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I was very interested in the use of vellum prior to going to the conference so I looked for those artists using vellum at the Portfolio Sharing event.  I found Jean Emmons and discussed how her work was  displayed as it was mounted in an different manner.

Jean Emmons small works on vellum stretched over Art Boards.

First, these particular pieces were small and were stretched over a small board. Jean explained that the vellum was stretched over Art Boards.  She had gessoed the surface of the Art Board so that the vellum was protected.  The vellum was then glued over the board and around the  sides. Jean uses transparent paint and the work is so gorgeous that it is hard to comprehend how she does it.

The Legacy Exhibition at the ASBA 09 Annual Meeting in Scottsdale. The Maple Leaf by Jean Emmons.

I saw her two pieces in The Legacy exhibition and was fascinated with the maple leaf and the colors that she used. Moving into the Techniques Showcase. Jean Emmons was demonstrating her painting technique. She studied the gourd and found numerous colors and added those to her Bristol board drawing. She explained that her technique is based on medieval manuscript illumination which was learned from Kevin Nicolay, who sadly died at the age of 33.  The method is a difficult and time consuming but is a very special way of viewing light moving through plant layers.  I watched and photographed her technique and was able to capture one shot of the beginning of her painting as that seemed to be the basis of her incredible technique.