Since Persuasion is my favorite Jane Austen's novel, I just had to make a collage of it.
I really wanted to make it look like old paper, a sort of map and letter mixed up together.
I really enjoyed painting the miniatures, my favotite is the Frigate miniature next to Captain Wentworth. I actually found images on the internet of Milsom street (1800's illustration), assembly hall in bath (a photo of the one still standing in modern day Bath), and an old oil painting of a frigate to use as inspirations for the miniatures.
I wanted to add little things to the collage to symbolize some things in the book, the pebble and ammonite looking shells for Lyme, a package for shopping in Bath, a bronze key reminding us that Anne could have become Lady Elliot and a mistress of Kellynch, had she chosen to marry Mr.Elliot; a tiny landscape miniature symbolizing the walk to Winthrop; lace - remeniscent of a beautiful evening gown Anne would have worn to the concert and also in shape of waves to add a slight nautical feel and of course a tiny letter with a real wax seal-the letter Captain Wentworth gave to Anne.
When I first saw the movie Emma couple years ago I was so inspired by the scene in the movie where she sits opening a letter with the sunlight streaming on her through the window, I really wanted to paint something as pretty. I painted the picture above and a good friend of mine now has it in her collection, but as one of my clients was looking through my feedback, she liked the picture so well, she wanted me to repaint it for her. I really loved redoing this watercolor and I even got to fix the angle of the table, which my dad, who is a much better artist than me, pointed out I got wrong in the first one.
The watercolor on the box was inspired by the beautiful snowy day we had outside yesterday. As I drove around doing my errands I was constantly finding inspiration in the beautiful scenery around me, slowly falling snow against the background of the gray sky is so beautiful. So when I got home I spent the rest of the day doing this watercolor which I later attached to this lovely mahogany stained box. I was actually thinking Emma and Mr.Knightley, but Pemberley Pond sounds better, so Skating on Pemberley Pond it is.
