Tulips

Flower Power in the Dead of Winter

Is it actually Spring in some parts of the country? We have a long way to go here. The other day in the grocery store I saw these bright pink tulips, and because we also have to feed our souls, I grabbed them up.

In class we did a little lesson on carrying a color throughout a painting. We painted these tulips in a still life with oranges, and worked at getting a little bit of orange into the pink tulips and a little pink into the oranges. Fun!

Are you sketching today? Putting a little bright color in your journal sketchbooks? I am going to go try out some new paper in a new journal (YES, another sketchbook). I'll see how it works with watercolor, pens, prismacolor pencils, etc.

Go create something!

Soup

An ink sketch done in my journal sketchbook.

Sketchbooks are such fun, and so liberating. In a serious painting I would never have put that tomato over the girl's head. I wanted to include the sign and that's where it fit. It's a sketchbook ~ we have permission to do anything any way we want.

On Wednesdays the neighborhood cafe serves homemade Gorgonzola tomato soup. Out of this world!

I think I am finished with snow paintings. Now I need some color. Of course, you wouldn't know it from this sketch.

By the way ~ don't you just love the word "Gorgonzola"!?

Snowsnowsnow

Another Local Snow Scene.

We have only had light snow for the last few days. Enough to keep the old snow white and clean.

This is a watercolor, 11 X 15, on Arches cold press paper. I started this painting as a demo for class, but I really botched the center evergreen. I had the area too wet - I went into the sky too soon with the tree color, and the spaces I had wanted to leave white for the snow on the branches ended up being greenish brown. Yuk. It made the whole demo a "do as I say, not as I do" kind of thing.

Just as a challenge I wanted to save the painting, so I scrubbed the snow on the tree to lighten it up a little, then I painted some other areas of the snow the same color. I think it worked out okay.

This week I will try not to botch the demo. But if I do, I will try to make lemonade out of the lemons. Yes, it is a still life - citrus fruit and tulips.

Bookbinding Mess

. . . and a new sketchbook

I am trying to figure out if it is possible for one person to make one little sketchbook without taking up the surface of four tables. It really doesn't matter if I am working here alone, but I do think I could do this a little more efficiently.

I am waiting for an order of paper to put together yet another sketchbook. Every book has a different reason for being, and the upcoming one is to try out a sampling of different and unknown (to me) paper.

We had an interesting discussion in class today. Someone asked, "Do you ever run out of things to paint?" Everything looks like a potential sketch to me. Maybe not a real serious painting, but everything is at least sketch-worthy. Maybe it is all about the act of sketching and painting, rather than the subject. For me, it's not only about keeping the pencil and brushes moving, but the challenge of being able to get a three dimensional object down on a two dimensional surface. Whatever the reason, when we decide to seriously sketch and paint, we begin to look at things differently. We may even buy different food at the grocery store because we're going to paint it before we eat it.

When all we see outside is snow, and inside, things begin to look a little stale, it's time to give ourselves a challenge - sketch every day. Sketch anything - chairs, food, houseplants, dishes, lamps, silverware . . .

You know, I think we have this discussion every winter about now.
HAPPY PAINTING!

Pens

Pitt Artist Pens in a Cup

I was going to use the pens to do the colors, but then, of course, they wouldn't be in the cup anymore. If I moved one, they would all move.

No snow paintings this week. It has been dark and dreary. I have some good reference photos, but all the gray and brown ruins the mood. Maybe it is time to do some still lifes ~ flowers, fruit, pretty vases, interesting fabric! Sounds fun ~ especially the interesting fabric.

I have been fooling around with bookbinding again. It is habit forming. It's also very messy and time consuming. Maybe that's why I enjoy it so much.

It Takes a Village

Sun on the Snow Between Cottages

I've really been struggling with this one. I just couldn't seem to be objective about it and see what was right and what was wrong (it's the "wrong" that's important), but with a little help from my friends, I think I have it. Thanks for your opinions - I do appreciate them.

This is a watercolor done on a quarter sheet (11 X 15) of Arches 140 cold press. I am really having fun with these snow subjects. Painting snow paintings, reading Jack London, and making sketchbooks seem to be my obsessions of the season. Not too exciting, am I?

Update on my quirky life: the big guy on my speed dial (the tow truck guy) took care of the flat tire on my truck, the big guy I live with ( my husband) took care of the electricity to the bathroom, and in a couple of days he will hook up the bathroom sink. It's no big deal ~ I usually brush my teeth at the kitchen sink looking out the window anyway. I can not stand there brushing for two minutes in a closed up bathroom! I don't know what that has to do with anything, so here I go to work on a sketch for tomorrow's class.

Bay View Cottages

A Row of Cottages in the Snow

Another small painting done in my sketchbook. This is a scene I have painted many times in the summer. In fact, it is one of my favorites. There was a very cold wind coming off the Bay the day we went there to take pictures. There is no way in the world that I would have stayed there to sketch. It was the kind of cold that make your cheek bones ache.

Sketching from the photographs on my monitor certainly isn't the same as really being there, but living in Northern Michigan, I do have to compromise now and then. Doing them in my sketchbook gives me a chance to work out the colors and play around a little bit with the composition. I obviously didn't play around with the colors enough here.

I'm thinking of changing the name of this blog to "My Quirky Life". We've been talking about remodeling our bathroom for quite awhile now. My husband decided to put shut-offs on the bathroom sink before we really get into anything. While he was doing that, he broke the pipe. So the electricity to the bathroom light fixtures went out!!! That's the kind of thing that happens here. At the same time, my car sat in the driveway and had a flat tire.

Ordering

So Many Colors - So Little Time

It takes me days to get together an order for paint, paper etc. You'd think I would never have a chance at it again. Why can't I just order what I need and move on? I'm afraid I might miss something, I guess. And I want it all, when actually I like painting with a very limited palette. See the problem?

When an order comes, it is always a little disappointing not to have something new/different - like a little present to yourself. Daniel Smith has a 20% off sale for a few days. That ought to justify something new and different, don't you think?


Still working on the quarter sheet snow painting. Maybe I'll post it tomorrow.

More Snow

Another Snow Sketch

I'm so glad I went out taking snow pics when the sun was shining. We haven't seen the sun here in a couple of days, which is not unusual for this time of year in Northern Michigan. It has warmed up a little - it is up to 34 degrees.

I'm really getting into this snow painting thing. I am working on a quarter sheet painting right now. I am having a little trouble keeping the colors cool enough. I didn't work through the color planning in my sketchbook because I was in a hurry to get it ready for a class demo. I'll see how it goes and then let you know. I do have my pride - I'm not going to post it if it doesn't work out.

Keep warm!

Winter

Watercolor in my Sketchbook

I have said it before - I'm all about comfort - so no, I didn't sit out there in the snow painting this in my sketchbook. A few days ago, friend Karen and I went out taking snow pictures. We took a zillion. It was COLD and sunny - perfect.

I prefer to work from my own sketches when I do serious paintings, not from photographs. So for these winter paintings I intend to use the photographs as reference for my watercolor sketches, and then use those sketches for reference for my paintings. Make any sense?

I have a tendency to get very detailed when using photographs. To keep from getting too detailed with the sketches, I do a quick contour (more or less) drawing and then use a fairly large brush, such as a #12 or 14 to block in the color. My sketchbook pages a pretty small - about 5.5 X 5, which makes about a ten inch, two page spread. A large brush on that sized paper keeps things pretty loose.

So let it snow - I'm all comfy in my studio, working from pics on my laptop, and listening to Eric Clapton, Tom Petty, J.J. Cale - you get the picture. A little too much caffeine, but that's okay.

Mid-values

A simple value sketch and half finished painting.

We worked with shadows again today in my class. First we did simple sketches and blocked in all the middle values. We transferred the drawing to watercolor paper and swooped through all the areas that wouldn't be left white with a wash of manganese blue. In some areas successive colors were dropped into the wet blue paint, and in some areas they were glazed over the dry blue pigment. There is still some more to be added to the painting above.

Next week the class would like to do some paintings of snow. Perfect. I had started to work on some myself, and snow is all about shadows.

Just went to see It's Complicated. Cute. Now I have to go look up the sound track.

Is everyone painting? Wasn't that on your new year's list of goals - to paint more? It was on mine, and I must admit I haven't done too well. I have to think about it. Have to build up to it. It'll be fine.

