Watercolor Classes

I will be offering a couple of new eight-week classes

beginning November 19th and 20th.
Please check out the information at my class sight.

Does this qualify as a post? Sure. Day 7 of blogging every day in November.

View From The Waterfront

A fabulous, warm, sunny day for walking and sketching.

I went down to the waterfront this morning and walked the bike trail for about thirty minutes and then painted this watercolor sketch in my journal. This is a view looking up toward town from the waterfront. I could have stayed down there and painted all day - except I was very hungry and I was teaching a class at 1:00. I hadn't painted in my sketchbook in a couple of weeks and it felt good.

That could be it for outdoor painting. We may have snow in a few days. I am not into painting outside in the winter. I'm all about comfort.

Mason Jars

Too Tall. Too skinny. Too monochromatic. Too . . .

Day 5 of blogging everyday, so it's something. This was a quick demo (I say that because if you don't think it's well done, you'll think it is because it was "quick"). This was done for a student today that is doing a still life with a couple of Mason jars in it. Or are they Ball Jars?

Today was the last class of this session for the Wednesday group. I will be offering more classes that will begin November 19th. We'll have three holidays in there to work around. No problem - it'll just make the session last longer.

Another spring-like day here today. Just beautiful. I thought this afternoon I should go outside and paint, but it really isn't very pretty out there. It's quite brown. That's no excuse. Tomorrow morning I will go outside and paint some seed pods or something. Anything. I shouldn't be wasting this beautiful weather.

California Dreamin'

Today's warm temperature with the November slant of the sun felt like California in the fall to me. I am not excited about the Michigan winter coming on, and I'm missing the California kids. California Dreamin'.

This is a sketch I did in my journal the last time we were in San Jose.

We went to vote early this morning about 8:00. We missed the big, long line that was there earlier. In fact there was really no line at all while we were there.

I didn't get too far with my to-do list today. I have classes Wednesday and Thursday, kids Friday and Saturday, and in-laws Sunday and Monday. I have three baskets of laundry to fold, meals to plan and shop for, and I really should get a little painting done! The laundry can stay in the baskets. We can eat at McDonalds (KIDDING!). I'm just gonna paint. I WILL have something new to show you tomorrow.

Now I am going to watch the election coverage.

Now We Know How to Vote

A Last Minute Look at the Candidates

Through the eyes of our second grade granddaughter:
"So we were watching this thing about the candidates. John McCain looks . . old. But not too old - he's still alive. I think he'd be okay."

"Obama!" Big smile. "Obama has hair just like my daddy's. But I don't think he'd do as good a job as John McCain."

I hope this helps if you are still trying to decide.

The Neighborhood Map

This was my creative endeavor today. I helped Middle Granddaughter make a map of her neighborhood for a school assignment. We used watercolor, Pitt Brush Pens, acrylic gold paint, and sand. I really thought we could use a little glitter here and there, but I didn't have any.

What kind of a grandma doesn't have glitter?! I don't think I ever had any glitter in my life, but I have three granddaughters - I really should have some glitter.

More Pears

This is a very small painting of pears (I hope you already knew that - the "pears" part) done from the pencil sketch in the previous post.

I like the pencil sketch much better than the painting.

I have signed up again this year for the NaBloPoMo challenge, which translates somehow to "blog everyday for a month." Don't asked me why I do this, but if you go back to my posts of November, 2007, you'll see I actually did it - and it was fun! So here I go again.

We have sunshine! So I think while I have a grandson here to help, we will go out and pull out all the old dead stuff from my cutting garden and get it ready for winter. We are also putting up storm windows. A friend from Louisiana asked, "What are storm windows?" Ahhh, to live in a climate that is ignorant of such things! Of course they do have more than their share of STORMS, but I guess extra windows wouldn't help!

