JANNA VANDERVEEN
Fiction Author & Artist
My daughter and I tackled another mixed media painting together, after she asked me to paint her a second puppy portrait to place on her bedroom wall. She drew this image...
My daughter and I collaborated on this painting. She drew the puppy which I then painted using inks, acrylics, gelatos, neocolor 2’s, oil pastels, and oil paints. Her excitement as she...
I giggle. Seriously. This poochini brings me tremendous joy and laughter. When my daughter and I picked her up from the groomers yesterday and discovered her ombre ears/tail and green painted toenails, you can only...
Lily Belle casts a ray of sunshine in our family. She soothes tears, inspires laughter, and spreads a whole lot of love with her unwavering loyalty and wet doggy kisses. She boldly...
My son Gabriel came home from middle school last week with an art assignment; to paint a Loretta Grayson style color theory tree. The project seemed a little daunting, so I offered to do...
Our desire to create is fueled by the power of our imagination. We only need to observe a child playing to see that this is true. Take my daughter’s artwork as an...
Craft day is always fun, especially when Grandma is involved. She researched ways to create cabochon/pendant necklaces, purchased all the supplies, and set up the creative day for her grandchildren to attend. I suggested that...
The unhindered imagination of children produces the cutest things. Yesterday, my five-year-old daughter created this drawing of herself, with brown hair (she’s convinced that’s the color it will be when she’s older), and a...
Storybook characters really do come to life! At least Snow White’s 7 Dwarves did at Walt Disney world. Wait…is that Sneezy plugging his nose? Is it possible that I stink? Considering it was late...
The Neverending Story was one of my favorite movies as a child. In it, a bullied boy named Bastian, flees to his school attic to escapes the worries of his life. He enters a...
My five-year-old daughter drew this village picture, with a house, pink cotton candy tree (her most favorite snack), garage, car, dog, and flowers. We added a few trees to fill in...
Now that the kids are back on school, I have plunged back into editing and writing. It is always a challenge to keep life balanced when I immerse myself into my...
Watercolor attempt #15 Art day is always fun with my children. We pile the kitchen table high with markers, papers, crayons, pencils, paints, etc…and go to town creating. My kids hunker around me and...
Several summer’s ago, my husband and two lifejacket-clad sons swam to a tiny island off the shore of Lake Huron. They stood on a branch which jutted out the water and soaked in the view...
We woke up to a big surprise this morning I have to confess, I was worried. The flooding was pretty bad and the storm sewers were backed up. Our neighbor, Shannon, took...
Things that interfere with writing the next great American novel: #1. FLIES! I’m not kidding. My daughter Chloe (who just turned four) is terrified of flies. She doesn’t understand the correlation between leaving the...
Sweetheart by Janna Etsy Shop
JANNA VANDERVEEN 