VIRTUALLY VISITING THE VIRGIN ISLANDS

Virtual Paintout re-opened with a tour of the U.S. Virgin Islands.  Who doesn't love sky-blue water and white sand? Even better, the Google Street View people took their cameras down for strolls along the beach and rides on the water.  Plus no dealing with crowds, or traffic, or crabby customs agents groping through the underwear in one's luggage. Only thing I missed was the flavor of tropical fruit and the scent of freshly grilled seafood.

Anyway.  After spending a whole evening virtually wandering about I chose three locations to capture on watercolor paper. 

The first painting I did was of a location along a long sandy stretch looking out over the water with sailboats in the foreground and an incoming storm.  No worrying about rain ruining my painting though.  Another advantage of the virtual experience.

The second spot looked like a place to get food and rent beach stuff at an area called Rainbow Beach.  I loved the mango and lime color of the building and the fun idea of cruising around the island in that open off-road auto with the big tires.  

The last location I chose was from a water tour into a bay full of boats and ships.  I was able to stop the ride right where I wanted to set up my painting tools and get to work.  Nobody complained about me making them wait in the hot sun while I captured the scene.

These paintings are posted at Virtual Paintout just one down from the top here--Virtual Paintout U.S. Virgin Islands  and they can be seen with a more of my paintings for sale at my Etsy site.  

September's location is Amsterdam!

STREET VIEW, MAJORCA, SPAIN

February is almost over and it is a good thing it had an extra day this year.  I needed time to finish my watercolor paintings for The Virtual Paintout.  This month we virtually explored Majorca where the members of Spain's royal family spend their summer holidays in the Marivent Palace.  Wikipedia says it is a popular tourist destination and I could see why.

Settlements dating back to the bronze age have been discovered there along with artifacts left behind by Phoenicians and Romans.

I liked the rustic buildings, the narrow streets and sunny skies I found as I moved the little yellow Google Pegman around the map.

Majorca has a long history of seafaring.  In the harbors I saw small and unusual boats.  Turns out they are crafts called Llauts which are specific to this area.  The design is a part of their history of fishing boats.

I call this one, "Neighborhood Watch."  I followed a narrow street in Palma and found this white haired lady gazing from her balcony.  The timeless buildings plus the variety of textures and colors made this a painting waiting to happen. 

Google Street View is a great tool for armchair travelers like me who will never in this life be able to afford trips to exotic places like Majorca or scuba diving along the Geat Barrier Reef.

As always these paintings and more are for sale at my Etsy Site, Watercolors by Leenie.  

HIGHLANDS AND ISLANDS

I’ve been spending some time hiking the Highlands and driving through the Lowlands of Scotland--virtually--using Google Street View.

Scotland is the location of the month for The Virtual Paintout, which is a website hosted by Bill Guffy.   It “uses Google Street View as a resource for traveling the world to find interesting locations and subjects to paint.”

It is always interesting to explore a place so far away and so different.  Scotland is on my bucket list so I found the rocky streets, stone houses, cathedrals, churches, and fields of sheep intriguing even if I was limited to the roads traveled by the crew with Google Maps.

 I was exploring the coast looking at lighthouses and fishing boats, but this house on a hill caught by eye.  I was challenged by the perspective and angles of the stairway to this home in Boddam with a view over the North Sea.

I discovered the Street View crew had taken their wrap-around cameras for a hike in the Highlands.  I followed along to see the stark, rock-strewn pass through the mountains called, “Lairig Ghru.”  Long ago the remote path was used by raiding parties.  When times were a little more peaceful it was used as a trail for droving cattle.  Now it is part of self-guided hiking trail system for trekkers.

 Although most of the Street View skies were overcast and gray, the cameras caught the picturesque castle of Eilean Donan during a clear evening.  This restored castle from the 13^th century sits on a small island where three lochs meet.  The water line was a little low so I used my magic paintbrush to raise it above the mud and smoothed out the water to create a nice reflection.

On a personal note the Gaelic word for island is, eilean.  Change one letter and it matches my name, Eileen.  If you look up the meaning of that name you’ll be told it is a derivative of Helen and it means, “light.”  I think that meaning wasn’t researched enough.  I kind of like being an island.

