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!

In the Garden, Early May

Not much color yet.

I moved a few things around in the garden today and planted some perennials that one of my generous students shared with me. She brought me some magenta spiderwort,
a clump of bergenia,
obedience flower,
and roof iris

There is very little color out there right now, but I had to start painting some backyard scenes in my journal - the snow is gone and the grass is green - time to get out there and paint! Actually, I can't say the grass is green. The weeds are green. The moss is green. There is no grass. Last year the grubs ate their way through our little town and not many lawns have recovered. Apparently they can't recover on their own because there are absolutely no roots left. Maybe the moss isn't such a bad idea.

I have a couple more spots left in my Wednesday morning watercolor class starting next Wednesday.

Flowers from Friends

This is a watercolor sketch in my journal.

I just love the orange of the lily complementing the blue-violet of the iris!
These are a nice bright spot in the house. I am getting anxious to see some color outdoors! VERY anxious!

I am stating a new class the 7th of May.

I'm also getting things set up for summer classes, workshops etc. After a long, cold, dark, blah blah blah, Northern Michigan winter it is so nice to anticipate the fun of summer classes. Those of you who have taken my Journal classes know that it never rains on my journal classes - well, maybe once . . . . or twice.

Violets

Violets in the backyard with the sun shining on them. The SUN! It feels wonderful! We've had the bedroom window open a crack for the past few nights. In the morning we can hear the birds singing. At night we can hear the raccoons stomping around on the roof outside our bedroom windows. And I swear I can hear the deer chomping on the crocus blossoms (the white ones, not the purple). We live in the city - this is not exactly the wilderness here.

I love this time of year when little green things start to poke up out of the soil. Some things I am anxious to see if they survived the winter, and some things I don't even remember. Maybe the critters planted them.

View from the Train

Ten minutes from the station and standing still. Again. For a long time.

My painting friend, K, and I decided to take a quick trip to Chicago to the Art Institute to see the Winslow Homer-Edward Hopper exhibition. So we ordered our museum tickets, reserved a room in a hotel 2 blocks away, and ordered our train tickets. We got up at four in the morning to get to the train station downstate by nine.

The train was an hour late departing, then several times we were delayed on the tracks for unknown reasons, and . . . okay, anyway, we were three hours late getting into Chicago!!! They even passed out bottled water and little packets of food rations - not a good sign.

The museum closes at 5:00, which gave us two hours. Well, better than nothing. It was a fabulous show! And we had a lot of fun!!!

As we arrived at the Kalamazoo train station we were just in time to witness an arrest that could have won the Funniest Home Videos - the police were leading the kid away in handcuffs and his pants fell down!!! These kids with the big baggy low-riding pants had better rethink their get-away strategies.

crocus

It seems like we have had a long stretch of darkness, but today is a beautiful, sunny, warm day.
It felt just wonderful to sit out in the sun and paint the little crocus blossoms - white - my favorite.

I crossed a few things off my to-do list today - that felt good too. One of the things on the list was to go to the greenhouse and get some primrose plants for this week's classes. I used great restraint - I only bought one yellow primrose and one blue-violet pansy. Then I went to the grocery and bought some large luscious strawberries to put in the still life with the plants. Do you see the lesson here? Primary colors?

I went to the bank and made a deposit (see, I told you it was a good day) and then to the post office where I actually had mail in my box - nothing exciting, but at least there was mail for ME (did I mention THAT THE POST OFFICE HAD RENTED MY BOX TO SOMEONE ELSE!!!! and all of my mail was being returned to sender).

I activated my new phone. Not a bad experience.

I bought a new overnight sized wheelie bag for an upcoming trip to Chicago to see the Winslow Homer exhibition.

And that's about it. Sorry to bore you with the small details of my day, but the sunshine after a loooong winter does that to me. I think it is all about getting a little hyper when things go well and it is beginning to feel like spring may be here after all.



Note to self - Plant more crocus bulbs in the fall.

Azalia

This is a small watercolor demo for my Wednesday morning class. It was a lesson in simplicity, color mixing on the paper, and negative painting.