Pears

Pears in Pencil

More art from the kitchen. These pears were drawn on a brown paper (Nideggen) which has a line-y texture to it. I wonder if there is a smooth drawing paper in a brown color. I like the color of Nideggen and Bogus Rough, but I really enjoy drawing on a plate finish. If anyone knows of any, I'd love to hear about it.

We had a little snow here and there this morning. Too much for me! I do live in Northern Michigan, and I don't see myself packing up and leaving any time soon, so I'd better just bake some cookies, make some hot chocolate, and get over it! I DO keep trying to make this a food blog, don't I?

Watercolor Figures

Little Figures on Parade

These were really fun to do. I did them after watching a Skip Lawrence DVD. They're quite addictive.

Class participants have been especially involved and connected this week with their subjects. I love that! They are each working on a "theme" or series for the entire six weeks. After painting on location all summer, I felt we needed a challenge to keep us going into the colder months - something more stimulating than a still life set up by me.

So . . . maybe after doing these little figures, I can see them being worked into some composition lessons in our next session.

SQUASH

All the wonderful fall colors out there and I am drawing in pencil! I have been very interested in lights and darks / contrasts lately - even more so than usual.

It has something (or everything) to do with the angle of the sun as the season changes. Maybe I am subconsciously soaking up as much light as I can before our dark winter settles in.

It was sunny here today and I worked in the yard a bit - bringing in pots before they freeze and break. My husband doesn't understand how one person can possibly need all those pots, but there is something about them waiting there for me on the back porch that I really like. It seems hopeful - like planting bulbs in the fall.

Okay, now I am off to paint little figures. I watched a Skip Lawrence dvd with some friends today about painting simple little figures. What fun - I can see filling up some spare (?!) time playing with that!

Pond Hill Farm

Relaxing in the Pool

This is the life, huh? Just waddle around in a little pool in the sunshine. I did this small painting from a reference photo I took this past summer. I just loved the way the sun was shining on his very white feathers.

This time of year it's fun to paint a little bit of summer. I must admit, it has been pretty here - the leaves are beautiful and the clouds are so dramatic in the fall. Each season has so much to offer.

Lucia's Squash in the Morning Sun

I did this painting from a photograph I had taken one morning as the sun came in the east window. There is nothing like the morning sun on a still life - but it is so fleeting.

This is a small painting - about 6 X 10 - done on Arches 140 cold press. I don't like the surface texture of Arches now. "if it ain't broke . . ." So why did they change it? And why didn't they ask ME? No one ever does.

Apples

I just PAINTED today, and it felt GOOD! I didn't do anything else.
Not much anyway.

These little paintings didn't scan very well, but I'm posting them because I don't know what to do to make them scan any better.

There is something about fruit wedges that I just love - from all angles.

I have another painting I did today and will see how it looks to me tomorrow. If it looks finished, I'll post it then.

It was 79 degrees here today!!! Beautiful. I'm not sure it reached 79 all summer, did it?

Sunflowers

Small Sunflowers painted in my Aquarius II journal.

My friend, Cathy, stopped at the farmers' market and picked up these sunflowers, and thinks this might be the last of them. We had a good time painting them, and hope we gave them the attention they deserve as some of the last of the season's flowers.

In keeping with my kitchen theme, I should have painted these in the kitchen, but the vase is from the kitchen and the blue and white gingham napkin in the photograph is kitchen-ie - so close enough, huh.

Bottles

Another in my Kitchen Series.
This contour sketch (the pen stays on the paper for the whole drawing) was done with a Pitt Pen and white Prismacolor pencil on Nideggen paper in my sketchbook. I love the look of black and white on this paper.

It's been very quiet here today. I had a to-do list longer than my arm, and I knew I would never get through it all, but I did make a dent. I'm ready for tomorrow's class. It will be nice to have contact with the outside world - the phone didn't even ring today, and I only went outside to put out the garbage!

Now I'll knock off a couple more things on the list, get in my jammies and watch the presidential debate. It is, as they say, like watching a train wreck. But I can't complain if I don't know what to complain about.

