nanke's stuff

The Mayor's Wife

2011-12-01T17:44:00.000-05:00

Well, I've finally started portrait number 4, and it's the wife of my sweetie's great grandfather. Her name was Nellie Humes, and they had 9 children. Their first child was a daughter named Mary, who was my sweetie's grandmother. She married a man named Harry Cleveland Ryan, who died unexpectedly at a very young age. When he died they had three children who were very young when their father died. Sweetie's mother, who was the middle child, was only 9 years old. As a result, their grandfather assumed a major role in their lives. There are many wonderful family stories about them that I love to hear. Just as an aside, when our older son was in college, one of his professors talked about William B. Thompson in his capacity as mayor. I asked him if he ever told the prof that he was his great, great, grandfather and he told me he didn't. I probably wouldn't have either. What would be the point?

So, anyhow, here's my beginning drawing. I have quite a bit to do yet, but I thought I'd post it anyway. Her left eye (on our right) definitely needs some work.

Detour

2011-11-28T16:25:00.003-05:00

My sweetie and I went shopping on Friday (yes, the day after Thanksgiving ... aka Black Friday). It's an annual tradition for us to go to downtown Ann Arbor, wander through a few of the little shops, buy a few things, and then (the real reason for the trip), have a wonderful, drawn out lunch together. We usually go to the same restaurant (Grazi) for a fine Italian meal, complete with a wonderful wine. This year didn't disappoint - we had a great time, although sweetie tired of the shops before I did. That's OK with me .... it leaves all the more time to have him all to myself!

Oh yes, about the detour... For many years I have made Christmas ornaments for my two nieces. I've made wee stuffed animals, egg ornaments, dolls, and many other kinds. This year I decided to knit little candy bags for them. Each bag is about 41/2 by 31/2 inches in size when fully opened. I plan on putting a bit of candy in each one with a tiny candy cane sticking out of the top. When they're filled I'll use the ribbon at the top to gather the opening. The trees are decorated with wee bells, pearls, yarn, and some sort of bead thingy (I forget what they're called) on the top of the tree. I may make a few more of them, depending on how much time I have. I have another portrait in mind, and now that the detour has been taken, I hope to be starting it soon!

I hope your Thanksgiving was as much fun as ours was. We are very blessed.

I just noticed that the color of the "balls" on the tree looks brown for some reason. They're actually bright red ... go figure!

The Ring

2011-11-19T16:01:00.001-05:00

I have a gold ring that looks like a wedding band. The inside is inscribed, "To Mother from Will .. April 26th 1887". I inherited this treasure from my mother-in-law, Pinny, whom I loved very much. The ring used to belong to her great grandmother, who was given it by her son when he got married. His name was William B. Thompson, and eventually he became the Mayor of Detroit. Before he became the mayor he was a butcher, and in our kitchen hangs one of his campaign posters framed in its original black wood frame. It has a photograph of his face with a caricature body holding a butcher knife in one hand and a length of link sausages in the other. I'm guessing our sons both covet that poster!

Anyhow, besides that photo, we have one more of him, along with a photo of his wife. That's the photo I used to draw this picture. It isn't a good likeness, so I will have to draw it again .... and again .... and again, in order to get it right. I can see several places that aren't quite right, but for now it serves as the third drawing in my mini-series of five portraits. Oh, by the way, I wear that ring often. It has become a sort of talisman for me and I'm confident that it brings me good luck ..... I'm a tad strange that way.

Two of Five

2011-11-11T20:38:00.002-05:00

Yesterday we had our first snow fall of the season. Our entire lawn was covered with snow .... all the steps to the house were snowy, and there were ice droplets on all the branches. It was really quite beautiful. Mercifully, the sidewalk and driveway didn't hold the snow so there was no shoveling to do. Oh how I wish it would be like that during the winter. This is supposed to be a snowy winter. I don't know if it will be more than last year or not (last winter we had 20 inches above the normal snow fall!). Even though we had a lot last year, the good thing about it was that it was never really a ton of it all at once, so we were able to keep up with the plowing and shoveling. I'm trusting that the same will be true this year!

I had a busy day today, but after dinner I sat down with my little sketchbook and did another portrait. I found this face in a catalog. Once again, I decided to stick with ink. I doubt I'll do all of them in ink, but for these first 2 it seemed right. For one thing, ink is a lot tidier than graphite, so it's easier to use while sitting in the living room with the TV on. I'm not thrilled with her. Her right eye creeps me out, among other things, but hey, it's progress, not perfection, right?

100 Portraits???

2011-11-09T19:43:00.003-05:00

I've read about a project involving doing 100 portraits. I'm so impressed by the very idea, but I have to say, I find the thought of it quite daunting. I've been pondering the whole thing for quite some time, and this is what I've come up with. I've decided to commit to doing 5 portraits. Then I'll try 5 more. Is it cowardice? Fear of commitment? Fear of failure? Lack of stamina? ...... I don't know. Probably a bit of all of that, and depending on the day, more of 1 thing than another. But right now, that approach feels much more doable.

So, today I started. I did this one in ink in my 5.5 x 8.5 sketchbook. That's the book I rely on when I'm feeling less than secure about what I'm doing. I decided to use ink, even though I dearly love graphite for portraits, because with ink what you put down stays. For me that inevitably leads to less than perfect images (as though I've ever achieved perfection in anything I've done, regardless of the medium) which is both a challenge and a comfort. The challenge is obvious, but the comfort for me is that the expectation I have of myself is a tad lower than if I'm using pencil.

Even though the sketchbook is small, the sketch itself is even smaller (about 2.5 x 4). I expect that as I get more confident the sketches will get larger ... or not. So, here he is.....

The Queen

2011-11-06T20:57:00.001-05:00

Well, I'm still trying to draw something everyday, but I'm finding that it's so far Most days at best.. I have spent this weekend shredding. No, not Shedding, Shredding ... as in papers. About 12 years ago we were involved in a lawsuit dealing with insurance fraud. In the capacity of Powers of Attorney for my parents, my sweetie and I bought a home here in Michigan for them while they made all the arrangements to move back here from Nevada. The broker offered credit life insurance as part of the deal - my parents wanted it, so we went ahead and bought it. To make a long story short, it was a scam. The broker took the money in a lump sum for the insurance, never filed the paperwork with the insurance company, and when my stepfather died a few months later, they wanted to refund the premium money rather than honor the policy (no surprise, since there wasn't a policy). A lawsuit ensued which the "enemy" lost, ending in a much larger payout than if they had just paid the face value of the policy in the first place.