As always, I painted the lightest, brightest color first - just laying in the pink shape with a wash of quinacridone rose and cobalt violet. While that was still wet, I dropped in some quinacridone red and a little ultramarine and manganese blue. When that was dry in most places I painted in the green, letting it only bleed with the pink in the lower left area of the flowers. I didn't want all hard edges, but I didn't want the red and green to mix too much - they are opposites on the color wheel and we would end up with drab colors.

It felt good to be painting with the class again. They all did a beautiful job with these flowers. I did have to yell "Don't touch that" a few times. They were doing well and didn't want to stop.

I need to find some primrose now. I haven't seen any yet in the stores - I will look at the greenhouse. They should be available now, shouldn't they?

The End of an Era

Clark and Catherine
My Mom and Dad, October 16th, 1937

My mother died a few days ago. I think she and my dad are dancing once again to the music of Benny Goodman.

Now I need to get back to real life. Well, I guess it is all real life, isn't it? Today felt like spring - I even sat in the sun. A new season. Time to move on. It's time to finish some commissions, plan some classes, get out there with the sketch books . . .

Here I am.

I'm back. Kind of. I think.
That oil bottle is a little out of kilter, but hey, so am I. I have spent the past couple of weeks sitting in the hospital and nursing home with my mother. She is unhappy and confused, and so are we as we try to make everything okay for her.

So - I am trying to get back to real life, get the creative juices flowing again and get some work done.

These little "paintings" were done on Yupo (synthetic paper - actually plastic) with watercolor pencils. What fun! They aren't good paintings, but I did discover how fun it is to shove the watercolor pencil around on the Yupo. I kind of like what it does. I dipped the pencil in water and then drew with it, then manipulated the color with a damp brush. I am not a fan of Yupo, but I may try something a little more serious using watercolor pencil on it. I do have some paintings I really should be working on, but a little bit of play never hurt anyone, right?

Lunch

I know this isn't a food blog, but look at those colors!

This was lunch one day last week in California. I couldn't pronounce the name of the restaurant, and I don't remember what the dish was called - it was a vegetarian "bowl" with a very flavorful, spicy peanut sauce. It contained soybeans, sweet potatoes, red bell pepper, carrots, zucchini, rice . . . The yellow cubes on top of the crispy tortilla are pieces of very sweet mango. As Rachel Ray would say, "Yummo!" I thought I could carry the flavor around in my head and try to duplicate it when I got home, but it is gone. It is like trying to match a color from memory.
Speaking of food - I really do need to make a grocery run. We have been back for several days, and really need to get back to normal. I keep blaming my lack of routine on jet lag, but I guess that excuse is only good for so long, and I think I am beyond it.

Edited after Amy's comment to direct you to the colorful website of the restaurant. It describes the flavors as from the Southwest, Asia, California, and Latin America. I think every one of those was represented in the bowl I had. So if you are heading to California to try the Aqui restaurant, I suggest you don't lay over in Chicago unless you have a couple extra days to spare.

California Trip

California Oranges

We had a wonderful week in California with the kids. I only did a few little journal paintings - it was cold, dark, and raining the whole time. We still had a fabulous time. We painted pictures of the orange trees in the backyard, we walked to and from school, we ate a lot of peanut butter sandwiches. . .

The painting on the left was done by our youngest grandson - he's five. He wanted me to have the original and cut it down to fit in my journal. I'll put it on the facing page next to my oranges.

The travel was some kind of nightmare. It took us TWO days to get home! We spent most of those two days in Chicago O'Hare. They did put us up at the Radisson for the night. The bed was a Sleep Number bed, which I thought was pretty luxurious and pretty weird at the same time. I think it is hard enough to sleep away from home without having a bed that would take a couple of weeks to get used to. The fabulous down comforter was TOO hot - so it was the sheet (too cold) or the comforter. Maybe I just don't do well with luxury. I didn't sleep - maybe it was the sleep number or maybe it was the fact that we were scheduled to go on the next morning from Chicago, fly OVER our destination of Grand Rapids to Detroit, where big snow storms were predicted, and BACK to Grand Rapids. I could see this Detroit layover turning into a third day! Fortunately when we arrived at the airport the next morning we were able to get a direct flight to Grand Rapids. It still took most of the day to get out of there, but hey, we made it, and eventually so did our luggage. And I am sure missing California and the kids!