The Last of the Zinnias

This is a small painting of a very small bouquet of zinnias and cosmos on the table in the late afternoon sun.

It is done on illustration board which sucked the paint up immediately and made it impossible to soften any edges.

This painting is part of my kitchen series in conjunction with the themes we are working on in my watercolor class.

Rainbow Vegetables

I was preparing vegetables for roasting and Littlest Granddaughter was scrubbing them. When I got them all cut up and tossed with fresh herbs, she said, "It's a rainbow!!!"
They are beautiful. aren't they. The recipe can be found here.

I served the vegetables with a maple marinated pork loin which was a big meaty looking hunk of meat to someone who doesn't eat a lot of meat. However, it was very good, and for the first time in my life I cooked a piece of pork without completely ruining it.

It was a nice weekend - a little yard work, a trip to the bookstore, a trip to the library, a midget football game (only rained on us a little bit), a birthday celebration for one of my husband's co-workers . . .

Tomorrow I plan to finish up a small painting and get started on a commission. I'll get busy and get some paintings posted and quit pretending that this is a food blog.

Late Afternoon Sun

The late afternoon sun coming in the west window.

It always fascinates me how much the angle of the sun changes as the seasons change. This is one of my paying-attention to-my-painting-theme observations. I've done a little sketch of this on illustration board for a small watercolor. I think the folds in the fabric of the curtain would work better on cold press paper, but we'll see. It is harder to soften edges on illustration board and hot press paper. But I love the way paint puddles on smooth paper.

I think today is a good soup and muffin day. So - a quick trip to the store, make the soup, get in some painting time. . . sounds so much more relaxing than summer. Maybe fall isn't so bad after all. Embrace the season!!! I'm trying.

In the Kitchen

When your life inspires your art, your art inspires your life.

In other words, be involved with your subject, keep your eyes open, carry your sketchbook and camera everywhere. Look for colors. Look for light. Zoom in. Zoom out.

I just started a new class this week and will begin another next week. I am asking the classes to pick a theme and really pay attention to that subject. It can be tangible or intangible.

A couple of people have chosen to do barns. They'll be doing sketches and photographs to to use as painting references. They'll do barns in various lights, pay attention to the textures, the insides, the outsides...

Some others are interested in doing figures. They'll want to carry their sketchbooks everywhere. They'll benefit from doing quick gesture drawings and from getting family members to do some longer poses.

I'm going to play along with the classes by doing "in the kitchen". My kitchen could use a little attention, poor neglected thing, and it is the first place I head for when the season changes from summer to fall - just part of my nesting routine.

The image above is an almost-blind-contour drawing of a couple of onions and my great grandfather's sugar bowl, done in my sketchbook while waiting for my toast to pop up.

Why did my great grandfather have his own personal sugar bowl? There is no one left to ask. It will be one of life's mysteries for me. I'll have to get over it - it's not important.

Tomatoes

I was playing around with watercolor pencils. I don't use them very often, and I don't really handle them well. These tomatoes look more like oranges!

This was done in a page in my sketchbook on Aquarius II, which seems too soft for pencil. The pencil actually dents the paper.

It was fun sitting on the porch in the late afternoon, late September, sun playing with color.

I did a few chores in the yard today. I am slowly putting the garden to bed for the winter. Slowly. I don't want to rush into anything, but I guess now that it is officially autumn, I have no excuse. I have to come to grips with it - nothing is going to bloom again this year.

Thanks, Ellie, for the tomatoes!

Abbey Sweet's Ice Cream Parlor

What a fun place to hold a workshop - in an ice cream parlor!

I had a downstate group coming up for a watercolor workshop, and I was looking for a place large enough to be comfortable for two days and with some local atmosphere. The Terrace Inn in Bay View happened to have an ice cream parlor that is closed for the season.

The workshop group was a lot of fun - a great bunch of very talented ladies! The weather was perfect, and our lunches were delicious. What more could we want?!