Fast forward to this weekend. As a result of having to have a new furnace installed, I had to clean out the furnace room. There are many boxes filled with who knows what, but a prominent one contained all the paperwork from the lawsuit. I shredded that paper all day Friday while the furnace guys were here. I shredded most of the day yesterday. I shredded a good part of the day today. I filled 13 large trash bags with the shredded paper! My sweetie walked by me yesterday while I was shredding (using a terrible shredder that kept jamming in the process) and remarked that it was like a prison sentence. That made me feel a lot better about it.

Anyhow, a moment ago I took up my ballpoint pen, looked down and there was Abby - she's an old, faithful Springer Spaniel who only wants to be loved on and petted. Well, she also wants cookies, but other than that, she makes no demands. And yes, she sees herself as the Queen of the Domain ... which she is. I took a wee bit of paper (2 x 2) and did this quick sketch of her face. It's not much, but it's what I have today. I figure at least it's something.

Another Waiting Room

2011-11-03T20:26:00.000-04:00

Today my sweetie had an appointment with his doctor, so we went to Ann Arbor. While he was in with the doc, I sat in the waiting room and did a couple of quick sketches of others who were waiting. I also had a book with me (an anniversary present from my sweetie, and I've been savoring it - it's called Clare and Mr. Tiffany [yes, of Tiffany glass]) so I also spent some of my waiting time reading. Then, after we got home, because tomorrow is the day our new furnace is going to be installed, I went right to work on clearing space in the furnace/storage room in the basement.

Now, I don't know about your storage area, but ours tends to get a tad cluttered over the years. Since our younger son and his wife and our grandchildren live in Tennessee, I find myself hoarding boxes that I can use to mail things. I think I had enough boxes down there to pack the children's things when they go off to college (1 of them is an infant, and the other one is 3). In addition, there were/are all sorts of things that seemed necessary to keep once, but in light of actually having to move them for work to be done, their importance quickly diminished greatly. That said, I couldn't exactly bring myself to toss them since many of them are perfectly good, so I ended up moving them into the "library" in order to pack them up and take them to the Salvation Army. In writing this, I also realized that the boxes I could use to transport the things to the S. Army are now neatly collapsed and in the trunk of my car so that I can take them to the recycle center. ...... Sigh....

So, without further adieu, here are the modest sketches I did today.

Walking out of the cave

2011-11-02T17:15:00.001-04:00

Well, it's been way too long since I've posted to my blog, but I've been totally in the midst of artistic doldrums. No whining ... no complaining .... no explaining .... we've all heard it (and some have experienced it) countless times before. Suffice it to say that even though what is here isn't a drawing, I did manage to get something down on paper (it took me a long time - not because of degree of difficulty, but because of ... well, You know). Then, after I got finished with the ink doodles, I decided to put color in it. That was fun, but another way to procrastinate, if truth be told.

In the meantime, during my angst, we had a bunch of work done on the house, all of which started with a crack in the caulk around the bathtub that I became worried about - I just kept having visions of the dreaded black mold. Since we've caulked it before, I thought we should maybe hire someone to do put some ceramic tile around the tub to take care of the problem once and for all (assuming there wasn't any mold). Well, to make a long story short, $4000 later we got that crack in the caulk taken care of, along with a number of other things involving a plumber, tile men, painters, a drywall man, and a wonderful carpenter!!! And, thankfully, there wasn't a speck of mold to be found. God help us if I notice a burned out lightbulb! Then, a couple of weeks ago we had our annual well-baby check on our furnace. Baby isn't so well after all. We have to get a new one ... goodby $5400 more!!!! ouch! (Is it any wonder I've been a tad out of sorts? lol)

So, now I'm back. Yes, please note the declarative tone of that last sentence. I've done my time in the Cave of Uncertainty, so now I think it's Abby's turn. Abby is our dog, and she's not uncertain about anything, so I think she'll do just fine, thank you!

Iris

2011-08-15T10:17:00.000-04:00

Last Thursday my friend Vicki and I went to a life drawing group of the Jackson Civic Art Association. I hadn't done any life drawing for years, and was a tad nervous about doing it, especially with a group of people I'd never met before. They couldn't have been any nicer! Both Vicki and I were welcomed by a small group of very friendly women (later a man named Gordon joined us), and I felt comfortable being with them right away. The model was a beautiful young woman named Iris, a daughter of one of the artists. Iris was an experienced model, and she was a joy to draw. This group uses clothed models, and they pose for 20 minutes at a time - no short warm up poses to start with. So, my first drawing was my warm-up.

I decided to focus on doing portraits. Iris has the most beautiful face and hair, and it was a real pleasure to draw her. I only took charcoal pencils with me, and I think next time I'll take along some graphite pencils, too. I did get interrupted by a phone call that I had to take (I had my phone on "vibrate only", in case you're clucking at my rudeness), so I tiptoed out to the hall to take the call, then tiptoed back in when I was finished. Because of the call, I only spent 10 or 12 minutes on one of the poses, and it shows. I'm thinking I might play around with at least one of them a bit more, now that I've shown them to you "in the raw", just to see how far I can take it. If I do, I'll post it so you can see if there's any improvement. I'm not entirely pleased with them, but maybe playing a bit will make a difference.

I hope you have a super week .... that's what I'm planning on doing!

Necklaces

2011-08-09T14:44:00.000-04:00

I wanted to draw, but as often happens, not much was appealing to me to do. Personally, I think it's my inner critic in a snit, but today I ignored her. So, after wandering around for awhile actually talking right out loud to myself (to the confusion of the dog who thinks that all conversations are to and about her). Fortunately my sweetie wasn't here.

I decided to start small, so I got out one of my sketch books, divided a page into sections with a Micron pen (.005, my favorite) and chose one of my necklaces to sketch. It didn't take long before I was immersed in what I was doing, so when I finished the first one, I chose another one. After all the sections were filled on the page with different necklaces, I decided to forge ahead by adding color. When all the color was added I, rather compulsively, proceeded to fool around with a border. I'm not sure it adds anything to the thing as a whole, but I had a good time doing it. And, I just might start adding color to it when I'm finished with this post .....

Finished For Now

2011-08-07T20:54:00.000-04:00

We've been having a lot of problems with our internet connection, and finally got a whole new system. I think this one will work better than the last one (meaning faster). We live in an area where our choices are dial-up (we've had that and it's slow enough to make you crazy), satellite, or wireless. There's actually another choice which we've tried, it's like another cell phone or something. Can you tell I'm not very skilled or informed about these things? We just switched to wireless which we began yesterday, and after having a wee problem with it, I think maybe now it's working ..... I really, really, hope so.

