Day One

 “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

For a couple of reasons I'm posting this picture of me as a five year old (?) again.  Every couple of years I post this because, first, I really like the quote and the picture reminds me of who I really am (some things never change) and the second reason  -  I CAN NOT FIND MY CAMERA CORD! 

This is the first day of Blogging Everyday in November  -  and for the month I am going to try to be aware of wonder.  My sketchbook helps me do that  -  it makes me much more aware of things around me.  I'm always looking for shapes and color, and beauty in general.

On my way now to pick up a friend to go to the grocery.  We are cooking together tonight, so we are shopping together too.  Spaghetti night at the Carey's.

Be aware of wonder!

Squash

Squash and Hot Peppers

Watercolor on Arches Cover Cream Paper

This was a demonstration in simplicity and color application in my Thursday afternoon class.  I love the colors of fall vegetables, although this would be pretty much nothing without the hot peppers.  We cooked that cut squash for dinner  -  I didn't add the hot peppers.  I don't mind a little kick, but I am not quite sure how to tell what "heat" I'll end up with when I'm cooking it myself.

There was a little ice this morning on some water in a container in the backyard, and then later in the morning it actually snowed - great big flakes for quite awhile.   I am just not ready for this.

Painting in Karen's Garden

 

Painted at the End of the Season

I painted this back on September 1st.  I needed something to post.  I could say I have been neglectful because I am saving myself for "Blogging Everyday in November".  Yeah, I'm gonna say that.

My creativity seems a little sluggish, but we all need a break now and then, so we can come back ready to go.  I played Mom to the two local granddaughters for a few days, I bought a "new" car (halleluiah!), I have gone through many boxes of Christmas decorations and pared it all down to one medium sized tote, I have done a pretty good job of putting the garden to bed, and I even got the leaves raked up and out to the curb for the pick-up  -  that was accidental, but still  .  .  .  .


I am finally getting into my autumn nesting mode and I have to go with it before it fades.  It's the only time anything gets cleaned and grubbed out around here.

How is your autumn nesting going?

Lunch at the Twisted Olive

My Lunch Sketched on Arches Cover Cream Paper in My Sketchbook

Food Blogging Again

I had a veggie burger on flat bread, orzo, and hummus. The veggie burger was made with chickpeas (left whole - how did they stay together!!!???) lentils, zucchini, and carrots  -  served on Naan flat bread with tomatoes and lettuce.  I don't know why I felt compelled to give you all the details, but, there they are.

Beautiful beautiful beautiful weather here for the past few days.   It's been a busy week, and oops, I didn't go to life drawing tonight.  Maybe I need a little break from life drawing. 

Okay  -  not to overdo the food blogging, but I think I will go roast some Brussels sprouts now. 

Have you sketched some food today?

Carrots and Onions

Vegetable Demo

These were a couple of very simple demonstrations in classes this week.  We are always talking about composition, and I'm always stressing painting quickly and with a large brush.  I wasn't trying for a good composition with the carrots (good thing 'cause I missed the mark if I was) but just trying to show how to paint a bunch of something without getting hung up on every individual part of it.  Onions are always fun to do  -  the texture, color, and the hairy looking roots.

It's warm here today.  As much as I dislike cleaning up the garden in the fall, I think I'll get myself out there and get a few things done.  Everything is finished blooming, and it's 74 degrees!  Okay  -  here I go.  Where ever you are, is it still warm enough to work in your garden?  Can you get in any last minute sketching in the garden?

Yoga/Painting Workshop

Demo in my Sketchbook

Saturday morning I did a workshop with yoga instructor, Sandi Jones.  She started off with an hour of yoga, and then I did sketchbook journaling instruction for two hours.

It was so much fun  -  everyone was so relaxed and very willing to try new things.  They painted loosely and quickly, and really let go of perfection. Maybe every painting class should start out with yoga.

I had been feeling a little stressed for the past few weeks  -  just a lot of stuff going on.  When I got home from the workshop, I stretched out on the couch in the sun, and I SLEPT for two or three hours.  It was great.  Talk about relaxed!

So here we are, into October.  I'm finally feeling ready for a new season  - was it the nap, the yoga, the beginning of October with fewer things to do?  What are your creative plans for this season?

A View from Hitchcock Hall

A Watercolor Journal Sketch from Late Summer

A sketch from late summer  -  wow  -  that seems like a long time ago.  It is cold, very dark, and raining here today, and the leaves are turning.

It's fun to look through my sketchbook at the summer sketches.  Summer here is crazy-busy, fun, and beautiful.  I'm doing a pretty good job this year of moving on  -  transitioning into the quieter season.  I've been busy with classes, workshops, and family.  I always get into a nesting and organizing mode about now, but that hasn't happened yet this year  -  it still could, of course.  I hope so  -  we could use a little organizing around here.

Now I'm going to go pack up my things for a mini workshop I am doing tomorrow.  I hope you're all going to carry your sketchbooks around with you this weekend.  I hope you're going to open them and paint in them!

