Thursday, July 3, 2014

Juicy (and HOT) July!

  This month has arrived with a heat wave! Yesterday the heat index was 105 F and the air was thick like soup. Not a good day to be out for very long. Even poor Annie who loves to lie in the sun a bit didn't want to be out more than a few minutes. There's been threats of thunderstorms-some damaging- but here we only got a light bit of rain last night. And today we're right back to where we were yesterday. So, I stayed in mostly and got my July calendar spread completed:)


  The theme JoAnne Sharpe chose for our calendar this month was to use fruits for the days. I chose apricots, blueberries and strawberries. A combination of Peerless watercolors and water-based brush markers were used. I'm linking to Kate Crane's Calendar Project.

  It's week 4 for the Summer of Color Challenge hosted by Kristin and these are the colors this week:

      
Pink & Apple Green
with a Smudge, Splash or Pop of Dark Green
 
  Gorgeous combination of colors! I made two smaller projects. First is an ATC :

                               The faux poste is from ARTchix Studio as is the image in this project:
 
  She's just slightly larger than the ATC size. I have made others like this some time ago but I think I gave them away. Fun to make!

Last Sunday hubby and I went to a special exhibition at the Allentown Art Museum which is only about 5 miles from us. I was delightfully shocked that he wanted to go along! These very special paintings are on tour from the Glasgow Museums and this was the only stop in the Northeast. The best part- admission is free to the museum all summer long:) I only have the brochure and newspaper articles to share because photos were strictly prohibited and there were guards everywhere you turned.





   This was the brochure. You should be able to click for larger views. The paintings were absolutely stunning!! The details in these paintings , the gilded frames-wow-and many of them were about the size of a wall! We also went thru the Goya exhibit which was very different in contrast and a bit freakish/circus-like. It was OK-just not my thing. This was our local newspaper headline about the exhibit:

  If it comes anywhere near you DO NOT MISS IT!  I know now that hubby will go with me again-he's even sorry he missed the Toulouse L'Autrec exhibit I saw there awhile back. However, I am confident that he won't be doing anything in my art room anytime soon:):)

  Tonight we are going to see the movie "Jersey Boys" and tomorrow will be celebrating Independence Day in the US. I'm sure there will be lots of fireworks heard and seen throughout the day. Enjoy your weekend wherever you are and whatever you do. I'll try to get around to visit as many of you as I can. I so appreciate your visiting me too:)

    Edited in: LOVED Jersey Boys!!! Completely endorsed by Frankie Valli-fascinating story and wonderful music! It's the first time I've gone to a movie lately and not looked at my watch-once. Go see it!
 
   Ooh, I better not forget my favorite party place- linking this post to Paint Party Friday also!

 
" Summer is a great time to visit art museums which offer the refreshing rinse of swimming pools- only instead of cool water, you immerse yourself in art."    Jerry Saltz

40 comments:

  1. Wow Linda - I love both of your SOC pieces. ARTchix images are the best! :) I love the way you incorporated the colours. Your juicy journal page is lovely too. I guess I shouldn't complain about our heat wave - I think it was 80 or something on Canada Day - LOL Phew I was HOT! But then we have such moderate temperatures here on the West Coast. Sounds like a great exhibit! Enjoy the movie - I went last week and enjoyed it thoroughly - my friends also loved it and I had seen the play but they had not. Happy 4th tomorrow!

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  2. Love your fruit-July page ..great ..and the makes for SOC4 are beautiful too Linda!
    Fab that the museum is so near to you .... sounds fantastic!
    xxx
    Susi

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  3. Love the desire piece. It's not always how much we do , but how well we do it, that matters. You really did well this time.

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  4. Great pieces for SOC. Very nice job. The colors are great. It's hot over here as well. Have a great 4th.

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  5. Hiw wonderful that you get to enjoy some of the beautiful art we have in our musea here in Scotland, and I LOVE your fruity calendar.

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  6. Beautiful and creative art and very juicy July :) Thank you for sharing!

    http://agagasiniak.blogspot.co.uk/

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  7. Beautiful use on both of your SOC4 pieces, they are very unique and a wonderful use of this weeks colours :-) xxx

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  8. Both your cards are so prettty in these colours, I like the postage stamp and the unusual shape in the second.
    Your fruity calendar looks good too.

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  9. I love your calendar spread!!! And your ATC and your faux poste! WOW! Simply beautiful. And another wow! I live in Nazareth, PA! We are practically neighbors and I grew up going to the Allentown Art Museum every year!!!! How long does this exhibit last in Allentown? We probably already missed it. Did you like the movie Jersey Boys? I saw the play on Broadway and loved it!!!!

