Sugar Bowl

My Grandmother's Sugar Bowl

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

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

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

Salt Shaker

 Another "take your sketchbook to lunch" salt shaker.

It was breakfast.

Back when I was doing a weekend's worth of salt shakers, I said I would post this at a later date. This is the later date. Day eighteen of blogging every day in November.

Another fun class today!  They worked on painting small studies of a blooming Christmas cactus - keeping it very simple, using as few strokes as possible, and letting the paint mix on the paper.

We had some snow in the air today.  I guess it is about time, although I am certainly not ready for it.  I'm still grieving the loss of summer.  Maybe I'm not cut out for Michigan.  Maybe not, but I'm not going anywhere.

Maybe we should all draw our breakfasts tomorrow?

Brushes and Tea

Mug of Tea and Brush Pot

A quick little sketch done in my watercolor journal.

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

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

Contour Drawing

Back Door Tri-Fold Page

I've had some comments lately about contour drawing. I love it  -  it is my kind of drawing.  I don't do blind contour - well, I shouldn't say I don't, but I'll get to that later.

Everyone is very different when it comes to processing information, and I think of different styles or methods of drawing and sketching preferences to be along the lines of processing information.  Don't try to analyze it  - just do whatever works for you.

When I'm drawing, I need to stay connected - literally.  When I'm doing a contour drawing, I'm keeping my pen or pencil on the paper - even if it means I have to back-track, or if I make mistakes and have to keep correcting.  I'm just moving from shape to shape, space to space, with no conscious thought as to what those shapes and spaces are  -  only how they relate to one another.

It ends up being an informal (sloppy?) drawing that usually gets everything in the right place.  The look of it appeals to me, but I'm sure it doesn't appeal to everyone. If I need to have a "cleaner" drawing, I can use the information I have obtained from doing the contour.

When I try to do a sketchy, more precise style of drawing, I actually can't stay connected  -  it feels as if I am skipping around and nothing has anything to do with anything else.  That's just my opinion  -  "real" drawing works for a LOT of people.

The ideal way to do a contour is to be looking at the subject more than the paper. Some people say they draw only when they are looking at the subject.  They stop drawing when they look at the paper to make sure they are making connections, and resume drawing when they look back at  the subject.  I may be doing that too, but haven't really thought about it when I'm drawing. I'll have to pay attention next time.

I find contour drawing helps me edit and keep things simple  -  I'm just moving along and only getting in the things I really want to be there.  I find it pretty easy to skip over the unnecessary objects.



I'll dig out some contour drawings I have in sketchbooks, and put them in a future post.  I'll also talk a bit about blind contour and why I find it useful.

Maybe contour drawing is an acquired taste, so give it a try  -  you might learn to love it!

Arrangements

Flowers for Friends

I didn't sketch or paint  -  just arranged. There is group here in town that takes apart flower arrangements from weddings, funerals,and other events, and rearranges them in small containers.  They are then delivered to nursing homes and hospitals.

What a fun thing to do  -  spend a couple of hours with my friend, Ellie, and play with flowers - all for a good cause.  It is set up in the back of a florist's shop where they store the planters, vases, baskets - all the "behind the scenes stuff".

I'm a little creeped out by the cooler.

Chili by the Bay

This is another contour drawing of another salt shaker 

 a colorless page from a rather colorful weekend.

We had two of the grandkids for a couple of days.  I just vacuumed the living room floor a few minutes ago, and it really looks dull now without the colorful hole-punch dots, bits of ribbon, and little bits of dried up cheese - the cheese was surprisingly colorful!  We didn't do art projects in the living room, and we didn't eat in there - I guess all those bits and pieces just worked their way in there from other parts of the house.  You can imagine what those other parts look like.  It was fun!

It's a very gray day - gun metal gray, actually  -  but cozy inside.   We have only made one trip to the home improvement stores.  Does that mean we weren't very productive, or does it mean we were very organized?  I'm not sayin'.

Home Grown Apples

Red and Yellow Apples

This is a contour drawing.  I started with the apple in the front, on the left, and worked my way around. It went very quickly, and when I got back around to the left again, they all matched up.  I always wonder if everything really will fit together in the end  -  and it always does.  It just happens like magic.

The man that came to see about helping us finish up the bathroom brought a large bag of apples from his trees.  He got the job.  You see, it's not all about the lowest bid.

