First Night Design | Bembridge Lifeboat Station #Art #New

Click to buy Bembridge Lifeboat Station framed print (Fine Art America) © Sarah Vernon

As some of you know, our summer holidays as children were spent in Bembridge on the Isle of Wight where I now live. The other week I trundled round on my mobility scooter visiting my favourite haunts. This shot of Bembridge Lifeboat Station through the trees is just where the steps lead down to the beach and to the exact spot we invariably used for swimming.

It is true the original photograph is rather appealing and some of you on Facebook have already seen it as my header but true to form, I had to play.

I used two textures from Design Cuts — a yellow-based and a green-based one. I ran the photograph through Topaz Impression three or four times to produce different effects. I chose to layer ‘Cezanne 1’ and ’Cavedweller’ (as you do) and blended them with the textures to produce a digital painting. I hope it pleases you as much as it did me in its creation.

Click to buy Bembridge Lifeboat Station tote bag (Fine Art America) © Sarah Vernon

Part of a paper read to the Ladies of Shanklin Evening Institute, October 1951.

“It is quite possible that some among you are quite ignorant of everything connected with Lifeboat work […] I have no intention of going back into remote history, or to the founding of the Institution in 1824.  Moreover, I expect you will think that I have gone back quite far enough if I commence with the time of your grandfathers, and I select that particular time because it was then that the proud reputation of the Lifeboat Institution was built up, on the great hearts and stout muscles of the grand old men who served as crews for the small pulling and sailing lifeboats stationed round our coasts.  But to really understand the heroism of these grand old fellows, and to give them full credit for their marvellous rescues, and for their self-sacrificing efforts, one must be possessed of…” Bembridge Lifeboat

Available at the following galleries:
Redbubble
Zazzle US
Zazzle UK
Fine Art America [14 fulfillment centers in 5 countries]
Saatchi Art

Take care and keep laughing!

At The Water’s Edge Throw Pillow for Sale by Sarah Vernon

At The Water’s Edge Throw Pillow by Sarah Vernon. Our throw pillows are made from 100% spun polyester poplin fabric and add a stylish statement to any room. Pillows are available in sizes from 14″ x 14″ up to 26″ x 26″. Each pillow is printed on both sides (same image) and includes a concealed zipper and removable insert (if selected) for easy cleaning.

Source: At The Water’s Edge Throw Pillow for Sale by Sarah Vernon

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Stained Glass Fish Sticker | Zazzle #Sold!

How pleasing to sell a sheet of round stickers!
Shape: Classic Round Sticker

Make your unique style stick by creating custom stickers for every occasion! From special mailings and scrapbooking to kids’ activities and DIY projects, you’ll find these stickers are great for so many uses. Add your own designs, patterns, text, and pictures!

• Dimensions: Available in 2 sizes:
  • Large: 3″ diameter, 6 stickers per sheet
  • Small: 1.5″ diameter, 20 stickers per sheet
• Printed on white acid-free paper
• Vibrant full-color, full-bleed printing
• Scratch-resistant front, easy peel-and-stick back
• Available in a matte or glossy finish
• Use the “Customize it!” button to choose between 7 different shapes

Source: Stained Glass Fish Sticker | Zazzle

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“By The Sea” Calendars by Sarah Vernon | Redbubble

A selection of my art with a sea theme – Sarah Vernon

Source: “By The Sea” Calendars by Sarah Vernon | Redbubble

Scent Of Pines Tote Bag for Sale by Sarah Vernon

Scent Of Pines Tote Bag by Sarah Vernon. The tote bag is machine washable, available in three different sizes, and includes a black strap for easy carrying on your shoulder. All totes are available for worldwide shipping and include a money-back guarantee.

Source: Scent Of Pines Tote Bag for Sale by Sarah Vernon

First Night Design | At the Water’s Edge – New #Art

At the Water’s Edge Framed Print at Fine Art America © Sarah Vernon

I confess to being inordinately pleased with how this turned out. Taking a photograph of rotting hulks on the Isle of Mull by DeFacto from Wikimedia, I gave it two coloured pencil treatments in Topaz Impressions. I inverted one of my muddy terracotta backgrounds so that it became blue. The final touch was to layer the photograph over the background in Photoshop’s Multiply mode.

All the usual products are available.