Anyhow, I've finished the Man. Well, that is, I've done as much on him as I'm going to do this go around. I'll probably tackle him again, but it may be years .... no really, before this dance with him, it had been many years since we connected. As you can see, his hat and clothing weren't the focus of this drawing. I find his face both compelling and challenging to draw, and as interesting as I find him, I also lose patience with him after awhile. He really doesn't say much, though I talk to him constantly when we're together. So, without further ado, here he is:

Aquabord 2

2011-07-28T14:43:00.000-04:00

Well, I managed to scrub the paint off the path in order to improve on it. The scrubbing went just fine - the paint came off easily just using a rather soft brush and water. Even the staining color almost completely rubbed off, much to my surprise. After that, I let it dry completely and then started to noodle around with it. While there's some things I like better in this version, I'm still not happy with it. I'm troubled by the following things: the right side has much more detail than the left in the foreground, and it looks unbalanced; the darkness around the tall red flowers doesn't work very well; while I like the "stones" in the path better as far as perspective goes, they're boring; and last, the greenery on the right foreground reminds me of army camouflage.

I'm going to let it sit for awhile (maybe a long while, who knows!), and go downstairs and make the marinade for Beef in Flatbread (that's what we call it). It's very tasty, easy and quick to make. What could be better? After marinating the beef, it gets cooked in butter (or whatever) quickly over a fairly high heat, then served in flatbread with diced cucumbers and Greek yogurt (or sour cream, whichever you prefer) on top. You could also put diced tomatoes on, if you want. Want the recipe? Here it is:

About 3/4 lb sirloin steak (or some other tender cut) cut into pieces about 2" x 1/4"
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 tsp oregano
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp olive oil
1/4 tsp salt

Diced cucumbers, pita bread, plain yogurt (or sour cream)

Mix together all the marinade ingredients, put the meat and the marinade in a zipper bag and refrigerate for at least 1/2 hour. When ready to eat, heat butter (or oil, or a mixture of the 2) in a frying pan over medium high heat. Drain the meat & toss the marinade out. Sear the meat (it will snap and pop at you ... I advise having someone else do the cooking since you did the prep). Serve with pita bread, diced cucumbers, and yogurt.

Ok, I almost forgot .... here's the watercolor:

Aquabord

2011-07-26T10:40:00.000-04:00

Yesterday my friend, Vicki, and I got together for a day of fun! She brought me some wonderful goodies to play with (I'll show pics later), and we talked and laughed all day long. One of the things we did was play with Aquabord. I'd heard about it and read about it, but never tried it, so we gave it a go. We each had a small (5 x 7) piece which we proceeded to paint with watercolors. I haven't used watercolor paint in a very long time (with the exception of adding paint to quick sketches), and I always start with a sketch. Yesterday I decided since this was an experiment, I would just go for it. No sketch...... the painting shows it! I definitely do better starting out with a sketch.

Anyhow, I used a watercolor painting in one of my books as a reference, and jumped in. I love Aquabord! I love its texture, the fact that you don't have to stretch it or prep it in any way, and the way it takes the paint. As for my painting itself, it definitely has some problems. I haven't tried correcting them yet (my main issue is with the path that looks more like a wall). When I finish this post, I'm going to try scrubbing it to see what happens. If it works out OK, I'll redo the path and see if I can't improve on it a bit. I'll show you the results - for better or worse.

Oh, by the way, I just remembered I can't upload pics from my camera because I'm not sure I know how. (Sweetie, if you're reading this, stop grinding your teeth!).

Sadness

2011-07-20T17:17:00.000-04:00

I can't tell you how sad I am that Border's Books is being liquidated. We've been going to their bookstores for decades - mostly to their flagship store in Ann Arbor. We've watched with dismay as they made changes in their inventory. It used to be that when you went into the store there were thousands and thousands of books covering all manner of subjects. Browsing was such a pleasure, and we always left with several books apiece. In spite of the changes (most of them not for the better as customers, but we understood them from a business point of view) we continued to be loyal customers.... which won't stop until our store is closed.

I was in one of their stores yesterday and bought a couple of books. One of them is called Keys to Drawing With Imagination by Bert Dodson. I was fascinated by the cover - such an unusual view with great, wonderful, detail. It's a hardcover with a spiral binding, so it lays flat. It contains the work of many artists, and is a series of exercises designed to help improve one's drawing skills starting from the ground up. I decided to start at the beginning and work my way thru. The first exercise is called Doodling and Noodling. The doodle is just a continuous line that ends where it started. The noodle is adding things to it. So, here is my first lesson - some of my additions were the ones suggested in the book, but not all of them. It's similar to Zen Tangling, except instead of using a variety of patterns, only one is used.

I included a picture of the cover so you could get an idea of what drew me to this book!

The Porch

2011-07-17T19:55:00.000-04:00

I haven't been doing much - the illness I had in March never completely went away and I've been trying to behave. Behaving has never been my strong suit, but I've been doing my best. Anyhow, I haven't worked on my man at all, but while sitting on the porch recently I decided to try my hand at something "arty". I have to use the word loosely in this case.

So first I did an ink sketch, and then later I used watercolors to fill it in a bit. I'm not very happy with it, but on the other hand, at least I put an implement in my hand and did something with it! So, without further adieu, here is my humble offering.

Next Version

2011-06-24T20:23:00.000-04:00

Well, I had a pretty busy day today doing a variety of things away from home. I needed some work on my hair and the place where I go is about 35 miles from my house, so it's a major time-eater when I go there. After that I had to go to a shopping mall (I avoid malls as much as I can) to have a picture frame engraved. It was a gift from some dear friends in honor of our little grandson, and they weren't sure of the birth date of his older brother, so only 1 of the 2 frames was engraved. I had to wait an hour for them to do it, which was fine except it ate up a bit more of my day. Then I had a few other stops to make as long as I was out, so in short, the whole day was spent doing things other than drawing.

However, after dinner I went back to the little old man I've been playing with (don't tell my sweetie, please), and did a wee bit more on him. Little by little he's beginning to emerge. I like fussing with him, even though it's slow going. I don't care - it seems to suit me right now!

On another note, apropos of nothing, after being so sick back in March and April, I've lost almost all of my sense of smell! It's very odd, to say the least. Enough of that .... here's my little old man.

Version Two

2011-06-20T16:07:00.000-04:00

One of our wonderful daughters-in-law, besides many other things, is a Detroit Derby Girl detroitderbygirls.com roller derby skater. She is just awesome and skates on two teams - The Pistol Whippers, and the Detroit Derby Girl travel team. Saturday the travel team went to Cincinnati to skate in a bout against the Cincinnati Rollergirls. My sweetie and I drove to Cinci Saturday morning; our Nashville son and his family met us there, as did Cool Whip (our skater's on-track name) and our other son. We all stayed at the same hotel, which gave us a bit more time together. Our two grandsons, Clyde who's 3 and Oliver who's almost 4 months old, also came. We knew that the children wouldn't be able to stay for the whole thing, so the plan from the beginning was for my sweetie and I to leave with them and take them back to the hotel. It was a night bout, which made it even more certain that we would be taking them out.