So. Okay. Back to real life. My classes started today. We worked on a still life with mostly earth colors and a blue and white pot thrown in. They did a great job of fitting it all together - earth tone shadows on the blue and white pot, and blue tones in the shadows of the warmer colored objects.

It is still winter here. Very, very winter.

Classes

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and drawing workshop at this site!

Stella

I think it is strange that English nouns don't have a gender - we can clearly see that this stool is female. Doesn't she have some kinda style! I was going through my old sketchbooks and came across this sketch I had done at a friend's house a couple of years ago. We named her Stella and picture her on an assembly line in some old factory.

Going through old sketchbooks is like reading old diaries. Not only are we recording the objects as we draw them, but we are etching the time and place into our minds - and at the risk of sounding dramatic - into our hearts and souls.

I have some very quick sketches of several figures I did as they were walking toward me in an airport. Not only do I have the sketches, I have a memory of the day traveling (and waiting!) and also of sharing the sketches with my granddaughter. She sat on my lap and wanted to know about every person on the pages, as if they had been "real people" passing through my life and I knew something about each one. Well, I did know more about them than if I had merely watched them go by.
Keep your sketchbooks handy. They really have a way of adding more color (even if the sketches are in pencil or ink) to your life.

I just held a two-day drawing workshop. It was fun (I had fun anyway - the students worked pretty hard) and I hope the group continues to draw. If any of you from the workshop are reading this - you did some great work this week - keep going! Don't stop now.

I Love Paris

Blizzard Conditions Again!
That has nothing to do with loving Paris - but then again, maybe everything has something to do with loving Paris.

Snow, wind, and COLD here over the weekend, but it was a nice weekend anyway. We didn't have to be anywhere, and except for a few cracks here and there in this old house, we stayed pretty warm. We made soup and homemade pizza, and watched a few old episodes of the Waltons on DVD.

Now it's time to get back to work. I have a drawing workshop coming up in a couple of days, and I have a few things to get together for it. I am really looking forward to it - the group will be a good mix - and it's going to be fun.

I still have openings for this workshop if you're interested.

Bananas

You know it's the dead of winter in Northern Michigan when I do a journal page of BANANAS. I don't even like bananas. I do love drawing them though - something about the foreshortening and geometric shapes. They are just made up of a lot of triangles and rectangles.

It has been very dark and cold here. Usually in this part of the country, in the winter, it is sunny and cold or dark and warmer (something about the cloud cover), but this year seems to be different. The lack of sunshine is getting to me, and we have a few months to go. I need to walk more, sunshine or no sunshine. It's just not as much fun in the winter - for obvious reasons - and I miss the color in the gardens, the dramatic shadows on the porches . . . Everything seems to slow down - my creativity, my momentum. A Julia Cameron quote that I love is "You may feel yourself to be temporarily without a vehicle. Just keep walking". The inspiration I get from the sunshine is my vehicle - I'll just keep walking, painting, drawing . . .

Winter Classes and Workshop 2008

Eight-Week Watercolor Classes

Two-Day Drawing Workshop

I am adding a Thursday evening watercolor class - I will still be doing the regular Wednesday morning and Thursday afternoon classes. I'm also offering a two-day drawing workshop. Please check out the info.
Hope to see you in class!

Snow Globe and Blue and White Bowl

It is still snowing here. It looks like we are living in a snow globe. Good weather to stay inside and work on some sketches and paintings. Sooner or later I will have to get out to make a food run. Good homemade soup and bread weather.