Weekend Sketch

Salt and Pepper Shakers and a Couple of the Grandkids

We spent a family weekend at a downstate hotel, seeing our son off as he deployed to Afghanistan.   As difficult as that was, we had a really nice weekend together.  Some woman came up and tapped me on the shoulder as I was ordering a Starbucks and said, "There are a lot of weddings here this weekend, but there are also a lot of people here that are deploying. Just so you know".   Just so I know?!  Yeah, I know!  Did I look like I was having too much fun ordering my coffee?

This sketch was done on Nideggen paper in my sketchbook. I did the salt and pepper shakers at dinner, and one of the kids thought I needed the beverage menu as a backdrop. It would have been a good one to do in color.

I have a class tomorrow morning, so I had better go work on some sketches, so my students think I've been doing something.  They keep me on my toes.

Cedar Campus

Cedar Campus on Northern Lake Huron

in Michigan's Upper Peninsula

 I attended a women's retreat here Friday and Saturday.  Such a beautiful spot.   I wish that I had taken a picture of the moon on the water  -  spectacular!

Last night was our life drawing group, and I was just too tired to go.  But I went anyway and, boy, did it feel good!  I really struggle with life drawing, but I enjoy doing this once a week.  It feels so positive -  I'm struggling with it, but doing it anyway because I want to LIKE it.  I'm getting there.

Keep those pencils, pens, and brushes moving!

Flowers from Joanne

Workshop Demo

This watercolor sketch is of a small part of a huge, beautiful bouquet given to me by friend Joanne during the book binding/journal painting workshop.  That was a week ago, and the flowers are still going strong.  Except for the lily that Rudy the cat got a little too friendly with  -  it has shredded petals and he has an orange-stained face.  Looks good on him.  Ooops  -  maybe not so cute! A quick call to the vet  -  they say he's okay.

Last night we had a freeze warning.  I had intended to go out and cut the flowers in the cutting garden, but I forgot all about them.  From the window this morning, they look okay.  I did bring the geranium pots into the porch.  I just hate to see the flowers get zapped while they are still blooming.

Okay, I'm babbling.  Gotta go finish up a painting that is everything I tell my students not to do. Rules are made to be broken.  Sometimes a painting just happens.

Dinner After Class

 Portobello Panini

Spell check needs to move into the 21st century.  It thinks portobello should be "potbelly" and panini should be "panic".  It kind of upsets me that spell check doesn't know what it's doing.  Kind of like going into the fabric store and the girl at the cutting counter doesn't know how to figure your yardage.  Not that that's ever happened.  If someone or something, as the case may be, doesn't know more about something than I do  -  we're in trouble.

I did this sketch in my hand bound book last week after day-one of our book binding workshop. It felt good after a day on our feet to sit down and have someone set delicious food in front of us.  It is really hard to paint it instead of digging in to eat it, but it does make the whole eating and talking with friends experience even more fun.

In the previous post, I mentioned something about buying a larger bag to carry painting things in.  I try to keep the supplies to a minimum, but now I can't stop thinking about buying a new bag.  I'm really not a purse kind of girl (once a girl, always a girl) and I'm not a shopper,  but maybe.  I kind of like those big baggy purses.  I'm always a few steps behind  -  are they out of style?

Lunch - book binding in September

 

Lunch

During last week's book binding/journal painting workshop we sat in the sun in big comfortable Adirondack chairs, painted our lunches, and talked about food, gardening, cooking . . .

The two days of the workshop, Thursday and Friday, were absolutely  perfect  -  warm and sunny.  And the sketchbook journals that were made were absolutely beautiful  -  colorful and creative.

The idea of having the journal painting day as part of the bookbinding workshop is to get the book binders to "bond" with their books.  The books take a whole day to make and are very precious  -  not something you'd mark up, throw in your paint bag, possibly goof up a page here and there  -  unless of course, you were paying someone to coax you into making those first marks in your book, and you find out how much you and your book like being together.  You might even get a little obsessive about having your book with you at all times.  You might even find that you use it to, not only sketch in, but jot down notes and lists, directions and ideas.  You might even buy a roomier purse for your sketchbook and a little palette. 

Since I've been carrying my sketchbook with me all the time, I find that I look at life around me with a little more appreciation.  I see more colors and shapes, shadows and patterns.  I guess if you look through my sketchbooks, you'd notice a lot of the colors, shapes, shadows, and patterns that I see are food related.  Whatever gets ya goin', huh?

Walloon Lake

Walloon Lake at the Foot

The Foot is at the southern-most end of the lake. And  -  it's shaped like a boot.

I still have sand in my sketchbook.  That's okay  -  every part of our sketchbooks is all about "being there".  Now this feels like a long time ago.  Another season.  It's cold this morning and some of the kids started school today.

When our kids were little, we lived near a lake with a nice beach, and we spent a lot of time there all summer.  The whole neighborhood would be there every day. FUN.  And then the kids would start school and the moms would still go to the beach once in awhile.   After three months of having our eyes glued to the kids in the water, it was fun to soak up the sun, sand and water without being concerned for anyone's safety.  Always felt a little guilty about that though.  Did they know we went without them?