Well, both boys were over-tired, and the poor little darlings were just beside themselves in the car - sobbing loudly. Back at the hotel we were able to calm them, settle them, and get them to bed, afterwhich, sweetie and I turned in ourselves. The next morning we took the kids to breakfast (all the other adults, having had a rather late night, were still sleeping) and had a great time with them. Later we were joined by the others and hung out together before we all departed for home.

Today I did a wee bit more on my pencil version of Dot Man. Little by little he's coming together, but I still have a lot more to do with him. So, here he is!

P.S. The Detroit Derby Girls won handily!!! THEY ROCK!!!!!

The Tree

2011-06-13T21:09:00.000-04:00

Today my dear friend, Vicki, and I had a date. We went into Ann Arbor to ramble around in a couple of thrift shops where we each found a thing or two we just couldn't do without. I'll let Vicki tell you about her finds here: http://vickiholdwick.blogspot.com/, and I'll tell you about mine. My purchases were modest - a wonderful little purse to use when I need just the minimum amount of "stuff"; a small vase to replace one I recently gave away filled with flowers from my garden; and a very cute wicker basket that I can hang on a hook in my studio to hold .... ??? (I'm pretty sure it will somehow fill itself up in my absence). After eating lunch in a wonderful vegetarian restaurant (now you carnivores, just chill - the food is delicious and you don't even notice the absence of food with a face), we went to Michigan Book and Supply to browse around in their art supplies. I bought a little 6 x 6 Bristol sketch book which I absolutely did not need.

After all that we came back to my house. Vicki, being the computer geek that she is (her word, not mine, but it does fit, I have to admit) solved a problem I was having moving things from my desktop to an art folder. (Thank you soooo much, Vicki). Then we played with various colored pencils, water soluble pencils, and water soluble crayons. I gave her a sketchbook to mess around in, and she came upon this small piece I had done awhile ago. Then she demanded to know why it hadn't been posted here on my blog. I had no answer or excuse for her, but did say I would put it in.

It's a very small colored pencil and ink sketch that I did just to play. The truth is, I don't do enough playing with my art toys. Maybe this a great reminder to myself to just relax and play with it more! So, once again, thank you, Vicki!!

Dotman Transformed

2011-06-08T17:04:00.000-04:00

I've been in Nashville tending my grandchildren while my daughter in law had surgery. She's doing fine, I had a great time with the children, and I've returned to the Mitten. I decided I brought the N'ville weather home with me because it's been beastly hot and humid (Temp in the 90s!) ever since I got back, much like what was going on down there. I don't do well in that kind of weather (does anyone?), so I am ever so happy that I live in a time of air conditioning. My friend, Vicki, told me today that it was hot before I got here and that it might Not be my fault (she's very nice that way)!

So, now that I'm home, I started drawing again. I decided that the Dot Man had served his purpose by getting me back to work, but I'm still not quite bursting with creative energy. Today I started on another version of him, this time in pencil. This is just the preliminary drawing done with a hard pencil lead. I put on a CD of Trumpet Concertos, turned up the volume, and started. It didn't take long before I was totally immersed in it and the time flew by. It felt really good to be back! Here he is, in his humble beginnings. The scan isn't very good ... perhaps next time I should close the cover of the scanner - wadda ya think?

Baby Steps

2011-05-27T20:15:00.000-04:00

Well, I actually added some dots to the drawing I now call "Dotman". It's a start, and you know what? It really felt good! Probably like most of the rest of you, I have a fairly busy weekend coming up, so I don't know how much I'll do on him until next week, but just the wee bit I got done has given me a boost of confidence. Now I just have to make sure I keep moving forward. I'm thinking that even if I don't put even a single dot on him, I can do some wee thing for five minutes or so. Every little bit helps, right?

So without further ado, here are my most recent dots!

Habits

2011-05-26T15:51:00.001-04:00

I've read many times that if you want to develop a new habit, doing it for 21 days in a row will cause the behavior to become habitual. I believe that's true for most of us most of the time. I've tried it and, indeed, I did turn something into a habit. After looking up the word "habit" in my trusty (albeit old) Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, I was surprised to find that the definition I had in mind was the 7th in a list of 9! It was preceded by: clothing; a costume characteristic of a calling; bearing; bodily appearance or make-up; the prevailing disposition of a person's thoughts or feelings; a settled tendency or usual pattern of behavior; and finally, the one I had in mind - a behavior pattern acquired by frequent repetition that shows itself in regularity or increased facility of performance. OK, that was more than you wanted to know.

Anyhow, thinking of building new habits led me to wonder about how long it takes to lose a desired habit if the behavior is interrupted for one reason or another. I've never seen any research about this, but I'm guessing it takes a lot less time than 21 days! I've talked about this general topic before, but here I am again struggling with the same issue. Some of you know I was quite sick for about 6 weeks plus more time to reach a full recovery. During much of that time I was literally unable to pick up a pencil to draw (not to mention use my treadmill). That said, I've been physically healthy enough to do both for at least 3 weeks now, but have done neither.

Every day I tell myself that I'm going to start drawing again. Every day I don't do it (never mind the treadmill - that's another matter completely!). The supplies are all out on my drawing table, and I often hear them softly calling to me . I feel guilty and uncertain of my ability to draw anything. And because I've not been drawing or painting, I've also not been posting to my blog.

So, here's what I'm going to do. I remembered an ink drawing I started years ago of a wonderful face. I was trying out a method new to me - using nothing but tiny dots. Yesterday I looked for that drawing and found it after a relatively short search. I'm hoping that by only making dots (what's so hard about putting a dot on a piece of paper?) I might get back in the saddle. (It just occurred to me that here I am posting without drawing one thing, not even a dot .... what a chicken!) Wish me luck, please.

Here is the drawing I started all those years ago (it's probably been at least 12!), and I'll post more as I go along. My goal isn't necessarily to finish it, but rather to just start drawing. Besides, I may need him again sometime in the future to lead me back to the drawing board!

Introducing Oliver

2011-03-30T08:48:00.000-04:00

I'm back from Nashville and I'm feeling great! I got a tad hammered by the pollen when I got there and so was a bit under the weather, but all is well now and I'm getting back in the saddle again. I had a great time playing with our soon-to-be-3 grandson. He's so much fun and gets more interesting every day. Our new baby is just the best! He's good-natured, happy, and becomes more and more engaged with the world every day. What pure joy grandchildren are.

I did this sketch of the baby after I got home. I find children (especially babies) very difficult to do. I'm not really sure why they present such a challenge to me, but there you are. That said, it's so entertaining to just watch their little faces as they assume every possible human expression in the course of just a few minutes. It's as though they're practicing doing them without the slightest idea of which face goes with which emotion. I could watch for hours! This drawing was done from a photo I took while holding him on my lap. We stared at each other intently, and I can't help but wonder what he was thinking as we looked into each other's eyes. I know what I was thinking .... "I love you to pieces my dear, sweet, little Oliver" .......