COLD

Bay View in the Snow

I have a lot of goals and intentions for the new year. Doesn't everyone?! For one thing I plan to do a few snow paintings. I've never had great luck selling snow paintings, but ya know what? The snow is here and I'm gonna paint it. Embrace it. Wallow in it. Not really. As you can see, this is a photograph, not a painting. I am all about comfort and I can not paint outside in the cold! Today was beautifully sunny, and terribly cold - a good day to drive down the street taking pictures.

I have been completely tearing up the house. I have been threatening to do this for awhile, and since I have my big, strong husband home for a few days, this was the time to do it. We
took everything off the bookshelves, out of the china cabinet - even moved the piano back into the living room. We hauled furniture to the attic and five large grocery bags of books to the car . . .

Tomorrow I will finish settling things, and Monday it is back to sketching.

I hope everyone had a great holiday. Hope you're fired up to tackle your resolutions, goals, intentions. hopes and dreams!

Travel Palettes

Paint Choices for Small Palettes
(and toxic pigments and baked ziti)

A few posts ago, Annie had some questions about paints and pigments.

In my book, A Petoskey Watercolor Journal, I list the colors I use in my teaching of watercolor journaling, and I suggest using Windsor and Newton paints because of their quality and availability.

The colors I suggest in the book are: permanent rose, hookers green, ultramarine blue, cadmium yellow, and burnt sienna.

I also suggest these colors because I feel teaching journaling technique is more important than teaching color mixing in a brief journal workshop.

So now we come to the "However. . ." I have been using Daniel Smith watercolors exclusively for the past couple of years. No - I am not advertising for DS - just stating a fact. Colors are not the same across the board and I used to use some of, maybe, three manufacturers. Once you get used to a manufacturer's take on a color, it makes your life so much easier to just keep ordering from that one manufacturer. And I do think DS pigments are great.

As for color choices, again, these are suggested because it is easy to run into an art supply store and find them. I am all about instant gratification, and I feel if someone wants to get journaling, they want to get journaling - not try to find a mail order catalog and spend hours looking up the right stuff!

Annie had a question about manganese blue. A few years ago, the original pigment was "outlawed" and we couldn't get it for awhile. The new and improved manganese blue seems to have the same granular properties, which is what I love about it.

So, if I were to limit myself (which I do) to just a very few colors for tiny travel palettes, what would I choose? If I had room for only three colors, they would be permanent rose ( or something similar), ultramarine blue, and hansa yellow or lemon yellow. To add a couple more I would put in hookers green and manganese blue. Two more - cobalt violet and phthalo yellow green (NOT phthalo green yellow shade)

Sometimes, it is not just about the color, but also the properties of the pigment - if it granulates, if it is transparent, if it stains . . .

I had an email this morning asking about the best way to dispose of our paints and paint water if our pigments are toxic. I think the only toxic paint I am using these days is Cobalt violet. I don't use cadmiums and the manganese colors have been reworked, but if some of you are using these (and cobalts), you may want to be aware of their toxicity when painting with children.

As for disposal - I think you might want to google the subject and see what you think is best. I am not well versed in this and don't want to be quoted as saying, "Aw, heck, dump it down the sink". Look on your tubes of paint and see how they are rated - it will be on there. You'll probably find, that unless you are using cobalts and cadmiums, you have no toxic pigments.

"Marpia" asked in a comment how to make baked ziti special. The best way I know to make it special is to serve it by candle light.

Food Blogging - Christmas Season

One More Time

Yes, I'm baking ziti again. AND blogging about it. Ziti seems to be one of my temporary obsessions - like making sketchbooks and reading everything I can find on Jack London. I've put those two things on hold until after the holidays.

I have Christmas Eve Eve dinner to fix and a few errands to run. I have to make a run back to the grocery. I can tell exactly, by looking at my list, which aisles I ran into friends to talk to. I guess I can't shop and talk at the same time. Well, we all knew that.

One more Christmas present to buy and only a few more to wrap. I'm doing okay. How about you? Hope things are going well, and that you are all having a great holiday season.

MERRY CHRISTMAS to you and yours!

Baby Eggplants

Painting Colorful Shadows
and mixing (baby) eggplant colors

We worked in this week's classes on mixing colorful shadows. We mixed them on the palette and on the paper, getting very different results.

After having a break between sessions and then having a snow day last week, we'll take two weeks off for the holidays. We'll jump in with both feet when we get going in the new year.

The sun was shining here today!!! Wonderful. I went to the post office and there wasn't a line! Sunshine, no line - what a day!

Brussels Sprouts

Brussels Sprouts in my Sketchbook

I was ready to cut these in quarters, toss them with olive oil, garlic, and walnuts, and roast them. However - they were just calling out to be painted.

If you haven't tried them roasted like this - oh my gosh! Even if you don't like Brussels sprouts, you'll like these. If you have never painted them - try it. You'll like that too!

MORE snow today! Another class cancelled. During the class time I made a pot of coffee, cranked up Pandora, and worked on my year-end evaluation. Chris Guillebeau of The Art of Non-Conformity has some interesting evaluation and planning strategies - a little over the top for some of us maybe - I don't plan to visit 20 or more countries this coming year, but there are lots of interesting things on his blog.

That's it for my day - Brussels sprouts and year-end evaluations. I miss my students!!!

Cellar Door Painting and the Snow Boarder

Painting on Clayboard

In the previous post I showed the sketch, and I have been working off and on for the past couple of days on the painting.

We had a pretty big snow storm last night, and I had to cancel the first meeting of my eight-week Wednesday morning watercolor class.

You'd think I'd be able to use that time to really get into this painting, but with all the neighborhood activity of digging out, I was pretty distracted. Everyone was stuck - even the garbage truck was stuck. Just as I really got into the rhythm of painting, some guy came along and took a toboggan out of his van and tried to snowboard down the street. It didn't budge, so he kept moving it an inch at a time trying to find a slippery spot. That didn't work, so he hauled out a runner-type sled and tried that. That didn't work either. Then he started to wave down every pickup/plow that went by. Apparently, he wanted someone to plow out a parking space for him, and just thought he'd "snowboard" while he waited. That was my entertainment for the day.

I think I'm going to move into a cozy windowless corner to work, but think what I'd miss. I'm the one who is always going on and on about life influencing our art. Who knows what might come of watching the "snowboard guy".

Cellar Door

Gretchen's Cellar Door

This is a pencil sketch in one of my sketchbooks. I have painted this doorway a few times in different sizes, from different angles, and in various color combinations. I never tire of playing around with those shadows. Right now I am trying it on textured clayboard, and I'm finding the shadows don't work real well on that. I tend to paint in layers, and because clayboard allows colors to lift (the good news and the bad news), it is hard to build up the shadows. I'll let you see what's happening when I get a little further into it.

In reference to the previous post - the last of the ziti (at least three servings!) was finished off by a starving grandson after basketball practice. I knew that ziti would come in handy. Never under estimate your need for baked ziti.

Rosemary and Onions

Thank God for Baked Ziti.

Are we paying attention?
Do we really look at the everyday things around us? A year ago I was having my classes paint a series of themes. They could pick what they wanted to do for eight weeks, and really pay attention to that theme. It makes us aware of the everyday things around us - our food, doorways, barns, chairs, shadows, figures. Our everyday life enhances our art - our art enhances our everyday life.

I don't think a painting starts with a sketch. It starts with observing and appreciating. It starts with the way you see and feel everything around you. Nothing is too trivial to stop and appreciate - whether it's a handful of paint chips just because you like them together, or rosemary and onions on the cutting board just because you like the way they look against the wood.

Tuesday night I made baked ziti - enough for an army. The next day I was very involved in a project that really wasn't going all that well, and I just wanted to keep working on it. Thank God for baked ziti. It's the simple things in life, isn't it? And the ziti.

San Francisco

The Gardens at Grace Cathedral,
San Francisco

I posted this painting in progress a few posts back. I think it is finished - I will have to live with it a few more days to be sure.

I'm catching up a bit on real life today - painting, grocery shopping, doing laundry, cleaning the fridge, attending 7th grade basketball.

It is snowing here tonight. Seriously snowing. This will get me feeling Christmasy, and that's a good thing.

Thanks for hanging in there with me for 30 days of blogging. Although I missed a couple, I was thinking about you!

Bike Ink Drawing

BIKE

An ink drawing done on location a few summers ago.