Lunch with the Girls

I Took My Sketchbook to Lunch

This is a pepper grinder that was on the table at lunch today.  It was such a nice relaxing couple of hours with old and new friends. I had a busy day of running here and there, and lunch with friends was a nice break in the middle.

I think this page could use a little more color.  Salt shakers and pepper grinders are always a little colorless, but I could use my imagination and spiff it up a bit.  I'll work on that.

Are you going to sketch something this weekend? Take your sketchbook to lunch?

More Minis

One and a Half by Two and a Half Inch Paintings
in Five by Seven Mats

After doing these I kind of have the urge to do a very large canvas.

I'm sitting here staring at the monitor with a million things racing through my brain, non of which you would care a thing about hearing.

Classes were such fun this week!  Everyone was really in a painting mood.  They asked great questions, did great work  .  .  . fun.

Now I am off to finish up the laundry, pack a grandkid's lunch, and sketch up a composition for a large canvas.  Just kidding about the canvas thing  -  after the laundry and the lunch, I'm going to bed.

Harker Flowers

Love These Colors!

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

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

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

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

Lace Tablecloth

One Way to Save It.

I had a tablecloth that had belonged to my great grandmother, and I treasured it.  It didn't hold any family memories for me, although it did have a story, but doesn't everything?  I thought it was beautiful, and I often painted it in still lifes.  The linen was deteriorating, and I thought someday I would sew the lace onto a new piece of linen.  Yeah, right.  One day recently, I unfolded the tablecloth and the lace was literally falling apart in my hands.  Time to give it up.

Because I was going to throw it away anyway, I used it as a stencil to record the pattern of the lace in my sketchbook.

I've been going through things the past few days and really digging out "junk".  The more I get rid of, the more I want to get rid of.  Nice how that works. Now if I can just keep up the momentum!  

Acorn Squash

What More Can You Say About an Acorn Squash?

The shell is a dull green, the flavor isn't the best in its family, but those seeds!  I love the way they look!  All snuggled in there with all those negative shapes.

Pretty soon I had better cook up some of the squash I have around here that I bought to look pretty.  It isn't pretty anymore.

Harker Chinaware

Harker Hotoven Chinaware

"The oldest pottery in America"

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

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

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

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

Pomegranate

Pomegranate in my Sketchbook

 This is the first pomegranate I have painted.  Of course I ate it too.  There is something kind of compelling about digging those little seed things out and popping them in your mouth.  It just wouldn't be the same if you could just take a big bite of it.  The little juicy seed things are arils, and there are about 600 of them. No, I didn't count them.

I love the color, texture and shape of the fruit.  I didn't quite capture the leathery look of it, but close enough for a sketch.

It is a quiet, lazy day at our house today.  I did go out into the world to buy some salad plates, and it was very busy out there. The sky has been beautiful and the Bay has been a fabulous bright blue. It's been a nice day.  Tomorrow we will have to make up for being so lazy today, but that's okay, it all balances out.

Hope you're having a nice weekend.

Very Small Birch Trees

Very Small Watercolors

These are 5 X 7 mats with 1.5 X 2.5 images.

I thought it might be fun to paint some little flower images for these, but we have a little bit of snow in the air today, and flowers just didn't work for me.  Snow doesn't work for me either.

I'm working on getting a few small things ready for the arts center Christmas show.  Deadlines are good. Deadlines and motivation are synonymous.

This is one of my "blogging for quantity not quality" posts.  Day five of blogging every day for the month of November.

Horton Bay Road

Value Sketch and Finished Painting

Watercolor 5 X 8

This is what my classes are working on this week  -  simple value sketches that are our guide to simple paintings. We are going to be talking about composition for the next few weeks.  Of course, we are talking about composition all the time, but for awhile we are going to be taking it apart and paying attention to all the parts.

I love painting small paintings with a fairly large brush  -  it keeps things simple and moves right along.  If I dilly dally, I start to get detailed.  I don't like detail  -  I don't like doing it, and I don't like looking at it.  Just sayin'.

Petunias

Watercolor Petunias

Here it is November and I am painting petunias.  This was a painting I had started as a demo in a summer class.

I started a new eight-week session today that will actually run into January because of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years.  We are going to be paying close attention to composition and enjoy the process that takes us to a finished painting.  We are going to do a lot of thumbnail sketches and value studies, and take our time to get things just the way we want them before we ever touch brush to paper.  This is hard for those of us who are into instant gratification (ME?).  You  notice I said "enjoy the process" - it is actually fun to plan, draw, and work out a color scheme.  I often rush into a painting and miss out on the fun of doing the preliminary steps.