Today I am back to the old routine - having class in my own little area - if we can get to it. I have dumped everything from the workshop into the studio space and the living room. I'll make it - I'll have things straightened around before the class arrives.

Out my window this morning are some very orange leaves against an almost lavender sky. It might be a good day to go out and get a couple of journal pages painted.

Experimenting Again

Charcoal and Watercolor on Yupo
Charcoal and Watercolor on Arches 140 Coldpress

I spent the day Friday with friends playing with charcoal, watercolor, watercolor pencil, paper, yupo (plastic "paper"). The bottom painting was an unfinished demo I had started for a class. I added charcoal line and more watercolor. Looks cartoon-like, but I think I'll give it a try again some day.

It was a nice day even though we had to cancel our plans to go out to the lavender farm because of rain. At noon we went downtown for lunch and the farmers' market, then did a little thrift shopping, then painted some more.

It's been a nice week - lots of friends and family and very relaxing. For all that relaxing, I am really sleepy now. Is it permissible to go to bed this early? 9:00 p.m.?

Mackinac Island, September 11, 2001

The View From my Window - a bit of sunshine and color.

On Sept. 11th, 2001 I was teaching a five-day watercolor workshop on Mackinac Island. It was a Central Michigan University Eldehostel Workshop, and the participants were from all over the country. If you are familiar at all with Mackinac Island, you know what a magical place it is, which made it a very strange place to be during that week. To be in a magical place when the magic is gone is very disconcerting. It felt lonely - I couldn't go home and I wasn't with my family. We had to carry on - this week was vacation for the participants. They had paid to be there and to have fun and learn something. No one's heart was in it. It was flat.

Between classes I tried going around painting journal pages, but most of those were flat too. I was near the door of the hotel painting a gate, but not really concentrating on it, and a group of hotel interns was gathering there. They were from European countries and were due to go home in three weeks. They were very worried now about being able to get home. All I had to do was catch the ferry in a few days. They were in a foreign country that had just been attacked and they would have to FLY to get home. Not a great option at that point.

I am meeting a woman for lunch today that was the coordinator of the workshop. She stays here for the summer and will be returning home soon, so we'll get together, remember our week on the island a little, then move on to what's new in our lives and what plans we have for the year.
We'll all remember where we were that day, won't we?

Inside or Outside

I never get tired of drawing and painting the back door.

This drawing made me think of those puzzles that used to be in the paper where you would draw what was in the squares and end up with a picture.

We had a nice weekend - a "Midget" football game on Saturday morning, installed some handrail posts, rearranged some plants, read a good book - 13 Steps Down by Ruth Rendell, and I made cookies!

Right now there is a thunder storm out over the Bay. I think I'll get in bed with the lights out and enjoy it.

Enjoying the Day

Was this the last nice day of summer?!

I went with a friend yesterday to spend the afternoon painting at one of my favorite places. The weather was perfect - one of the more summer-like days of the season. Or rather - the season that never happened. Oh well. It is September now. Move on.

I love this spot, there are cottages along the lane, arbors, gates, windows peeking through the leaves, sunny doorways, great patterns of roof-lines . . .

My class was going to meet there this morning, but it was cold and raining, so we had to call it off and paint inside. Thanks Karen, for being "Mobile Unit One" and sending people in the right direction!

No classes tomorrow, and I think I will catch up on a few domestic things, such as buying groceries, and going to the farmers' market. Maybe I will dust and run the vacuum. Maybe not.

Hollyhocks Again

The Last of the Hollyhocks

Almost the last of all the flowers. They're fading fast. I haven't kept up with weeding and dead-heading like I should, but I have enjoyed the garden anyway. It is bright and colorful, and if you don't look too closely, it looks pretty good.

A friend stopped by yesterday and we sat in the yard and painted for awhile. We didn't paint the weeds or the spent blossoms., we just saw the beauty in the colors. The good news and the bad news - I don't always see things that need attention.