Today I'm working on class promos, planning, and catching up on emails.  I will be sending out emails and posting info on an upcoming Yoga and Painting morning I'll be doing with a yoga instructor friend, and another bookbinding/journal painting workshop.  Getting geared up for the new season!

Walloon

Contour Drawing in my Sketchbook

I did this sitting under a big tree, talking about, and listening to friends talk about, composition and value.

In a contour (continuous line) drawing I don't worry about composition, and of course, as you can see here, there is no information about value (lights and darks).  I'm just recording what it is about the subject that interests me. In this case, it's the vertical lines of the tree trunks and the horizontal line of the distant shore. I had intended to put a little watercolor on this, but I really like the simplicity of the lines.

This is labor day weekend.  We don't have any big plans. The grandkids have been in and out.  A few very large (3 to 4 inch) slugs have been in and out, and one pretty large toad. We put the toad in the cutting garden and then we googled "what do toads eat".  They are actually carnivores and they eat slugs! The balance of nature  -  right in our own back yard.  I just don't want to witness that one.

Painting with Isabelle

Late Summer Flowers in my Sketchbook

Just a quick little sketch while sitting on the porch painting with Youngest Granddaughter a few days ago.  She did some bright and colorful things to cut out and decorate the porch walls.

It still feels like summer here.  It is fabulous!!!

As my classes slow down and I fill my life with other fun and creative things, I'm thinking maybe this year I'll avoid the annual autumn-crash-and-burn.  I have a list of goals for the winter, a couple of deadlines, classes and workshops lined up, a volunteer thing I do (tiny  -  I need to ramp it up), and the life drawing group I go to once a week.  Speaking of life drawing  -  can I show that stuff on this blog?   Yes, of course, I know I can  -  this is the Internet  -  I can do anything.

It's Thursday  -  spaghetti night at the Carey's.  Then I am off to paint with friend Karen.

Workshop Demo

Large Raspberries, Small Fuzzy Peach, and Birdhouses

This page was done in my sketchbook on "Arches cover cream" paper.

Cathy Cohen and I just finished up a two day bookbinding/ journal painting workshop.  As always, it was fun!  It was a great group and their books are beautiful!  The weather was perfect for outdoor journal painting.

Oh, wow  -  this is the last day of August!  I can't believe how fast it has gone.  A couple of posts back, I said things were slowing down.  Maybe not.  I haven't noticed it anyway. I think I am filling in the spaces with other things.  If I slow down, I may feel obligated to clean up things around here.  This morning while I was trying to make the house a little presentable for my Wednesday class, I was finding blue paint and dust bunnies everywhere.  For some reason, I feel that the blue paint is a little more acceptable than the dust bunnies.  Am I right? 

Lucia's Coffee Cup

Coffee Cup and Cherries

The coffee that was in this cup was fabulous and the cherries were huge and very sweet.

I spent the morning with some painting friends on Walloon Lake. Although the lake was beautiful, it was too cool and windy to paint outside, and we were too caught up in conversation to paint the view out the large expanse of windows.

I purposely chose this coffee cup for its colors and pattern, and because I liked it with the napkin and the cherries.  While I painted this, we talked about paint colors, papers, brush shapes, refinishing floors and organizing closets.  We also discussed sugar-free diets while we ate the best pecan rolls and little sugary raspberry filled things.

On a cool, windy morning it was such a nice place to be  -  such a pretty, welcoming home, and fun friends to laugh and paint with.  I find it so inspirational to spend time with other people that like to paint.  The closet organizing thing doesn't turn me on though.

Bay View Street Scene

 

Wrapping up the Season

This journal page was done last week, the last week of my journal classes in Bay View.  I hate to see it end. I have plenty to do to get ready for fall classes and workshops, so I'll quit complaining and move on.  I also have a lot of fun things planned for the week  - a volunteer afternoon, two days with grandchildren, a day of painting with friends, my life drawing session, a watercolor class to teach .  .  .    Fun stuff.

Have any of you been doing thumbnail sketches?  I keep a stack of pages printed up with 2 X 2 1/2 inch rectangles right on my work table to remind me to PLAN PLAN PLAN before I start a painting. 

Our sketchbook journals are for fun  -  no planning required.

A Few More Value Sketches and Composition

Thumbnail Sketches

I'm still at it  -  doing thumbnail sketches.

 On the right are seven sketches done with various pens, pencils, charcoal, conte crayon . . .  This was just to show my students how each one worked in a very small (2 X 2 1/2) and very quick value sketch.  Although charcoal is a mess and I'm not crazy about the way it feels against the paper, I do like the way it blocked in the shapes and the lights and darks without any chance of time consuming detail.  It is the second one down in the right hand column.

The sketches on the left are various compositions of one subject done in Prismacolor pencil,  90% warm grey.  There are unlimited possibilities for compositions and the arrangements of light and dark shapes.

