Jean Kaeselau and Modern Homes on Cape Cod

Yesterday was my dad's birthday. He hasn't been on the earth plane since 2000. My dad, Jean Kaeselau, was a quiet carpenter most of his life. In his younger days (50's-60's) he designed Modern homes which have now taken their place in history. This one is in Truro or Welfleet. (If anyone knows whose house it is, let me know.)

There is a blog showing some of the houses which he designed and built for clients on the Cape. http://www.moderncapecod.com/ It's too bad he didn't get to see the new interest in his work.

That's my dad sitting on the house. This one is in Truro or Welfleet too.

My dad had a tough childhood because his mom died when he was around 8 and his dad passed he and his brother off to other people to raise. In fact, he was raised by many affluent people in the art and literature world in those days, but there was never any loving security. When he was 16 he joined the navy telling them he was 18, then when he was done fighting the war he came home and went back to high school with the younger kids. I thought that was pretty brave of him.

I always remember my dad as loving the quiet solitude of the dunes in Provincetown where he grew up, and beach . He also loved all his animals- in his older years was so attuned to their energy and they all sensed that in him. He especially loved his pet skunk who he nurtured like a baby when he lost use of his back legs (the skunk that is). He gave Peppy regular baths, fed him and let him sleep beside him every night.

So dad, this sailboat photo is for you since you always wanted one. Happy Birthday, I'm thinking about you.

Cape Cod Maps

I'm busy working on antique map coloring right now so I thought I'd show you some Cape Cod maps I've colored in the past. This one is a reproduction of Cape Cod and the islands (Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket).

This one takes a LONG time to color. It has so many details. It's not too old and the map maker did a nice job.

This is another reproduction. I color a lot of these for Maps of Antiquity in Chatham (http://www.mapsofantiquity.com/). They sell everything from original antique maps to the more affordable, very nice looking reproductions.

They even sell Treasure Maps and Ghost maps! These are created by Mike Welch from Barnstable. People really love them. And last but not least I had to stick my map in there. I sell it in black and white, or I hand color it. (www.BrydenArt.com) *They also sell it at Maps of Antiquity.

Well, looks like I better make myself a cup of tea, put on something good for my soul to listen to and get to work.

Sunset in Yarmouthport

Last night around 7:30pm Sienna and I took a drive down to Grays Beach in Yarmouthport to see the sunset. Now, it LOOKED like the sun was about to set at my house because we are in the woods and the sun was already behind the trees, but when we got to the beach we realized there was probably another hour to go before it actually set. So, we enjoyed the picturesque scenery and did what we do...took some photo's!

Here is Sienna posing for me almost at the end of a long board walk that jets out over the beautiful marsh. It was very still, therefor- it was very buggy. Don't move Sienna!

These stubs are all that's left of the rest of the old boardwalk. I believe it got washed away in a hurricane, but it went WAY out there. If you've never been to this particular beach and you come to the Cape, it's a must see.

See what I mean about totally calm? Even though the bugs were out in full force, the rest of nature was so exquisite. There's nothing like the stillness on the water as the sun is about to set. It's almost as if the world is holding it's breath just waiting for it to happen.

Here's some prime waterfront property.

Have a great day!

Mayflower Place Art Reception

The opening reception for my show at Mayflower Place in Yarmouth was held on Friday evening. When I got there, I had some beautiful flowers and a wrapped box of chocolates waiting for me from one of my customers who couldn't make it. What a nice surprise!
My girls took the opportunity to get all dressed up. Here they are showing off the table of goodies before guests arrived.

Me and my girls, Brielle (left) and Sienna.

I guess I could have taken photo's of other people.....I suppose.......but I'd rather just look at my beautiful lambies.
Brielle's long time best friend Lucy showed up. She's an artist too. In fact, I just went to her (high school kids and their mentors) show about a week ago!
Of course my mom and Leon came to support me.....
and my sister and cousins....(it's nice to have family close by for occasions like this!)

Me, Brielle and Grethe (my pregnant - with a girl!- sister)
At the end of the show I raffeled off one of my paintings and my little niece Lauren (in photo) won it. Now, I had the director of Mayflower Place do the drawing so it wasn't fixed! I'm glad she won it because she really wanted a painting. I know that sounds odd for a 10 yr. old, but Lauren is very mature for her age. She was so cute, she even got her teacher to come to the show!

To sum it up, it was a good reception, I sold some paintings, I saw some old friends, and I got to wear something besides my apron and jeans!

My show will be on display at Mayflower Place until July 19th (579 Buck Isl. Rd W. Yarmouth Ma.) . I hope you will drop by and have a look! I have over 40 paintings on display (and for sale!).

Featured Member

I belong to a new group for people who have some sort of ties to, love for, or want to go to, the Azore Islands. My mother's side of the family came from there; both of her parents' roots go back to the Azores- Saint Michaels Island (or Sao Miguel as they call it). Anyway, I was picked as their feature member this month! The creator of the network did a really nice little write up about me with a photo etc...and talked about my artwork. I was so surprised and delighted!

http://acoreanos.ning.com/

Jelly Fish

14"x18"1.25" http://www.brydenart.com
Here's my larger Jelly Fish painting. I had done a miniature to sell on Ebay and I liked it so much I decided to do this bigger one. There's just something about the blue colors that I'm attracted to, and I love they way they glow. This one is on my website, and I'll be bringing it to hang in my show on Friday at Mayflower Place.

Who do you think is going to win American Idol? I like them both. They are so talented!