I'm going through old sketchbooks for painting subjects, class lessons, and for the fun of seeing them again. I've gone back and read parts of my blog also. It is interesting, isn't it, how we (ME anyway) keep going along on the same path over and over. Fortunately, I like my path. If I didn't like it, would I make the effort to change old habits?

We did not start our bathroom project today. We decided we needed to know a LOT more about step two before we start step one. There are a few more decisions to be made. We also have to make very sure that we are talking the same language - you know, the Mars and Venus thing.

Art Supplies

Painting the Altoids Tin Palettes

A very quiet day here today. We discussed and planned (argued about) the bathroom re-do.
We wandered the aisles of the Home Depot for awhile.

I think we are going to start tearing up the bathroom tomorrow. I often say how much I love demolition, but this is making me a little nervous. Oh well, no guts, no glory - right?

Back to the Beginning

Cheese and Crackers

For two days we have worked our way through Thanksgiving food, and now we are ending up back where we started - with the appetizers. No one complained when I hauled the same food out for every meal. I guess we all need to get our fill of Turkey and the fixings, because we might not get it again for another year. We picked the carcass clean and everyone has gone home. Maybe that's why they went home - I kept serving them the same food over and over.

Happy Thanksgiving

We had a very busy day - lots of people, LOTS of food, lots of noise, lots of fun. Now we are settling down for the night - and listening to the wind and sleet.

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving.

Ketchup

Yet Another Salt and Pepper Still Life

Nothing much to paint on the table at Applebee's. However the food was very good, and it sure wasn't crowded. I think everyone else was home tending to their turkeys.

With the help of Eldest Grandson, I just put the last of the pies in the oven. When we stopped at the grocery store for a couple of things, the check-out guy said people are still buying frozen turkeys. This is zero hour for buying anything. What are they going to do with those turkeys?

This little still life is the first in my new sketchbook. What is it about the first and last pages??!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO YOU ALL!

Ivy

Ivy on the Coffee Table

I think I have painted this pot of ivy before. This is the last watercolor page in my red sketchbook. So tomorrow I have to decide whether to go back to my summer class sketchbook (the spiral I use because it is the same format as the sketchbooks my students use) OR break out the brand new spiffy handmade book I made a few days ago. Sounds as if I have made up my mind, doesn't it?

This painting is really pretty dull - not too much of a grand finale for the little sketchbook. I drew it quickly in ink, and when I do that I tend to fill in the color in a color-book style. I just woke up from a little evening nap (I had to try out a new queen size fleece blanket which was really too large and twisty for couch napping), I was blurry eyed, the light wasn't good . . . and so on.

Tomorrow in my spiffy new sketchbook I intend to do a masterpiece. Well, maybe not tomorrow, but it's coming.

Watercolor Classes

WATERCOLOR CLASSES BEGINNING DECEMBER 9th and 10th

I have posted the info for these classes on my Class Site.

Tangerines

Afternoon Snack

I love the boxes that tangerines and clementines come in.

I have one page left to paint in the red polka dot sketchbook. I will start next on the book I just finished. It is a little smaller than the 6 X 6 size I have been using, but with a two page spread across the facing pages, it's not bad. It is a little thick for the page dimensions, which makes it a little more difficult to open flat, but I am only going to experiment with one step at a time. This time it was the kind of paper, next time may be the dimensions.

Okay. Moving on. I think for the month of November I have worn out the topics of Glen Ellen, California, Jack London (watching a documentary tonight. Thanks, Karen) and handmade sketchbooks. Thanksgiving is a natural. We'll see where that takes us.

Nothing

I have absolutely nothing to post today. Since it is "Post Every Day in November" I have to at least say something, but I have nothing to show.

My daughter is a writer, so of course she reads writers' blogs, and I think, "But there are no pictures!". I realize a lot of people blog without visuals - but to be perfectly honest - I don't read them.

So, picture me helping my husband pick up six layers of old shingles from the garage and load them into the truck to take them to the dump. Wouldn't six layers be more than a hundred year's worth!? I am not a roofer, but arent six layers just wrong?! Picture me taking a nap.

Can You Take It?

Can You Take It? One More Journal?

After spending the time and money on the workshop, I wanted to be sure I could make these on my own, and I wanted to make sure I could figure out how to use watercolor paper in them.

My friend Karen (we took the workshop together) came over bright and early this morning, and we started bookmaking. The text block is easy, the covers are easy, but putting it all together is the tricky part.

It is pretty labor intensive - it took all day, and we had so much fun, I can't fix dinner now. I think we're going to have to go out. Pity.

Clementine

Clementine, Tangerine, or Whatever

As I was eating this tangerine and looking through an "old" sketchbook, I came across this drawing I had done of a clementine. I should spend a little more time doing pencil drawings - I love doing them.

It is just a little after four in the afternoon, and it is nearly pitch dark. The street lights aren't on, but the lights are on in the houses up and down the street. My studio feels nice and cozy, but I would really prefer another hour or so of daylight. There were LARGE black clouds over the Bay all afternoon. Oh, no - could there be snow in those!!!???

I met some old friends for lunch today - some women I met when we first moved here 20 years ago. It's a good idea to catch up with non-painting friends once in awhile. There is a whole world out there that I am not paying any attention to. We just can't participate in all of it, can we?

A couple of days ago I had lunch with a friend that has written a beautiful book on art, color, etc. We talked about painting, writing, and publishing, and it has me thinking about doing another book. Well, I always think about it, some times more seriously than other times. Writing a book is kind of obsessive, and I guess I just like being in that mode.

See my FIRST book here. My one and only - so far.

Journals

More Journals

We can't stop making them.

This afternoon I went to my friend, Cathy's, where she was helping some friends make journals. I love to see the variety of colors and patterns every time anyone gets together to make journals. The possibilities are endless. I am not showing the end papers/fly leaves in this picture, but they add even more color and pattern.

I haven't taken the time to make another journal since the Ann Arbor workshop, and I am afraid I will forget if I don't do it soon!

What a great "art day" this was. In class this morning, I had my students working on focal points/center of interest. We were looking through art books and finding the focal points of paintings and discussed how the artist arrived at those focal points - what did they decide to leave out. "Leaving out" seems to be a big part of it. Leaving something out can make a big statement - and be a big decision.

After class, I went to join the girls making journals, and of course we talked art all afternoon. We had a delicious dinner prepared by one of the girls. We sat in Cathy's cozy dining room and talked more art. Relaxing and inspiring.

I'm fired up - so many things going through my head - journals, paintings, drawings, workshops. . . .

Glen Ellen Street Scene

Glen Ellen, California
Three different versions of the same view.

I have already posted the two paintings, and I always think it is fun to compare a photograph of a location with my sketchbook version. The sketchbook version is always the closest to how the place really felt to me. The "serious" paintings are always a little too "dressed up".

In my sketchbooks a few little marks can remind me later of how a place smelled, felt, sounded (tasted, but I'm trying not to blog about food all the time) and how I REALLY thought it looked. A snap shot is just that - a SNAP shot. It just doesn't take long enough for me to engage all the senses.

Carrying a sketchbook around (and PAINTING in it) is such an enjoyable part of my life! It enriches everything. When your life influences your art, your art influences your life - or something like that.

Just paint - you don't even have to show anyone. But you'll probably want to.

Zenith Radio

Z is for Zenith

Back in February and March, I did a series of alphabet illustrations. For some reason I never did Z. So here it is. One of my readers has often reminded me - so this one's for you.

This is one of the many radios my husband has all over the house - not that there is anything wrong with that. This is a late forties Zenith. The sketch is very small - maybe two inches square. After doing these sketches last winter, I was going to go on with another series, but I guess I got a little side-tracked. Maybe this winter would be a good time to do that. Series are always fun to do.

Well, the sketch is pretty boring, but hey, it's a Z, and you've been waiting months for this.

My Desk

Cozying Up For Winter

Spellcheck says there is no such thing as "cozying", but we know there is, don't we? Especially those of us who live in Northern Michigan.

A couple of months ago, I moved a lot of my art supplies into this desk. I wanted it useful and colorful. It makes me happy every time I come in the room, or see it from the back door. I left the file a little larger than I usually do, so if you want to click on the photograph to enlarge it so you can take a closer look, go ahead.

I spent most of the day clearing up a couple of projects so I can move on to whatever is next. I have lots of things that could be next, it's just a matter of deciding where to start. Maybe I should put all my plans and ideas in a jar, pull one out and work on it until it is finished and . . . Okay. It's clear to me now. WORK ON IT UNTIL IT IS FINISHED.