This was another painting in my new Aquarius II sketchbook. I am a few pages into it and I would use this paper again.

It's the Labor Day Weekend. Wow - wasn't it just the fourth of July!? We have no big plans. We have a list of house and yard projects a mile long, but we'll have to have a little fun too - it is a holiday after all. Having a little fun could mean going to the Home Depot and Lowes three times a day instead of just twice.

Hydrangeas

Aren't these just beautiful?!

One of my students brought these to class today. We just went crazy over the size of the blossoms and the COLOR! We didn't paint these as part of our lesson, but towards the end of class we did play around with getting the colors down, and worked a little bit on the detail of the blossoms.

Did you notice in the previous sentence that I used the words "play" and "work" meaning pretty much the same thing? That's what I love about my job - I can't tell the difference between play and work.

Journal Painting

This week I am doing my last Bay View watercolor sketchbook journal class of the summer.

It always makes me a little sad. It really marks the end of summer. I see I felt the same way last summer. Every Year.

I usually have a couple of projects to get going on right after the very busy summer season, and that always helps. This year I have my painting composition classes to keep me on my toes, and an out-of-town group coming up for a workshop - fun!

I used to say that it never rains on my journal class, BUT this year it has been very different. Right in the middle of painting this demonstration, the heavens opened up. We headed for shelter and finished out the class with some people painting on the porch, and others setting up art supply still lifes and painting inside. The group is adaptable and eager - they could paint anywhere under any conditions.

Hollyhocks on the Corner

Hollyhocks on our corner.

I started a new sketchbook today. What is it about a new sketchbook? AND what is it about finishing up an old one? It's a feeling of accomplishment to fill a whole sketchbook. This little painting (about 6 X 9) was done in the book I made of Aquarius II paper. I also like the Aquabee sketchbooks that I have used for years, but do like making my own - there is that feeling of accomplishment thing again. It's no big deal - I'm not binding it myself like a lot of artists do. I just cut it or rip it to size (another story for another time) and take the stack of paper and the front and back covers to a printer and have it spiral bound. For the format I use for journal painting, spiral bound works better for me than stitched.

Anyway - here I go with a new sketchbook. And here I go with some new classes. The last of the Bay View classes starts today (four afternoons) and I have two 6-week painting composition classes starting this week.

It is nice to have things starting right now. My summer schedule is slowing down and the California kids leave in the morning. This is such a transitional time of year for me. That's okay, it was a great summer, a great visit with the kids, and I have these new things to dive into this week. AND of course lots of classes and paintings in my head waiting to happen.

Painting in the Garden

A Garden Vignette

I spent the evening painting with friends - such a relaxing way to spend some time. Karen's garden still looks beautiful.

This was painted in a sketchbook I made using various kinds of paper. The watercolor paper in it is Aquarius II. I put it in this book and then ordered enough to make a whole sketchbook of it. Stupidly (is that a word - spell checker thinks it's okay), I didn't try it out before I ordered ten more sheets of it. After painting on it last night, I decided it was a good move. I really like it. It is only 80 lb, but has a synthetic something in it that keeps it from buckling. It took to blob and smoosh (read the book!) very well, and that's what really counts.

After looking at the painting this morning and realizing that I had goofed up the perspective of the large window, I gave the paper another test - scrubbed off, burnished, and repainted the offending area. The paper held up well to that too.

So when the friends I was painting with read this, they're going to wonder why I was telling them how to redo their perspective when I couldn't even get my own right. Well, girls, that's what friends are for - to give opinions, whether we know what we're talking about or not.

Composition Class

Painting Composition Class
Click here for information on my upcoming six-week class.

A couple of wet into wet unfinished demonstrations for Monday's classes.

I should try to finish one of these before the flowers are gone. However, at this point it is more about what is good for the composition than what I see in the set-up. So I'll stack it on the shelves with all the others that are unfinished. It is fun and carefree to start them - there is something about proving ourselves in the finishing that makes it a little more serious.