Orange Tabby Cat Painting

http://stores.shop.ebay.com/Cape-Cod-Artist

In case you were wondering who my model was for this painting.....

It's my beautiful boy, Simby. This is how he gets attention when I'm working on the computer. His head is resting on my arm so it's pretty hard to type, but he feels so safe and secure I don't have the heart to move him.

Munster Meissen 1588 Map

I just finished hand coloring this antique Munster Meissen map made in 1588. I love these 'maps' that are really more pictures of the area. They are fun and always interesting to color. I love the castles and moats. This one has little deer frolicking outside the city walls. The funny thing is some of these cities look much the same now as they did back then.

This is the same map shown with original color- not new coloring. You can tell because a lot of the color is blurry and out of the lines. This is probably because their brushes back then weren't as good as ours are now, PLUS, they weren't coloring a VERY expensive antique like I was, so they didn't care so much! lol

Here's a close up of the one I colored. Check out the little guy right in the bottom front/middle. He is the map maker making the map! Along side of him is the date. Click on it to see it better.

Spring Blooms

Cherry blossoms are so beautiful. The pink is breathtaking against the slight greenery of the spring trees. It's too bad they fade so quickly. I snapped off a few shots before they blew away, petal by petal in the wind. (my yard looks like it snowed out!)
Everything is in bloom and my allergies are responding in kind. Right now I'm praying for a good strong rain to wash down some of the pollen and get it out of the air!
But, allergies or not, it doesn't stop me from enjoying the outdoors everyday. There's nothing like fresh air. In fact, I feel blessed to live in an area that actually HAS fresh air (no smog). And not only fresh air, air that has a lot of negative ions because of the ocean being right here. Ahhh there's nothing like the smell of salt air!

Birds Singing

http://stores.shop.ebay.com/Cape-Cod-Artist

It was particularly quiet today, either that or the birds were exceptionally loud. Either way, it seemed so nice to hear them chirping after a long winter of (seemingly) not hearing any noises outside. I sat down at Sesuit Harbor on my 'lunch break' and just listened.

It was beautiful with the warm sun beating down on my shoulder as I sat in my car with the windows open, breathing in the fresh salt air. All you could hear were birds singing, (Ok, maybe not this guy, he was a little louder)

an occasional boat motoring by, and maybe just a distant voice here an there, but mostly just peaceful bliss. Ahhh. This is the calm before the storm (when the tourists arrive).

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to you too!
I had a wonderful day today. My kids took me out to brunch then we spent a few hours together strolling through the mall. Brielle came too even though she was very tired after prom (it made me happy that she made the effort).

Then we went to my sisters house for dinner with my mom, and her mother in law (not pictured here). We all ate too much as usual. Food is love in our family. (We are reaaalllllly loved!)

Oh, Ok, so my hair is now blond-ish. Here's why, and I've never been blond before so it's as much of a shock to me and my family; I was actually trying to figure out a way to let it grow gray gracefully (since I got my mothers hair genes! Thanks Mom.) The hairdresser suggested I go lighter until it grows in. I'm still looking in the mirror saying "Who IS that?" lol I don't know, maybe I'll just keep it blond for a while. I hear they have more fun.

Prom Night

Tonight is Brielle's Senior Prom. My baby looks so grown up!

She spent the day having her hair and make up done by the lovely women at New Image Hair Salon in Dennis. (pictured below) Much thanks to them- for everything. They did an amazing job and she looked absolutely beautiful!

She was very excited to go with her long time boyfriend (who I won't picture here for security purposes).They rented a limo with 3 other couples and off they went, (only after I took a million photos of course.)
Sisters. In 4 years Sienna will be doing the same thing. Let's not rush it!
Who is that blond in the middle?

We'll talk about that in another blog. Tonight is Brielles night. You only go to Senior Prom once. (usually). I hope she has a wonderful time. Of course, I'm going to sit here and worry about her until she comes home.....

More Provincetown Mud Flats

24"x 36" x 1.5"
I had so much fun painting the last mud flat painting of Provincetown that I decided to do another, only bigger and on a gallery wrapped canvas! Oh, and in this one the mud flats are dryer, so the color is lighter. I did that because my ex husband was over critiquing the smaller one and said he thought it looked like I was depressed when I painted it (mainly because it wasn't my usual bright vibrant colors). I really wasn't though; that is how I see wet mud flats, but his words were ringing in my ears when I painted this one so I made sure it didn't look like I was depressed!

This is when I first started it. At this stage nothing is clear except a visual in my head. I just have to keep that focus and don't stop painting until it starts looking like something close. The end result is beautiful (I think so anyway). I have it hanging in my living room until my show. It looks really good there, so I won't be too sad if it doesn't sell. ;)

Topiary Trees

12"x 16"x 1.5"
I finished this one up last night, put the hardware on the back and glossed over it with an acrylic top coat for protection, now it's ready to go into my show in almost 2 short weeks. What do you think I should name it? "Ice cream cone trees?"lol

Got word my sister is having a baby girl in Sept/Oct.! The only one who has girls in my family of 4 siblings is me. All their 8 cousins are boys so it's very exciting. It's kind of weird to think that when my 'baby' is leaving for college this fall, my sister will be having a brand new baby.

Other news, my good customer and friend, Patricia has been writing interesting articles on eHow. EHow is a website that can tell you how to do anything! It's pretty cool. Check out Patricia's eHows (and my commissioned painting from her that she uses as her icon) at: http://www.ehow.com/members/shenandoah.html