Blue and White Dish

Blue and White Dish With Garlic and a Cut Lemon

This is a small watercolor sketch in my journal of some of my favorite things ~ garlic, lemon, and blue and white china. This is just a quick little painting so I would have something to post.

When we went downstate last weekend for the book-making workshop, we went to a great antique shop. I'm a sucker for blue and white, and the six-sided shape of this makes it a little different to draw.

Last night's maple glazed chicken breasts turned out great. The glaze/marinade is actually for a pork loin ~ recipe here.

Speaking of food. Aren't I always? Right now I am off to the kitchen to fix tacos. Hope everyone is having a good weekend. The weather is pretty nice here ~ so nice in fact that my husband is roofing the garage and I have been shamed (because he is working so hard and the weather is so nice) into getting some things done in the yard that I was going to let slide. Just a few things ~ I don't want anyone to expect this fall clean-up every year.

SKETCH SOMETHING THIS WEEKEND. ANYTHING.

In Progress

Grace Cathedral Garden Painting in Progress

I'm working on this from a journal sketch I did in California. I have a lot of students asked what the process is from sketchbook to watercolor paper. There are various ways to do it - one is, of course, to just draw it again, but that never works for me. Because I was pretty happy with the composition of the journal watercolor sketch, I simply traced the important shapes onto a piece of tracing paper, scanned it, enlarged it to the size of the wc paper, and printed it out (a copy shop will do this for you too), then traced it onto the watercolor paper.
Before I started to paint, I worked out all the light, dark, and middle values on the enlarged sketch. It is very easy to trace a sketch onto wc paper at a window or on a lightbox. The watercolor paper is much more transparent than you might guess.

Okay, here I go. I'm still working on that to-do list (they aren't supposed to END, are they!?) and we're having guests for dinner tonight. I am trying a maple glaze on chicken breasts - we'll see how that goes.

Figs and Produce

Glen Ellen, CA

This painting was done from the journal sketch I posted a few days ago. It's a watercolor done on Arches 140 cold press, 11" X 15". After I photographed the painting, I grayed down the fence in the background to set it back a little more.

I could almost smell the eucalyptus trees as I painted this. The scent is very strong in this area of California.

I accomplished quite a bit today ~ mailed out the summer schedule for the Bay View publication, delivered my card order ~ even went to the grocery store! ETC. I have been blobbing around for so long, that it feels good to be catching up. Of course the blobbing felt good too.

Food Blogging Again

A Huge Breakfast the Morning After Having Nothing to Eat but Potato Chips and Milk for Nearly 24 Hours.

We really know how to live, don't we?

This is one of those "quantity" not "quality" posts that I squeeze in when I'm doing the "Blog Everyday For the Month of November", or whatever it is. The chips and milk story may be useful toward the end of the month, so I'm not saying any more.

I tried to show some things I'm working on, but nothing seems to be working out just right tonight.

In class today we worked on laying in the shadows in Manganese blue (everything that wasn't going to be left white) and then filling in the colors and details. The class did a great job with it! My brain is too fuzzy to explain right now, and it would make a good post someday with a little step by step demo.

As I was plowing through my to-do list today after class, I found out that I have to have my summer schedule (part of it at least) turned in SOON for publication. OK, I can do that.

I'm heading for bed now. Who's going to remind me to do the step by step demo?

Kids Painting

The Kids Painting at Cherry Park

Very quick sketches of wiggly grandkids painting.

We were actually at Paul Moore Park in San Jose, California, but it is on Cherry Street, so it's Cherry Park.

I'm not that great at figures so if the figure is in constant motion that just gives me another excuse for not doing it well.

Running through my to-do list today, and it is going quite well. I am running on empty now, however, and still have a couple of things to do. I just did a little painting to put on a card and it was the most hideous thing I've ever done, so maybe at this point folding the laundry is the way to go.

Handmade Book

Fresh From the Bookmaking Workshop.

All the struggling I have done trying to make hand bound journals ~ this weekend I went to a workshop and learned how to do it correctly! We all know doing something correctly is so much easier. All the time I was stitching the signatures I kept thinking, "I'm doing this! I'm doing this, and it is so easy now!" The class was from 10 A.M. to 5:30 P.M. and we were exhausted when we were finished.

So seven and a half hours and $130 later I have a beautiful hand bound book. That $130 doesn't include shoe shopping the day before, and buying extra book materials that I just couldn't live without. It was a perfect girls' weekend.

Well, so much for blogging every day in November, huh? I will really try to stay on track for the rest of the month. And I think I am home for awhile. I have info to get out for my next class session, a card order to fill, some new cards to design for an order, and some things to get ready for the Art Center Christmas show. And of course, I have to stay one step ahead of my Wednesday class ~ they just get better and better every week.

Giorgios

Dinner for Four at Giorgios
San Jose, California

This place has linen napkins, so we were careful how we splashed around with our watercolors. It was a very crowded little table with pizza (best pizza ever) a big salad bowl, bread baskets, drink pitcher, many plates, and three sets of paints and sketchbooks!

So here I am only into the first week of blogging everyday for a month - and I MISSED yesterday. Last night was an "author event" at my husband's library. The author was David Oliver Relin, who wrote Three Cups of Tea. It was a very interesting evening, starting off with a Central Asian menu for dinner, and then David's inspirational presentation, then a book signing. I have been asking myself ever since sitting down to dinner with him, "Cath, what have YOU done lately?" Everyone was asking themselves that by the time they left the auditorium. I'm just hoping the inspiration lasts awhile. I have a very short attention span.

Rainy Day Still Life

"Baby" Fruit from the Backyard.
A Rainy Day Still Life.

I was painting one day after school with the California grandkids. It was too rainy to go out and paint, so we picked some very small citrus fruit in the backyard, along with a trumpet vine-type flower, and set up a little still life on the coffee table. It was very colorful and we had a great time.

For my class this morning I did a demonstration using the Grace Cathedral watercolor sketch in my previous post. I had worked out a value sketch and had it ready to go on watercolor paper. I was just going to show a few things to get them started on their own projects, but they wanted me to keep going. That class! They ask the best questions, and really make me think about what and how I am painting. Sometimes I just paint along without giving it too much thought, but when I have to give them a reason - that's better yet.

I'll post the painting when it is finished.

While I painted, we talked about California and listened to music from China Town in San Francisco. I'm stretching that vacation out as long as I can.

Garden Area at Grace Cathedral

A Small watercolor done in the garden and labyrinth area
of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco.

I wasn't about to tackle the Cathedral itself in my little sketchbook - and that's just why I use a little sketchbook - so I won't have to tackle the big stuff.

I think I would like to live in that apartment on the right - the one with the fire escape across the window. Just the way the light was going through it. It was calling my name. But no one else was interested in living there with me, so . . .

It was a nice day to do China Town and walk UP THE HILL to the Cathedral.

I am working on a value sketch of this scene now. I may turn it into a "serious" painting.

The sun is shining off and on today, and the Bay is a beautiful dark blue. Very fall-like, moving into winter. That's okay - bring it on!

Glen Ellen Street

FIGS
TOMATOES
PRODUCE
END OF LANE

A small sketch in my journal, looking down the street in Glen Ellen, California. I am working on a larger painting of this view. It is such fun to paint vacation pictures ~ it takes you back to that place and time.

This afternoon I was supposed to go to District Court Jury Selection for the months of November and December. I figured selecting a lot of jurors for a lot of trials was going to take awhile. About two hours before leaving, the court clerk called and said, "Never Mind." Or words to that effect. So I cranked up my music and continued painting. But in the back of my mind there was this little "Gee. They don't want me?"

Moss Covered Tree

Moss Covered Tree in the Jack London State Park.
Glen Ellen, CA

Mentally I am still in California, and yes, I am still obsessing just a little bit over Jack London.

There was moss EVERYWHERE and on EVERYTHING in the woods here. It covered the houses, the trees, the rock that marked Jack and Charmian London's grave . . . . the pathways were muddy, rocky and and a little slippery . . . . and it was verrrry verrrry quiet. I even started thinking about Charmian living here in one of the big stone houses alone for forty years after Jack died. Not my problem. Besides she had an affair with Houdini, so I guess she wasn't moping around back here in the spooky woods by herself.

For the third year I have signed up for the "blog Every Day in November Challenge" so you can expect quantity not quality. As you can see already.