Announcement

2011-03-10T21:17:00.000-05:00

I wanted to let you all know that we have a new grandbaby! His name is Oliver Lennon, he weighed 8lbs, 13 oz, and he's 20 inches tall. He was born on Feb. 28, and he's doing just fine, as is his mother and father. His brother, Clyde, who will be 3, is just thrilled with him! They live in Nashville, we live in Michigan, so we haven't seen him yet, but we're flying down there soon, and I'll be spending a week with them! I can hardly wait!!

In the meantime, here's a sketch I did of Clyde when he was born. It's not terrific, but it's what I have. I gotta tell you, I'm Really Excited!!! lol

WIP 3

2011-02-27T21:12:00.000-05:00

OK, so technically this is still Day 2, but I couldn't leave this guy alone so I just kept at it on and off during the day. I took Sandra's advice and softened the line of the hat - it did look like it was pasted on. I also used my white charcoal pencil on his beard (btw, what's That all about anyway? I've never seen white charcoal, have you?). But I digress. I also worked on the background a bit, but as it turned out, the paper didn't have much tooth left and so it wouldn't accept the charcoal very well, even after spraying it with workable fixative (which is supposed to be used in 70 degrees or above, but not inside as it's a tad toxic .... clearly these folks don't live in the Mitten!). Methinks perhaps that's just a wee hint that he's been overworked a bit; but then, I don't know anyone who hasn't been overworked at least once in their life, do you?

I think he and I will part ways for now - maybe forever. I'm planning on spraying him tomorrow with something called Pym II. It's an acid free acrylic protective coating that sort of "laminates" your work. Once it's sprayed on, you can't go back with charcoal and add to it, but on the other hand, it really seals it well so that it won't smear anymore. His fate may be sealed forever.

WIP Day 2

2011-02-27T12:48:00.000-05:00

I've been pondering just how to do this man's beard. Charcoal (at least at my skill level) doesn't seem to lend itself to small details like beard hair. At first I thought I might use a sharpened charcoal pencil to do some of the finer work. Alas, I don't have any (that I can find, nor do I have a memory of ever having them - which, of course, means nothing). So then I decided that maybe I could just blend it all in and see what happens. You can see what happened below. I think I can work with this and maybe take it to a place where I'm reasonably satisfied with it. In my search through my things hoping to find a charcoal pencil or two, I did come across a white charcoal pencil that just might come in handy.

Another problem I'm having is the hat versus the background. I want it to blend in, but I'm having trouble getting the background dark enough. I think I used to have a block of charcoal that might do the trick, but yep, you guessed it, I have not a clue where it might be. The maddening thing about this is that just yesterday I was in a Utrecht Art Supply store, which is nowhere near my house (think about 45 miles), and it never occurred to me to buy charcoal pencils or a charcoal block! I even had a 30% off coupon which I couldn't use because what I bought was already on sale. (I left it at the store for someone more organized then I to pick up and use.) Go figure. I did, however, come home with a nice, big pad of newsprint to use at the life drawing studio.

Work in Progress

2011-02-25T15:48:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I finished the last of the projects for the new baby (due any day now). I "made" 5 fleece blankets ("made is an exaggeration - I bought the material to size and then machine stitched a hem around each one). They're quite big and have fun prints on them. It took me a long time to do them because my sewing machine just wouldn't cooperate. I'm taking it in to be cleaned and tuned up so it'll be ready for ... whatever!!

I've been also working little by little to get my studio back in some semblance of order. It also needs to be cleaned (that's an understatement), but there's no way I can do that until I get more of it re-organized. But, today, I actually started drawing again!! Yippee!!! At first I was going to do something with watercolor, but the truth is, I haven't painted in so long, I'm afraid. So, I decided to start back gradually, and do a drawing.

I also haven't used charcoal in ages. I don't usually use it at home because it's so messy. I sometimes use it when I go to life drawing sessions - they're used to the mess! For some reason, though, I heard those little charcoal stix just calling my name in the most seductive way. I had to look for them - it's been that long that I couldn't remember where I put them. But find them, I did, found an old charcoal paper pad, set up my table easel, and jumped in. So, here it is .... unfinished, but I'm pleased with how much I got done on it.

Thanks to all of you for visiting my blog and taking the time to leave me comments. I appreciate each and every one of them!

Melange

2011-02-16T17:29:00.001-05:00

Ok, so as it turns out, the mobile wasn't quite finished. I did add more shells to it (1 on each side of the shells already there, but on shorter strings so they hang closer to the blue ring), and I also did a satin stitch across the mouth of the blowfish. Some of you may remember that I wasn't quite satisfied with that fish, especially the mouth. The pieces just wouldn't cooperate with me and the points of the seams near the mouth didn't suit my fancy. So today I did a bit more tweaking. I satin-stitched across the mouth and went over the offending seams. I think it's much improved - the fish likes it too, because now it has lips!

On another topic, tomorrow our dog, Abby and I are going to visit the father of my friend, Judy. He lives in Howell Medilodge (or maybe it's called Medilodge of Howell), but either way, that's where we'll be. We've been wanting to do this for quite some time, but for one reason or another it just hasn't happened yet. Abby insisted on having a bath today in order to look her very best. (Ok, that's a bit of an exaggeration - what really happened is that as I was getting things ready in the bathroom, she wandered in to be with me and I shut the door behind her. She looked horrified, suspecting what was coming, and then when I took off her collar, she just drooped and looked really, really sad.) But she's a good old girl, behaved very nicely in the tub, and as always when I give her a bath, didn't shake until I had her out of the tub and completely covered with towels. She sat very still while I blew her dry, then looked really happy when she got her well-deserved cookie .

I did a quick drawing while I waited for Judy in a restaurant today, so I'll post it since I don't have any other work to show you. So here's Abby, the fish, and the sketch.

Mobile 2 .. Mission Accomplished

2011-02-13T16:41:00.000-05:00

Well, I did it! I finished the mobile for my soon-to-be-born grandbaby.    Every knot is double-tied and glued, and it's ready to be shipped. I had a hard time knowing when to stop adding things to it. I have several other things to choose from, and each has its own charm: very tiny (1/4") shells, a gold-colored locket in the shape of a clam shell, a dolphin (which I haven't made yet, but it wouldn't be that hard), and a tiny, golden seahorse, which I thought I might put in with the fish. This was a wonderful project - full of fun and interest, educational, and very entertaining.

