Katy Rose Collection: Art, Words
Peaceful Home Hack: 8:30 Stop Sign
Since I know by now that molehills become mountains after dark, concerns ballooning into catastrophes as my brain loses steam, I set a rule for myself a while back: No worrying after 8:30 pm.
Seems like the worry train likes to barrel down the track right as my head is hitting the pillow, but now with that red stop sign in hand, it screeches to a halt.
If the concern is important enough, I hand it to the Lord and deal with it when I wake in the morning for prayers and reading. Perfect time to sort through what plagues me.
And you know what? The more the habit is halted at 8:30, the less worry ends up infiltrating the rest of my day as well. Boundaries bring freedom. Seems like Jesus knew what he was talking about when he told us to hand our burdens to him.
Sweet dreams!
Notes on Painting with My Son
I wanted to share a few notes my youngest son and I took when recently working on an Impressionistic landscape painting together:
Read about the father of Impressionism, Claude Monet, in the book, Monet’s Garden, by Laurence Anholt.
Got out supplies: drop cloth, a few brushes, canvas or thick watercolor paper, acrylic paints, water, palette (paper plate for us.)
Created an underpainting. Cover the canvas or paper in a watered-down single shade and use the paintbrush to sketch in a loose drawing of what you plan to paint.
Mixed colors or choose existing paint colors. We mixed all our colors using the three primary colors, red, yellow, and blue, plus a little white and black.
Started painting the picture! We were working on a mountain landscape. Lots of artists reach a point known as the “messy middle” where they are no loving their painting, but keep going and persevere to the end!
Considered where the light source was in the picture. We were thinking about where the sun was rising from behind the mountains. Based on the light source, we painted in where the brighter spots would be in the landscape, and where the shadows would be.
Add a little signature or initials to the bottom corner. This always reminds me that each work of art was not created by some nameless machine, but by a human hand, and makes me appreciate a painting I see all the more.
To read a little more about Impressionism, read my post here.
Painting in France & Delightful Supplies
Impressionism
Bonjour! The way I often describe this style of painting to my children or the ladies in my art class is this:
Before the invention of the camera, it was important for paintings to be much more realistic, almost like record-keeping. Painstaking detail was used with great technical skill. With the invention of the camera, artists began branching out a bit into new ways of expression. This was, of course, met with much opposition at first and the art of people like Claude Monet was considered bad and unappealing. But Monet liked what he created and kept at it, basically inventing a style that was not realistic, but gave the “impression” of the scene he wanted to convey. His style was loose and free.
Early on, I created much more realistic art, but I’ve grown over the years to really prefer Impressionism. It’s unique to the artist, stylized, and forgiving.
These are the reasons I love to create this style with my children, and with the women who are new to art in my class.
While it’s a bit more “free” than realism, it still works within boundaries, with attention to perspective, light, color, and contrast.
Monet painting from the streets of Honfleur
Honfleur, France
My husband and I traveled last fall with our friends to this dream-like coastal village of Honfleur, where Monet came to do much of his painting, along with many other Impressionism painters.
From the Normandy tourism website:
“Honfleur’s beauty has long attracted artists, with works of art to be found in the town’s many museums and galleries. Honfleur takes particular pride in its Impressionist roots – Claude Monet’s mentor Eugène Boudin was born in the town, and Monet and his contemporaries would often set up their easels at the Ferme Saint-Siméon on the hill above Honfleur, to capture the beautiful light of the Seine estuary.”
What an idyllic place.
Wouldn’t it be amazing to take an outdoor painting class in this spot with so much art history?
A few Art supplies I love for travel
This Moleskin notebook for sketches and journaling (love the pocket for postcards and mementos)
This Strathmore notebook for painting (gorgeous quality)
A pen holder for your journal (love these!)
Water pens for watercolors
Watercolor Paints, the most basic child’s set will work great, or try something fun like THIS.
Pencils
Ink pen (what I use for my sketches!)
This portable photo printer for a couple daily print-outs!
Washi Tape in colors I love to tape in paper memories
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