The painting above was started on location, with little planning, except the negative shapes. When I got to a certain point, I really didn't know how to finish it.  When I pulled it out again, I played a lot with the lights and darks and shadow colors and it began to come together.  Not the best way for me to come up with a finished painting, but that is the way I work on location and in my sketchbooks.  I save the "enjoyable process" for winter painting in the studio.

Three days into "blog everyday for a month".  So far so good  -  on my end anyway  -  I'm having fun.

Journals/Sketchbooks

Q & A

Regarding hand bound sketchbook journals

I've had a few emails and questions in the "comments" section of this blog about the sketchbook journals that I make and use.  I'll attempt to answer those questions here, in no particular order of importance (but this is important stuff, you know).

First of all, I want to say that I have a sketchbook "partner".  My friend, Cathy, is the "technical adviser" and instructor when it comes to teaching the book binding classes.  I'm her helper during this stage. When we get to the embellishing and "journaling", that's when I take over, and Cathy is my helper and "food stylist" so we can have a great looking snack to paint in the afternoon.


Q. What are the sizes of the books?
A.  I have done three sizes.  My friend, Karen (who will stop what she doing and make a sketchbook at the drop of a hat), and I took a book binding workshop together at Hollander's in Ann Arbor, MI, and the size they taught us there was 5 1/2 by 5.  It's a cute little fat book that makes a nice gift.

After trying out that size a couple of times, we adapted a larger one that uses  22X30 sheets of watercolor paper with no waste -  7 1/2 X 5 1/2.

A few days ago I tried a smaller one that used the watercolor paper with no waste - it is 3 3/4 X 5 1/2.
It is the one pictured in the middle in the photo above.  I haven't tried using it yet.  It is a very horizontal format. I think it is just about the size of a Moleskine small watercolor sketchbook.


 Q.What kind of paper do you use?
A.We use a mix of Strathmore Aquarius II watercolor paper and Strathmore drawing paper.  Aquarius II is soft enough to fold and stitch, doesn't buckle, and doesn't "suck out" the color.  Sometimes we put in a few sheets of different paper just for the fun of it.

Q.Do you sell kits and your instructions?
A. The kits and instructions would be Cathy's thing.  She doesn't want to send them out into the world yet.  She may someday  -  when they are ready to stand on their own  -  without the "hands-on" instruction to go with them. Hollanders in Ann Arbor has instruction books that are pretty easy to follow.  I took the class there, and that made the book easier to follow.

Q.When and where do you teach the bookbinding/journal painting workshop?
A. We teach it in Cathy's beautiful studio on Lake Charlevoix in Northern Michigan.  We have done them in the warmer months when it is nice to go outside and paint, but we might try to stretch that time frame a bit.

Q.Where do you get your supplies?
A.Most of the supplies are mail-ordered from Hollanders.  We have no affiliation with Hollander's, by the way.

Q.Where do you get your decorative bookcloth?
A.We make it by bonding craft paper to the fabric with iron-on bonding material from the fabric store.

My current journal didn't make it into the photo, and I have made some as gifts, but you might get the idea here of my journal making style - the more color and pattern, the better.

If you have read this far, you might be ready for a nap.  Sorry for being so wordy. I'm going to go paint now.  I hope you're getting in some sketching or painting today too!

clouds/group pic

Cloud Series

Okay - here is a group pic of the September cloud series.  I know, it is not September anymore.  It's not even October anymore, but  .  .  .


I have signed up, once again, for the National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo).  For those of you who have followed me on this in previous years, you know you are in for a month of quantity, not quality.  


I seem to be having a spell of artist block lately -  hoping this blogging thing will help. I have my  beautiful porcelain palette right here by my side!  What more could I want?! One more palette in my life was supposed to do the trick, wasn't it? 

It"s All About the Journey

Creativity Overflowing

 Or Something Like That

With three little girls in the house today, the paint brushes, watercolor palettes, acrylics ETC. were a big draw.  Using the long classroom tables, we had room to paint pictures, roll out clay dough, paint rocks, make coffee filter leaves (a fabulous shade of blue!) .  .  .  Not a lot was finished.  In fact, maybe nothing was finished, but I guess that wasn't the point.  It's all about the journey, isn't it?  I needed this today  -  a day to just be.  We weren't trying to get anything finished, we were just being.  I've been fretting a lot lately about how my time is spent, and worrying more about what doesn't get done, instead of enjoying what I am doing.
Listening tonight to Jeff Talmadge's "Wrong Train"  -   "It (time) isn't lost, it's only spent another way."
Tomorrow I'll spend a little time cleaning up these tables and think about how much fun it was to make this mess..

