Yesterday, I started painting my first picture of Paris … I started out thinking about my Dreams Do Come True journal I am working on and one of the pages about what I want my husband to do as a father and I thought about the men in Paris I saw playing with their children, especially playing soccer with them. I’ll see if I can post a video I took of one fun team and coach!

But I ended up with this painting of Les Jardins des Tullieres. I stared at Monet’s painting of it for a long time when I was there and then the next day or maybe on Tuesday, I went and sat exactly there, and sketched and watched and took photos and this is a combination of my day. It’s just my first and it’s definitely not remotely accurate as far as perspective, it’s more a combination of what I saw that day in different spots …

I can’t wait to finish it and do more.

my bright sunny art desk

sketch from the steps

then some more details

Watercolors are created in layers. I think one of the hardest parts is waiting for the layers to dry… when I get into a painting I just want to finish it but sometimes it just really helps to let the paint dry hard for at least 8-24 hours if not months… the longer it sits the harder it will get… some colors are more forgiving then others and you can still bleed out months down the road, others are there for good as soon as they hit the paper.

penciled in the first drops of paint

then add little more color green or blue

I almost always start with the yellows

adding more layers the sun feels so good and warm

But I think part of the fun is painting more. And that’s the best part about working on a book, is that you are working on several pieces at a time :~)

always good to look back at a live sketch from that day to get the feel

Another great thing about sketching is reflecting on your trip and days of your life… I keep changing my mind about which day was the best…

At this moment I’m pretty sure the order goes like this:

1. Monet Museum on Sunday at the Monmarton

oh, I haven’t even gotten there yet?!!!

2. Meeting all the artist on the  La Place du Tertre

I can’t believe I never made it back there when they were there?? Boy time went fast… Oh so fun!

That on top of sitting where Renoir lived and sketching… by far my best sketch of my trip…

It might not look like much but I was a different person when I left and I felt a connection to all those people flowing through…

3. Sitting on the steps of the Acadamie Nationale De Musique

Local Musician

This amazing musician entertained us all while locals at lunch in the bright sunshine with songs like Imagine, No Woman and No Cry, Hello by Adele and a Cold Play song or two… some korean music and others . . . he was great, I wish he was selling CDs …

4. And finally Paris Toastmasters …

These were some of the most polished speeches I’ve ever seen. The guy who won gave the most amazing speech about the “Time Of Your Life” I think it was called … I’ll never forget it, I think about it all the time…. I hope he wins. What luck to be there for the International Speech Competition!