I've already talked about some of the challenges making the various creatures for it.   While making them, I was also thinking about how I wanted to actually construct it. I considered using wooden dowels and doing the balancing thing with an animal on each end of them. I like how that type of construction is so, well, mobile! They seem to be in constant motion, and I thought it would be very captivating for a baby. Ultimately I decided to go with a similar method that I used for his brother's mobile - a ribbon-covered embroidery hoop, so I could add a few more things than just the critters. I didn't want it to be exactly like the other one, so I decided to use 2 hoops, 1 above the other.

That proved to be way more difficult than I anticipated. After covering the hoops and putting the beading around them, I had to decide how I wanted to connect them, as well as what to use as the hanger thingy.   I'm not a math whiz (a total understatement), and I found that lining up the 2 circles and then getting the connection ribbons just the right length so that they both hung evenly is difficult to do just by looking at them. I had no idea how to figure it out using math, so I just went for it. It was crooked, but the more I fiddled with it, the worse it got, so I decided to just leave it and view it as "that's how you know it's hand made". I got it all finished - everything glued in place, and it was driving me crazy that it hung unevenly. One connecting ribbon was about 1/4" too long.

Being a very stubborn bear, I decided to risk undoing one end of the offending ribbon to see what I could do. Of course, the knot was glued and it was rather tricky undoing it, but I finally got it undone. Then, after much fiddling and muttering, voila! It's not perfectly even, but it's oh so much better than it was! All in all, I'm pleased with it. The little metal fish at the top make a very pleasant sound when they gently tap against each other as the mobile moves.

Now all I have to do is figure out how to wrap it and pack well enough for it to make its journey safely to Nashville! We're flying there next month, but my sweetie thinks (correctly, I'm sure) that with all the TSA rules & regs, it would really be a hassle to take with us. So, USPS or UPS it is .... sorry Fed Ex - my heart belongs to the other two.

Looking at these pictures again, I'm thinking it might need a few more shells hanging from the main ring. What do you think?

Another Waiting Room

2011-02-04T15:56:00.000-05:00

As some of you may know, cataract surgery a couple of months ago on both eyes. One works fine, the other needed a bit of "tweaking" (the doctor's word, not mine), which I had done on Tuesday of this week. As it turns out, it really was a kind of tweak. He did it in his office, as opposed to an operating room where the first surgery was done), and it took about 5 or 10 minutes. Since I had an astigmatism in that eye, he needed to make a couple of cuts in my cornea to make it round again. I know, it sounds awful, but really, it was a piece of cake. I can see better out of that eye now, it feels a bit scratchy (not itchy, but more like there's a bit of something in it), and I have had no pain in it at all.

As some of you also may know, I pass the time in waiting rooms by sketching the other folks who are also waiting for something or someone. While I didn't do any sketching Tuesday (I got taken right in), I had to go back yesterday for my "post-op" check. I did have a bit of waiting to do for that appointment, so I did a bit of sketching. These aren't the best sketches I've done in similar circumstances (the light was dim and the room was crowded, so I had people right next to me, causing me to assume a rather awkward position to keep my drawing rather hidden). But in the interest of Truth in Posting, here they are. Oh, and by the way, I'm in the process of figuring out exactly how I want to construct Mobile 2, so I'll post a picture of that when I have something to show you!

Unfortunately, as you can see, the paper in this book is quite thin, and you can see shadows of what's behind each drawing. Also, my favorite Micron pen was nowhere to be found, so these were done with ballpoint pen .... not my fave!

Puff, Puff, I'm Getting There

2011-01-29T15:01:00.000-05:00

Here's number 5 in the Mobile 2 project. This is a puffer fish. Here's what I know about them (not much). They are, "chiefly tropical bony fishes which can distend themselves to a globular form and most of which are highly poisonous -- also called blowfish or globefish". This according to Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Edition. Now don't get me wrong - I don't want the babe to have anything to do with poisonous fishes, But, the idea of a fish that can turn itself into a balloon appealed to me. I also had these bright pink fabrics that I wanted to use in the mobile.

As for the construction of this little devil, I can say without any reservation that it is, indeed poisonous. Here's the thing. I found it quite challenging to construct a sphere. The pieces that connect the top and bottom of the fish are shaped like footballs. I had a very difficult time getting the points to meld into the seams joining them together. After futzing with them for quite awhile and ripping out many a seam, I ended up sort of repairing and redoing them by hand after the whole thing was put together. I'm not entirely happy with the outcome, but I'm satisfied enough to Let It Be (a John Lennon song, and the babe's middle name will be Lennon).

So, time to meet Tetraodontidae (the one other thing I learned from the dictionary!)

A Star Is Born

2011-01-27T17:28:00.000-05:00

Nope, that doesn't mean the new baby has arrived! It means that I've finished another little critter for the mobile! This one is a starfish. I made it out of felt and again, the whole thing is hand sewn. Like the seahorse, I stuffed its points as I went along. I was pretty sure that if I got the whole thing together except for a little "stuffing slit", it would be a devil of a job to get the stuffing into all those points. Doing it as I went along made the stuffing process quite easy.

It measures 5 inches tip to tip. The beads are sewn on, but I think I'm going to back and put a wee dab of glue under each one just to be sure it's safe. The thing is, I know by doing that I'm risking ruining the whole thing, but what the heck - I have more felt! So, without further ado, here it is!

Sea Turtle

2011-01-23T11:49:00.000-05:00

Critter number three is finished! It is a sea turtle made of felt and cotton. Everything but the head is felt, and the head is a cotton print. He measures about 7 inches, stem to stern. There were some definite challenges in his construction, but all in all, he wasn't very difficult to make.

The pattern stitching on the top shell was a bit tricky. Part of the problem was finding something to use to mark the pattern that would show up on the felt. The fuzziness of the material rendered my usual fabric marking tools useless. I considered basting the whole pattern by hand with a single strand of sewing thread, but decided that since the zig-zag stitching was so narrow and fine, I would have a devil of a time either completely covering the basting with the machine stitching or removing it later without disturbing the sewn pattern. I tried one of my Prismacolor pencils, but no luck. I ended up using a pastel pencil which I licked from time to time to make it leave a relatively bright, white, line ... (sorry for the yuck factor, but the truth is not always pretty). Once I had that done, making the other body parts was a snap.

Now came the really hard part..... assembling it. Here the problem was the thickness I had to sew through. There were 4 layers of felt to get through for each leg and also the tail. Since the sewing had to be done so close to the edge (leaving little tolerance for error), and since it had to be done by machine in order to maintain some semblance of the shell pattern, it wasn't easy and I'm not completely satisfied with the results, but I'm leaving it as it is. I don't really think I can improve on it with my current skills and tools. And besides, continuous ripping out of seams renders the felt pretty worn and used looking.