Things have started to slow down a bit, class-wise, but my brain hasn't received the message.  I have classes and workshops coming up really soon, so I have plenty to keep me busy,  but I thought it would be nice to "turn it off" for a couple of days before I start to re-group. 

Did I mention that I have joined a life drawing group that meets once a week?  My friends know what a big step this is for me  -  I don't like figure drawing.  I really don't like it. The things is, I WANT to like it, so I'm going to the sessions.  My right brain is working so hard, I can barely function when I get home  -  function, as in find something in the refrigerator to eat.  Now that's pretty bad for me.  My husband says this is good for me  -  it may be the way some of my students feel when they are just beginning, and now I know how it feels.  I apologize to any of you that I may not have shown proper sympathy.  I don't give refunds for lack of sympathy, but I do apologize.

Value Sketches

More Value Sketches

Value sketches are such a quick and easy way to plan a painting  -  lights, darks. mediums  -  there ya go, all planned out.  Maybe it's me.  Maybe I'm not making it clear enough.  Almost everyone wants to skip the sketches, or make them way too large, or way too detailed.  Someone in class that ended up with a beautiful painting said, "It took me fifteen thumbnail sketches to get that."  Good for her!  That means she could have gone through fifteen failed paintings before she did the one she was happy with.  She stuck with it and planned it out, and the thumbnail sketches really only took a few minutes.

Here's my plan  -  I'm going to hand out paper that has several two-inch squares on it and  felt tipped markers.

I do realize that the process that I find most helpful is not necessarily right for everyone.  However, I do think thumbnail sketches to plan the values and composition are important.  It's one of those things "if you don't know where you're going, you're not going to get there."  My whole life is "I don't know where I'm going" but at least I can control my thumbnail sketches.

Wesley's Lane

One of my Favorite Places to Paint

There is a little lane with cottages backed up to it, that runs along a park-like area where there once was a railroad bed.  On the front side of the cottages is the Bay.  I love it here.  I love the back doors and casual porches and the roof lines of the years worth of additions on each cottage.  There is no pretense here, just  some beautiful window boxes and laundry on the clotheslines.  If you stepped out of your time machine onto this lane, you wouldn't know where in history you are.  Well, yeah  -  the cars.

I'm catching up a little on sketchbook posting and am sitting on the back porch watching the humming birds. They come to the trumpet vine and phlox that are right by the back door.

This morning there was a six inch slug sliming his way around the porch.  I opened the back door into the garden, hoping he'd find his way out.  He didn't.  My hero/husband came to the rescue.  The slugs are just too big and icky to squash.  My husband has been known to take them on a shovel and dump them in the middle of the street, hoping they will get run over before they find their way back home.  I suppose we'll hear from some animal rights activists about this?  I guess it is more humane to let them drown in a saucer of beer.  Except the big ones don't drown  -  they just drink their fill and stagger away.  Ick.  They make me shiver!

Cosmos

A Little Bouquet of Cosmos, Asters, and Ageratum

Because I carry my sketchbook around with me I use it to store information like most people use their electronic devices. There is no "delete" in my sketchbook, so I glued some Aquarius II watercolor paper over some information that I didn't need anymore.  I hope I didn't need anymore.

The drawing on the left was done with a Pentel Sign pen, which is water soluble. The one on the right was drawn with a sepia Prismacolor colored pencil, which is not water soluble, and then I painted over the pencil with watercolor.

Someone in class today had a Tombow brush pen.  Now, of course, I think I have to have one of those. It was sepia and had a brush pen at one end and a regular pointy nib at the other.  She was doing some absolutely beautiful drawings with it.  Oh, wait.  Maybe it was her talent and not the pen that was making that magic.   Anyway, Beverly, if you're reading this, those were wonderful drawings!

Planning a Painting

Value Studies and Composition

In my classes this week we talked a lot about composition and values (lights and darks).  I'm trying to get across the idea of starting out with very simple shapes in the planning process.  If we get all invested in the drawing at that stage, we are not going to have the time or the inclination to start over if that's not the one that works.  And often, the first one is NOT the one that works.  There are so many possibilities to try, and it takes a lot less time to do sketches that don't work than paintings that don't work.

I find the planning part of the process a lot of fun.  I like getting all comfy with a cup of tea, a glass of wine, or a bag of potato chips and just playing around with those shapes and values.

The cherry tomatoes were in our CSA share this week.   I drew them with a Pentel Sign Pen that my friend Cathy gave me.  It is a felt tip pen with water soluble ink.  I'm going to have to look around and see where to buy these, because I think I'm going to use it up real fast. The ink seems to move a little better than a Flair.

I am so easily influenced  -  I saw a sketch someone had done with a bamboo pen, so I ordered one of those.  I'm hoping I can use it with watercolor, but I don't have a clue.  Does anyone know anything about bamboo pens?

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.

Old Birch Tree

Demonstration on Aquarius II Paper in my Sketchbook

This little watercolor sketch was done in last week's journal class.  It was done to demonstrate mixing grays on the paper (the tree) and using negative spaces to pop out white objects (the daisies).

