Strange days

September 30, 2020September 30, 2020 | jennifer barrile

Caught in a moment

spiraling

falling

into strange days

(Art inspired by song, Where Is My Mind by the Pixies : cut paper on chip board, marker and ink)

The past few months has been an adjustment for me, my time spent on social media slowed down, and I wasn’t creating blog posts. Making art came to a halt during the beginning of the covid pandemic. Over the Summer months I slowly began to paint again. My weekly family outings, surrounding ourselves in nature was a saving grace.

Forever Summer

Side trip to Slaughter Beach in Delaware, before heading home from Summer vacation. Plenty of shells, rocks and horseshoe crabs wash up on this beach.

(Illustration: watercolor, ink and graphite on watercolor paper. )

My sketchbook also accompanied me on my travels.

On the beach in Ocean City, Maryland

(watercolor sketch book, watercolor markers & ink)

Enjoyed many hot Summer days swimming (and sketching) at Garrison Lake in New Jersey. Beautiful scenic cedar lake with plenty of trees to escape the sun.

(watercolor sketch book, with watercolor pencils and graphite)

As a family we spent time walking, hiking and having picnics in various parks in our area. A favorite place to visit is the Valley Forge National Historic Park in Pennsylvania.

(Valley Forge Park: watercolor markers and graphite )

(Picnic in the park. Watercolor markers on watercolor paper)

And many days spent cloud watching from my deck..

(cloudscape: Acrylic paint on a recycled canvas)

I hope this finds you well, thank you for taking the time to read my post.

Additional information for the places I mentioned in my post:

Best parks to visit in Philadelphia

In the neighborhood

March 14, 2018March 16, 2018 | jennifer barrile

I am everywhere and nowhere..

Creatively speaking I hit a rough patch recently, I arrived at the point without a desire to create and my attempts to paint went awry. Refraining from beating myself up over this dry spell (ok I admit to a small temper tantrum), I decided to make an effort to do other things. A brisk walk around the neighborhood is one of my favorite things to do to clear my head. On occasions I would take time to observe, photographing interesting things along the way.

One of the images I photographed was an old house in the neighborhood which I have passed many times. I always admired the structure and unique ornate features of the house. This image was the spark to start me off on my little painting adventure.

FullSizeRender 5

Always fascinated with the stories behind the facade but alas the only information I could find on this old house was the date it was built, 1896.

9″x12″ acrylic paint and graphite on wood panel

I’ve been using a sta-wet palette, it helps keep my paints from drying out.

Painting of the trees

Progression of painting

Thanks for stopping by and letting me take you on my little creative journey.

100 Day Finale

October 9, 2017October 9, 2017 | jennifer barrile

100 Day Project

A little late on the draw posting the images, but I finally completed all 100 days of art this past August.

My theme for this project 100 Days Of Cookie Cat, all cat illustrations were completed on 5×5″ format (140 lb watercolor paper), using a variety of mediums.

You can view the beginning stages of art #1-30 on my previous blog post

#31-60

#69-100

Visit @JensImaginings on Instagram to view the collection of 100 Day art or use hashtag: #100DaysOfCookieCat

Thank you for stopping by!

Thirty illustrations

May 5, 2017May 5, 2017 | jennifer barrile

On the surface it may seem I just breezed through thirty 5×5″ cat illustrations, but in reality it can be comparable to Cookie cat trying to squeeze into a small space on a chair her human occupies..

Life goals!

30/100 5×5″ cold press watercolor paper.. Mixed media – graphite, acrylic, watercolor

Quick view of all 30 illustrations..

Thank you for viewing!

Plein air

March 21, 2017March 21, 2017 | jennifer barrile

The East Coast experienced many mild weather days this winter, which drew me out of my studio hibernation to paint in nature. Once upon a time my outdoor painting would consist of small watercolor sketches or pencil drawings. This time around I decided to try quick paintings using acrylic paint and graphite on paper, spending about 45 min to an hour on each painting.

A recent purchase and a new love, the Sta-Wet handy palette, helped make outdoor painting easier. This palette box preserves paints for an extended period of time.. The smaller version was easy to transport and keep paint fresh. My preference of paint brush is more scrubby in texture, short bristle brushes.. Sometimes you just have to make adjustments, when you can’t find what you need, I gave my brushes a hair cut..

Since I am painting on paper, I don’t need an easel, just a hard surface to paint on.. Most of the time I use picnic tables in parks, and or invert the lid to my sat-wet palette to place my paper on. Working small 8″x 10″ or smaller means less paint needed.

Reserve your time in nature……

Supplies I bring for outdoor painting: Reusable bag to transport my supplies, water bottle, water cup (I use an empty yogurt container) brushes, pencil, pre-cut watercolor paper (small various sizes) rag, clips (to hold paper together) Palette fully loaded with paint colors (I try not to bring extra tubes of paint) large ziplock bags to package up my palette and any loose materials. I use a rubber band to wrap around my palette to keep it from accidentally opening in transport.

Let it out

June 17, 2016 | jennifer barrile

Go do that thing that is always on your mind and in your heart!

Just going with the flow, I let the watercolor paint form and take shape on paper until I found the image, The idea for a haunting formed during the process. – watercolor, pen on Canson 140lb paper

Mindful

June 7, 2016 | jennifer barrile

Without a plan, I just let the paint take form on paper and this image came forth, as the words “my mind is full” swirled in my head..

Watercolor on paper.

Hello

May 17, 2016 | jennifer barrile

Oh hello darling, so lovely to see your face…

So it happens, that feeling, that mood which hijacks your body and clips your wings. Don’t dare fight it, just brush it off, keep moving and you will fly again.