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  10. These are both stunning and so much fun! We are having hot and humid weather, too, and afternoon thunderstorms that have been really intense. Thanks for sharing about the exhibit!

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  11. lovely pieces for the SOC theme Linda!

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  12. oh! 105F is hot!
    lovely to see your art.
    i love the name of the museum show. sweet weekend to you.

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  13. Love your fresh fruity pages! Love your ATCs too! Glad that you got hubby along to an art exhibition! My hubby came to Woolfest with me and admitted that he had enjoyed himself!
    Would be interested to know what you thought of 'Jerseyboys' Have a great weekend, Chris :-)

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  14. That delicious compositions, pure art! Beautiful soft colors for summer!

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  15. Beautiful calendar and wow love your soc...especially the last one....gorgeous!!! I am not a heat baby so I understand both you and your pooch hiding from it! Can't wait to see Jersey boys even though it was never my favorite music....I will enjoy their story!! Thanks for sharing!!

    Hugs Giggles

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  16. Happy Independence day too!! I think I forgot that in my last comment! Enjoy your celebration!

    Hugs Giggles

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  17. I always enjoy seeing what motif you come up with for your monthly pages. That angel is so cool too, and looks like it would be fun to work on. Have a blessed 4th of July with your family!

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  18. Lovely work, and that fruity calendar is gorgeous! Valerie

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  19. I sure hope that exhibit comes to our area. Sounds wonderful. You did a great job with the pink and green, in fact much better than most of what I have seen. That is a preppy color combo that I never really got into. I like how you handled it.

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  20. Lovely work Linda.... you are certainly having extremes of temperature.... all that snow just a few months ago and now you are melting!

    Your calendar pages are luscious!

    Karen x

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  21. Love both of your SOC pieces, fantastic!

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  22. Happy July 4th Linda
    Your fruits calendar page is very summer like. How are the peerless paints. Ive heard so much of them and they are on my wish list.
    Great take on the SOC colors.
    Have a great weekend
    Susan

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  23. what a great layout for your july calendar!! how fun!!

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  24. Your fruit page is fantastic. I love all pieces.

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  25. wonderful pieces today Linda! I love the juicy calendar, and you really did a grea job with the SOC pcs. I'll have to check out the movie, since you make it sound so good!

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  26. First of all, the calendar pages are just adorable - love the idea of using fruits for the days!! And, your SOC offerings are very nice - love them both. Happy 4th of July to you!

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  27. That calendar-spread is gorgeous as always, and I love your 2 SOC-pieces! You combined the colours really well!

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  28. Linda you have created so much. I love the hot and juicy and both your SOC is awesome as well. Have a nice weekend. Stay cool.
    Nicole/Beadwright

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  29. Gotta LOVE ARTchix. The images are always the best. You did a super job with both SoC pieces, too.

    I am in love also with your calendar. It is truly a great way to create the days of the month. If only I were that talented!!

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  30. Love both the pieces but Desire is in someway unique with the shape and the whole look of it :)
    Juicy July looks pretty fun to work on!
    Deepa
    http://deepazworld.blogspot.in/

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  31. I adore your calendar spread - the colours, the fruit. It is so awesome xx

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  32. I'm having trouble with the heat here myself, although it isn't quite as hot as yours. Love your art. The ATC is so pretty and I enjoyed hearing about your art adventure!

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  33. Great theme for July! Looks lovely!

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  34. Your SoC ATC is truly gorgeous. I enjoyed looking at all your art in this post. I am thinking of doing the calendar challenge next year, it looks like so much fun and I think I have a big book I might use for it too. Your angel is very funky in the bright colours. Love them all :D

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  35. Oh I love your ATC, very pretty!

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  36. It's nice to read all your news. Sounds like you've been having a fun time lately.

    Your fruit calendar is perfect for summer, and you did a good job with the SOC colors, too.

    Happy Belated 4th of July!

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  37. Being unplugged a bit for the 4th I missed this lovely post Linda.
    Your calendar pages looks berry fresh and full of summer goodness :-)
    Those SOC colors are yummy and your creations are each wonderful!
    Lucky you (two) getting to take in an exclusive art exhibit like that and in your own backyard too = Bonus!
    Wishing you a lovely weekend immersed in summer fun AND art
    oxo

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Thank you so much for your comments; it's a pleasure to connect with you!