We had a perfect week for outdoor journal painting.  This week we're getting some of that Midwest heat wave. If I had a journal class, it could get a little uncomfortable being out in the heat for four afternoons.  But  -  I don't.  I just have some morning classes and that should be okay.  This morning I have nothing!  In fact the only thing on my calendar for today was "no art in the park meeting".  How often do we have a minus on our calendars?!  Of course my to-do list is pretty long for the week  -  isn't everyone's?  The first thing is to shovel out the house and hose it down. Kidding (kind of). I have art supplies on every surface, and the dust bunnies are taking over.  I am really kind of looking forward to reclaiming our space  -  a little puttering is good for the soul.  I am not even turning on any music  -  just listening to the neighborhood sounds.

The biggest problem is that when I start picking up art supplies and putting them away,  I want to stop and play with them. A few minutes couldn't hurt, could it?

What are you sketching this week?

Beets

Chioggia Beets

These beets really and truly are bright pink with light green leaves.  I haven't cut into them yet, but I understand they are pink and white striped.

We have subscribed to a Consumer Supported Agriculture (CSA) share for the season.  We go to the farm and pick up our share (we subscribe to a half share) each Tuesday, getting a beautifully arranged box of whatever produce is ready that week.  I am having a lot of fun figuring out what to do with everything.  The cat got quite sick from eating the fennel greens, but that was his choice.

A couple of our granddaughters were here last weekend, and we were having a great time chopping, tasting, and looking at the pretty colors.  We made a beautiful big salad, and when I went to dish it up, they said in unison, "Oh, we don't eat salad - yuk." 

It has been a busy and fun week  -  seven classes Monday through Thursday.  Wonderful people in every class, and beautiful weather!  Who could ask for more!?

Summer Sketching

That Blue Pencil Again

I'm having a great time sketching with a blue pencil, as I mentioned in my previous post.  The watercolor sketch on the left was first drawn with a blue Prismacolor pencil, the little contour drawing on the right was done with a Gellyroll pen, and the lettering across the top was done with watercolor in a pen nib - B5.

I am teaching an outdoor watercolor journal class starting this afternoon, and right now it is getting darker by the minute.  WHY WHY WHY does this keep happening to me!? A watercolor journal class is supposed to be outdoors!!!!  I don't even have a room to go into.  I'm not completely stupid  -  I do know rain happens ( do I ever know it), so we  have a porch we can go to for shelter.  I just don't want to.

Here it is Monday already.  I have a very busy week ahead - two watercolor classes, four afternoons of watercolor journal, and a morning with a private group.  I am not complaining  -  I love this!

4th of July Etc.

Pages in my Journal

I didn't get as ambitious with my weekend sketching as I intended, but a couple of two-inch sketches is better than nothing.

We had a nice 4th of July weekend.  We did, however, run out of gas about midnight in the north woods - the gauge didn't work, and that's the truth.  My big brother came to our rescue as he has done for years and years.  I told the grandkids as they were beginning to panic a little, "If you don't have a little adventure, there's no reason to leave the house."  My husband and the kids were in a parade in the morning, and then the kids were in another parade in the afternoon.  After all that walking and sunshine, we LISTENED to the fireworks from the comfort of our own bed.

The journal page on the right is this morning's demonstration using a blue prismacolor pencil for the contour drawing.  I like the look, but I can't take credit for it.  I read about it in Cathy Johnson's new book Artist's Journal Workshop. The class met at a park on the Bay, and it was sunny and breezy.  I think it was the first morning I haven't had to worry about a class meeting in the rain or cold.

Now I have a painting to finish, frame, and deliver, and then we'll meet some friends at the waterfront for a picnic.  Summer in Northern Michigan!

White Geranium

White Geranium Demonstration

This is a journal page done in last week's Watercolor Sketchbook Journal class.  It was to done to show how to make the white blossoms stand out by painting a simple background color.  The petals were also kept simple with just a few shadows.

Yesterday's quirky weather changed my plans for the afternoon drawing class.  We had to find a warm place (it wasn't!) and do indoor-type drawing. The weather prediction was for 71 degrees  -  and it was that warm  in nearby areas.  It was 53 degrees here all day!!!  We should be getting used to the low fifties, but come on  -  don't promise us seventies and then roll in the fog off the Bay that drops the temp by twenty degrees.  Who's responsible for that anyway?     The morning watercolor class stuck it out and did some great paintings.  They had no choice  -  there was nowhere to go  -  we were committed.

Here in the USA we have the Fourth of July weekend coming up!  What are your plans?   How about doing a grid of small squares in your sketchbook and recording a few of the long weekend's happenings? Only a couple of minutes of commitment at a time makes it easier to tackle.

Pansies

 

A Demonstration Page from Our Bookbinding Workshop

This was done during a sunnier, warmer week.  This week I was doing two watercolor classes and four afternoons of outdoor journaling.  It poured rain continuously!  The participants of the outdoor class were really good sports.  We met on the porch of one of the buildings in Bay View and we worked on techniques and painted things like flower pots, watering cans, color mixing, and did manage to get in a couple of Bay View scenes between storms.