Peppers

Peppers

  The market is full of beautiful, colorful peppers this time of year, and I always get some just to watch their color change.  I really don't know how to cook with these  -  I don't even know what they are, but I just love the way they sit there on the kitchen counter for a few days changing from dark green, to orange, to brilliant red.    I think they cost something like 6 for $1.  That's pretty darn cheap entertainment.

Apples

Apples

I know I said I was going to be painting fall vegetables during the month of October, and yes, I know these are not vegetables, but it's this or nothing.  I have been trying to catch up on paper work and get my classes scheduled for next summer. and get out an email promoting my November classes.  So what's so hard about squeezing in a little painting time?

I'm not practicing what I preach  -  just paint!  Carry your sketchbook around and just paint.

We have lost a lot of leaves and gained our seasonal view of the Bay.  It's beautiful.  I'm going to work on very simple trees with my class this morning.  It is always a challenge to keep things simple when we have bare branches, yellows, oranges, and greens all on one tree.  I'm hung up on simplicity lately - on every level of my life  -  and I am not a "simplicity-kind" of person.  Gonna give it a try.

Squash

Autumn Vegetables

Here we are half way into my autumn-vegetable-series-for-the-month-of-October, and this is the first I have painted.  I guess I shouldn't point out my shortcomings, should I?  This is a contour ink drawing of the vegetables lined up down the table.  They are really very large vegetables and would have lent themselves to being painted in a large format. Of course I can still do that.

It is a beautiful fall Saturday in Northern Michigan.  The leaves are brilliant, and the bay is very blue.We went downtown to the new chili restaurant for chili dogs for lunch. I forgot to take my sketchbook to sketch the salt shakers.  We'll be going back.

Now we are about to pick up on the bathroom project that we put aside for the summer.  Summer is long gone, and we are still trying to think up excuses not to get at it.  We are enablers.  Maybe that's why we have been together for so long.

Hope it's a beautiful day wherever you are - maybe you are outside sketching, or maybe you are inside painting your bathroom.

Quiche

Leftover Quiche for Breakfast

A quick little sketch of my breakfast this morning.  Also working on a couple of cloud paintings, but you know  -  those can be pretty boring to look at day after day (not that I have really been painting them day after day), so I think I will post them in groups of three or four.  That still might be boring, but anyway . . .

It is warm and sunny here today, and I am heading out to the farm market for squash and gourds. Maybe some apples and pears.  Potatoes. Mums. Pumpkins. And I claim to not be a fan of Autumn.

Clouds

 

Getting Easier

I may be way behind schedule on my self-imposed cloud challenge, but I'm gonna keep on keepin' on. I must say it is getting easier.  Of course it is!   Practice. Practice. Practice.

I had intended to do fall vegetables during the month of October.  I guess it wouldn't kill me to do both vegetables and clouds.  I love cut squash  -  those seeds with the negative spaces!  I'm a sucker for all those colors and textures once I get to the farm market. All those warm colors with cool shadows.  And those big blue/gray/green things (Hubbard?)  -  fun to mix!

Okay  -  who wants to do fall vegetables with me? Small studies. Practice. Practice. Practice.

New Sketchbook

Another New Sketchbook

Last week we made new sketchbooks. After the trip downstate to the paper/bookbinding store, I was anxious to bind a new book.  I think I have made nine of them so far, and  I'm a couple of books ahead now, which is a nice, secure feeling. What if I decide sometime that I am sick of making these, and I don't have any made up ahead?  Actually, I just really enjoy making them.  I don't need a reason, do I?

The drawing is a value sketch that I am working on for a new painting.  I want to use it as a demo for tomorrow's class.

Another beautiful, sunny, fall day here.   I should take a walk.  Does sitting in the sun eating potato chips count as doing something good for myself?  I think so.

Lemonade

Sketches on Nideggen Paper in my Sketchbook

"Salt Shaker .  .  .  ." leads to another salt shaker a few pages on in the sketchbook.  I'll post it later.