Available at the following galleries:
Redbubble
Crated
Zazzle US
Zazzle UK
Fine Art America [14 fulfillment centers in 5 countries]
Saatchi Art

Take care and keep laughing!

First Night Design | Reflecting Egret #Art

Reflecting Egret © Sarah Vernon at Fine Art America

EGRET: ORIGIN Middle English: from Old French aigrette, from Provençal aigreta, from the Germanic base of heron.

Oh, the utter joy of finding the right texture for the right photograph and creating something entirely other. I didn’t have to go far since one of the textures I’ve used for Reflecting Egret is one I created myself. The other is from Kerstin Frank. The photograph I’ve sandwiched between the two is by Laitche and from Wikimedia. I discovered it when I was looking for a pelican for the most recent Cover Makeover.

Available at the following galleries:
Redbubble
Crated
Zazzle US
Zazzle UK
Fine Art America [14 fulfillment centers in 5 countries]
Saatchi Art

Take care and keep laughing!

First Night Design | The Eel Fisher’s Hut #Abstract #Art

The Eel Fisher’s Hut © Sarah Vernon @ Redbubble

Abstract created in Photoshop with a couple of textures from 2 Lil’ Owls and a photochrom colour print from Wikimedia of an eel fisher’s hut on the Bore (Bure River) England, between 1890 and 1900.

It’s something a little different from my usual work. It was adding the textures from 2 Lil’ Owls that completely changed my original idea — yes, I had one in mind for once. I added one texture in Normal mode and overlaid it with another in Colour Burn before setting the original photograph to Soft Light. The resulting fire damage effect was far too appealing to me to let it go.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Available at the following galleries:
Redbubble
Crated
Zazzle US
Zazzle UK
Fine Art America
Fine Art England
Saatchi Art

Take care and keep laughing!

First Night Design | Beating the Blues #Art

Happy New Year!

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First of all, a quick note to say that I’ve almost run out of bandwidth this month (we downloaded a couple of films for the holidays) and I have to make what’s left last until 7th January. This is why I’ve not been doing my usual round of blog visits, alas, and won’t be able to until the 8th.

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Beating the Blues Prints, Posters, Home Decor & More at Redbubble © Sarah Vernon

A surreal piece created in Photoshop with various family photographs, a clock face created for Behind Time using a photo by Rachael Towne on Flickr, a texture from 2 Lil’ Owls, and a fish from The Graphics Fairy.

Beating the Blues Canvas Wrap © Sarah Vernon

I’d like to dedicate this post to writer Jo Robinson whose husband passed away suddenly on Boxing Day. It was cruel timing and Jo will have more than the blues to come to terms with now and in the months ahead. I have not stopped thinking about her having to bear such a terrible loss and send her much strength to withstand the tragedy. Take heart, Jo. We’re all thinking of you.

Beating the Blues Postage © Sarah Vernon

Available at the following galleries:
Redbubble
Crated
Zazzle US
Zazzle UK
Fine Art America
Fine Art England
Saatchi Art

Take care and keep laughing!

First Night Design | Scent of Pines #Art #Gifts

Buy prints of Scent of Pines © Sarah Vernon from Crated

I have combined a beautiful landscape photograph by Ales Krivec at Unsplash with two textures from 2 Lil’ Owls, one in Photoshop’s Normal mode, the other in Linear Burn. The photo is the top layer and in Multiply mode.

© Ales Krivec

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“…freshly cut Christmas trees smelling of stars and snow and pine resin – inhale deeply and fill your soul with wintry night…”
― John Geddes, A Familiar Rain

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Scent of Pines Pack Of Gift Tags

Scent of Pines Greeting Card

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“I remember my childhood names for grasses and secret flowers. I remember where a toad may live and what time the birds awaken in the summer — and what trees and seasons smelled like — how people looked and walked and smelled even. The memory of odors is very rich.”
― John Steinbeck, East of Eden

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Scent of Pines Food Trays

Scent of Pines Bicycle Playing Cards

Available at the following galleries:
Redbubble
Crated
Zazzle US
Zazzle UK
Fine Art America
Fine Art England
Saatchi Art

Take care and keep laughing!

First Night Design | Drifting Downstream #Art

Buy framed print from Crated

Original photo by Scott Webb from Unsplash lovingly blended with a texture from Kerstin Frank to create a ‘painting’.

