Back from the land of the Kiwis

Kia ora
greetings from New Zealand
I've just returned from a windy and wild trip to New Zealand where I taught two book arts workshops with my nephew's poster paint set because my luggage was left in Wellington due to a Gale, survived a Polar Blast in Wellington,  shopped till I dropped with my friend Karin, hiked through the rainy bush to find incredible  NZ birds, visited museums and a botanical garden, stayed with my brother's family and ate incredible home cooked organic fresh meals (thank you Angela and Alex!)  and did I mention....shopping in used book stores and antique stores? Oh heaven......

Journal posts ...this was a post that was started on the flight to Wellington

and this was fun...I started out with a photo collage of a Kea and drew outward. Karin showed me how to draw this fun Zentangle pattern on  the right. It started out with a shape that we traced in the Children's activity center at Te Papa. 

24 hours of waiting out the Gale in Wellington...this was the waiting lounge at the airport...our flight and all flights were canceled due to 100 mile+ winds and rain. The announcer at the airport politely told everyone to "go Home" .....hummmmmm

The red piano at Te Papa.....Karin and I waited all day at Te Papa due to the delay on our second attempt to fly and take a train to Auckland. We spent the day drinking flat whites, journaling....eating treats and lunch....journaling......

a beautiful paper design from my Sunday Book Arts Workshop for the Association of Book Crafts New Zealand

Tiri Tiri Mantangi Island...a rare bird Sanctuary in the North Island...go on the guided tour with "Donald" ....the best guide ever! 

Zealandia .....in Wellington...a fantastic rare bird Sanctuary

and lastly.....one of my many, many flat whites....expresso shots with steamed cream .....yummy!! 

Off to New Zealand!

just a few painting demos and a slice of a fundraiser event to share with you before I fly out over the ocean tonight to New Zealand!

 This is my attempt at a portrait of Don Strom. (here's a little info about Don written by my good friend Jane LaFazio)...I'm not a portrait artist but I gave it a shot! Its just the beginning of the painting....charcoal drawing with acrylic warm washes. 

 The semi completed section for Brandon Gallery's Inch by Inch fundraiser. Here are the details.....

this pastel has an watercolor underpainting...one of my former    students ....Sue....

and a 2 part demo for you......Masa paper watercolor with a wet into wet approach. The paper was glued down to a regular peice of watercolor paper for support. 

and here is the next step.....negative painting for the most part. I used white gouche too to build up some lighter values around the pattern....I'm taking it with me on the trip....so...you'll get to see the results..
Till then!