I have found this bowl very difficult to draw. I am pretty pleased with the little painting at the top of the sketchbook page, but after struggling with the one on the bottom of the page, I still don't have it right. No matter how much I measured and studied it, it is still a little off. Curvy, rounded objects have fewer points of reference. Whatever. I had a good time working on it. Any time I pick up my pencils or brushes is a good time.

Geranium Cuttings

Since my class on reflective surfaces, I have been trying to pay a little more attention to reflective surfaces myself. Also, because it is winter (VERY winter) I have been trying to pay a little more attention to my indoor surroundings - the winter light in various rooms at different times of the day, the shapes and colors of things in our house, the views out of the windows . . .

This drawing is just a study of some geranium cuttings and the containers they are in. The black Hall Ware bowl (50 cents at the thrift shop!) looks a little squishy, but I was pleased with the shading on it. I find round curvy things much more difficult to draw than straight lines, so I am going to spend some time working on that. Right now I am going to venture out into the snow and cold to get things from the grocery for burger night. Burgers, baked beans, CHIPS. Round curvy things.

Reflective Surfaces

This is a very small watercolor of a tarnished silver cup on a checkered tea towel. We were doing small studies of reflective surfaces. I was going to polish the cup before class, but I really liked the warm reflection it had, with almost a rust color along the rim. The biggest challenge with the cup was to get the checks from the tea towel to look like a reflection instead of a pattern on the cup.

We never did get to the blue-green cruet with the pebbly surface. Maybe next time.

We have quite a bit of new, fresh snow. The kind that would have been so pretty back about December 15th. It's really not bad - it's fresh and clean, and today there was a little sun now and then. The Bay was beautiful. We have a long way to go with winter weather, but at least the days are getting longer. Tomorrow's class is going to be working from photographs. They aren't as much fun as the real thing, but they're great for editing and working out composition problems. And, we'll be a lot warmer.

New Treasures

Look what I found.
I probably should have been home working on sketches of interiors (as my new year goals dictate) but I never pass up a chance to go bargain hunting with my bargain hunting friend. The blue and white jar was a great find - "as is" for $10. I haven't found its problem yet - maybe that'll be a surprise someday. Then at the next place I found this great rug for $8!!! It is Turkish, but it's not wool and it's not old, but from what I could dig up on the internet, it may be worth about $80. The fringe is a little worn so it fits in well with my old ones, and the white fluffy dog hair that was all but obliterating the pattern vacuumed right off. I'm hoping that the dog hair is all that was in it. Maybe it should have said "as is, fleas and all".

It is snowing today - very wintery again. A couple of friends are coming over and we are going to try our hand at making a couple of very simple journals. Like we need more journals. But, we do need to be together creating something - everyone needs that and should plan it into their busy lives.

China Cabinet Sketch

This is a quick contour drawing of our china cabinet with a little bit of color added using Pitt Brush Pens. I think I might try this same subject using colored pencils and then another in watercolor. The plate at the side of the sketchbook is one of the plates in the cabinet on the top shelf. It is part of a set that was broken up and divided among my grandfather's siblings. I always figured they must have been very important to someone if everyone had to have a few pieces. Fortunately, my grandfather ended up with, among other things, the beautiful soup tureen.

I am trying to do a few drawings of interiors and see if they lead to some paintings. I would like to go from interiors this winter to porches in the spring - chairs, tables, windows, doorways. It's nice to have a plan. Even nicer to do it!

Calendar

I haven't painted or sketched a thing in days. I am doing my annual nesting and planning.

I have to get my new pages in my planner, and I always have to print out and paste together a years worth of calendar pages. A palm pilot would never work for me! I have to see it all as each week relates to the next. A regular calendar works great to post events, but for planning I need to be able to see how the weeks run together with minimal boundaries for the months.

I could spend the rest of the year planning the rest of the year.

Now I think I need some sticky notes - "Paint Paint Paint"!!!!

Underpainting

An experiment with under-painting.