It rained yesterday right about class time. Someone said it has rained 5 out of our 8 Monday class sessions. We were going to paint in Karen's garden - Monday's class hadn't been there yet. Poor Monday's class - they had all the bad weather. Well, maybe not ALL. They did seem to have fun with the wet-into-wet lesson. They did a great job, as always.

Today's class met in the park downtown and the weather was wonderful. Hoping for the same tomorrow. This week wraps up the eight-week summer watercolor class. I always HATE to see it end. I still have another watercolor journal class in Bay View, and I am putting together a composition class that will start the 2oth of August. So - we aren't done yet.

I am going to take a little class break for a couple of weeks. The California grandkids will be here . So right now I should go to the grocery store, finish up some laundry, pick up the house so they don't think their grandma is a complete slob ( oh dear, maybe their mother already told them).

Big Baby

With a face only a mother could love.

I think this is a baby (!) rose breasted grosbeak. He is just beginning to get his rose colored feathers.

The bird feeder yesterday looked like a Marjolein Bastin illustration (I would link to her book, but I would rather you buy my book). There were chickadees, a cardinal, gold finches, a downy woodpecker, and Big Baby. The cardinal and Big Baby got into a little tiff, and Big Baby had to wait his turn.

He and his sister are slow and clumsy, and another sibling has already met with disaster. I wish they had some parents here to look after them! As interested as I am in their welfare, I'm not stepping up.

An Evening in the Garden

I went back to paint in Karen's garden last night. So many paintings - so little time! It is so relaxing to sit and do little journal paintings and visit and laugh with a friend. Laughter is the best medicine, and then you throw in painting and you'll really be in good shape!

Color Coordinated

Painting in Karen's Garden

It's all about color. Here are a couple of my Tuesday students perfectly coordinated with the drink cups. That's important to us.

The morning started out threatening to rain (as usual this summer), but it didn't, and we had a very pleasant morning in this beautiful garden. Thank you, Karen, for having us!!! The class did some great paintings. They always do!

This morning I am off to the Walloon Art Club. The sun is shining and I have my still life and lesson plan ready to go. This afternoon I do the last day of Drawing class in Bay View. I'll miss them - they've been fun - and talented.

Sooner or later I will post some of the things I have been doing, although they are mostly unfinished demonstrations. I haven't taken the time to scan or photograph anything - or finish anything.

Little Helper

One of my sweet little helpers.

I love it when the kids help in the garden. Apparently they do too - our California grandson said this winter, "Remember when I helped you in your garden? I'm gonna do that again".
I have been pretty neglectful this year, and the garden is in pretty bad shape. I'm enjoying it anyway, and I refuse to feel guilty about it. Who's in charge here - me or the garden? Or the deer that are eating the flowers?

Had a busy weekend with the art fair on Saturday. My friend K came for a couple of evenings and helped organize and pack and then helped out on Saturday too. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! We didn't make a ton of money, but it was worth doing, and it was such fun to see everyone - old friends, new friends, students . . .

I'm packing things up now and refining my lesson plans for tomorrow's classes - watercolor in the morning and drawing in the afternoon. To be prepared for indoor or out, I look at about four weathers on the internet - then I choose the one I like best.

Watercolor on Watercolor Canvas

Watercolor canvas is fun to work on - not at all like paper. The good news and bad news - the color lifts. The advantage is, of course, being able to wipe out areas that you're not happy with. However, if you paint in layers, like I do, each layer lifts the previous layer. But we all need a challenge now and then, don't we.

And speaking of challenges, the Petoskey art fair is tomorrow. I am almost ready. Almost. It is the only art fair I do these days. In the "good old days" I did several a summer, and with a kid hanging on each leg, I would be painting like crazy getting ready for the next show. The kids will say it wasn't like that, they'll tell you that I used to set the timer and tell them that they couldn't interrupt me until the timer went off, unless someone was bleeding or unconscious.

