Squash/Gourd

I know what you're thinking -
"after three weeks of not blogging, she posts a moleskine page of a gourd/squash thing???!"

Yes.
Things have been a little out of kilter here, and I am trying to get back to normal. So, maybe to some of us sketching an unidentified growing object is normal.

A loooooonnnng vine grew all summer by the back door. It had a lot of blossoms, but this is the only squash/gourd it produced. I think it's a gourd - although not one I am familiar with, but I am really not familiar with gourds. So, whatever. It is a great New Gamboge color - Gamboge right out of the tube.

It's the simple things in life.

Isn't this the cutest cottage! I have tried many times to capture this. I think I did get the feeling of the setting when I was over there painting a few days ago, but missed the color by a mile. Doing the small journal watercolor sketch at least gave me the feeling of the setting. Just being there working on the sketch for awhile imprints something in the brain that helps when a serious painting gets underway at a later time. So now I have some sketches and some good photographs. So sometime soon I will get going on it.
While I was painting this, there was a very cool breeze coming off the Bay, but when I walked down a ways, in the shelter of some cottages, it actually felt like a hot summer day. It was a great day to be sitting out there sketching. We may not have too many more of those days. I don't mind cozy indoor studio work - once I get into the swing of a new season's routine. Routine - did I say that?

A gorgeous day and a great group of painters!
And a wonderful view to paint.

I spent a very enjoyable day teaching a watercolor workshop at Harbor Cove, a private association on Little Traverse Bay. It was hot! And sunny! With a cloud or breeze now and then to give us some relief. Perfect. Everyone there had a successful day of painting. Painting on location is not easy, and the Bay is not an easy subject - changing colors, changing light, no focal point, toooo much water, toooo much sky, toooo much distance . . . Every single person there did a great job of handling all that.
Thanks, Ginny, for once again, making the location available to us.

Sketching in Bay View

I had planned to get so much done during the couple weeks between the end of summer classes and the beginning of Fall classes. Best laid plans. Well, no, there were no plans - that's why nothing happened. But does something really NEED to happen? Isn't it okay to just BE? The problem with that is, you have to give yourself permission to "just BE" before you do it or you'll think you AREN'T doing something else that you are SUPPOSED to be doing . . . .

I read several artists' blogs and it seems many of them are trying to use this time to plan classes and clean studios. Come to think of it, I planned classes, and I sent out info. I had intended to plan the rest of the year(!) and recap the summer - close enough. And it is not too late to clean the studio. It took three months to get these stacks of paper scattered everywhere, so I can take awhile to clean it up. If I am missing something urgent - it is probably already too late. That makes it not urgent anymore. Right?

This drawing was done Friday in beautiful morning sunlight in Bay View. Now I am anxious to paint it!!!! Nice dark, bold shadows. Watercolor? Acrylic? Watercolor on clayboard?