We spent a nice long weekend downstate, and I came across a lot of salt shakers to draw.  Of course, after a while they become repetitive, and they are almost all dented.  Does every salt and pepper shaker in every restaurant in the world get dropped on the floor?  What's with that? 

We covered both sides of the state with my brother and sister-in-law, meeting up with old friends at Meijer Gardens on the west side and our son at Selfidge Air Force Base on the east side.  We had one whole day of shopping at those fun places that we don't have up here in the "north woods"  -  the paper/bookbinding store, Trader Joe's, Ikea, etc.  Now I think I need a couple of days to recover! My brother claims we drove almost 900 miles.  We could have been past Omaha.  If we had wanted to be past Omaha.

The Backdoor

Another Watercolor Sketch of the Backdoor

This is done on Nideggen paper which is a light brown color.

I was going to work on sketches and paintings of reflective objects when my class left, but with that sunshine out there, I decided not to waste it.  We have had frost warnings and the flowers are getting straggly, so it's possibly now or never for one more sketch of the area near our back door. There is nothing gorgeous about the door or the plantings, but I like it, and it is a warm, sunny spot to sit and paint.

Someday maybe I will go through all of my sketchbooks and find all of the paintings and sketches I have done of this door.

Journal Page

A Journal Page From Last Week's Bookbinding Workshop

It was too cold to go outside and paint, but we each went out and picked up at least three natural objects and composed them on a page in our brand new journals.

I seem to be accomplishing nothing the past few days.  Today is a very strange day weather-wise  -  dark clouds in the west, very windy, and quite warm, with some bright sunshine now and then.  That's it  -  it's the weather.  It's not me.  I'm not out of sync, it's definitely the weather.

Apples

Apples Painted on Nideggen Paper in my Sketchbook

This has absolutely nothing to do with anything I am doing this week.  Whatever happened to my cloud project?  I haven't given up on it  -  just takin' a break.

These little apples have been hanging around my studio, begging to be painted.

There must be something about this time of year  -  most of  my students tend to get picky and detailed, even though they say that's not what they want. Maybe because  the season has changed, and we have come into a controlled environment, they are trying to be more controlling too  -  as if they should be doing a "better" job because there is no excuse of the distractions that we have painting outside.  Whatever.   I am trying to get everyone (myself included) to swoop through with a loaded brush and get those colors and shapes in with just a few swoops.  Then go back and shape things up with shadows and MAYBE some detail.

Rainy and dark here today!  A nice cozy day to paint with students/friends.  We are painting white objects today.

Sunflowers

Color Mixing

Last week's classes painted sunflowers, paying special attention to color mixing.  We used quinacridone red, ultramarine blue, and new gamboge (yellow). For the top row of blossoms, we mixed the brown for the centers by first mixing the primaries on the palette and then dropping in a little purple after the brown center had been painted . The next one was brown mixed on the palette, and the third was mixed on the paper.  As always, we found the color mixed on the paper to be much more interesting and less muddy.  Mixing on the paper gives you less control, but the results are more pleasing. Well, that's my opinion.  The centers of the flowers in the small painting, bottom right, were done by letting the colors mix on the paper.

This week I am doing a bookbinding workshop  -  "team teaching" with my friend Cathy.  The sketchbooks were finished today in record time, and they are all absolutely beautiful!  Tomorrow we will unveil them (they are under heavy weight over night) and begin to paint. I LOVE MY JOB!

The End of the Season?

The Last Page in this Sketchbook

A break from cloud painting

This sketchbook started out with a sketch from friend Karen's front porch.  This last sketch was painted a few evenings ago in her garden.

Now the dilemma  - I have two sketchbooks made up and ready to go.  Which one do I pick up next?

I class today we painted sunflowers.  What we were really working on was the composition  -  not doing the whole vase of flowers, but working out small thumbnail sketches using a viewfinder, and then doing a small painting.   The class came up with some beautiful color mixes for the brown centers.  It is hard to just "let go" and let the paint mix itself, but the results are always more interesting than mixing on the palette.

Tomorrow's class will be doing the same thing, and I will post my demo.

Are you walking around with your sketchbooks, picking up on some of the late summer colors?

Clouds 4

View From the Back Yard

This is a cartoon-like painting with ink on Strathmore 400 drawing paper. It started out as a contour drawing.