It is a little too quiet here now.  The California grandkids are heading down to the Detroit airport today.  It was a wonderful visit!  The month went by all too quickly. It's so hard to see them leave. 

Moving on.  The sun is shining today.  I'm anxious to get out in the garden and see how much damage all the rain has done   -    and the deer.  I have put out repellent things and sprayed liquid fence which has probably washed away by now.  

I have a painting I should be working on, and with this sunshine, it looks like a good day to set up a little temporary studio on the back porch.  Here I go.

Take your sketchbooks someplace this weekend!

Beverly's Lunch

Painting Our Lunches at the Bookbinding/Journal Workshop

Beverly's lunch was more colorful than mine, and my salad was not conducive to a good composition.  I should have followed my instructions to the students to bring a "paintable" lunch. I thought it was okay while I was packing it, but then I saw Beverly's.  The lunch is always greener  .  .  .

Our second two day bookbinding/journal workshop was a lot of fun, and there were some beautiful journals constructed.  On the second day there were some great little watercolor sketches painted. 

The Traders Joe's green tea mints box is my newest tiny palette.  It has a see-through lid, which doesn't give me much in the way of a mixing area, but it sure is cute.  It has seven half pans in it. 

This coming week I have three new classes starting (which means six class meetings), a granddaughter's birthday party to attend, and the visiting grandchildren will return for a couple of days before they head on home to California.  But,  I'm not thinking about the "heading on home" part yet.  With three new classes starting, I am feeling just a tiny bit stressed, but as my husband says, "If you aren't a little stressed, you're not trying hard enough".

Cathy's Birdhouse

Bookbinding/Journal Workshop Demonstration

This birdhouse is in the garden of my bookbinding workshop partner, Cathy.  Someday I'll go through my sketchbooks to see how many times I have painted it over the years.  It makes a good subject for the journal painting part of our workshop.  It is a good example of how contour drawing (continuous line) can simplify a complicated subject, and how to paint colorful neutrals.

We had a fantastic group in our Monday-Tuesday workshop, and another group begins today.

We've been having so much fun with the grandkids! Things have been relatively calm  -  no more crashing through window panes.  Yesterday we took a tour through the new candy factory!  The kids are at the other grandparents for a few days.   I think I'll be okay with the quiet  -  I have to get ready for three new classes starting next week, and begin and finish a small painting.  All fun stuff, and if it weren't for deadlines, I'd probably never do a thing.  Well, maybe I would.

Modern Art in our Backyard

My Latest Art Project

Looks a little like a Calder, doesn't it?  Actually it is the collapse of our backyard canopy that we had put up for my workshop last Friday.  A little rain and wind and this is what you get.  You can do this too.

I am taking advantage of a little quiet time to finish packing up things for this week's bookbinding workshops.  My husband and our son have taken all the kids to the KOA for a camping weekend.  Friday night everyone was here and things got a little crazy - one over-turned coffee table, one lost cat who turned out not to be lost at all (the kids actually went around the neighborhood gathering up cats that looked like ours), one little hand through a pane of glass in the porch door  -  which thankfully did surprisingly little damage   -  to the hand, that is.  Of course it totaled the window pane, but who cares.  So, yeah, I'm taking advantage of this quiet time.  Also looking forward to their return.  Silly me.

Demo and Lunch

A Demo for the First Friday Kick-Off

The page on the left started out as a demonstration of negative shapes.  Someone in the class asked how I would handle this hanging basket.  I was going to show them how I would handle the negative shapes, but when I put down the positive shape of the basket, I really felt that was all I needed to "say" in the little sketch.  So the lesson turned into "try to know when you have said what you want to say, and then leave it alone".

Last night Bambi ate my orange petunias!!! Darn!  In yesterday's comments Ginny suggested a deer repellant in bags, and one of my husband's library patrons suggested a repellent that comes in (or on) stakes that you put at the corners of your garden.  I think I'll go to the garden center today and buy every repellent I can find.  We live in the city.  This is people territory, Bambi!

Early June

Painting in the Garden

A beautiful day to sit in the back yard with a friend and paint, catch up on news, laugh, look through each other's sketchbooks, and look forward to a wonderful summer of painting.  After a long gray winter, early June is SO promising!

The watercolor sketch on the right was done as a quick, ink, contour sketch.  The one on left left was drawn in pencil first, then the watercolor was added, and the ink was done last.  The sketch on the left took a lot longer to do than the one on the right, but I enjoyed getting lost in the slow deliberate process.  I usually like to do my sketchbook watercolors quickly, but there's a time and place for slow and deliberate.

The deer have been devouring  the asters in my cutting garden.  The hoof prints barely miss the other plants. I'm afraid what they don't eat will get trampled  -  although from the looks of the prints they are being careful.  Gee, thanks.

Summer Kick-Off

This is a Demo from my First Friday in June Summer Kick-Off  

Watercolor Sketchbook Journal Workshop

We had a great group  -  such fun.  The weather was fairly cooperative  -  a little bit of everything from one extreme to the other, but not bad.  From past experience, I think I can accurately say that the first Friday in June is always QUIRKY.