The Fig Cafe

A Contour Drawing While Waiting for Dinner

The Fig Cafe was small and crowded and had wonderful food! The food was pretty upscale, but the prices weren't bad. I loved this place.

I think this is the first place I have ever hauled out my sketchbook and had my husband say. "You really think you should paint here!?" I said, "I paint everywhere." and he said, "You usually don't have someone DINING twelve inches from you." I assured him I was just going to draw. And it's the first time a waitress ever said, "Oh, what are you drawing?" They usually politely ignore me.

There was a fig tree growing outside next to the building - I don't think I have ever seen a fig tree. The area is full of olive trees, eucalyptus trees, and mandrones. Spellcheck doesn't like mandrones.

We had some sunshine here today, so I went outside and raked leaves for awhile. I think I will actually have something out for the leaf pick-up in a few days. I haven't put the garden to bed - I usually leave it to fend for itself - I would rather clean it up in the Spring when it MIGHT be a little warmer.

I did paint a little today, but it wasn't of the obsessive nature that I posted yesterday that I was hoping for. I'll keep at it.

The Jack London Lodge

In the Garden/Pool Area of the Jack London Lodge, Glen Ellen, California

Sitting with my sketchbook and a glass of California wine, enjoying the last of the warm sunshine before dinner.

Now ~ back in Michigan ~ my class came this morning, and I feel grounded again. We did some two-minute paintings of single objects, and then five-minute paintings of three object compositions. The class did a great job with this assignment. They turned out some beautiful little paintings!

I haven't obsessively researched anything about Jack London today, and I have only played BejeweledBlitz (or whatever) a couple of times, so maybe there is some hope of getting a few little paintings ready for the art center Christmas Show. I'll make that my next obsession. Some people have goals, I have obsessions. Whatever it takes, right?

Pacific Ocean

Sketchbook Journal entry at Fort Ross In California

This is what I was painting in the photograph in the previous post. While I was sitting there it became so foggy that I couldn't see those rocks at all.

I'm having a little trouble with "re-entry". I loved Glen Ellen, and really got into the history there regarding Jack London. I have been reading so much about him, that I actually feel sad that he died!!! Get a grip! He died in 1916. I've been going through my pictures and my sketchbook, missing the kids (!), missing the weather, and then I hear "California Bloodlines" on my mp3 player. . .

Tomorrow morning my class will be here - they'll get me back in the groove.

Painting in California

Sketchbook Journaling Along Highway 1 in California.

We have just returned from a great trip to California. While we were staying in Glen Ellen in the Sonoma Valley for a couple of days, we drove over to the coast and up Highway 1 because we had never done that. I do prefer the valley to the coast - just because I like cozy spaces, not wide-open spaces. However, there were some magnificent views!

I will post some of my sketches as soon as I get settled in a little at home - a trip to the grocery is first on my list. Wishing we had a Trader Joe's here . . .

Down the Street

Cottage at the Curve in the Road

It is cold and windy, raining, almost snowing here. As I was going through my summer sketch books I came across this painting of a cottage in Bay View. I painted it on our last evening of painting for the season. We sat down to paint this because there was a nice, bright, warm spot of sun shining on the front of the cottage. By the time we set up, it was gone. And by the time we were finished painting, we were cold!

My class didn't do very quick little paintings of autumn objects this past week. We did do autumn objects, but we got pretty wrapped up in loosely rendering them. I didn't have the heart to stop them and move on to the next. They were doing some really nice little paintings. There is always next time.

Lemons and Peppers

Multiple Views of a Still Life

In yesterday's class we set up a still life, divided our paper into four rectangles, and painted four different views of the still life. I was a little sick of it by the time I got to the fourth painting ~ the top left. I may try this again someday. The whole idea is to zoom in, zoom out, pan left, pan right . . . . I think I could have zoomed a little more and panned a little less.

Next week the class wants to do very quick paintings, just a few minutes each, using autumn related objects such as pine cones, leaves, squash, gourds, pears.

We had a pretty heavy frost last night. Goodbye summer. As always, fall is bringing out my nesting instincts, and I have been switching my upstairs studio space (which never really worked out up there) back downstairs. I think I had better make a few trips to the Salvation Army/Goodwill to get rid of all this stuff I don't know what to do with. My new philosophy is "if I don't know where to put it, I certainly don't need it". I know that this philosophy is not new to some of you. We'll see how this works out.

Reflective Objects

Small Demo of Silver Cup

I'm a little paranoid about posting this class demo after my husband looked at it and just shrugged his shoulders. I tell my students NOT to show their art work to their spouses! Also, I tell them we aren't after perfection. So here it is.

The class did a great job with the reflective objects ~ glass, silver, white porcelain, etc. Everyone was really paying attention to the details. It is one of those "paint what you see and paint it boldly" things.

I'm into my nesting mode now. It happens every fall. I think most people have it. I always just hope it last long enough to get a few house projects finished ~ like maybe dusting!

Big Creek

Spending the Weekend at Big Creek

Big Creek isn't big. But it's sparkling, fast, and bubbly. Deep in the woods where the Kirtland Warblers live. They are endangered and only live in a few places in the country. We didn't see any, that we could identify anyway, but we did hear a bird call that was unfamiliar to us.

We could see this part of the creek from the deck of the cottage owned by my husband's sister and her husband. We used to live in the woods ~ in Interlochen, Michigan ~ and sometimes I miss it. Not often enough to want to move! I love it where we are. I like being able to walk to the post office, the library, the park for concerts, the playground ~ you get the picture.

My class wants to paint reflective objects this week. That'll be fun. If I do a good job with the demos, I'll post them. If I don't, you'll never hear about them again.

Are you sketching, painting, writing, singing, dancing, designing . . . this week? Let us know what creative things you are up to.

Painting on Location in September

Sketchbook Journaling at a Farm Market

I spent a beautiful, warm, autumn morning (as opposed to an ugly, cold, summer morning - sorry, I'm a little bitter about the reversal of seasons here) painting at a farm market with friend Cathy. Journal painting takes a lot less concentration than "serious" painting, and it is always fun to do it with a friend.

My newest obsession is finding something interesting and colorful to string with pearls. Disappointingly, the 30 inch strand of pearls that belonged to my great grandmother, Triffina, turned out to be FAKE. Or is it faux when it comes to pearls. Well, let's just say I expected more from someone with a name like Triffina. So now I have to decide if they are worth restringing with turquoise, amber, glass, Etc. Also, I'm not sure I'm a pearl kind of girl. Well, we all know I'm not ~ so I guess that's what makes it fun.

Now I am off to buy MORE ink carteridges for my printer ~ I have a card order to get out today. And today is my husband's birthday. He wants TUNA NOODLE casserole for dinner! He's easy.

More food blogging.

Food Blogging

Of all the things we have been doing in the past few days, I'm posting food pics. Can you believe these "sandwiches"?! They were great!!! We spent the day at The Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village and these were ALMOST the highlight of my day.

The previous day we rallied at the state capitol for the Michigan libraries. A lot of people from all over the state turned out. I must admit that I have never "rallied", and I was pretty excited about this. Dull story - no one got arrested. We did cram a lot of fun into that day - had lunch at the hamburger joint where we went on our first date, visited the Lansing Art Gallery, went to the Historical Museum, the MSU gardens, the dairy store on campus, ate dinner on the sidewalk at a Mexican restaurant . . .

Now I am sorting and filing and getting ready for a new round of classes. It is still good sketchbook weather. I need to paint a little faster to fill up all those journals I have been making. I know - I should be painting instead of eating.

Labor Day

Labor Day Picnic at the Waterfront.

This is it. Wrapping it up for summer. We spent a nice relaxing afternoon at the waterfront having a family picnic and just doing whatever - tossing the Frisbee and football, eating, splashing in the water, eating, dozing , painting, eating, poking at dead fish . . . Then in the evening half of the family went downtown to a political rally and half stayed home reading kids' library books on the porch.

Youngest granddaughter insisted we would need a "bucket" of flowers for the center of the picnic blanket, so there they are in the above photo.

I hope you all had a good weekend and are looking forward to a productive new season.

Walloon Lake

Watercolor Sketch of Walloon Lake

On a beautiful morning spent with some very talented ladies in a beautiful spot on the lake. This is the sketch I promised yesterday (and I know all of you were waiting with bated breath).

This morning some of us got together for a great lesson on color. It is so inspiring to get together with other painters! And the person giving the lesson is so knowledgeable.