I'm not crazy about paintings done in watercolor with an underpainting or toned paper. What I like about watercolor is the sparkle of the white paper showing through here and there - whether it is planned or just by chance as the brush skims over the texture of the paper. BUT, I do think it is fun to watch the objects and shapes emerge from the lightly painted paper. It's a challenge to make it work, and I always think a challenge boosts our creativity a bit. This was a lesson in my class this morning and everyone did a really nice job with it. It was a good warm up after the holidays - everyone is just getting back to real life. We painted the paper in kind of a bull's eye pattern leaving some white in the center, and then painted the objects the colors that we saw, layering to get the values (lights and darks) that were needed to bring the objects out of the background colors. I wouldn't really call this a keeper, but I would really call it a fun way to stretch a little.

Playing in the snow

Grandpa, the cardboard tent/fort builder, with a couple of granddaughters.

I guess this is about it for Christmas Vacation. It's back to real life tomorrow.

It was a nice, snowy holiday here - perfect for building a couple of snow forts, a trip or two to the little sledding hill at the playground, lots of hot chocolate, jigsaw puzzles . . . .

Of course we really missed the California kids, but somehow knowing they had a very "Michigan Christmas" in northern California with lots of snow and sledding, made it better.

I don't really make any resolutions, but I could probably do with a few goals. A few good goals never hurt anyone. But then I get carried away making lists, trying to work it all out so I can see it all written out so I don't forget anything (except where I put the list!) and then I have to read everyone's organizing and goal setting blogs to see how the experts do it, then I have to print out the perfect calendar pages and worksheets and . . . Okay, so I think I'll just get in bed with a good book. Today on someone's blog I read that she has set a goal to read seven books a month, which certainly wouldn't be impossible. I'm just going to go to bed.

Summer View of the Bay

This is a commissioned painting waiting to be picked up.

It is actually snowing and blowing right now in Northern Michigan. I don't usually paint winter scenes - the "public" doesn't really care for them. The people that live here don't want to be reminded of our long stretch of winter, and the people that leave, leave for a reason - they don't like snow. I am busy in the summer with classes and workshops, and it is great to spend the winter painting commissions of summer scenes from photographs and sketches.

So - tomorrow is the last day of 2007. I think I'll clean off my desk and see what I've missed. Then I'll work on a painting schedule and plan some workshops and classes and . . .

Don't we all have big plans for every new year, and then it takes on a life of its own, and that's okay too. Remember to Be Aware of Wonder. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Coffee Pot

Just getting to know my subject. The light changed before I finished this, but it wasn't dramatic light anyway. I think it would be fun to do it with a spot light on it to get lots of contrasts on the shiny enamel surface as it curves into the shadows.

My friend K. gave me this coffee pot for Christmas. Her husband was a little concerned that she was giving a gift with a hole in the bottom, but it's perfect! I have a few still life set-ups planned for it.

It's time to get back to work, at least putter around with some drawings, work on some goals for 2008, and wrap up any loose ends of paper work for 2007. If anyone owes me any money, please come forward now.

Rudy up a Tree

There is Rudy, way up in the Christmas tree, kissing a little teddy bear ornament. Did he climb up there just to do that? Our daughter had a good point - "Do you think he does that all the time?"

Christmas Cactus Study

This is a small watercolor study of the Christmas Cactus in yesterday's post. I did I light sketch of the shapes and then painted the leaves with clear water. Starting with quinacridone gold I dropped some pigment on the leaf sections, followed by a little Prussian Blue and a small amount of quiacridone red. I let the colors float around a bit and then helped it mix a little here and there. The petal color was done with a mix of quinacridone red and lemon yellow. Everyone in class did a beautiful job of letting it mix on the paper and keeping it simple.

I finished a little more Christmas shopping today. I have come to the conclussion that Christmas is so stressful because it is all about loose ends! One loose end after another - who's picking up what gift, who's coming to dinner, WHERE is dinner, who's gonna fix that thump-thump noise in the car so I can finish my shopping . . .

It'll be fine. It's all coming together.

Christmas Cactus

My Christmas Cactus got the message!