Buy Greeting Cards from Zazzle

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“Only the development of compassion and understanding for others can bring us the tranquility and happiness we all seek.”
― Dalai Lama XIV

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Buy the duvet from Fine Art America or Fine Art England

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“Quiet is peace. Tranquility. Quiet is turning down the volume knob on life. Silence is pushing the off button. Shutting it down. All of it. – Amir”
― Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner

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Available at the following galleries:
Redbubble
Crated
Zazzle US
Zazzle UK
Fine Art America
Fine Art England
Saatchi Art

Take care and keep laughing!

First Night Design | Casanova’s Waterway #Art

Casanova’s Waterway © Sarah Vernon from Redbubble

I’m back on the moody and mysterious trail with Casanova’s Waterway. The original photograph of Venice, taken by Nick Scheerbart, is available for free from the Unsplash site, as are all the other photographs on this magnificent site for artists and designers.

Nick Scheerbart

My base layer (Normal mode in Photoshop) is 2LO Confetti 4, above which I added 2LO Confetti 9 (Multiply mode), both from 2 Lil’ Owls. The photograph looked delicious in Colour Burn mode. I tried many other blends, you can be sure, before settling on the latter.

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“The sweetest pleasures are those which are hardest to be won.”
― Giacomo Casanova, The Story of My Life

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Casanova’s Waterway © Sarah Vernon FAA Cushion

Available at the following galleries:
Redbubble
Crated
Zazzle US
Zazzle UK
Fine Art America
Fine Art England
Saatchi Art

Take care and keep laughing!

First Night Design | Dark Angels #Art

Connection News: While I’m still trying to work out what I’m supposed to have downloaded onto my new computer that added up to 30 gb in just one week – I was very circumspect and made sure not to download more than 5gb per week, which is why I’m so confused – I’ve had more news from the locals about the connection in this area being exceedingly slow because the service provider is digging up the road.  Sound familiar!

Keep Calm & Then Scream Throw Pillow

Even when I get to next month’s bandwidth allowance – from 8th March – it’s still not going to be a great connection. Don’t you just love the 21st century? In any case, it is still making it very difficult to like or reply to your comments with any consistency, let alone visit and do the same on your blog posts. 

On a pleasurable note, I have been at play once more and created Dark Angels, a somewhat surreal piece in feel, even though it doesn’t actually contain anything in the scene that wouldn’t be there in life. I hope it tickles your fancy!

Dark Angels © Sarah Vernon

Textures from Kerstin Frank and 2 Lil’ Owls.
Birds photograph by Patryk Sobczak at Unsplash.
Venice building background from Didier Descouens on Wikimedia.

Available at the following galleries:
Crated
Zazzle US
Zazzle UK
Fine Art America
Fine Art England
Redbubble

Take care and keep laughing!

Infinity & Beyond

One from the archives.

First Night Design

Infinity Invitations © Sarah Vernon @ First Night Design [Zazzle]

I’m very fond of watercolours.  Interestingly, I have heard people disparaging them over the years, almost as if they considered the skill required inferior to that of painting in oils or acrylics and thus making any result worthless.  To me, watercolour can often create a picture much more emotional and evocative than one done in another medium.

I suspect that the number of books teaching you How to Paint Watercolours in 4 Easy Lessons, or some such title, add to the myth that watercolour is easy and doesn’t require any talent or skill.  I find it difficult to paint with watercolour but have occasionally turned out something of note.  Believe me, it’s not as easy as it looks!

Now that a disabling condition, which affects my mobility and dexterity, has impacted on my ability to wield a paintbrush, I have…

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First Night Design | The Swan Also Rises

The Swan Also Rises © First Night Design

What does a girl, a plate of food, and a handwritten French document from 2 Lil’ Owls have in common? Nothing. Except all these elements have been combined, believe it or not, to create this piece. It’s astonishing what different shapes and colours can do when blended together. Throw in three different textural backgrounds, also from 2 Lil’ Owls and bought as a bundle from Design Cuts, and a beautiful swan from The Graphics Fairy and you have The Swan Also Rises. Yes, the title tickled me when I thought of it!

Related

• The Swan Sanctuary

Take care and keep laughing!