After a great weekend of spending one day doing nothing, one day doing chores, and one day with family,  I guess it is back to real life for a few days  -  until the next weekend.  Which is real life  -  the weekends or the weekdays?  Of course it is the combination and the balance of the two, but balance is sometimes just beyond me.

There are some beautiful clouds again today, and strong winds are predicted for this afternoon, so the clouds could be moving faster than I can paint. As I'm typing this, the sky is getting darker and the wind is picking up.  While the sun is still in the east and the dark clouds are moving in from the west, we can get some pretty dramatic skys, but I could do without the drama of the winds of a couple of days ago.  The city hasn't cleaned up the damage from that yet, so I am looking forward to that distraction some time today.  I'm serious  -  I love distractions.

Clouds 3

Cloud Watching this Morning

The clouds are moving very quickly across the sky this morning.  I did take some pictures, but it just isn't the same as doing the real thing.  Do you want flat and still, or dimensional and moving too fast to capture?

It is cool and very windy here this weekend.  I told my husband it feels like a cold weekend up north.  He said "It IS a cold weekend up north."  I meant it felt and smelled like when I was a kid at the cottage on a cold weekend.

So after we spent the morning yesterday chopping up and clearing out the tree limbs (from our tree) that came down in our neighbor's driveway, denting her car here and there and just missing her kitchen window, we spent the day doing vacation-like things  -  reading, eating, playing dominoes, going downtown, checking out the storm damage (we didn't have to go far for that), wrapping up the day with a movie  .  .  .

Today it is back to some outdoor chores and maybe some more cloud watching and painting.  Hope you're all having a nice, relaxing long weekend, and maybe spending a little time with your sketchbooks.

Clouds 2

Murky Colored Clouds

Yeah, I know, pretty boring.  But I'm sticking with this cloud thing until I get it right. This paper is Arches Cover, cream.

There was a spindly, lacy-leaved (leafed?) tree sticking up into this sky, but I was losing the light and thought I might go back today and paint the tree.  Today was very windy and rainy, so it didn't happen.

Maybe I don't even like doing clouds.

Happy Birthday to my Blog

Clouds #1

Today is the 5th birthday of this blog!

Here we go with my September series of cloud paintings, drawings, whatever.  I know this is a very unoriginal, uninteresting, etc., cloud painting, but, hey, I did it.  I'm going to have to study up on what's what with clouds.  I don't know one kind from another, and that might be nice to know.  The clouds on any given day aren't necessarily the clouds you want in the painting of the day.

We are being over-run here by wildlife.  Last night after dark, while I was sitting on the porch reading, a skunk walked up to the door, sniffed at it, pawed at it, peered in at me, and then slowly turned around and walked away.  The nerve!  My husband says, "You're sure it wasn't a cat?"  Yes!!! I'm sure!  He was three feet from me  -  I got a good look.

Roses and Daisies

Demonstration Journal Page

From a class this summer.

Here it is the first of September and I'm still thinking of summer classes.  It was a perfect summer for workshops and classes  -  the weather was beautiful and the people were just wonderful!

Why does September always seem like a new year? A new beginning.  I spent a few minutes this afternoon putting things on my calendar that I would like to accomplish in the next few months. So -  I am throwing out a challenge for myself and anyone else that would like to do it.  Mary T are you reading this?  Because  the clouds are just so dramatic here in September and October,  I am going to try to do no fewer than 16 small paintings, drawings, or whatever, of clouds.  These can be landscapes, "bayscapes" or just plain clouds.  I have 16 small (5 1/2 X 7 1/2) pieces of paper ready to go - drawing paper, watercolor paper, misc. paper, but since I think clouds lend themselves to juicy watercolor, I'll probably do more of that.

I have to say, this is a challenge for me.  I am really not very good at clouds.  I never do paintings that are "about" clouds, so we'll see what happens, huh?  If you want to join me, leave us a link to your clouds in the "comments".

View From Judy's Yard

View Across the Cottage Lawns

I painted with friends yesterday and it was hard to zero in, there was so much to choose from.  The clouds were fabulous, the water was tropical, the cottages are charming, but there was something about this row of trees going off into the distance across the lawns of the cottages.  I can see this as a larger "serious" painting.


As I mentioned to Marj. in yesterday's comments  -  I am not transitioning well.  I just go from August classes to September classes, I don't have to get kids off to school, we don't take off for other parts of the country when the season changes.  So what's the big whoop?  It was a nice summer, the weather is still great, we're planning a mini get-away, we'll have a family get-together for labor day  .  .  .