Okay - back to it. If you are in the Petoskey area tomorrow, stop and say "Hi". It is always a great show!

A journal page demo:
Blob and smoosh
Leaving whites
Negative space
Rocks
Birch trees
and Swoosh

It's been a very busy and fun week! It was fast paced and full of energetic, talented, eager-to-learn, book-buying people. Last night I went to sleep at 7:30! Today I am catching up on things - grocery shopping, banking, picking up all the stuff around the house that I have just been dumping anywhere this week, and getting in some family time.

My brain is going a hundred miles an hour (my body is not!). One thing leads to another - a suggestion leads to a class plan (three of those this week) a small demo begins thoughts of a large painting, an idea becomes a note for a chapter in the "next" book . . .

Oh, yeah - and the art fair next weekend!

Like I Need More Stuff

Yesterday morning we went to the Antiques Festival, and as we walked in I saw this pitcher and fell in love with it. I don't need MORE STUFF! On the way out, my husband suggested we go by and see if the pitcher was still there. It was. We bought it. I can't imagine he suggested I add to the over-abundance of stuff I already have. He's a sweetie. Or an enabler.

We have been spending a nice, quiet, relaxing weekend. I have a dead-line I am working on, but that isn't really WORK when I can set up my easel outside under the backyard canopy, and have all the iced tea and jalapeno (sp?) chips I want within reach. We've only made one trip so far to the local "home improvement store" - a sure sign of a lazy weekend. We walked down to the end of our street to watch the parade on Friday, and watched the fireworks from the bedroom window.

Today I have to get ready for a busy week. It's kind of hard to shift gears after spending a couple of days barely leaving the backyard.

Deep Woods

A couple of weeks ago I painted with some friends in the woods just north of here. The mosquitoes were unbelievably terrible, but we were well protected thanks to our host that had hats and bandannas sprayed with "Deep Woods Off" ready and waiting for us. We had a wonderful day - it was peaceful and quiet and beautiful.

I love painting with friends! It is so nice to be with people with the same interests. Sometimes we talk, sometimes we don't. We can discuss things or just enjoy the silence. AND that's what I like about painting in a little journal - it isn't serious, but it sure does feed my soul.

Buttons and Books

This was done the second day of our journal class - another cold day. Notice the sunshine in the background when I took the picture - there is hope after all!

This week is a busy one with three watercolor classes, one private group, and four afternoons of drawing class. And a brother and sister-in-law coming to dinner. FUN! This is what summer is all about - I love the busy-ness of it.

There is a little rain in the forecast. I am SICK of it! SICK of it!

Our California family is melting in the 100 degree weather. What am I complaining about!?

Summer ! Classes Started this Week

My Summer Classes classes started this week, and it was COLD. Mother Nature didn't get the memo - these are SUMMER classes! All of the participants were such good sports. I feel like they are not getting their money's worth if they can't paint outside - I mean - we have all winter to paint inside.

Today, Friday, I didn't have any classes. It was a beautiful day - sunny and warm. I have some commissions I'm working on, so I set up shop on the porch.

The little painting above was done in this week's journal class - a simple still life we painted indoors.

My Little Painting Buddy

This friendly dragonfly rested on my palette and ate his lunch. Ugh. I won't go into the gory details, but I just figured to each his own. I had a salad.

Painting in the Rain

It is going to have to quit raining pretty soon - my journal classes are beginning in Bay View next week, and I always say it never rains on my journal class. I must admit there were a couple of times, but that is what journaling is all about - being in the moment, wet or dry.

I have this week all planned out to the minute to catch up on some things I need to have under control before the heavy class schedule begins. It is all fun stuff - painting, writing etc - but it does all have a deadline. AND the class schedule looks like fun - I love this time of year. I love the weather (not yet), the summer people returning, the gardens blooming, the busy-ness, The drawing and painting . . .

Okay - gotta go - this was not in my minute by minute plan.

