Illustration Friday - Camouflage

... the natural camouflage of the elusive Pear Fairy allows for its inclination to be butt-naket at harvest-time meetings ...

You must forgive me for my imagery bottoming out - I believe it's those Picasso-inspired nude bather works I've been painting that instantly brought this image to mind when I read this morning's IF theme.

New on the easel

I sold the paintings I'd created for my fledgling "Our Town" series and left the idea behind for over 6 months. I've recently been commissioned to create another "Our Town" work and I'm having so much fun with it you'll soon be seeing more.

A new post on Letters

For those of you who read them, Wigged Out is a brand new post on Letters to My Fabulous Daughter

Back to the easel - finally

After a month-long vacation and another month of puttering around the house and working in the garden, I may be ready to get back in the studio (or perhaps it's because it's raining today). With this view from my studio door, I felt inspired to spread some paint around on canvas today. If a worthy image appears I'll post it in a day or two. Ta-ta for now.

Demonstration Village

We didn't travel to Northern Thailand, so visited this lovely demonstration village to catch a glimpse of the architecture of the North. This demonstration village is supported by the Queen of Thailand to encourage preservation of Thai craft-making and traditions.

The structures we passed along the Cambodian highway from the Thai border to Siem Reap were similar, but excluded the steep roofs and the dramatic Thai peaks.

More from Angkor

This structure was built in the 12th century during the reign of Jayavarman VII. I took this photo of the gateway to Angkor Thom from inside the city.

Elephant trek

A visit to Thailand isn't complete without an elephant ride. Here we are on Ko Tao setting off into the forest with our lady elephant and then rewarding her with bananas after our journey - a white knuckle ride up and down steep hills on precariously narrow paths holding on for

dear life as our behinds slipped off our bench and our toes clutched desperately at the hairs on our elephant's head.

Ko Tao

Here's the view from my lawn chair at Ko Tao Resort, on the lovely wee island of Ko Tao ... an excellent place for rest and relaxation, fun in the sun, and snorkelling and scuba diving.

Wat Pho, Bangkok

One of many extraordinary places to visit in Bangkok.

Cambodia

These young Cambodian monks were happy to give us a tour of the temple grounds where they work with orphans and people with HIV. Might their eager friendliness have had something to do with my two beautiful young travelling companions? One of them asked me what I was doing about finding husbands for my daughters and told me he would be a "normal person" in just 6 months.

Angkor Thom, Cambodia

Angkor Thom, where "Laura Croft: Tomb Raider" was filmed, has been left in its natural state with nature reclaiming manmade monuments. These trees grow their roots above ground and during the rainy season they soak up all the water they need to survive the following year.

Angkor Wat, Cambodia

This was a magical, spiritual place - I haven't the words to describe the wonder of this UNESCO world heritage site consisting of more than 100 stone temples built between 802 and 1220 AD. From Angkor the Khmer kings ruled over a vast domain that reached from Vietnam to China to the Bay of Bengal.

Life is a beach

Two weeks ago, early morning on the way to the beautiful island of Ko Tao.

Sigh ...

Message from the beautiful island of Koh Tao

Hello from Koh Tao! This is a tiny island off the east coast of Thailand - a haven for scuba divers as it offers some of the best diving in the world. The atmosphere here is very serene and peaceful as divers here from all over the world are seriously into their sport and can't dive with hang-overs. Yesterday Taryn and I went snorkelling and Ali went scuba diving. The water is crystal clear - amazing visibily - a large variety of exotic fish and coral. The water is very salty so buoyancy is a no-brainer - you wave a hand once every couple of minutes to keep your head above water. Every cove around the island looks like paradise with a white sand beach and cabins on stilts nestled into rock formations. I don't think I've ever seen such a beautiful place. Sawatdee ka.

Hello from Bangkok

I've been in BKK for several days now and am thoroughly enjoying every moment of the adventure. The streets are full of people, the traffic is unbelievably clogged, roads are filled with dirt and grime until it rains and then they flood. Sounds a bit grim, but I'm loving the hustle and bustle and all the sights ... and all the food! I'm bringing back lots of glass and stone beads and am looking forward to incorporating them into jewellery designs this summer. Ta-ta for now.

The Bride

This is my last art post for a month, as I'm leaving for Thailand in 15 minutes. It's also my Illustration Friday post for the theme SNAP:

In a SNAP, Sandy made the decision to keep walking right past the groom and minister standing before her on the beach. She felt light and free as she ran towards her new future and all the possibilities within it.

Villages of the South of France

Languedoc Village #6, acrylic on cut wood panel, 17" x 15".

This petite work is from the Villages of the South of France series. A number of works from the series were acrylic on cut wood panel - this is the smallest. The cut wood works are hung slightly away from the wall to create an interesting shadow behind them, as seen in this photo of the work as it hung on the gallery wall at the Firehall Centre for the Arts during the month of February.

With Sturdy Shoes: She Pays It Forward

This work is the last painting (to date) of my With Sturdy Shoes series. I finished it just last week in time to submit it and 2 other works as entries into the 6th annual artSpacific juried exhibition. I was very pleased to receive a letter from the show Chair today confirming that all three works have been accepted into this mid-April to early May exhibition, billed as "an impressive coming together of artists from many communities in the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island."

The other two works are Three Women, After Picasso, and Child Holding a Dove, After Picasso (see previous posts).

Announcement: I have opened my Etsy store - please check it out by clicking on one of the images or on my name in the sidebar to the right.

Three Women

Here's the Picasso-inspired painting I've been working on for several weeks - as you can see, I've added quite a few details and finishing touches since my last post on this work (scroll down a few posts). I've finished it just in time to enter it into a local juried show - cross your fingers for me.

Illustration Friday - HIDE

With her biggest secret behind her and nothing else to hide, Jane felt remarkably light and free.

This is my submission for IF, and I do believe I have covered (or uncovered) more than one definition of the theme word here.

This wee 8"x 10" acrylic on canvas painting is based upon a figure in Picasso's 1920 oil and charcoal on wood piece, 'By the Sea'.