This was part of a commission for a banner. One of the possibilities.
 

ADVENT STARRY NIGHT 8

This was part of a commission for a banner. One of the possibilities.

Advent Starry Night 10

2020- a 12" x 36" acrylic painting created as a commission for Christ Temple FUMC and transformed into a large fabric banner for the sanctuary. Original painting is available $450

 

All is Calm, All is Bright

Today is the first Sunday of Advent.
I have spent the last week painting a 2’ x 4’ canvas that will be enlarged by a company into an
8’x 16’ banner that will serve as a backdrop for the Christmas Eve program at our church.
It’s called “All is Calm, All is Bright”. It’s Bethlehem just before the star emerges and
Christ enters the world. I hope you have a wonderful season.

Angels and Shepherds

Angels and Shepherds 2 © 2018 Virginia Wieringa, virginiawieringa.com

Angels and Shepherds 3 © 2018 Virginia Wieringa, virginiawieringa.com

Angels and Shepherds 4 © 2018 Virginia Wieringa, virginiawieringa.com

This year I revisited the theme of the Angels appearing to the Shepherds. These are the results. How wonderful to contemplate that pivotal moment in history. There isn't a Star described in Luke, but over the years the star has become linked with this occasion. Matthew tells of the Magi and the Star, but not the Angels and Shepherds. The salvation story is a mystery.

Advent Starry Night 7

Advent Starry Night 7 © 2018 Virginia Wieringa, virginiawieringa.com

Another version of the visitation of the Wise Men, this one in watercolor and acrylic.

Half square triangles in large quantities!

I'm making three quilts using half square triangles, one similar to the one below and two larger ones using the pattern inspiration of the quilt pattern Broken Dishes. I need lots of half square triangles. This technique let's you create 8 of them at a time.

I made this for my grandson Max and now there's another boy on the way

two 9" squares right sides together, one light and one dark

diagonal lines across the pair pieces on the light side

lines sewn 1/4 inch away on each side from the diagonal lines 

cut in half in each direction and  then on the diagonals

pile the cut pieces

iron open toward the dark side

trim the pieces to 4" squares 

Bethlehem Star

Bethlehem Star 1

Bethlehem Star 2

These are two new paintings to add to my Advent work. Bethlehem Star 1 is a commission. Bethlehem Star 2 came along once the paint was flying!

CASEY COUNTS

This book is available from Schuler Books: click here to order.

This is a children's book I wrote and illustrated. I am self-publishing it through Schuler Books, Chapbook Press. This book is similar to a fabric book I made for my grandson Max. For that book, I cut out butterflies and flowers that were printed on fabrics designed by other artists. I arranged them to create the pages and then machine stitched around them.  (If you want to see that book, go to vwieringa.blogspot.com  and find the 2017 post titled “Max’s CASEY book.”)

For this book, I wanted to use my own original designs. It was fun to make this book and all its butterflies, flowers, and, of course, Casey.
I didn’t look at real butterflies very much. These are mostly from my imagination. To create the pages, I used painted tissue paper, markers, paint, and Photoshop. Casey’s story changed a little too.

Two children’s books I enjoyed while working on this project are Ten Little Caterpillars, written by Bill Martin Jr. and   illustrated by Lois Ehlert, and Waiting for Wings, written and illustrated by Lois Ehlert. She is one of my favorite authors and illustrators.

Lizz's book

And this is a book written and illustrated by my daughter Lizz when she was 4 or 5. The rhythm of the sentences always interests me. 

Angie's book

My daughter Angie made this book with me when she was 4 and a half. we assembled her drawings and she told me what to write on each page. It still cracks me up!