Jocelyn Curry

Art & Joie de Vivre

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As a retired lettering artist and illustrator, I still create a lot of visuals and have fun doing it. My website is a place I can post and share them from my Shoreline, Washington studio in my home.

Journals, Lunch, & Lilies; A Summer Day at Claire’s

November 23, 2025

Did I need a deep plunge into a new blog site, right when such a time-consuming challenge really didn’t fit into my crowded calendar? The answer, no surprise, is “no” but at least I was able to navigate the mind-befuddling process of transferring the data from my old platform to this new, AI-enhanced version of good ol’ WordPress. My previous experience of working on good ol’ WordPress wasn’t stellar, so I’m hoping to improve my relationship with it asap. So far I have been able to upload my seasonally appropriate squash painting! But now, HOW do I get rid of “Hello World!” which was placed there by Good Ol. I’m not sure about this, but I think Good Ol’s default tips will stay on this, my First Post until I figure out how to discretely remove them without being told “This is not a good idea.” At least I got my squash up on this new site for your viewing pleasure! Happy Thanksgiving :-).

If the title of this post sounds idyllic, it was so intended. A second annual day devoted to painting Claire's lilies (after eating a potluck lunch to fuel us forward) happened last week on a blissful summer day. The next best thing to having been there is to see a few photos and read a few notes, so please be my guest and take them in! First, we insisted on seeing Claire's journal from a recent trip: Click on each image to see a larger view.

Croatia  Claire Russell and her husband Travis took a 7 week trip to Croatia in the spring. Before our lunch, Molly Hashimoto and I listened raptly to Claire tell about their hundreds of miles of biking along the hilly roads of this long coastal nation. All along the way, Claire kept a journal that knocked our artists' socks off. She did studies of all kinds of difficult subjects: lamps on lamposts, stone towers, architecture of all kinds, landscapes, and street scenes. She is a true student of the travel journal by studying and trying new page layouts, new lettering techniques, and new bindings.

SketchbookPile When I innocently asked Claire what books on artists' journaling she likes, citing the fact that my students have asked for recommendations,  I laughed heartily when she dashed into her house and emerged with a huge stack of books she has bought and studied! A second weighty stack was brought out after lunch! Now here's a serious student…and it shows.

LilyLunch 

Yes, it tasted even better than it looked.
Thank you Claire for setting the table so very beautifully. I can still feel the fresh-off-the-water breezes, too.



ClairePainting  

 

Here is Claire at the same table, after lunch, painting lilies. By the way, all the lilies grow in her garden, and they are currently at their peak.

Lily postcardsm  

 


Here is one of the two postcard-size drawings I did that afternoon. This one was drawn in pencil, watercolored, and then I picked up my pencil to idly hatch away while Claire and I chatted at the table (Molly had to leave after lunch). If there were other commitments I had that afternoon, they vanished from my mind. THANK YOU, CLAIRE.

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