JANNA VANDERVEEN
Fiction Author & Artist
Archives
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 over top of a mixed media, ephemera-rich background. I used inks, Caran C’ache Neocolor 2 crayons, golden acrylic paints, Winsor Newton Oil Bars, oil pastels, Posca Pens, Gelatos, and a Stabillo pencil to complete this look. We both like how she… Read More
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 imagine our wide smiles and peels of laughter. “My little pony!” said my daughter with obvious admiration. “Yup, we have a live one!” I responded. I can hardly take the cuteness of my Lily Belle. Hehe!
I took some time to paint this weekend, amidst the stress that broken bones and too much time spent in an emergency room creates. After things settled, I contemplated the beauty of the setting sun, the majesty of towering mountains, and my thankfulness for the life we have. This painting is a reflection of that moment.
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 sports hot-pink tipped ears as well as a matching fuzzy matching hair bow. Just looking at her makes me smile. May she brighten your day as well.
She rose from her bed, Cobwebs in her head, And studied the light in her room. Through windows it played Pale fingers that splayed Dispelling the darkness and gloom. Like a fairy it called And she followed, enthralled Ensnared by its enticing tune She peered through her blinds Astonished to find Bright stars and the face of two moons. Two moons glowing pale As if hung on a scale Yet tied to the earth like balloons Both fighting… Read More
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 example. Within this picture exists a story that only she can explain. If she’d sit still long enough, I’d pick her brain and unravel it, just to share it with you all. But she’s only five and wants to play outside. As a fantasy writer, I… Read More
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 my kids draw a picture which I’d watercolor. Of all the necklaces they created, these were my favorites! My daughter drew a doghouse with her puppy basking in the son. She also drew a self-portrait. My son drew a hero character with… Read More
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 red, rocket backpack. But most notably, she’s flying. At Disney World, a shop assistant sprinkled fairy dust in my daughter’s hair and promised her that if she made a wish, it would come true. You can imagine what I was thinking as she spoke, my eyes large as I subtly… Read More
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 at night, incredibly hot, and our wait in line to meet these guys was upwards of 75 minutes, I’d say it was possible. Ha! I love how my daughter is holding Dopey’s hand. These memories will last a lifetime!
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 book and through that, the world Fantasia, which is in dire need of a hero and savior. Bastian learns to overcome his fear and triumphs in saving the land. Having experienced some bullying in middle school, I related to this story on many levels. And… Read More
My daughter has been asking for a rainbow and pink Penelope Bloom Bunny for over a year. Yesterday, I decided it was time to fulfill on my promise and make her one. I checked on my daughter late at night, and noticed that she slept with her new bunny snuggled tight in her arms. That made it all worth while!
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 the blank areas. Around it all is a fence. She would have preferred that I watercolor paint the entire picture pink, but I assured her that added color would look nice too. So, voila! “Pink World” (Click on link for high-resolution… Read More
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 work, so I make an effort to do activities with the kids that I think they will enjoy. This week, on a whim, I asked my children to each draw a picture that I could watercolor paint . I wanted to do… Read More
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 we bond. 🙂 My middle-born son drew Pixel World. My daughter illustrated a heart with her best friend Bella on it, and her cousin. In a sad twist of fate, we lost it. However, she’s not let that get her down, promising to… Read More
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 while I snapped their photo. It was stunning. Well…OK, maybe their view didn’t look quite like this. I may have gone a little photo-editing crazy. I love to take the ordinary and turn it into the extraordinary. Happy Sunday!
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 this picture of the side of our house. But we like to make lemonade out of lemons…and my family is a little crazy. This is what we do when school is cancelled and we have water up to our windows. Have… Read More
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 screen on our deck door open and our having flies in the house. I have spent a great deal of my time trying to explain this concept and have attempted to combat her hysteria by racing around my house like a crazy… Read More
My daughter has spent the last several months begging me to make Lily (our Maltese puppy) a princess dress. We’ve perused countless Etsy websites, sewing blogs, and pattern sites together, looking for just the right outfit. When we stumbled across Julie Ahn’s Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/julie.ahn.129 we were both captivated by her designs. Julie is an incredibly talented Korean artisan who designs the loveliest dresses for small show dogs. My daughter was delighted and immediately suggested that I make Lily an outfit just like hers. The… Read More
Meet Yellow Bunny Adopted by Chloe My three-year-old daughter has been begging me, for the past several months, to make her a yellow bunny. The request came at unexpected times over the course of any given day, which meant she’d obviously given it some thought And how could I resist the pleas of this beautiful little girl. I’d make her the moon if she asked…a stuffed plushie of course. She needed a friend… Read More
MY COMMUNITY
Sweetheart by Janna Etsy Shop
JANNA VANDERVEEN 