At the heart of a new year in blogging

Hi everyone,

Today marks the beginning of a new year in blogging. So it was
fitting that Steven and I went out to the Art Gallery of Ontario
in the pouring rain to see the preview of the Holman Hunt
exhibition. And what a magnificent show it was. I found a
site that shows some of the paintings we saw tonight.
http://www.artmagick.com/pictures/artist.aspx?artist=william-holman-hunt
I know that many of my friends, who delight in high realism would agree
with me that the man could paint fabric, faces, skin, and emotion
impressively. His story is riveting too. After his first wife died
in childbirth, which broke his heart, he married her sister. That
was illegal in England at the time, so the couple had to flee to
Switzerland.

If you happen to come to Toronto you must check out both the
gallery and this exhibition.

My own work today is on a lighter note. I've been working on
making a Valentine's card for my mother. I'll show you the
stages.

Last time I showed you the piece
of watercolour paper
with paintings on both sides.
Here's how the paper looks folded for the card.



Here's the front of the card
decorated with bits cut out of
magazines, and an old photo
printed on plain paper because
that's easier to work with.
The heart at the top is gold, but
it reflects the red light so you
can't tell.

The inside of the card is a collage
of red hearts cut out of
pieces of red found in magazines,
a gold heart on your left,
plus an old photo printed
on plain paper.



The back of the card is a collage
of a magazine image,
hearts cut from magazine paper red,
and an old photo printed on plain paper.
All three areas are beefed up with
watercolour crayon.

Once the images were glued on, and the design was set I added
my personal messages for my Mother in fine black marker,
following the design of the card. I hope it gets to her on time,
and that she likes it. I think she will.

So the Valentine's festivities continue, but I have to wrap
this up for the night. I'm not sure this year if I'll keep blogging
every day, but I might. It's been a wonderful experience
getting to know all of you, so I may continue the daily blog,
because now it's part of my life.

Have a putting-your-heart-into-it day.