JANNA VANDERVEEN
Fiction Author & Artist
Archives
Mixed Media Painting | Fluffy Puppy 2 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… 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
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
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! (Click on the thumbnail to… 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
Snowmen and snow flurries! We finally had enough snow to build this crazy little snowman. With a trowel for a hat and who knows what for eyes and nose (I think sidewalk chalk), it produced a lot of smiles and laughter. Wonderful winter!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Years! Gingerbread houses are so much fun to build. This year my youngest, who is three years old, surprised us all by spending the longest time building her super candy covered little house. (Note the one in the front on the end.) She was oh so happy and proud of what she’d created. We all had a good chuckle.
Oh my goodness! Look at this cute little face! At almost 6 months, Lily is a bundle of energy and bounteous kisses. Perfect!
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
I have an amazing husband! He may not enjoy sewing and may occasionally roll his eyes at my excited rants, but he definitely is my partner in crime. Tonight, he’s working on developing a revised body for my hats. The mathematical side to creating patterns is not easy for those of us who are not mathmatically inclined. So I’ve been blessed to have a partner who makes up for my deficiencies. I just… Read More
MY COMMUNITY
Sweetheart by Janna Etsy Shop