This afternoon I made the first soup of the season. Not because it is soup weather (it has been all summer, but not today) but because it is time that I accept some responsibility here and COOK. Oh ~ where did that come from? Did I take Julia and Julie a little too much to heart? Remember yesterday I said I had pearls and a string of chili pepper lights ~ and now I want to COOK!?

Food Blogging

Went to see Julie and Julia last night, so I thought maybe I could get rich and famous if I got a little food blogging going here. I have pearls and a string of chili pepper lights just like Julie!

Actually this is a picture of my lunch at the Thai restaurant yesterday. It was very tasty ( I don't know what it was). I love their blue and white china, but the food just didn't seem sketch book-worthy. And, no, I really don't think it is that photogenic either, but I didn't have a sketch to post, so . . . Oh, I do have a sketch. Well, tomorrow.

My friend Mary Lou came down from Mackinaw City yesterday and after lunch at the Thai Restaurant we are walking down the street and a woman ML knows comes out of a store. There are other people coming out of the door, and an older lady is kind of jostled against us. Thinking she is the woman's mother, we pull her into our group and include her in our conversation. After a minute, she says, "You girls are fun! I'd like to spend the afternoon with you, but I'm just trying to walk down the street".

Doesn't take much to make my day!

More Journals

Seriously. I CAN NOT STOP making journals.

Actually, only three of these are mine. I spent Friday making journals with friend Karen. The Friday before I spent making journals with friend Cathy. Karen and I spent two hours in Joann Fabrics putting together fabrics and papers. Now I understand why people quilt - it's that mixing of colors and patterns thing. Look at that paisley - wow, I love that!

I put aside the journal stuff for a day or two because we had a demolition thing going on here. We demolished a wall, reconstructed it and installed a new window. I love demolition! It has so much potential . I mean, when something is gone, you can put anything in that spot, right?

So today I am going to paint the new wall, scrape and paint the back door and stay away from the journal stuff. There is more to life than making journals. My husbands says.

Figures

Small Watercolor Figures

I spent a nice morning painting with Walloon Lake friends. After painting a sketchbook landscape, I turned around to face the other painters in back of me and do some very quick, juicy sketches of them. I need to do more figures. These will be fun to look back at to remember the day.

In the upper right hand corner you can see yet another (!) small palette that I've set up. Someone in one of my classes this week had this great pill box palette and I HAD to get one!

I am a little worried that my STUFF has become more important than the art I do with it. But we all need our stuff, don't we?

Tea Party

Tea Party

A friend celebrated her birthday today at the Terrace Inn with a tea party for her friends . What fun! How long has it been since you've been to a tea party? There were about a dozen of us there and the conversation was lively and the food was wonderful.

What a nice gift to give to friends. Thank you , Beverly.

I did this very fast ink drawing and then threw on a little color - not necessarily the correct color, but color. I was so busy talking. Who, me? Every time I look at this sketch, I will remember a nice afternoon with very nice people.

Take your sketchbook with you next time you go out!

Sketchbook Journals

I Can't Stop Making Them!

I had seen a journal that looked like pretty easy construction, so I spent the day Friday with a friend working it out. We are trying to simplify and still have them sturdy and comfortable to use. Simplify, as in easy to teach and construct in a day. Comfortable, as in opening flat.

Now I have a block of paper of one size with no cover, and a cover of another size with no paper. So, I guess that means I have to construct two more journals.

The sketchbook journals are stacking up ahead of me ~ I am not painting that fast. I'd better get with it.

This week I have some "fancy" events, and I need to figure out what to wear to them. A fancy event means it is something that jeans and a t-shirt would be inappropriate. How hard can this be?! Why is figuring out what to wear always so difficult. Get over it!

Demo Page

A demo page from yesterday's journal class.

I spent the entire day teaching in the garden area of the Woman's Council building, on the education campus of Bay View Association. When I was finished and started picking up my things, there was trash from morning coffee, lunch, and afternoon snack. The sun had moved from due east to due west, and I had materials strewn all over from watercolor class, drawing class, and watercolor sketchbook journal class. It was a fun day!

Today we are looking at thunder showers, so we have picked out a large porch with some good views to accommodate the journal class this afternoon. It is pretty quiet around here now, so we had our pick of large porches ~ public buildings, not private cottages of course. Well . . .

I didn't sleep well last night! Besides the visiting grand-dog, Dexter, thinking he should sleep with us, and Rudy the cat thinking Dexter shouldn't (that's Rudy's spot!), I kept waking up worried AND excited for our daughter-in-law getting three kids up, dressed, and in the car at 3:00 a.m. and heading downstate (in the pouring rain) to catch a morning flight out of Detroit. They are going for a long weekend to visit their daddy/husband/our son in Texas in the Air National Guard. I bet he didn't sleep either.

Today is the last day of the last class for me in Bay View. I always hate to see it wind down. I look forward to the time to do my own thing for awhile ( and a couple of classes a week) but it is a big adjustment. Slowing down should be easy, shouldn't it?

Library Door

Bay View Library Door #3

No, this little library doesn't have three doors, but I have painted it three times this summer as a demonstration. As three demonstrations. It is near where we meet the first day of classes and by the time I am finished going on and on about all the "stuff" and how fun and easy and blah blah blah ~ we don't have time to go very far and still have time to paint.

It also has some good demonstration points such as simplifying perspective, simplifying windows, mixing browns, painting bricks . . .

We are having some real summer weather this week. Some areas have gone back to school! Well, I guess this weather is better late than never. It is almost time for me to start complaining about the snow.

P.S. I don't know "Don at the library door". As I put the figure in, someone in the class said, "Oh, that's Don". So if anyone knows Don, please tell him he's here, okay?

Still Life

Fast and Juicy.

In a painting group that meets during the summer, there is an artist that I just love to watch paint. I watched her do a demonstration this morning, and this is the painting I did after her demo.

Her application of the paint seems slow and deliberate, but then you realize it is really moving right along. Her shapes are large and her colors are juicy (is that the trick?).

It was a beautiful summer day and we were painting on a long porch overlooking the lake. We also had lunch there with a wonderful breeze coming in.

This was a fun painting to do - my glass is a little screwy and not exactly what I wanted, but I'm not complaining. Sounds like it, but I'm not.

Karen's Watering Can

Another Evening Painting in Karen's Beautiful Garden.

This is a small journal painting done in my hand bound journal of Aquarius II paper. It was a great evening for talking and painting ~ although the talking does slow down my painting ~ or is it the other way around. Either way, I don't stop painting OR talking. It is always fun to paint with friends. After a couple of hours, it started to rain a little. We don't seem to go for more than a two hour stretch this summer without some rain.

We have decided to extend our watercolor class. We will go for four more weeks to get in some more painting time before the summer people start to leave. Some students have requested some drawing instruction, so I am adding an optional hour at the end of each two hour painting class for four weeks. Most of us may not be able to go that long without lunch, so this will probably turn into a picnic/drawing class. Works for me!

Stephens Lane

One of my Favorite Gardens in Bay View

In reference to my last two posts, I have not figured out how to make the piano "fit in" in the kitchen, and the excavator guys did not come to excavate our property, but the driveway across the corner. That's it for excitement around here ~ none, actually. That can be a good thing.

No classes today. I have cards to package, a lesson plan to fine tune for tomorrow, the sun is shining, and I am inspired to work on some sketches.

Wishing you a productive and creative day!

Memorial Garden View

Memorial Garden One More Time,
but probably not the last time.

This is not a huge garden, but the views are amazing, inside and out. I'm always telling my students not to try to paint the whole world in one painting, and if it's in a sketchbook IT"S A SKETCH. Looks like I got a little carried away here. Maybe I will go back today and do a view in another direction. There are several views I want to do from the inside looking out, but I need a nice warm day to sit in the shade.

Right now, as we speak, our house is surrounded by a lot of big excavation equipment. "Hey, guys, it's not us. You do know that, right?" It wouldn't be the first time someone has had the wrong address and started to do something drastic to our property. Guess I'll go check this out. Whatever it is, it is more distraction than I need today. Remember how the big, hairy, drunk guy's little red car kept me running to the window? You can imagine what lots of excavation equipment could do to my day.

Educational Gardens

Finally ~ a nice evening for painting.

I spent the evening painting with a friend who had never painted before. That was fun, and she really enjoyed it. She is even carrying her sketchbook around with her everywhere she goes.