Links to the Street View sites:

Boddam:  https://goo.gl/maps/K6sjYT9Jkx42

Lairig Ghru:  https://goo.gl/maps/ZtEz4uG4ERP2

Eilean Donan:  https://goo.gl/maps/1dj9NvY5VdC2

POETRY MONTH AND A PAINTING

Inaugurated by the Academy of American Poets in 1996, National Poetry Month, held every April, is the largest literary celebration in the world with schools, publishers, libraries, booksellers, and poets celebrating poetry’s vital place in our culture.

Yes, it is.  April is the month of poetry.  I had to literally dust of my magnetic poetry to piece together some words for the occasion.

Love, the moon and weather.  Always easy subjects for poetry, but what do you expect?  I was playing with my words during commercials while I was watching "The Science of Stupid" on Nat.Geo. Channel last night.

In other news---

I finished my third submission for Virtual Paintout, Bhutan.  My other two paintings can now be seen there.  Since Google Street View blurs out faces, I had to make up the features for these four youngsters.  They are each dressed in a traditional robe called a gho.  According to several sources all men are required by the government of Bhutan to wear the gho especially if they are in school or work in the government. 

To see the Google Street View location of my selection for this painting go here. https://goo.gl/maps/NpjpD 

I was so sorry to hear about the catastrophic earthquake in the Himalayan Mountains today.   At this time there are 1,800 known deaths.  Bhutan's northern border is part of these mountains but the country reported no major damages.

BHUTAN VIRTUAL PAINTOUT part 2

While virtually wandering Bhutan for the April 2015 Virtual Paintout I saw what looked like a lot of laundry fluttering in the breeze.  Buddhism is the major religion in Bhutan and prayer flags are used there to bless the surrounding countryside and for several other purposes.  These colorful pieces of cloth are strung from homes and monasteries, and I also saw countless prayer flags hung on the river bridges.

According to Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prayer_flag  “...prayer flags are used to promote peace, compassion, strength and wisdom.  The flags do not carry prayers to gods, which is a common misconception; rather the Tibetans believe the prayers will be blown by the wind to spread good will and compassion into all-pervading space.”

 I found a large building I’m guessing was a monastery with rows of flags hung on lines and larger ones hung on vertical poles.

Some of them were faded but I brightened up the colors in my painting to match the traditional sets of five in the order of blue, white, red, green and yellow which represent the five elements.  Blue symbolizes the sky; white: air and wind; red: fire, green: water; and yellow symbolizes earth. According to their traditional medicine, health and harmony are produced through the balance of the five elements.

There was much more to learn about the prayer flags.  I just hope my painting is a reflection of respect for the traditions surrounding them.

The link to the Google Street View location used for my painting:  https://goo.gl/maps/ycDwK

BHUTAN VIRTUAL PAINTOUT part 1

The country of Bhutan was selected as the site for the April 2015 Virtual Paintout.     I had to do some homework to locate it between China and India.  It’s no larger than Switzerland and has been called “the last Shangri-La” because of its serene, natural beauty. The Himalayan Mountains are its northern border and Gangkhar Puensum at 22,623 feet is the highest unclimbed peak in the world.  Climbers are not permitted to scale these mountains to prevent the “disturbing of the spirits.”  A 1995 law mandates that 60 percent of Bhutan’s land must remain forested while another 26 percent is already protected as parkland.

Using Google Street View I virtually explored a few areas of Bhutan.  The roads I saw were narrow, rugged and with little or no pavement in many places.  I was thankful the Street View people were courageous and adventurous enough to brave the one lane roads with sheer drop-offs to provide virtual access to views of the awesome mountains and deep, peaceful valleys.

 My first watercolor is of a view overlooking an area in a northern district named Damji, Gasa.  The buildings appear to be typical farm houses and the fields are terraced.  I’m guessing some of the fields are rice paddies.

Street View of the actual location:  https://goo.gl/maps/mTbKL.

I'll send my paintings to be posted on the Virtual Paintout in the near future.  Check some of the other submissions by clicking on the link in the first sentence of this post. 

VIRTUALLY ROAMING

The Virtual Paintout is visiting Rome this month so I went along to see where Google Street View could take me to set up my easel.