Now one last thing. Logically this turtle should have its hanging filament (I'm using clear fishing line) in the center of the top shell. But, if you're a baby on your back looking up at it, the sight would be pretty boring. So, I'm thinking I'll hang it by the nose or by the tail. That way as it spins, all sides will be visible. What do you think? Good idea or not? Here's 3 views - top, side, and bottom to help you make up your mind.

Seahorse

2011-01-20T07:45:00.001-05:00

We had a busy, fun, weekend with the visit of long-time friends. They came to the local Bed and Breakfast to stay (our house), and stayed Sat. and Sunday nites. We stayed up late (for us), ate and laughed and ate some more. On Sunday we went into Ann Arbor to meet their son and daughter in law to celebrate a birthday. We ate at an Ethiopian restaurant which I had been wanting to try for years. It was a most interesting place inside - hand-painted light fixtures, native art on the walls, "basket" tables, and very intriguing food. Our server wore what I assume to be an Ethiopian dress, and she looked quite charming. We had a great time! An added bonus was the discovery of a chocolate shop where all the chocolate is made right there on the premises. Of course I had to get some. I have 1 piece left that I so want to eat, but then it will be Gone!! lol

Needless to say, I didn't do anything on the mobile, but last nite I finished the seahorse (I think). It's made of suede, and the entire thing is hand-stitched. Now it's true that it isn't very big, but sewing something this small took me quite awhile to do, and stuffing it (I had to stuff it as I went along, rather than wait until the whole thing was finished) was a bit of a challenge as well. I waited too long to begin stuffing the tail, and couldn't quite get the stuffing right into the end of it, but I decided that was going to be OK. When I finished sewing and stuffing it, I decided to put some beads on it. That's the part I'm not sure I'm finished with. I rather like the simplicity of it, but I also have a nagging sense that its poor tail needs a bit of embellishment. I'm thinking of maybe putting a line of the little green beads on it. I think I might also put a single bead in each of the curvy things on the top of its head. What do you think?

Oh, and for some reason, every photo I took is a bit blurry, so I finally said, "what the heck!" and moved on! Anyhow, here she is!

Mobile 2 Part 1

2011-01-11T20:31:00.000-05:00

I stayed home today because I was a tad under the weather (as some of you know, Tuesday is my day to work at the Health Dept). I tried to just lay low, but being a rather high energy person, I had a hard time doing that. So, among a few other little things, I made the first item for the "Undersea Mobile" for my grandson-to-be. It's a fish.

I chose a rather fancy brocade fabric to make it out of which was both good news and bad. I'll start with the bad news, so I can end on a positive note. I knew this, but conveniently forgot about it when starting this little guy. Brocade fabric shreds like crazy when it's cut. Also, I couldn't find my pinking shears, which would have really come in handy. In addition, I couldn't find any new sewing machine needles, although I'm positive I have some. I'm not an expert sewer (that's SO-ER, not sooer,) so even if I had found the needles, I wouldn't have known if they were the proper ones to use on brocade. But, I digress. Anyhow, after cutting it out, I zigzagged the edges, then assembled it. The first thing I did was put the fins in the wrong place, so I had to use a seam ripper to get them out. A seam ripper on brocade isn't the easiest tool to use - the brocade wants to shred. After a long time (with somewhat impaired vision, I might add), I got them both out and put them back in again - this time in the right place. I then sewed together the two sides of the fish, only to discover that the opening I left to turn it right side out was actually the place where the tail was supposed to go, and I had sewed closed the opening which was supposed to be used for the turning. Of course, the hole I left wasn't wide enough for the tail, so more seam ripping was needed to insert the tail. Then, the whole thing was sewn closed, so once again, I had to rip apart a bit of the seam to turn it right side out!

Now for the good news! I turned that baby right side out, first sewed on the eyes and then glued them just to be sure they wouldn't come off, stuffed it, and sewed it closed. I liked it!! Then my sweetie came home. I showed it to him. After admiring it for a second or two, he said, "It's eyes look a little creepy to me!". I don't care one wee bit - I think it's cute!

What a Day!

2011-01-10T09:27:00.001-05:00

I wish you could see what it's like outside here today. Besides the lovely snow, there's a beautiful coating of hoarfrost on everything. It looks like every twig, berry, needle and leaf was magically crystallized during the night. When the sun hits it, it's just dazzling. It's like being in fairyland. I'm not really sure what makes it happen, but my guess is that there was fog in the night and the cold temperature made it freeze. However, what I really think happens is that the Queen of the Fairies passed thru and waved her magic wand, and voila - a magical, crystal, garden!

Yesterday, being Sunday, meant football games on television. I'm not very interested in it (although, I must admit the game between Green Bay and Philadelphia was pretty exciting at times, even to someone like me who knows almost nothing about sports). So, while my sweetie and Abby, our dog, watched the game, I did a couple of sketches during the short time I was there with them. They're nothing special, but I'm pleased that I spent some time, however briefly, doing a bit of sketching.

The angel on the left is quite folksy with her mismatched wings and ropey hair. We got her years ago as a replacement for the rickety silver Christmas tree star, but our sons, who were boys at the time, complained loudly and wanted the star back. They are now grown men, and we're still using that tired, falling-apart star on the tree. The one on the right is kind of elegant. She is made of quite fancy material - the stripes are metallic, and her face is a piece of ultra-suede with the features drawn on with ink. She used to belong to my sweetie's mother, and I love her.

I hope your day is filled with beauty and magic!

The Waiting Room

2011-01-07T17:02:00.000-05:00

I had a wonderful time with my friend, Vicki, today. We went to Ann Arbor to Hollanders (Vicki, are you proud of me? I did this link all by myself!). For those of you who don't know, Hollanders is a wonderful paper store that sells the most amazing papers, and they teach a myriad of book-making classes as well. Vicki and I have taken some together, and we're planning on taking another one in March.

After lunch we went to a store that sells Stuff. I know, that's a bit vague, but you just never know what will be there. For $11 I got 4 handmade book covers just waiting for the signatures to be put in, 1/2" of 8.5 x 11" paper suitable for making signatures, a beautiful 8 x 10 box covered with handmade paper, a pack of blank notecards with envelopes which can be drawn on, a fold-it-yourself envelope made of handmade paper which I will use as a template, a large piece of suede to use for making books, 6 upholstery fabric samples, also for making books, a bag of wine corks to give to a friend who makes trivets out of them, a little bag of various seashells, and 4 large, colored, wooden beads which I may use on the baby's mobile! Whew!!

Next we went to the Salvation Army where I spent $3 on 3 hardcover books which have cool covers that someday I hope to turn into books. What a haul!

The very best thing I got today, though, was the gift of laughter..... and while it cost nothing, it was priceless!