Okay, thanks for listening.  I feel better now.

More Black-eyed Susans

Black Eyed Susans at the Workshop

 This was my demo for our warm-up painting for our one-day-watercolor-sketchbook-journal-end-of summer-workshop yesterday.  The weather went from cool to very nice to cold, all between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.  The weather never stops us  -  good or bad  -  we can turn out the paintings!  The participants did some great little paintings.  I'm hoping they are fired up to carry their sketchbooks around all winter and sketch wherever they are.  They did some cute little two minute sketches around the house when it became to cold to stay outside.


I was feeling a little adrift, aimless, lost, at loose ends, bewildered, unbalanced . . . . after the workshop.  It was my absolute last class of the summer.  My summers are full of classes and workshops  -  often two classes a day.  My Fall classes start the 1st of September, so what's the big deal?  It's a much slower pace, and that's okay.  I just am not ready for summer to end.


I spent the morning painting with friends  -  that got me over my aimless drifting, and then I came home and cleaned a closet.  Wow  -  cleaned a closet  -  maybe I am still drifting.

Flowers in Harmonious Mug

Last Bouquet of the Season?

Well, not the last bouquet, but it's getting to be slim pickin's.


I still have a couple of workshops to go before my fall classes start the first of  September, but I'm feeling the change of the seasons in my soul.  Dramatic, huh.  

I've been cleaning out stacks of things that I have let pile up between classes during the summer. I'm digging through table linens, looking up recipes, even DUSTING.  I do this nesting thing every fall.  Doesn't everyone?

When I picked this bunch of flowers for the dinner table, Rudy, the cat, thought they were dinner.  He loves loves loves black eyed susans.    OOOPS  -  maybe they are toxic.  YES, they are!!!  But apparently he would have to eat 4% of his body weight.  Some of the symptoms are lethargy and wandering aimlessly.  This is a cat!  When he is not lethargic, he is wandering aimlessly.   Aren't we all.  Or is it just me?

Flower Box and Ferns

A Journal Page Demo

In this week's sketchbook journal workshop we have been talking a lot about painting very simply and quickly.  It is not about laboring over a masterpiece.  It is about getting the impression of "here and now" on the journal page.


I understand that it is difficult to take a chance on a page being less than perfect, or even less than good, because someone might look at it, and of course, we will look at it ourselves and feel as if we have failed if it isn't great (or good).


I think that I have  made a dicision somewhere along the line that has made it easier to "let go" and just get it on the page quickly and simply.  There are a lot of things in this world, and if I labor too long over each page, I'm just not going to be able to get to all those things.  If I just do snippets here and there, I'm going to be able to cover a lot more ground.


Decide what it is that made you stop to paint  -  and paint THAT.   Then move on!


This week's class is doing a great job of moving on, but we do talk a lot about simplicity -  just to make sure we don't get too hung up on each little thing.  Because there is another little thing waiting for us  .   .   .   and another .   .   .

Salt and Pepper Grinder

Take Your Sketchbook to Lunch

Thursday I painted with a summer group that I teach a few sessions for each year.  It was their last official meeting, and we had lunch on the porch after a very informative talk and  beautiful demonstration by one of their members.  She talked about cast shadows, and brought up a lot of interesting points and lots of questions.  It has my head swirling.  She was applying geometry to the placement of shadows, along with obsevation and common sense  - the observation I can do  -  the geometry and commom sense are something else.


Sticking to my "take you sketchbook to lunch" plan, I sketched the salt and pepper grinder on the table.  The salt shaker idea has worked out well for me  -  I'm a slow eater and I talk a lot, so if I were to sketch my lunch, I'd be there all day. Not that there is anything wrong with that  -  sitting with friends on a big porch overlooking a gorgeous lake, eating a delicious lunch! Nice.


The book on the left is my newest hand-bound sketchbook.  

Another Fabulous Summer Day!

Wheelbarrow in Bay View

Posing for us.

  I did this quick little sketchbook painting this morning with my watercolor class.  The paper is Zerkell Frankfort Cream.  Sounds yummy, doesn't it?  Good enough to eat.  It isn't a watercolor paper, but I really like the way it handled.  I was never really able to get dark darks with it, and thought about using some ink line, as I often do in my journals.  However there is something about the almost  faded, middle-value, simple look that I like, so I didn't use ink.


