Sunstone Villa

"Sunstone Villa"

Image Size 8" x 8"

Watercolor

My daughter's wedding was this past Friday up in Santa Ynez, CA at the Sunstone Winery Villa.  This beautiful villa was built with stones and various other materials imported from Europe.  It is an amazing property and being there feels as though you've traveled to another country.  

The wedding was amazing and the setting was magical.  I'm so happy to have gained a wonderful son-in-law.  I am truly blessed.

I painted this on a cradled panel with a textured finish meant for oils and acrylics.  I painted it in watercolor because my daughter wanted to give it to the wedding photographer as a gift and my acrylics are at my son's house and oils would have taken too long to dry.

The texture adds an interesting effect and it was fun working on a non-porous surface with watercolor.  I sprayed it with a sealer so that it could be displayed on an easel.  

Buellton Vineyard

This brings back memories of an idyllic day of wine tasting with family and friends last summer.  We went to Buellton which is north of Santa Barbara, CA.   It's a beautiful area that doesn't have the crowds that you might find in other well known vineyard areas in California.  This is the area that is seen in parts of "Sideways" the movie.

I painted this in watercolor on Aquabord, a surface where the paint sits on the surface rather than being absorbed as it is when paper is used.  It's a completely different way of working for me but gives a refreshing effect.  Another nice thing about this surface is that I can spray a sealer on the painting and then it can be framed like an oil or acrylic without using glass to protect it.

Buellton Vineyard
Image Size 6" x 6"
Watercolor