2011 Cherry Blossom Festival

Two weekends ago I went to the Cherry Blossom Festival at Redwing Park in Virginia Beach and was happy to see that the trees were in full bloom! In 1992 the city began a sister relationship with Miyazaki, Japan and since then delegates from each country have been visiting each other's countries to promote friendship and learn from each other. Virginia Beach has a Japanese Garden at the park and is establishing a promenade of Yoshino Cherry Trees - it's looking great! Miyazaki is in the southern part of Japan and wasn't directly affected by the recent tsunami.

Waiting

Maybe she is a little strange but she has had an interesting life! Linocuts can be fun because you can experiment with other colors and papers. Here she is printed black on white Arches paper and then printed white on brown Canson paper so that you can see a different look.

Road Blocks

Can you imagine seeing these at road construction sites? I'm not sure they could keep order at a construction site. Even dangerous for them!

I painted them a few years ago for a children's vacation Bible school class. It's funny that I don't have a picture in color of them. Oh, well. I had a little picture to go by so they are not my design but they always cheer me up!

Bongos #2

New ingredients have been added but it isn't finished!

I have more work to do on the background and the bongos, especially the tufts of fur that run down their backs, only one thing that I love about painting them!

Building Demolition

This week I am looking forward to the demolishment of this building, right next to my studio! The city of Norfolk is making way for a new addition to the library. It could be convenient to have the new library right next door but it will also be distracting for awhile - at least a year or two! A small building was demolished on the other side of our building a few years ago to make way for a new hotel but its building has been delayed because of the economy.

I hope ours isn't next!

I always wondered about this building since I walk by it almost everyday that I'm at my studio. The company, Hipage, still exists in Norfolk but this was their first headquarters building back when they started in 1927. They deal with shipped freight all over the world. Anyway, there will be a new library in its place before long, looking better, I believe!

Bongos

My sister has been waiting patiently for a painting that I have promised her. She has several of my African animal prints but this time I thought I'd try a painting. Since I've been working with gouache lately, I wanted to try another but something bigger. I love the colors you can get with gouache but they are a challenge to blend and they dry so quickly that it's easy to waste paint! I'm seriously hoping for a good final result this week! Then it's back to printmaking!

16" x 20"