It usually blooms twice a year and always near a holiday - Thanksgiving, Easter, Valentines Day - it has never before bloomed at Christmas. I'm going to have my class work on this tomorrow for a warm up, using a large brush, simple strokes, and drop-in color to mix on the paper. I'll let you know how it goes - I'll show you my demo. Stay tuned.

Bertolli and Pitt Pens

Spaghetti Night

This was a quick sketch done in my Moleskine, but doing the color was laborious! It was done with Pitt pens which come in beautiful colors, but have fine "brush" points that don't cover much ground. I guess it's safe to say that they really aren't intended for this. I would love to see what other people do with them. Their colors are wonderful.


December 17th! I feel as if I am no where near ready for Christmas, but we had our get- together with my husband's family this past weekend, and today I shipped off the gifts to the California kids. I do have a few more things to get for the local kids, and I should bake something (not my favorite thing to do). My mother has made the same cookies every year for 55 years and I feel OBLIGATED to make them this year. I wonder what we would ever accomplish without guilt. Guilt and competition make the world go around. Well, maybe love, talent, generosity, hope . . .

White Pitcher

Watercolor done in my 6X9 sketchbook with 140 hot press paper.

I painted with some friends this morning, but we didn't want to do anything too ambitious - just some small studies.

We tried out the new Thai restaurant for lunch. There I was without a camera or sketchbook and everything was so pretty - the dishes, the girls' dresses, the food (except for the slippery looking black things in the soup). The food was great. I ate the slippery black things and they were okay. I ate them because I didn't want to look at them on my plate, and I knew my friend across the table REALLY didn't want to look at them on my plate.

Now I need to get ready for a family Christmas get together this weekend. I have to bake and wrap yet, and it wouldn't hurt to clean up the house a bit. . . It might hurt.

View Out the Window

This morning I did this painting as a demonstration for my Wednesday morning class. Last week they had requested a long demo and a snow demo. I kept waiting for a nice sunny day to get some great color on the snow so I could get some good pictures to use as reference, but it has been pretty dark here. This is the view out of the end window in my studio/classroom. As I was painting, we did get a few minutes of sunshine.

I started out doing the sky and the shadows using the triad of manganese blue, cobalt violet, and quinacridone gold. It is always fun to use artistic license to change things around a bit. I actually think that's why I like to paint - I am in control of the visual. I could clean up this winter scene and make it look like I want it to. From the looks of the photograph it could use a little cleaning up. I'll have to do this same scene again in the summer when the roses are blooming and the baskets are hanging on the porch next door. But that's a long way off. My friend K. just emailed me a picture of one of my summer classes in her beautiful garden. We have a way to go before we get to that again. Embrace the season - drink hot chocolate.

There is Always Something to Draw

Remember these guys? They are still going strong at our house. I know they are 34 years old. I remember vividly how excited I was to buy the Fisher Price Village for our son for his first Christmas. He was eleven months old. He loved those little people and he could tell if he was missing one. Now the grandkids play with them.

We had some sunshine today! I went outside to put some pine boughs in the window boxes, and the boxes were frozen solid. Of course. What did I think. They are thawing inside and I'll try again in the morning. I did do a LITTLE bit of Christmas shopping. Everything seems to be moving so slowly - no everything is moving quickly, and I am the one who is moving slowly. I need to bake some things this week, I need to have some presents ready for the weekend, I need to finish framing a couple of things . . .

A couple of years ago, I figured out what it is about Christmas that throws me. We go about our little lives, putting one foot in front of the other, trying to keep it between the ditches - and then "they" throw in Christmas. What are we supposed to do with that!? It's not like it's just a fun little diversion - it's a SEASON. You know - the Holiday season? And all this time we are doing the HOLIDAY SEASON, we are also expected to do real life.

It's okay. I have my list. If no one remembers me as an artist, they will remember me as a list maker. And putting something on a list is as good as doing it, right? And right now I am going to go check off some things on my list, because as whiney as this post sounds, I really did enjoy the day, and I really am getting into the Christmas Spirit. Tomorrow I'll get those greens in the window box, I'll make some cookies, and I'll walk downtown and do some more shopping.

