Nesting Site

Last Saturday morning my garden club met over at the Almond Marsh in Grayslake.  This is a really cool nesting site for the Great Blue Herons.  This site is slowly disintegrating because the tree trunks that are submerged in the wet lands are rotting away.  I have been watching this site for many years and it's so weird to see so few trees and nest.  The forest preserve is trying to keep the birds there with artificial nesting perches.  These perches are like tripods set into the marsh with a board at the top for the birds to build their nests on them.  And guess what?  The herons are building on top of the these platforms.  So, hopefully the future generations of herons in the area will still come to the site to have their young. 

This is a gouache that I just completed of the south/east end of the marsh.   The painting is about 9 x 11 on mat board.

Finally Finished my Two Year Project

Several years ago, I started a project and I can now say...I am DONE!  My sisters and I were talking about how we would all like to have our mom's recipes.  Each of us had a few of the regular dishes that she made and especially the desserts.  So, I did a little research and found this great website that gives you a way to self publish a book. 

At blurb.com, you can download software that makes it easy to pop in a template and create a themed book.  I downloaded the software and started plugging in the recipe template.  I thought that it would be easy to just whip this thing together....NOT!  It took me two years to complete the book of only 40 pages.  How do those authors write 800 page novels?  Most of the work involved collecting pictures and recipes and then entering them into the computer.  I wanted to dedicate the book to my mother so, I called it "Lorraine's Favorite Recipes and More". 

I am so happy that the book is finally finished and I can finally say "I'm done"! 

Now what do I do next?

Gouache-en Plein Air-Condiments

Boy was it ever a fun plein air session last Saturday! It was very cold outside and only two of us brave soles ventured out.  We ended up at a local Caribou Coffee shop and sat inside to paint. I looked around and decided to paint a high counter of various condiments and creamers that were sitting on the top of the cabinet.  The light was hitting the containers and reflecting off of them; so I thought it would be a good challenge to try and capture the reflections on the surface of the cabinet and the containers.  Painting stainless steel is very difficult for me, so this was a good plein air challenge. 
Here is my finished painting, gouache on mat board, approx. 6 x 8.