More Note Cards

"Wynken  Blynken & Nod"  from an original painting by Karen Winslow

"Catch a Falling Star"  from an original painting by Karen Winslow

Sometimes it is just fun to use your imagination and make up paintings.  The 2 images above are note cards from a couple of my paintings that were painted out of my head.  The top one, Wynken Blynken and Nod, was inspired by a small plein air study I did of my kids as the paddled around a pond.  The plein air study was just a start which was never finished, but it gave me the idea.  Wynken Blyken and Nod is a lovely children's poem that I always wanted to illustrate.  To do the painting, I set up a wooden, Dutch shoe as a still life to get the correct light.  Then, I translated the figures and feeling from my plein air study into an imaginary night sky, using the shoe as the boat.  The clouds became the sea.   

The bottom painting was inspired after visiting some friends up the road.  In June, the fly flies in Vermont put on a spectacular display, and seeing a swarm of them against a big expanse of space is a delight.  The painting was also inspired by my daughter, Rebekah, who rather than calling them fly flies, called them star bugs!  Catching star bugs is one of the many joys of childhood and summer evenings.  Hence, the title, Catch a Falling Star.

All of my note cards are 5"x7" and blank inside.  They come with plain, white envelopes.