A Black Friday Gift for You, with Gratitude

November 2021

Window to The Bay #18

Happy Black Friday! How was your Thanksgiving? Mine was spent warm and cozy with family enjoying the seasonal colors, aromas, and tastes of the holiday season. It’s nice to have a moment each year set aside for counting our blessings. I am grateful for the many wonderful clients, family, and friends in the Laura Ann Studio community - whether opening my e-mails, following along on Instagram, or entrusting me with the opportunity to capture your memories in watercolor portraits - thank you! In gratitude, I’m offering a Black Friday special gift of 100 complimentary greeting cards along with any 2022 Window to The Bay portrait commissions booked between today and the end of the year.

Custom Watercolor Portraits Offered in 3 Unique Border Styles

The Blues, The Modern, and The Natural

This month’s featured “Window to The Bay” watercolor house portrait remains especially close to my heart as it is my own! Painted as a gift for my husband for our anniversary a couple years ago, I was free to experiment and try something new with the square format and the blue and white architectural border. I have always loved blue and white porcelain and coastal decor, from the cobalt blue exterior of our home, to the blue stained glass peace signs in the windows, blue and white everyday Dansk plates, and other blue and white ceramics from our travels. The scene I painted two years ago for our family looking out of the front Bay windows of our living room already feels nostalgic - we still love the magnatiles, but the herb garden has long since died, the toy trains and planes see less use than they once did, and my painting desk moved to the guest room/office/”art room” at the start of Zoom school, making way for an electric keyboard in the window. Our spaces, and the people who occupy them, grow and change over time, but we’re happy to have this stage of our home and family life captured as a joyful memory.

The architectural inspired blue and white borders have become my signature border offering, called “The Blues.” For a more contemporary look, “The Modern” border style gives the portrait a pop with a single black line edge. For an elegant and more traditional feel, “The Natural” border leaves a margin of white paper around the painted portrait to accentuate the natural flow of the watercolor at the edges of the home portrait.

A Live Sketching and Painting Workshop at the Children’s Creativity Museum

A “Draw What you See” lesson for families painting the LeRoy King Carousel

I had so much fun teaching a children’s art class on a Saturday morning a couple weekends ago at the LeRoy King Carousel at the Children’s Creativity Museum in San Francisco. I could never have imagined that what began as a sketch of a carousel giraffe for the pleasure of it during the first week of the pandemic would turn into such a warm and fun community event to complete the painting. Visit Laura Ann Studio on Instagram to see a recap of photos from the event and all the wonderful creativity of the watercolor carousel animals painted by the kids. You can try it as an art activity of your own at home - check out a wonderful film reel posted by CCM with a “how to” recap of the class!

Wishing you and yours a wonderful holiday weekend!

With love for the every day and special days,
Laura Ann Trimble Elbogen
P.S. Do you know someone who would delight in a custom watercolor house portrait holiday gift card? Forward this post!