This page in my sketchbook is showing how to just let the colors mix on the paper without mixing on the palette at all.  When working with a very small palette, sometimes we run out of space for mixing and may not have extra water for cleaning off the palette.  So besides giving interesting and pleasing results, mixing on the paper is convenient.  I was using very basic colors  -  ultramarine blue, hansa yellow, quinacridone red and a little manganese blue and cobalt violet.  There is a little bit of a learning curve to figure out how to have enough water to let the pigments float around and mix without flooding the sketchbook page.

So here we go  -  that was the Kick-Off  -  the beginning of a very busy summer full of classes and workshops.  I am soooo looking forward to it.

At the top of this blog there is a tab that links to my classes.

Orange Orange Orange

Ink and Colored Pencil on Strathmore Drawing Paper in my 
Hand Bound Sketchbook

I'm done.  Colored pencil is just too labor intensive for me.  Every time I use acrylics or colored pencil, I remember what it is about watercolor that I love so much  - you swoop through with a brush load of color and there, you've got it. It's the swooping.

I happen to be a pretty big fan of orange, and I have never come across orange geraniums or petunias until this year.  The Calendula is actually my favorite shade of orange, but I'm pretty crazy about the others too.

Starting on the left, I worked my way across the page doing a contour (continuous line) drawing.  I really don't know the techniques of working with colored pencils, but since this is my journal sketchbook - no masterpieces allowed - I'm not worried about technique.  

There's a long weekend coming up.  I hope you find time to have some fun with your sketchbook. 

Oregano

A Pot of Oregano and Some Planning

I wanted to do a quick little sketch of this bright pot before I planted it.  I know it's better off in the garden, but it sure was cute in its bright red container.

This past weekend we did a lot of yard work and the weather was great. It's in the 40s today.  We built some raised garden beds for my cutting garden and a small herb garden.  I did a ton of weeding, "staked out" my birdhouses (shown in the previous post), planted my perennial herbs, bought a truck load of garden soil .  .  .

I'm  getting things crossed off my summer to-do list.This morning I went over to the Terrace Inn and we planned the second annual "Afternoon Tea" with watercolor journaling.  The place is beautiful, the food is delicious (and pretty!), the service is wonderful, and we all take just a few art supplies and paint up a storm.  I will be posting the details very soon.

Now I think I'll go paint my ORANGE petunias.  I know, a purist would say petunias shouldn't be orange, but I say Wow! - fun! - orange petunias!  Just don't be altering my food!

Birdhouses

Colorful Little Birdhouses

What fun  -  I got to paint them twice.  Once to really, you know, paint them, and then illustrate them in my sketchbook.  They were a dollar apiece.  That's pretty cheap entertainment. And see, they gave me something to blog about to make up for the previous post's glass of water.
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I may put them on the fence  -  maybe the side of the garage  -  or maybe plant them in the garden on a stake.  Maybe that's a little tacky, but .  .  .

It's raining again and in the 40s.  I am craving sunshine and color!!!  I keep plugging away at my to-do list, getting ready for summer, and those birdhouses were actually on my to-do list.  I have a fun list, don't I?

Jesperson's

 Lunch at Jesperson's

I know.  You'd think I would have more than a glass of water to show for all this time of non-blogging.

In class this week we worked on small still life compositions.  Everyone was feeling a little "off".  I'm blaming it on the barometric pressure or the thunder storm.  We were all talking about how much we enjoy a good ol' Michigan thunderstorm  - however, it struck a house down the street and started a small fire, and across the Bay it actually hit our granddaughter's classroom!!! No one was hurt, but it knocked a small hole right through the cinder block wall!

Next week we will get back to the small still life compositions. The whole idea is to zoom in, zoom out, zoom left, zoom right . . . keep them simple with strong shapes and values.  Maybe I will set a time limit  -  if we can't fuss with it, we do a better job.  If there isn't a raging storm, we can concentrate on the composition.  But we are a bunch of artists  -  we really do enjoy a good distraction.

Giorgio's

Giorgio's Salt and Red Pepper Shakers

Giorgio's in San Jose is a California tradition with us.  We make it a point to walk down there with the family for dinner once during our visit.  We went on a Tuesday night, and it was very crowded and very noisy, and the food was wonderful.  I had risotto with baked salmon.  Risotto was another first for me.  I am not a picky eater, so how could I have missed risotto, salade Nicoise, and tiramisu  -  all firsts on this trip.

It is in the thirties here in northern Michigan today.  I am getting things ready for a new class to start tomorrow,  and we are going to be working with various ways of mixing color.  I HAD to have some colorful flowers, so I made a trip to the greenhouse  -  the first of the season  -  if you can call this a season.  It is way too early to buy annuals, but I bought some pansies and primrose  -  they'll do okay in the cold.

Getting ready for a new class gets me grounded after a vacation.  I have so much trouble with re-entry.  I always blame it on jet lag and use it to my advantage for awhile, but I think my time is up.