Watercolor Sketchbook Journal

My Kick-Off Summer Workshop
2nd Annual

It was HOT HOT HOT, but we painted all day, and the nine participants came up with some beautiful journal pages. There is something so inspiring about spending the day painting with other people, and so satisfying to go home with several great little paintings!

We talked about journal "stuff" - all the materials that are possible to carry around with us for journal painting, and all the ways we try to keep it simple - and not really carry all that stuff. Then we painted. Then we ate lunch. Then we painted some more and nearly died of heat exhaustion. So we went inside to sit by the fan and eat watermelon - had to paint it first - and then painted little still lifes of our painting supplies.

I hope everyone had as much fun as I did - and I hope you are all painting a page or two today!

Wildlife in The City

Tasty treats for the neighborhood deer.
Listen deer - leave my flowers alone! If I wanted to feed the deer I would live in the country. We have a very small yard and it is pretty much closed in - almost courtyard-like. They really make themselves at home here. There are footprints all over the yard.

Between the deer eating our flowers, the raccoons peering in our bedroom windows, and the six-inch slugs sliming our house, there is really quite a bit of activity going on out there at night.

I have been busy planting and getting things ready for summer and I haven't stopped to paint the flowers. And you know what they say about that. Oh yeah - I guess that's SMELL the flowers. Whatever - If there are any flowers left after the wildlife parades through here, I will sit down and paint.

Trying to Think Creatively

In my previous post I showed a page I had done in my journal, inspired by the book Art Escapes. This past weekend I did this page, trying to illustrate "Sky", "Colors", "Random Thoughts", and "Simple Pleasures" during the three day Memorial Weekend. We just hung around the house working on projects needing attention before summer gets into full swing. We did venture out to the home improvement stores a couple of times, of course. And I'd like to think we actually did some home improvements. It's a matter of opinion I suppose.

Anyway - thinking about illustrating as I go about my daily life opens a door to more creative thinking. Of course, stopping in the middle of something to draw can be a little annoying to everyone else - like "Stop - don't eat that watermelon yet!"

Paying attention to the everyday stuff

Journal Page

As you can see (click on it to see it larger) from the date on the top of this journal page, it was done quite awhile ago. I was going through some old journals trying for some inspiration from back in the days when I felt really creative. The past few weeks I have felt more like nesting than creating. Anyway, this was an idea I picked up from a book I borrowed from a friend - I think the book was called Art Escapes. I liked the idea of tuning in and expressing everyday things going on in my life - paying more attention and translating simple events (such as eating an apple fritter!!!) into an illustration. There were a couple different formats that I used at different times.

I'm not making any promises, but I may give this a try this weekend. Right now I am heading out to the grocery store to stock up for a long weekend. Our project of the day(s) is to break up our old cement front steps and build new ones. Maybe I will just stay at the grocery store today. And eat apple fritters. Or cherry.

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SUMMER CLASSES 2008

Please check out my classes scheduled to begin in June

Daisies

This is a small journal painting that I did this morning in one of the middle school science classes. I did some demonstrations of painting flowers and then the classes gave it a try. They did such a great job with their paintings, and they are really a great bunch of kids. This week the classes go to a nearby woods to do sketches of wildflowers, so this was just a little tutorial I did for them in conjunction with the Little Traverse Conservancy.
I came home and took a long nap.

Yesterday for a Mothers Day get-away we went with the kids and grand kids up to Mackinac Island. Of course out there in the middle of the staits this time of year it is still pretty cold, but it did warm up nicely and we had such a good time! It is always fun to be on the island - I love it there. I didn't do any sketching. I'll go back another time to do that.

Tomorrow I need to get potting soil and get some things growing for my summer classes, I need to write up some promos for those classes. I need to go to the grocery store, the bank, the post office . . . . AND I need to paint paint paint! I have been way off the mark as far as painting goes - yeah, I know - as far as anything goes. Time to get it together! Here I go!