This week, I’m on vacation in the Thousand Islands! I’m still making art, though 🙂 Over the past few days, I’ve seen lots of waterfowl. Multiple Great Blue Herons were about, so when we went to a boat museum and they gave us the opportunity to paint paddles, I painted one on there!
In a disappointing turn, I decided to varnish it with the craft varnish they had there. It was a big mistake. The sky was more detailed before. I’d tried to have the white clouds follow the original wood grain, but the wood ended up peeking through more than it had originally, and my heron is fading away a bit from the streaks. I still think it looks fun though! It’s definitely not bad for a quick 15 minute painting. Definitely should have laid off on the varnish though.
Aside from the little piece I made, I’d like to share some fun pictures from the trip so far! First off, I’ll show my blurry pictures of the herons I saw including one in a tree.
I’m no photographer. My crappy iPhone pictures certainly don’t do them justice. It was super cool to see them though!
We went to Boldt Castle, which was super neat. The building was constructed by a very wealthy man during the industrial revolution for his wife. When his wife passed away, he ceased construction of the castle, so the third and fourth floors are unfinished. It’s now a very interesting attraction to go see. The craftsmanship in the woodworking, furniture, paintings, and construction of the castle itself is truly something to behold.
The thing that caught my attention most was the multiple buck sculptures on the gate and castle. They’re so impressive. It’s awesome to think that an artist created them years ago and they continue to stand today.
Making that kind of contribution to the world is the stuff of dreams for me. I hope I can get there one day too.
So far, my summer trip has been full of adventures! I’m excited to see what the rest will bring! I’ll surely update if anything wild happens in the next one!
More to come 🙂