This is the last week of summer watercolor classes.  The summer has gone all too quickly!!!  I have a few things coming up, but the rush of summer is over. Kinda sad.

Another Beautiful Day

Painting in Karen's Garden Again

This is a quick little sketch of some things in Karen's garden.  My classes painted there last week, and the weather was perfect.  It is such a nice, relaxing place to be.  Just as an example of how relaxing and pleasant it is, the neighborhood mailperson eats her lunch in this chair.

The guys in the family planned a road trip to visit some car museums in Indiana, so I hitched a ride downstate with them to the Lansing, MI area where my brother and sister-in-law live.  I promised to sit in the back and keep my mouth shut.  I'm sure they didn't believe me, but they took me along anyway.  I DID NOT GO TO THE CAR MUSEUMS WITH THEM  -  not that there is anything wrong with car museums.  My sister-in-law and I bummed around some funky little galleries and art supply places in Lansing, and I found some nice decorative paper.  It wasn't easy, but we made it our goal for the day.  We had a great time, and she has salsa all over her purse to prove it!

This week is pretty calm  -  two classes, and then a painting day and bookbinding day, just for fun.  I have a lot of summer de-briefing and fall promotion to get going on.  So  -  if it doesn't rain, I am going to take my computer outside under the canopy and get some work done.  Oooops  -  rain!  Does that mean I don't have to work?

Palette

Fun

Who'd think filling a new palette could be so much fun?  I bought a new porcelain palette (as opposed to an OLD porcelain palette?!).  Because it is arranged like a color wheel, it only makes sense to fill it like a color wheel.  

My friend, Cathy, bought one also, and we decided to fill them together.  No, this is not the first palette I have ever owned, and hopefully not the last  (it is certainly the heaviest  -  does that count for something?), but everything is more fun when you do it with a friend.

Somewhere, on someones blog, I read about painting small squares of watercolor paper and putting them in your palette to see how the sequence of colors works in your color wheel palette.  I use a very limited range of colors, but Cathy had a lot of paint choices, which made the whole process entertaining  -  playing with all those colors!!!  It was great.

Middle granddaughter then made a chart for me with the names of the paint colors on the little squares, and then she squeezed the paint into the wells on the palette.  This one little project kept three of us entertained for a couple of hours.  Who could ask for more?

Now I am off to teach Tuesday morning watercolor in friend Karen's garden.  It is very overcast, but we're goin' for it.  We don't want to miss this chance  -  it is a beautiful place to paint.

This and That

The Last Chicken Sandwich and a Blue Chair

At the Afternoon Tea last week (was that a whole week ago!?) I drew a little sketch of the last chicken salad croissant on the plate.  Not only was the sandwich alone on the plate, it was alone on the page, so when I sat on Karen's front porch one evening to draw the blue chair, I put it on the same page spread.


Today is a little like that  -  a little of this and a little of that.  I don't have any classes today and I am puttering around, cleaning things up a little. When I come in from a class, I dump out my bags of books, palettes, sketchbooks, etc., and the stacks were beginning to overflow onto the back porch.  We spend most of our time in the summer on the porch (eating, reading, talking), so I thought today was a good time to put things in their proper places and sweep out the spider webs.


Wednesday night I was getting ready for Thursday morning's class, and I commented to my husband, " I have the best job in the whole world."  There I was washing vases, cutting and arranging flowers, squeezing out fresh paint.  I am doing exactly what I want to do!

Makes Me Smile!

Just Hangin' Out.

Are these the cutest things you've ever seen in your life?!


When the California grandkids were here, one day they sat out under the backyard canopy and painted little clothespin people.  Yesterday, as I went to grab some more clothespins, I walked past these guys.  I just couldn't resist using them.  They made me smile every time I walked past them on the line.

Afternoon Tea

Afternoon Tea at the Terrace Inn

What a fun afternoon!  There were nineteen of us, painting in our sketchbooks and enjoying high tea in the Victorian dining room.


This is a demonstration page I did to kick things off.  Everyone did beautiful  sketchbook journal paintings, and it was such fun to walk around and see the various choices of subject and interpretation.  Someone even did a a small painting of one of the very fancy crystal chandeliers!  There were paintings of teapots, tablescapes, sandwiches, petit fours, bud vases  .  .  .


No beach chair-and-jeans-out-in-the-sun-painting for us yesterday.  We were all ladies at a tea party  - painting up a storm.


Thank you to everyone who attended.  You made it so much fun!