My class schedule is light this week. July is always very busy, and I hate to see it wind down. I like the structure of it, but I certainly couldn't keep it up all year. Now I have time to notice what a terrible mess the house is. Every surface is covered with watercolor paper, sketchbooks, palettes, books . . . .

I am afraid of slowing down and diminishing the creative impulses, but maybe my next creative thing should be to figure out how to make the piano look like it really does belong in the kitchen. Is that even possible?!

Contour Drawing

Contour Ink Drawing of the Back of the Bay View Post Office

We were able to have classes outside for a couple of days (after a COLD weekend) and then the rain hit again. I am packin' my bags and heading for . . . somewhere. Looking through my sketchbooks, I see that last summer wasn't much better, so if this is becoming a trend, I'm outa here. Idle threats. I'm staying.

I am teaching a multi-media drawing class this week, and we are doing ink, charcoal, and pencil. The above sketch is a contour drawing (my favorite kind of drawing) of the back of the Bay View Post Office. Contour drawing is so forgiving - what are a few more wiggly lines, and the perspective never works out anyway. I like to use contour to get the information about a subject before I get serious with it.

Contour drawing, by the way, is starting at a point on the paper and drawing the entire object without lifting the pen. If you haven't tried it ~ do! It's really fun.

Memorial Gardens Again

Another journal page done at Memorial Gardens.

I always say I could paint here everyday, and I'm coming close. My classes always want to paint here, and then they want to return.

This has been a hectic week. I have had fewer classes, so what makes it hectic? I dunno ~ it just is. You know how some weeks are like that. It has all been good. It has been filled with things like packaging and delivering cards, framing and delivering paintings, getting things ready for classes, doing the classes, helping a friend hang window treatments (if you know me personally, you will wonder why she ever asked ME to help with window treatments!) getting things together for a yard sale (and if you know me personally you'll wonder how THAT is ever going to happen), and the week is only half over.

I am going to try something different for tomorrow's morning class. I will have them do some flower studies - three paintings - zoom in, zoom out, and leaf detail. I'll let you know how it goes. In the afternoon I have a private lesson with a man and his grandchildren. Sounds like fun.

Hope you're all having a good week!

Huddling on the Corner in Bay View.

A very cold day to be outside painting. We actually huddled in a tight group to keep warm. It's a good thing we are using limited painting supplies ~ it is easier to huddle that way. Everyone seemed to have fun and they really turned out some great watercolor sketches. What a group ~ they didn't even complain when we did the octagon house on the hill. The perspective of a house on a hill is pretty different anyway, and then to have it an octagon! They did a great job.

It was just tooo cold for the morning class to go out. We stayed in and worked on composition. They have been such good sports about the weather. Maybe next week we will be able to paint at MemorialGardens. We keep trying! I think maybe summer starts tomorrow.

Bay View Library

A Demo Sketch from a June Watercolor Journal Class

Another class starts tomorrow and rain is predicted again. NO! I can't stand it!

We are having a nice sunny weekend, so I guess I shouldn't complain. It's a lazy, relaxing weekend after a very busy, productive week. Today I want to work in the garden a little, go to the grocery, finish the book I'm reading, get things together for next week's classes . . . . Maybe I shouldn't have been quite so lazy and relaxed yesterday.

Contour Flowers

Contour Drawing Demo for Class

This is a quick contour sketch for my drawing class. I did it to show how easily and quickly we can capture the basic shape and gesture of an object. It is far from perfect, but this is how this bunch of flowers "felt" to me.

Just had a phone conversation with a friend about perfectionism. It sure can stand in our way! It can actually keep us from doing what we want to do. Why do we let it do that!?

I am a little overwhelmed this morning. I don't have to be anywhere. I don't know what to do with that. I have a lot to do ~ things that really need to be done ~ you know, as in making-a-living-type-of-things. I am still in my jammies and really need to move forward into the day.

Hope you all have a great 4th of July weekend. Whatever you do, or don't do, I hope you'll carry your sketchbook with you. Oh yeah, and open it and make some marks in it. Have fun!

Karen's Arbor

Karen's Garden on a warm, beautiful evening.

"On a warm beautiful evening". Did ya catch that?

If you live in Northern Michigan you know I didn't do this sketch this week. It has been cold and wet all week ~ how can it do that for so long?!

It has been a good week anyway. My afternoon group is the most enthusiastic drawing class I have ever had. They want to try it all! I am sorry for my morning watercolor classes that they can't be outside, but they seem to be having fun anyway and are turning out some good work.

I have been running in and out, doing some classes in the studio and some away, and dumping art supplies, books, etc. all over the house. Tonight we are having guests for dinner and I am not even sure I can find the dining room table! I've got to come up with a creative way to make all this look OK, and I have just about a half hour from the end of my last class until their arrival. You probably wonder why I am sitting here writing this. Me too.

Memorial Garden Again

Allium at Memorial Garden, Bay View

I could paint at Memorial Garden everyday. There is something to paint in all directions, and the garden changes daily.

And speaking of painting at the garden everyday ~ that is where we planned to be yesterday and today, but it is COLD and rainy. You know, Mother Nature, this is NOT what summer is all about! Oh well, it is still fun to get people together to paint, inside or out.

For yesterday's afternoon class in Bay View, I wore a thermal shirt, a turtle neck sweater and a very warm fleece jacket. I was comfortable in that ~ and we met indoors.

Okay, enough complaining about the weather. I have some great class participants this summer and I'm having FUN! AND I get paid for that!

A Bay View Porch

It was a sunny, warm, wonderful week to paint in Bay View.

I also had a couple of watercolor classes along the Bay. It was hot, but there was a nice breeze and we had shelter there. It just seemed sooo good to have it actually feel like summer.

Last night we walked home from the park in the rain with the kids, then spent the evening reading and playing checkers on the porch. Now, that's a summer evening ~ complete with hamburgers, hot dogs, and root beer floats.

Sturgeon Bay

I took my sketchbook ( and my husband) to the beach today.

I had intended to really sketch up a storm, but I felt really fuzzy brained in the sun and this was all I did. I didn't read. I didn't even think. I was just there. Nice.

Now I am trying to shift gears to be ready for classes tomorrow. Shifting gears is about the hardest thing I do. If I didn't shift, I would just kind of drift into neutral, and that wouldn't be good, so here I go ~ paints packed, sketchbooks packed, clothes ready, rain plan in place . . . .

A Nice Life

Sketches from the Concert in the Park.
The Northern Michigan Chorale

It was a beautiful evening to sit in the park and listen to this great group of people who obviously love singing together. One of the fun things about living in a small town - we can just grab our chairs, walk down the hill (oh yeah, we drove) and sit with friends and neighbors for an evening of entertainment. I am still waiting for Van Morrison or Leonard Cohen to come, but . . . nothing personal, Northern Michigan Chorale.

Yesterday I bound a new sketchbook - red cover, black and white polka dot end papers in the picture above. I still have a lot to learn about book binding. I over-compensated for all the mistakes I made last time, so NEXT time I ought to get it right, huh?

Next week I have a very busy week of classes - seven in four days. I love it! Actually I think the next few weeks are like that, but I am afraid to look at the calender more than one week at a time. So if I act dumb when you ask me, it is because I am trying to live in the moment. And loving every moment. Last week my youngest granddaughter said, "Grandma, you have a nice life." Yep, Sweetie, I sure do.

Radishes

Radishes from the Farmers' Market

It was a beautiful morning at the Boyne City Farmers' Market. I love it there. It has such a feeling of community, and the produce, baked goods, fish, cheese, ETC are wonderful.

I am really not a radish person, but when I saw these with the sun shining on them (through them!) I had to take them home with me. It was either that or stand and look at them, holding up the line for awhile. I decided it was more appropriate to give the guy my $1 and move on.

There was a little nibble out of one of the radishes and the market guy said, "Everybody's hungry this time of year". I kind of hope the hungry critter was a little mouse and not a big slug. Wouldn't you have to have teeth to nibble a radish?

1st Friday Summer Kick-Off

A Demo Page from my Workshop.

3rd Annual Watercolor Sketchbook Journal Summer Kick-Off

Did we ever luck out with the weather! PERFECT! And what a fun group of journal painters! Everyone was so enthusiastic and talented. We all have to be reminded at the beginning of "journal painting season" (called summer in some places, but we don't seem to be having that here) that the journal pages are very personal and we put what we want in them ~ what a we want, how we want.Everyone picked up on that in a hurry and really did some beautiful pages!