Since the cameras stayed mostly on the street there was no looking inside the Vatican or the Sistine Chapel.  But that’s okay because there’s a virtual tour of the chapel which takes a while to load but gives a chance to examine everything there at leisure without the crowds.    http://www.vatican.va/various/cappelle/sistina_vr/index.html

 Another disappointment was seeing the Trevi Fountain drained and being renovated. 

A news story by the BBC, related in a very Cumberbatch voice, can be found here.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-29175316

Still, there were several museums available for virtual tour, mostly filled with lots of marble statues in various stages of undress, and lots of chunks of columns and relics from ancient structures.

No Google Street View car went down the Spanish Steps like cars do in every action movie shot in Rome. 

But I found a great view of the city from the top of the steps which I used to create this painting.

There is also a very thorough tour of The Coliseum.

 So I used one of the halls where a guy was doing a photo shoot as my next subject.

see my location here:  http://goo.gl/maps/abUvL

Then I virtually wandered down into the city and noticed an exhibit of Warhol Paintings was on display there.

So my last painting was a driveby of the show posters.

VIRTUALLY VISITING VENICE

The Virtual Paintout site for December is Venice, the city built on water.  Through the ingenuity of Google Street View, the location is now available to explore.  

Virtual visitors are able to walk the streets, cross the bridges, ride the boats, peek in shop windows and wander down almost every alley.

The whole city is an artist’s dream. Picturesque views were everywhere.  So it took a while for me to come up with three watercolors to submit to the Virtual Paintout blog site.

My first choice was a view across the Grand Canal looking toward an island and the San Giorgio Maggiore Church.

Google Street View captured this location with the morning sun and soft shadows left by the mist in the air.  I moved a gondolier from another angle into the scene to add a little interest.

Next I “rode” a gondola down a canal under the famous “Bridge of Sighs.”

 On the other side of the bridge was this picturesque scene.

My third choice was from an open plaza where a variety of kiosks were set up to sell items to the crowds.

“Art for Sale” gave me an opportunity to paint a painting of paintings.

As I said, only three entries are allowed in the Virtual Paintout but I spent hours exploring the city and finally painted one more just for fun.

I call this “Tourist Trade” mostly because my impression of Venice was this beautiful city is trading its magnificence for the cash brought in by thousands of visitors.  I found the streets crowded, the shops full of expensive souvenirs, a lack of green space and no children.  It looks like Venice has become a kitschy theme park for swarms of tourists.  Personally I think they could stand to limit the crowds and spend more effort preserving the history.  And, perhaps making the city and its magic at least virtually available is one great step in that direction.

These paintings are going up for sale in my Etsy Shop.  I sold a lot of paintings over the last two months and I need to re-stock the shelves.

Watch how Google Street View photographed Venice

PEOPLE WATCHING AT THE DOG PARK

The location selected by host Bill Guffy for the October Virtual Paintout is Lima, Peru.  I wandered the streets of the city by way of Google Street View along with artists all over the world to find a site to pause and paint.  I saw gardens, cathedrals, zoos, sky scrapers and lots of shabby neighborhoods.  I always like to visit the beach so I traveled to the ocean.

I soon found myself people watching as a lady with a hand full of dogs walked toward me followed by a man on a bicycle.

The lady had three big dogs with her followed by another little white one.  The man on the bicycle was trying to find his way around them.

The dogs and the lady walked by and turned a corner...

..and reached their destination; a dog park with a view of the Pacific.

I set to work to compose my first entry in the Lima Virtual Paintout, "On the Way to the Dog Park."  I brightened the scene, left out the man on the bike and moved the dogs around a little.  You can see this one and many other artists' work posted here on the Virtual Paintout Site.  Thanks to Bill Guffy for hosting this fun party.

SCHOONERS

Not long into our journey as passengers on the MV David B. we caught sight of the Schooner Zodiac in full sail on Bellingham Bay.   The Zodiac is a beautiful vessel owned by The Vessel Zodiac Corp. and is used to provide sail training for youth and adults.  Before we boarded the David B we had seen a bus load of school children being herded through the marina.  This was their day to take a field trip on the water.

