Marthas Vineyard 2006

From L. to R: My mom's sis the beautiful Aunt Harriet or Hattie , Sandra the Chappy Martha Stewart, my sister Dee Dee,my adorable mom Babs and the Valgal.

The happy couple at the table are the darling Mardi and Dion

Little girl with dog is our gal pal, traveling bud
and the lead singer of our girl band "Sophia" the Sugar Smith holding Mardi and Dion's "Tiny Elvis" who had the time of his furry life! Sophia's mom Liz and brother Westley spent 2 days with us too!

The beautiful Marie
L to R: Dion, Sandra, Ryan, Taylor and Dee Dee
Dion is a doll, Sandra is awesome and a natural beauty, sisters Taylor and Ryan are funny, happy, darling and a delite and Dee Dee is the best sister you could ever hope for! They had just completed a very long bike ride. Notice I am not in this picture and I am not taking the photo...

Thank You Babs! Without you this trip would never have been possible and would never have gotten off the ground. You are the candle that lights the way and the most gracious and generous hostess. This was the best trip ever!!!

Dee Dee, Harriet, Valerie & Barbara ( notice that I am the tallest and I am 5' 2"!)

A much needed vacation was enjoyed by my family at Marthas Vineyard from July 22-29 2006. My mom, Babs and sister Dee Dee rented a house on Chappaquiddick for 7 days, it had 12 forested acres, it's own private beach and it was built in the late 1600's. They generously invited a group of happy fun loving people and we all had the best time. John could not come, he stayed home and took care of Rat so I was wild and free on the Vineyard, haha. Every body took a ton of pictures because it is beautiful so if you are inclined you may click onto these links and see the beauty, inspiration and fun we enjoyed on Marthas Vineyard.
Dion took these pictures:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hutcho/sets/72157594216710738/
My sister Dee Dee took these pix here:http://www.flickr.com/photos/17325721@N00/ and of course you can click on to my flickr link and see my photos: http://flickr.com/photos/valgalart/sets/72157594217779562/

Illustration Friday: Clean

My submission for Illustration Friday's "Clean" is from my 2004 HomeMade calendar and the title is "Clean House'. This idea was conceived for Marisol's Hidden Treasures everyday greeting card line and I loved it so much I repainted it for the calendar. This card is a gift certificate for some help around the house whenever you need it. The "Clean House" painting for the calendar is for the month of April, to show spring cleaning and the quote is: " It takes a heap o' livin in a house t' make it a home" ~ Edgar A. Guest~

I am back from my amazing holiday with my family, we went to Martha's Vineyard
for 7 glorious days and a wonderful time was had by all! I will post some pictures later today.

Clean House copyright 1995

Illustration Friday: Opposites

My submission for Illustration Friday's "Opposites" is from my 2003 HomeMade calendar and the title is Phone Home. I first painted this for a greeting card that Marisol chose for the Hidden Treasures everyday line and the gift is "Call anytime you need to talk". So I redid it 12"x12" to be used in the calendar for the month of May. The quote I used is "It isn't a home without a phone" ~proverb~

I have to miss IF on Friday next week, it will be the first Friday I have missed in 9 months but I will post for the topic on Sunday... Have a wonderful weekend!!!

Phone Home copyright 1995

Illustration Friday: Sacrifice

My submission for Illustration Friday's "Sacrifice" is titled "Homeland". I published this card to commemorate the first holiday season following September 11, 2001 to honor the lives that were sacrificed on 911. The inside reads: Peace On Earth Goodwill to all Mankind.

Homeland copyright 2001

Steve Schauer

This is a bittersweet shoutout to a member of the Topanga Community, Steve Schauer. He is survived by his wife Patricia. I have known Patricia Correia for a long time as well as her brother, artist Steve Correia. I rarely see them and this reminds me of how quickly time passes. Much LOVE and hugs to Patricia and I hope that you, Steve Schauer are creating art and laughter in the sweet hereafter...

Illustration Friday: Skyline

My submission for Illustration Friday's "Skyline" is a custom painting that is titled "Seattle Skyline". I did this 2' x 4' dimensional resined painting for Steve and Nancy Ross who live on Bainbridge Island. They came to one of my Seattle shows and commissioned this painting to feature their boat. It is the boat in the center. They asked me to do the view of Seattle from Lake Washington. They also asked if I could construct and add some houseboats including the one that was featured in Sleepless in Seattle (far right). I apologize for this not being closeup so you can see all the amazing details but I sold this long ago, it's on 4"x5" film, my buddy scanned the film and this is what I got. It is not easy to photograph these resined paintings because of all the shine.Most of the skyline buildings and houseboats are individually crafted buildings made from wood and foam and I layered them. All of the sky, water , boats, some background buildings and the Space Needle are painted on masonite and the wood frame. This painting was another highlight in my career as it was large, very detailed and extremely challenging. Please click on image to see a larger view
Seattle Skyline copyright 1993