View from "Cherry Park"

Purple-blue Mountains 

As the sun moves, the colors of the mountain ranges change from bright green to blue gray to purple.  The tall palms are so huge and oddly shaped, they're almost comical.  I'm a mid-west girl  -  these trees and mountains are a novelty to me.

I did this sketch about a week ago, and now I am missing the sunshine and warmer temperatures of California.    We have no leaves yet in northern Michigan, but the grass is very green today. The Bay is very blue  -  ultramarine blue. It is only 45 degrees.  This might be a good day to go to the green house.  I need some of that warm dirt smell.

Menlo Park, CA

 Allied Arts Guild in Menlo Park, California

We met a Michigan summer friend at the most beautiful place  -  Allied Arts Guild.  The gardens were gorgeous, the cafe was charming, the food was delicious, and it was such fun to catch up with a Michigan friend in California.  Wisteria, roses, and everything else are blooming here.

Lunch was fantastic.  I had salade niciose with baked salmon and tiramisu  -  both a first for me.  Where have I been, huh?

That evening we went to the elementary school science fair where our granddaughter took first place for the fifth grade.  What a treat for us to be there for the award ceremony.

All in all, a great day. 

If you are in the area of Menlo Park (very near Palo Alto), it is a perfect place to take your watercolor journal.  Is this too far for my Michigan classes to take a road trip? No, I don't think so.

At the Cabin

Still Life at the Cabin

Snow, sleet, and rain all weekend. It was fun to be SO lazy and cozy. Now we are back in the city and the sun is shining. We can still be lazy.

 I want to find a good bunch of calla lilies to sketch.  It would be nice to find some near the street so I don't have to be too intrusive  -  but no one seemed to care that the homeless guy was sleeping (?) in a yard, and I think I look pretty harmless (not homeless) with a sketchbook.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter from Viola, California

It's just a little cold and snowy here.  Really  -  it's a lot cold and snowy here.  We are having the perfect holiday "cabin weekend".  Looking outside, we are just not sure which holiday it is!

We really are having a great time  -  reading, cooking, eating, playing games, decorating eggs, hiding eggs, sketching and painting, drinking cinnamon tea, and watching the snow fall.  It's wonderful!

Viola is in Northern California in the Redding/Mt Lassen area.  It is just beautiful here, and the family togetherness is soooo nice!  If you're having a warm and sunny Easter, don't feel sorry for us  -  we made a conscious choice to come here.

Chi Latte

 A Chi Latte and Other Crazy Stuff

From San Jose, California - 
To those of you back at home  -  I may just stay here.  I think I like this life.  This kind of stuff just doesn't happen at home in Northern Michigan  -  not all within a few minutes anyway.

I mean, how many times, at home, have I been sitting on the corner, drinking a chi latte at Starbucks (NEVER) and had a dog sitting next to me actually BITE two people?  It bit the Starbucks guy on the hand, and then when the mail man walked through, it bit him on the leg.  I was afraid to get up to leave  -  I let the dog leave first.

Two guys a couple of tables over were arguing about who was going to take the blame for something.  The louder one, naturally, had nothing to hide and the other one would have to take the blame.  The dog didn't pay any attention to them.

The homeless guy I saw wandering around the neighborhood was curled up on a beautifully manicured front lawn, right at the edge of the sidewalk. Sleeping?



And . . . there is bird banging his head against the living room window for days on end now.

Ya can't make this stuff up.

Down by the River

Sketching by the Bear River

We had a nice, warm, sunny day this week ~ perfect for taking watercolor journals out to paint. I started a new journal, which, for some reason, is always fun.

Today the wind is blowing and it is pretty cold.  I am inside working on some more class and workshop ideas for the summer.  I have posted my spring and summer classes ~ click on the "Classes and Workshops" tab at the top of the blog, just under the banner.  I plan to be adding more as the dates are firmed up.

 Click on the image to enlarge  -  I know you are just dying to see this thing.

 Here is a pic of the finished model of a McCormick reaper (that I mentioned back on March 2nd) that our 13 year old grandson had to make of things found around his house - or my studio.  To give you an idea of the scale, the black wheel is the cap from a gallon jug. Along with the model, his presentation, and period costume, he earned 205 points out of a possible 200.  My reward was a couple of fun days working with him on this.  I am so glad I get asked to do this fun stuff  ~  no one ever asks me to help with math.  Being horrible at math really pays off now.

Crocus

 My first Flower Sketch of the Season

It was nice and sunny and warm, and I found this crocus blooming in the yard.  As I began my sketch, the sun started to go behind a cloud, and the crocus slowly closed.  I didn't know they did that!  So this was a very fast contour drawing and a quick splash of color. 

A couple of days ago I played around with the fonts on my blog, and today the ones I had applied are gone.  Okay.  I'm not going to play with that anymore.  The next time I look they may be back.  I just don't care.

This is the last page of this sketchbook.  The next one is a different shape  -  more square  -  and I am kind of anxious to try it out.  A new season, a new sketchbook.  Fun.