Thanks to everyone who attended ~ you made my day!!!

Now today it is cold again, but we have been pretending all day that it is summer. We sat in the sun and read, had lunch, painted outdoor furniture, etc. We are SICK of being cold, so we are pretending to be warm. It worked pretty well until the outdoor temp dropped to 45 late in the afternoon, and it was only 62 in the house!

Maybe tomorrow is the day summer begins.

Pineapple and Strawberries

Plans for dinner: Sketch first, cook second.

We had friends over for dinner last night, and when they arrived I was sketching the food instead of cooking. They're very patient people - it was okay.

We made fresh pineapple and ham pizza, and a salad of red leaf lettuce, strawberries, oranges, toasted walnuts, and Gorgonzola.

By the way, does anyone have a tried and true trick for getting red wine out of a white table cloth, a butcher's apron, and tennies? It is probably already too late to say "Please hurry", isn't it?

Cute Little Red Car

Where's the big, hairy, drunk guy?

Yeah, I know. This has nothing to do with art, but I'll zero in on any distraction that comes my way. For those of you who know me personally, you may know that I love incongruities.

So ~ about 2:15 A.M. two cops haul a big, hairy, drunk guy out of this CUTE, shiny, little red car, and stuff him, handcuffed, into the police car ~ just like in the movies. In the morning sun this car is as happy and innocent looking as can be. But why is it still there? Is the drunk guy coming back for it when he gets out of jail in 30 days? It has no plates, just a permit. Permits don't last forever, fella.

Living in the city, on a corner, can be pretty distracting. We have had some interesting things happen, literally, just a few feet from our bed!!! I won't bore you with it. I'm sure we all have things to do today.

SUMMER CLASSES 2009

My summer class schedule is posted on my CLASS SITE.

I hope one or two of these will fit your summer schedule. This is such a great area to find "paintable" subjects!!!

SUMMER KICK-OFF

Third Annual Summer Kick-Off
One Day Watercolor Sketchbook Journal
Friday, June 5th, 10:00-4:00

Please check out my class site for more information.

Plants and more plants.

A Carload of Plants.

And more in the backseat ~ a lot more.

My friend, Karen, and I started out this morning at 9:00 to hit a couple of garage sales, a resale shop and two greenhouses. We were having so much fun, we just kept going. . . and going. . .

I wanted to get some pots of flowers going so they will be ready for my journal class the first Friday in June. I got a little carried away and bought things I really didn't need to get at this time, but that's the way it is this time of year ~ SO tempting. I want to have it all!

Oh ~ I have to plant this stuff?!

What a Mess

This is what my studio tables looked like Monday morning!

We had a fun weekend with the kids - lots of messy art projects, trips to the park, the library. . . But Monday morning was back to reality (isn't it always?) I'm still plugging away at my illustration project and firming up my class schedules so I can get them posted.

I finally gave in to a sinus infection and went to the doctor. So with my little packet of antibiotics and a nap now and then, I am doin' okay. After I finish up some current obligations (obligations to myself to make a living!) I am heading for the greenhouses! Can't wait to smell the dirt and see something blooming!!!

More Sketches of . . .

I'm still thinking of the great time we had in California. It is still cold and dark here in Northern Michigan, and just looking back through my sketchbook keeps the memories intact.

Everything here at home is still brown. That's not true - the grass is green now, but that is it for color. Yesterday I raked a little in the yard, and there is promise of plants to come - and eventually to bloom.

I suppose I could do something productive to be ready for our short summer season. Something like firm up my summer class schedule, get a couple of illustration deadlines off my list, and then paint porch furniture. All of those things sound fun - and that's what it's all about right? Fun?

More California

The Lemon Tree

This is a beautiful little tree, absolutely weighted down with fruit. The fragrance of the citrus trees right now is fabulous.

That orange thing in the bottom left-hand corner is a petal from a bright orange California poppy. We were going to go down and sit on the sidewalk and paint them, but something more interesting came up ~ ice cream cones, I think.

California

A Two page spread in my handbound sketchbook.

I took sketchbooks and paints etc for the grandkids and they were completely uninhibited about painting at the table in restaurants. Every restaurant had something suitable for painting - flowers on the table or something within view. They were eager to paint anywhere and everywhere. We had a great time.

We're home now and it is cold here!!!

WATERCOLOR CLASSES, SPRING, 2009

WATERCOLOR CLASSES

Spring, 2009

Please see my class site for information on the Wednesday and Thursday six-week classes that are beginning April 29th and 30th.

We all need some splashy COLOR about now, don't we?

Asparagus

Some Spring Green

Unfortunately I ate this bunch of asparagus before I did a good sketch of it. I guess it wasn't unfortunate - I was hungry. I am pretty indifferent when it comes to asparagus ~ I don't get what the big whoop is, but I do love the look of it!

I roasted this bunch and it was really good. Google it on allrecipes.com. It is sooo easy.

I have had a couple of very busy weeks and it's not over yet, but I am working my way through my to-do list. It is all good busy ~ you know, as in positive stuff ~ painting deadlines, framing, packaging cards, delivering, classes, family togetherness. And the level is all relative, isn't it? I have been careful not to say "whew, I'm so busy!" to my daughter and daughter-in-law. You can just imagine what their level of busy is ~ young moms with full time jobs and all the stuff that goes with it.

I know ~ I have yet to do "Z" from my alphabet series. I will. We do need closure on that, don't we?

Have a good one! Here I go, back to the list.

Gerbera

I love gerberas!

Don't gerbera daisies look like something someone made up? Maybe a seven year old? I love 'em.

We woke up to lots of snow this morning. Not a pretty sight. And the Bay is just as white and frozen looking as it was in mid-winter.

I just realized that I never finished the alphabet squares! I still have "Z" to do. I knew from the beginning what I was going to draw for it too - so what's my problem!?

Figures and Landscapes

Small Landscapes and simple Figures

These little landscapes could be habit forming. They're fun to do in various color combinations and compositions.

The figures were done from old photographs. I tried concentrating on the shadows to give a simple form, using very little detail. My Wednesday class is so interested in figures that they are beginning to convert me. Trying to keep one step ahead of them, and at least come up with some simple demos, I have become interested in drawing and painting figures also. I always thought it was definitely necessary to know how to do figures, but could never quite get enthused. I'm almost enthused.

Is it Spring yet?

In the sketchbook I made a couple of weeks ago, I put in some brown. acid free, lightfast construction paper. I love how it works with Prismacolor colored pencils. This is the first time I have scanned the sketchbook. An open spread just fits in my scanner. I didn't plan it that way, but I guess if we want to scan our sketchbooks, it is something to consider.

It was a little disappointing to wake up to a very gray sky and more snow this morning, but it can't last much longer. Tell me it can't last much longer.

Y is for . . .

"Y" is for Yard.

The snow is receding and the little green shoots are appearing. Finally. We still have a long way to go before spring-like weather here, but every ray of sunshine helps.

One alphabet square to go.

X is for . . .

"X" is for St Francis Xavier.

This is a view of St. Francis from our front window - over the rooftops and through the trees. It is only a few rooftops away ~ kind of kitty-corner across the block. It is visable from the water front, out on the bay, across town. I like being able to see it from the dentist's chair ~ I know home isn't far away and I'll be there soon. We all need these little landmarks in our lives, don't we?

The second finished page of the alphabet project.

Two letters to go.

W is for . . .

"W" is for Watercolor.

This is my tiny watercolor palette that I made in an "Altoids Smalls" tin. Painting this little square was the first time I have used this palette.

I have had a couple of people asked what's next. I only have X, Y, and Z left for the little squares project (maybe this isn't big enough to be a project - big as in important). What I plan to do is go with some themes. Just looking at the finished squares bring to mind a few ideas. For my ancestor square, I can see doing some things along the lines of ancestors, family, antiques . . . I could just kind of expand the idea and do four or five drawings or small paintings a week in that catagory. Some may even turn into "serious" paintings. That would be good! I could use a serious painting or two right about now. As small and simple as these drawings/paintings have been, I do think they are good for taking a chip at the old painter's block that crops up now and then.

V is for . . .

"V" is for Vase

On the bottom of this vase is "Albion Ware". I can find a few pieces of Albion Ware on the Internet, but only one vase that is at all similar. It is called a tapestry pattern and it is a little glittery. It is not this yellow. If anyone reading this happens to know that it is very valuable and we could sell it and be set for life, let me know, okay?