’ve been sending us a few photos of their adventures each day. We’ve seen selfies in front of the Coliseum in Rome, stacked scoops of gelato in Venice, and a finale shot together in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. One colorful photo sent from Brussels earlier this week caught my artist eye and I decided to sketch it.
A Birthday Card
Our youngest turned fourteen this month. Next fall, she will be the last chick left in the Guest Nest. I made this card for her birthday this week.
A Practice Sketch
I am finishing up the assignments for the Mixed-Media Painting Class with Lewis Rossignol that I took this month (the class is over but students are still posting final work). One style we worked on were “grid” paintings. That term is pretty self-explanatory when you look at the sketchbook page below. To get ready for the larger piece I planned to do on wood, I practiced techniques with this sketch. To keep myself loose, I followed the advice of a fellow student and used a random word generator to come up with the images and words.
Capturing France
For the final piece I used a 12x12 piece of wood as my canvas. I decided to use images from the amazing trip my husband and I took last September when we accompanied our daughter over to France for the start of her study abroad program (my first time out of the country!).
First Draft
After I sketched out the grid and images, I stalled out because I had no idea how to work with the black background I had decided to use. I set it aside for over a week as I worked on other things.
Second Draft
Last night I found my courage and got started. As I’ve said before, with the materials I’m working with it’s easy to change what’s on the canvas, so I tried to remember the risk was low.
Final Draft
Overall, I’m pretty happy with this. I love that it’s a collage of our trip and each image brings back a story from our time together.
Words to Remember
“Art making, to me, is a discipline of awareness, prayer, and praise.”
-Makoto Fujimura in Art and Faith: A Theology of Making
Blessings from the Guest Nest,
-Aimee