Terrace Inn Tea

Strawberries and Devonshire Cream

This is a little sketch done in Prismacolor pencil and watercolor on Zerkall Frankfurt Cream paper.  The paper sounds good enough to eat, doesn't it?  It is not watercolor paper, and it does buckle, but I kind of like it anyway.

I did this at my second annual Terrace Inn Afternoon Tea.  Twenty-one ladies attended and they all brought their watercolor journals and small paint kits.  Their paintings were wonderful!  We spent the afternoon in the beautiful dining room (linen tablecloths and watercolors do mix after all) painting in our journals, compairing supplies, and catching up.  We painted a little before we started eating and then everyone painted between bites.

The very fact that the Inn lets us paint at the tables set with linen says it all. The whole staff is gracious, accommodating, and creative.


I love the idea of getting past, present, and future students together, and it's so much fun to discover new techniques, find out where to pick up new materials, and just to share some time with people with sketchbooks in common.

Thanks to all who attended!!!  I'm looking forward to next year already.

Onions and Vinegar

Yellow Onions in Ridgways Dish and White Balsamic Vinegar

This is done on Arches Cover Cream.
Couldn't seem to loosen up on this drawing, but I like the way it turned out anyway.  The painting was loose enough  -  I just swooped through with a big brush, using the same technique on the onions that I used on yesterday's plant -  painting them as one shape. I threw in a little red and yellow and softened it out a little lighter in places, and then went back with some shadow color.

I'm listening to Christmas songs and it's snowing.  Sooner or later I am going to have to bake a few Christmas cookies and shop! Maybe this weekend we will do our tree.  Maybe.  Don't want to rush into anything.

Quirky Cup

 

Very Quick. Very Lopsided.

This is the cup and saucer that is part of the set with the soup terrine a few posts back.

It is a very interesting shape, and I certainly didn't do it justice here.  It is really kind of boxy  -  if something round can be boxy.

In my hand bound journals, when I tie on more thread, I usually leave a little length at the knot.  It's waxed thread, and it resists the watercolor when I paint over the spot where it was closed in the book.  I mentioned in an earlier post that I thought that might be a good technique for saving a fine line of white on the paper.  However, it didn't work when I tried to do it on purpose. You can see the thread and the marks it made along the page center toward the bottom.

Tomorrow is Monday. Tomorrow is back to real life.  That's not a bad thing  -  I like my real life. I also liked having family around and eating every five minutes.

Filberts and Almonds

A Contour Drawing on Arches Cover Cream

The grandkids love to crack nuts.  Their mom says to  crack only what they are going to eat, but I think it's pretty cheap entertainment.  It keeps them busy for awhile, it is relatively quiet, and it's pretty easy to clean up.

It always takes me by surprise, that on Saturday after Thanksgiving, I have to think about meals again.  I mean  -  haven't we given that all the thought it needs for awhile?  Grocery shopping  -  you mean we really have to do that again!?

I think tonight it's gonna be grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup.  What kind of wine goes with that?

Soup Terrine

Good Intentions

This is what I had intended to sketch today, but I'm a little busy here! 

The soup terrine is a piece of a partial set of china that has been handed down in my dad's family. Several years ago, my daughter was driving home from college for the weekend, and bringing my mother with her.  As they were walking out the door, my mother said, "Let's take the soup terrine to your mother."  So they packed it in my daughter's basket of laundry for safe keeping on the trip.  

If only soup terrines could talk.  I would love to know where else this has been in the more than 130 years of its life.  Think of the modes of transportation it has seen getting from generation to generation.  

Someday I will sketch this.   It could be challenging from some angles  -  but right now, I am going to get as much done toward tomorrow's dinner preparation as possible.

Wishing a very Happy Thanksgiving to those of you in this part of the world celebrating the holiday tomorrow.

Sugar Bowl

My Grandmother's Sugar Bowl

This is usually in a kitchen cupboard because we really don't put sugar on anything.  I thought I'd bring it out into the light of day to sketch it.  Little pink flowers  -  are my friends surprised that I painted this?

I bought a savoy cabbage to roast with some other vegetables for dinner guests tonight.  It's beautiful!  I'm hoping I will get a chance to paint it before I cut it up and cook it, but I don't know  .  .  .

The check-out girl insisted it was a SAVORY cabbage.  When I insisted it was not SAVORY, she finally charged me for green cabbage.  Whatever.  I was just trying to educate her, she never did believe me, and I got the better end of the deal.

Brushes and Tea

Mug of Tea and Brush Pot

A quick little sketch done in my watercolor journal.

Last week in my Wednesday morning class, I expressed ( I guess a little strongly) my dislike of the color pink.  This morning everyone in class was wearing pink. Cute! Not only are they all talented painters, they're fun too.

Very gray, dark and wet here.  We are on our way to a middle school basketball game  -  that'll be bright and cheery.  Bright lights. Yelling.  Action!   I love basketball.  Go Rams!

Harker Flowers

Love These Colors!

I should work a little harder at getting the shape of this dish.  Another day. Maybe. 

In this morning's class we talked about composition again. We will never stop talking about composition - that's what it's all about.  You could be the best watercolor "technician" in the world, but if the composition of a painting is awkward, it'll never hold up.   I think thumb nail sketches and value sketches are essential to do before getting to the painting, and everyone seems to be slowing down and enjoying the process.

Right now I am going to go paint a couple more little tiny paintings for the Arts Center Christmas show, and I must admit I am not going to do thumb nails or value sketches for them.  They are so small, they are just colorful thumbnail sketches themselves.

Are you thinking about Thanksgiving dinner?  Maybe you could dig out a pretty dish or two and sketch it.  Let me know if you do that, okay?

Harker Chinaware

Harker Hotoven Chinaware

"The oldest pottery in America"

I should be painting. No, I should be catching up on paperwork. No, I should be...... so I'm cleaning cupboards.  I do my best when I listen to what is calling my name.  I'm just hoping that tomorrow painting is calling my name.

This time of year I love to go through the cupboards and rearrange things a little.  It's just part of my nesting thing, I guess.  I did purge quite a bit today - getting rid of a lot of duplicates and things that were just plain worn out.  I'm not getting rid of these two pieces of  colorful china.  I love the colors!!!  I don't have a good place to display these, but I should come up with something  -  they are just too pretty to stick up on a top shelf and shut the door.

Yesterday I spent a little time in Bed Bath and whatever, looking at everything and buying   some salad plates. I decided I should really satisfy my need for "new" by digging out some things from my own cupboards and china cabinet that I haven't seen for awhile.  It's been fun, and my kitchen is in better shape  -  some things taken away, not added.
Tomorrow I'll work on some sketches of the dish in the foreground  -  it is a challenging shape.

One more step to go, and that is to actually get the stuff I purged out of the house.  Why is that the hardest part?

Still Life Objects

Still Life Objects Used for Today's Class.

Today's class did some quick contour drawing and painting in their sketchbooks of these objects. They spent five minutes on a drawing and five minutes painting. We did two or three, and then set them up for a more "serious" still life.

There is something about the quick sketches that seems to give us permission to leave out details and concentrate on what it is that makes a thing ~ vase, bottle, plant ~ what it is. Then when it comes time to do the serious painting we already know how simply we can "say" that.

We have a winter weather advisory for tomorrow!!! That isn't at all unusual for this part of Michigan, but I am SICK OF IT.