 A few minutes later we saw the Schooner Adventuress; a smaller vessel also used to teach sailing and environmental education about Puget Sound, and also carrying a boat load of youngsters.

Both ships are many decades old and were originally used as fishing schooners and pilot boats.  They have been restored to their original design and are registered as National Historic Landmarks.

The combination of big white sails and morning sunlight on the water provided unlimited photo ops.  I brought home plenty of references for my watercolor painting.

I just finished “Morning Schooners” and put it up for sail on my Etsy site.  I’m pretty pleased with the way it turned out.  It won’t be easy for me to give up this souvenir of our vacation.

I also have some small paintings on display on the VirtualPaintout of the Isle Of Wight. 

It was entertaining and educational to “tour” that part of the world using Google Street View.

This month’s location is Lima, Peru.  DH and I visited Lima, but it was during their winter and in a very un-scenic part of town.  I’ve already done a little exploring and found some better looking places that will be much more interesting to work with.

VIRTUALLY EXPLORING DETROIT

The Virtual Paintout is a blog which invites artists to virtually visit a selected location each month by way of Google Street View.  Using images found while "visiting" the location as reference artists "walk" around the streets as if they were actually participating in a real life paintout, then submit work to be displayed on the blog site.

The location for August was Detroit, Michigan.  It was quite an eye-opening adventure to tour this city, known as the world's traditional automotive center and recently in the news for its economic decline, unemployment and declaration of bankruptcy. 

Downtown Detroit was full of shiny highrises sporting names like Chrysler, General Motors and Riverfront Condominiums.  The river front area itself was inviting as was Midtown and New Center.

  I chose ComericA Park as one of the locations to paint and submited an 8x10 watercolor.  It is the home of the Detroit Tigers.  Another downtown stadium, Ford Field, is home for the Detroit Lions.

Later I went up and down a few streets in the residential area north of downtown and found a rustic little house for my second submission.

I then took Google Street View over to the area around the Michigan Central Railroad Station.  It wasn't a place I would visit on purpose.

The neighborhoods were in sad shape and the huge station is abandoned and surrounded by razor wire fence and trash.  The windows are broken and it looks ready for demolition.  According to Wikipedia it was renovated and opened in 1978 and then sold six years later.  The last Amtrak train pulled away from the station January 6, 1988.

I considered using it as a subject for the paintout but it was just so gray and disappointing.

  

So I went back downtown and painted a picture of Niki's Pizza with its bright colors and baskets of flowers.  Unfortunately I was busy and unorganized the last few days of August and didn't get my little pizza shop painting submitted to The Virtual Paintout. 

September's Virtual Paintout Site is the Isle of Wight.  I have to confess I had to look it up to find out it is nicknamed "England in Miniature" and is just off the coast of southern England in the English Channel.  At first glance it looks to be very scenic with plenty of farmland and coastline.  I'm hoping to get time to virtually explore and paint what I find.

Click here for a Google Street View of Michigan Central Rail Station.

Click and drag to change the view and use the arrow symbols to go forward and back.  Use the compass symbol in the upper left to rotate the view.

BANJO, BABY, BOOGIE AND BARN

While wandering through the stalls of a lush Farmers' Market in Bellingham, Washington one afternoon I came upon a gentleman picking out a lively jig on his banjo.  As I was photographing the sunlight on his beard and nimble fingers, a baby broke away from her mother and began dancing to the music. 

 A small crowd gathered to watch the toddler's carefree and joyful reaction to the beat.  

This is my watercolor version of the occasion.

This is my contribution to the Virtual Paintout for January 2013.  The location was the Isle of Man, an island located between England and Ireland in the Irish Sea.  I "traveled" using Google Streetview down the rural roads of the island looking at green fields dotted with sheep and grazing cattle.  At the end of a lane I discovered a rustic dairy.  The stone barn had windows and doors painted red and a cow grazed contentedly in the nearby pasture.  Both of these paintings are for sale here on my Etsy site.

ICE CREAM HAS NO BORDERS

Google Street View captures the moment  in locations throughout the world.  If you search the internet you'll find discovered examples of weird, funny and unusual events caught by their cameras.

Somewhere in the UK a seagull nearly collides with the Streetview Camera.