Triads

Painting with triads.
Technically a triad is three colors spaced an equal distance apart on the color wheel, but we played a little bit today in class using artistic license and didn't stick to technicalities. After making a few sample color wheels, we drew some spools and painted them in neutral colors using triads. The spools on the left were painted with cobalt violet, lemon yellow, and manganese blue. The ones on the right were done with Quinacridone rose, quinacridone gold, and ultramarine blue.

I think we can learn a lot from using a very limited palette. We learn how to make colorful neutrals, we can mix without getting muddy, and we can concentrate on the properties and possibilities of three colors at a time rather than a whole palette full.

Drawing the spools took a bit of concentration, but I didn't want the class to spend too long on them - this lesson was about color. I have a basket of wooden spools that I bought at a moving sale. They each have a personality - some are short and fat, some tall and skinny, short and skinny, tall and fat . . .

Awhile ago I did a drawing of some of the spools. It was fun to do - it was one of those things that you really get lost in and have to pay attention to each curve and angle. I need to do more of that - I haven't been drawing enough. But I am not going to make any promises here, like a drawing or painting per day or anything like that. That sounds like a New Year's resolution, and it's not time for those yet.

How is everyone coming with their Christmas shopping?

Cobalt Violet

Just a little sketchy drawing of my tube of cobalt violet. I love this color mixed with manganese blue for great shadow colors. That mix can be grayed with a little Quinacridone Gold. The three of them together are a bright and different triad.

Can you tell I am gearing up for classes? They start tomorrow, and we are going to be working with triads (variations of the three primary colors) In this case cobalt violet would stand in as the red, manganese is the blue, and quinacridone gold is the yellow. I could go on and on about triads - but not tonight.

We did the Christmas tree this evening. I don't know if we have ever done it this early. It seems as though everyone else has had theirs up for a couple of weeks, so, not to be outdone . . . well, I guess we already were. I suppose shopping is next. I'm not really a shopper, even if it is fun stuff like Christmas presents. And I don't bake cookies. I don't like wrapping gifts. I sound like a real scrooge, don't I!? My husband is a good shopper. I have a few recipes for things that can just be mixed up - not baked. I can "wrap" in gift bags. I saw on someone's blog a tutorial for a beautiful gift wrap. Maybe if I really tried, I would learn to like it.

Addicted

Stash Pumpkin Spice Tea

I know this is going to sound like a commercial or an endorsement, but I am absolutely addicted to this stuff. First of all I HAD to buy it because the box is beautiful (yes, I judge everything by the way it looks). It did sound a little too - oh - seasonal, and what's the big deal about pumpkin pie spices ( I can do that myself) and how different could it be from chi tea. Just sniffing the bag when I open the packet sends me somewhere - well, I hate to say it, but I think it's Chicago. Anyway, it has an exotic (Chicago???), sharp fragrance that really hits you, and then there are undertones of comforting familiar spices. However, I am a little suspicious of of anything that could possibly come from China. Especially something we ingest. I had a colander in my shopping cart and put it back on the shelf when I saw the "made in China" label - that was going to touch our food!

Speaking of fragrance, I just bought the most horrible wine in the world. La Francesca. I won't even admit how cheap it was, but it was in the bargain bin and I have found some decent wine there. Actually I wasn't sure I knew good wine from bad, but now I do. It smells just like the feed store. I AM NOT KIDDING. Just a warning.

And, Ginny, thanks for your comment on my last post. Al was my father's "cousin-in-law", and he and my dad were in a boating accident. My dad survived, but Al didn't, and his body wasn't found for several months. Having grown up with the story of this tragedy, I really do think he deserved top billing, ahead of the roaster!!!

Daily Journals

Enough already.
For 69 years my mother kept a daily journal. Not a personal diary, but an account of what happened each day - each and every day.
Reading through them has become a little depressing. At first it was interesting to read about their daily life before I was born, and then my early childhood. Then it became a little obsessive, I had to keep reading, although, of course, I know how the story ends. When I ask my mother for more details she doesn't remember, and she has the years mixed up. Her writing was so factual that it is almost comical at times - April 19, 1941 "Ordered a roaster. Al's body recovered. Smiths came for dinner." The roaster didn't come for another month, but Al's funeral was in two days.

Table in the Garden

I finished this monotype today, using 140 lb hot press paper. It didn't scan well, and then when I mess around with it trying to soften the texture, it gets a little blurry. It is not a perfect world.

With the wind blowing and the snow flying today, I just really felt Christmas-y. I pulled out a couple of boxes of decorations, and realized of course, that I really have to pick up the already unnecessary items in each room before I put out the seasonal stuff. That's no fun. It's one of those one-thing-leads-to-another situations. The Thanksgiving dishes are still sitting on the kitchen counter because the old cupboard they go in needs to be repaired before we put dishes and goblets back in it. So of course we have to take everything else out of there and pile it on the table, which means we can't eat there until . . .

Working on Another Monotype

The small pencil sketch on the left was the value study for a large acrylic I did a few years ago. I thought it would make a good monotype. I spent the afternoon painting with a friend, and while she was doing a beautiful painting of grapes and leaves in absolutely gorgeous colors, I was playing around with this black ink. I was questioning the reason for doing monoprints/monotypes - they only make one print, they are time consuming, I never know if the print is really going to come out correctly until I pull the "plate" off the paper. If it doesn't, I have spent all that time . . . well, you know - spent all that time. However, I have to say, I love doing them! If this does print correctly, I will post it after I do the color.

Tape Measure Sketches

I was struggling with these sketches. The light wasn't good, my concentration wasn't good, and the sketches aren't good - but I kept my pencil moving and I learned a little more about my subject each time I drew it. I was a little disappointed that it didn't get progressively better, but I feel like I learned something, and isn't that what Robert Fulghum said in the quote I posted yesterday? I think I covered the suggestions in his quote pretty well today. I didn't dance, but I did sing in the shower, I played the piano, I got in some drawing and painting, and I worked some.

I seriously need to get in more drawing time. I'm going to work on that.

We had cold, snowy, slippery weather here today with very strong winds. I didn't even go out of the house except to retrieve the bird feeder from the middle of the street. Winter has arrived in full force. That's okay - that gives me a few good months to get a lot of work done. And play a little.

“Be aware of wonder. Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and
paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.”
Robert Fulghum


I used to worry about this as a child. Life needed to be a little more balanced - I didn't play enough girly things, life was passing me by while I day dreamed . . . I still worry a little.

I keep this picture of me at the lake near my desk to remind me that this is me, it is still so me - flannel shirt, curly hair - and life looks pretty balanced in this picture.

So what did I do today? I didn't sing and dance. I worked some. I played a little. Did I draw and paint? Maybe a little - nothing significant. I wasn't aware of wonder. I'll try to do better tomorrow. And I'll try to live a balanced life - I'll start that tomorrow.

What did you do today?

"Few plants are easier to please"

I'm trying something a little different with the small geranium paintings. I have an old garden book that belonged to my great grandmother and I thought it might be interesting to write a quote. It says, "Geranium. Few plants are easier to please and keep happy and cheerful no matter where they may be put." G.A. Stevens

The book is Garden Flowers in Color. The copyright is 1933, and every page is in full color, which must have been really something in 1933.

I puttered around with these most of the day - of course they shouldn't have taken that long, but there is always a little trial and error in everything.

So this is it for the Thanksgiving weekend. Tomorrow it is back to normal. I still have to put away a few dishes, etc. And, oh my gosh, I have to go to the grocery store! Didn't we all just do that!!??

More Small Geraniums

These are very small paintings done in gouache (rhymes with wash) on handmade Indian Village paper. Gouache is an opaque watercolor. The paper has been stained with coffee. I mount these on pieces of mat board, 5X7, and package them with a foam core backing - ready to stick in a standard frame.

They are fun to do, very relaxing, and no two are just alike.

As lame as this post is, it does count. Day 24. Don't they say that it takes 21 days to make something a habit? We'll see.