The aftermath of a motorcycle wreck.

Santa making some late deliveries.

In December I went looking for another image in Slovakia to use for the Virtual Paintout.  I was "traveling" down a street in a village called Oravska Lesna in the Zilina region when I saw two ladies on the sidewalk.  They were carrying handbags and looked like they were on their way to go shopping.

Approaching them from the other direction I saw a boy wearing a baseball cap. 

Here's the link to the location.  Check it out.  Be sure to give it time to open. I'll wait here for you.

Then I noticed the boy was enjoying an ice cream cone.  A few feet past the ladies I made a 180 degree turn to look back and saw the boy continued to to savor his ice cream but had respectfully given the right of way to the two ladies and had stepped off the curb to let them pass.  You'll find my entry in the December Virtual Paintout about thirteen pictures down.

January's paintout is the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea just off the coast of Ireland.  I'm looking forward to exploring another new location.

VIRTUALLY VISITING NEW BRUNSWICK

Every month a blog called the Virtual Paintout posts a location somewhere in the world.  Artists are invited to virtually explore the place using Google Maps and Google Street View and then do a painting or sketch of  a site they choose.  November 2012's location is New Brunswick, Canada.

After "touring" this province located on the Atlantic Ocean I ended up in Fredericton, the capital city.  According to Wikipedia it is, "an important cultural, artistic, and educational centre for the province. Fredericton is home to two universities, the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design, and cultural institutions."

Across the street from Lansbridge University on Queen Street is a colorful line of businesses.

I did a little watercolor of Gordie's Pub and submitted it as my part of November's Virtual Paintout.

THE CASTLE AT ELSINORE

Most people learned the location of the country of New Zealand in their grade school geography classes.  But how many know the location of the island of Zealand?  I didn't until it became the setting for September 2012's Virtual Paintout.  I went there using Google Maps and Google Streetview and soon stumbled upon a great place to set up my paints and try my hand at art in Denmark.

Kronborg Castle at Elsinore 8x10 transparent watercolor

Kronborg Castle is a military fortress which guards the narrow passageway between Denmark and Sweden.  It is the most famous castle in Denmark and is located next to the city of Elsinore or Helsingor.  It is the setting for Shakespeare's play, Hamlet. The play opens on a dark and stormy night as Horatio and Marcellus meet a guard on a watchtower of Elinsor's castle. Later Hamlet sees his father's ghost there and learns the truth about his father's murder by the power-hungry Uncle Claudius.

I've also been reminded by one of my children that Elsinore is the location of a brewery

made famous in Bob and Doug McKenzie's 1983 movie, Strange Brew.

If you've seen this one and paid attention to the story, it is 

blatantly Hamlet, right down to the ghost of a slain father.

Take off, eh?

You, too, can visit Elisnor here.  You should be able to open Google Streetview and find the little yellow man. Select him and move him to get the map of the location. Zoom out with the minus icon so you can  move the yellow man and travel around the castle and then go on around the island of Zealand, Demanrk.

For more of my paintings click here "Watercolors by Leenie" or the red link --upper left column of this blog.

VIEW FROM PINNACLE ROAD

View from Pinnacle Road, Wellington Park, Tasmania

8x10 inches transparent watercolor

Here's another piece I did for the Virtual Paintout in Tasmania.

I discovered a place called Wellington Park above the town of Hobart.

   Using Google Streetview I virtually "drove" up the winding road 

to a spot where there was a panorama view of the valley, 

the town and Cornelian Bay.  

Google Street View reference

The season appears to be autumn. The golds in the foliage contrasted 

nicely with the lavenders of the distant hills and the purples

and blues of the trees and shrubbery in the foreground.

View from Pinnacle Road, Wellington Park, Tasmania version 2

9x13 inch --playing with the colors

I realize I prettied up the trees a lot by adding too many branches. 

 They are probably eucalyptus, or gum trees which have most

of their foliage on top.

I remember riding a bike through a grove of huge eucalyptus

trees in Hawaii early in the morning.  The air was full of that spicy,

 menthol aroma often used in air freshener and medicine.

The first painting should appear along with many other

works by talented Virtual Paintout artists in the next few days.