So, the only art I have to share is the wee drawings I did yesterday while waiting for my blood to be drawn. I have a little sketchbook in my purse that I only use when I'm waiting. Most of the drawings were done in medical waiting rooms. I've had the same book for many years (I don't spend a lot of time in places like that), but I do love doing the rapid sketches, never knowing when my model or I will be called in. So, here they are..... BTW, the guy with the ponytail was done at a different time, but I discovered a blank page that needed to be filled. You may have seen him before!

Mobile 1 to Mobile 2

2011-01-06T14:48:00.000-05:00

Two and a half years ago when our wonderful grandson CC was born, I made a mobile to hang above his bed. I made 5 little animals out of felt, then decorated an embroidery hoop and fixed a hanger of some sort to the top ... I forgot what I used. Anyhow, since the mobile is in Nashville and I'm here in the Mitten, I went looking for any pictures of it in order to get some idea of how I did it. The reason I need to know is that sometime around March 1, we will become grandparents again (yippee), and I've been asked to make another one for the new baby boy. They asked me to use an underwater theme this time!

I have some ideas about what and how I'm going to make the critters, but I wanted to see what I did to assemble it all the last time. I thought you might be interested to see what the first one looks like, and when I finish the next one, I'll give you a look at that one too - (first I have to start it ... good plan, don't you think?).

So, here's a couple of pictures of it. Ironically, I still can't see what I did at the very top of it, but there's enough there that I'm sure it won't be too difficult.... I probably shouldn't have said that last thing - you know how that goes - it's like inviting trouble!

This time I'm going to use a larger hoop so they're not quite so crowded together. What do you think?

Contours

2011-01-04T20:37:00.000-05:00

On Tuesdays I volunteer for our County Health Department. My job is fun ... I answer the phones, direct people who come in to the proper places, and sometimes they give me simple assignments to do. None of the assignments are technical or difficult, but they can be very time consuming for the staff which is working with limited resources and a very limited number of employees.

Today I got up at 4:00 and did a number of things here at home before I got ready to go to play. I don't know about the rest of you, but I have a very hard time keeping up with my email - right now I have 89 unread emails, and that's after spending about an hour going thru them just before I started this post. Most of them come from one of my favorite online art groups (Everyday Matters ... I was going to post the link, but it took up 3 lines!!) and consist of very wonderful and interesting links to blogs which I love to read. My good friend, Vicki, somehow manages to do it all, but I just keep falling further and further behind. OK, enough about that ...

After I got home, had dinner, got the car loaded with the recyclables (together with my sweetie) which I will drop off tomorrow, cleaned up the kitchen and walked the dog, I did 2 quick contour drawings. I know - they're not much, but it was really all I could manage, and I'm determined to do better at both regular drawing (or whatever) and posting to my blog.

So, without further ado, here they are .... now I'm off to take a nice, warm, bath!

Happy New Year

2011-01-03T14:46:00.000-05:00

It's been way too long since I've posted, and I've missed it. Well, it isn't just the posting I've missed, it's all of you. I've also greatly missed playing with art. But, I'm back, I'm in fairly fine fettle, and I'm ready to move along the path of creativity once again.

I'm getting back in the groove of exercising (I didn't stop using my treadmill, I just haven't been doing it as regularly as I ~~want~~ need to). I used to go to a Yoga class regularly, but for a variety of reasons (including the fact that my teacher is now 45 minutes away) I stopped doing it. Today, however, I ordered a Yoga DVD which is supposed to arrive tomorrow, and I'm really looking forward to starting to do it again!

We were blessed to have our whole family together for Christmas again this year, and being with our wonderful grandson was a true gift. He'll be 3 in April and is more interesting and more fun the older he gets. They live over 9 hours away, and it's just Too Far! I cried off and on the whole day they left, including laughing and crying at the same time that night when our son called to say they'd arrived home safely. We'll see them when our new grandson-to-be is born (due March 1). We'll drive down as soon as labor begins and scoop up our little darling to wait with him for his brother to be born.

So, here are 3 sketches I did of my right hand. I find hands very difficult to draw ...... who am I kidding? I find everything hard to draw!

I wish each and every one of you the very best for the coming year .... peace, health, and happiness!

Evolution of a Mood

2010-11-18T14:31:00.000-05:00

When I sat down with my sketchbook I was not in the best of moods. Nothing was wrong except that I was out of sorts..... restless .... unfocused .... thinking negatively. I couldn't think of a single thing I wanted to do - I mean not one single thing. So, I sat with my sketchbook and stared at the blank page. Finally I drew a rectangle with pencil, drew a single looped line from one edge to the other, and started with my trusty Micron 01 pen to make marks. You may be able to tell by looking at it where I began making marks, but just in case you can't guess, I'll tell you. I started filling in the loop. I looked at what I had done and felt even worse. It was dark and cramped - in other words, it looked just like I felt. I kept going - another line, more shapes. Little by little the ~~drawing~~ doodle began to change. I didn't notice it at first, but then I got interrupted by a phone call, and when I came back to it, I realized that not only had the drawing changed, but so had my mood. I was feeling better. I decided to start adding a bit of color to it. The color I started with was blue .... surprised? After awhile other colors began to show up until, in the end, both the drawing and I were appearing quite cheery.

There's a definite lesson here for me. It's not a new one, mind you, but it is one that I seem to have great difficulty remembering. Maybe I should take out this page, frame it, and hang it where I can see it each and every time I come into my studio ..... what do you think?

Exercise and Art

2010-11-13T14:17:00.000-05:00

So, what do these two things have in common? Well, if you're anything like me, there's a very strong similarity. I'll start with exercise. It's very good and healthy for me to do it .... ditto for art. Sometimes I put off doing it .... ditto for art. Once I finish doing it, I feel terrific .... ditto for art. But, here's the biggest thing they have in common for me. The longer I go without doing it, the harder it is for me to start up again. Also, the more reasons and excuses I find not to do it, the worse I feel and the more distressed I become.

I haven't posted anything here for a month - I think that's a record for me. It's not because I haven't thought about it. It's not because I haven't had time, although we did a wee bit of traveling during that time and I also had a bit of a problem with my eye (the one that will be operated on this coming Wed.). I can't even honestly say it's because I didn't have any art to show you - Vicki and I took a wonderful book binding class last weekend at Hollander's, and I could post pictures of the books I made (I will do that soon, though). No, it's because I "fell off the camel" so to speak, and I just haven't been able to pick myself up, dust myself off, and jump back on again. So, I decided that today's the day. (Ironically, I have to hurry because we're going to a birthday party soon, and I still have to wrap the presents).

Just another quick thing. I've been wanting to go back to the Ann Arbor Art Center to their life drawing studio. It's been a really long time since I've been there, but I want to start going regularly on Friday afternoons (great timing - it's about to get really snowy here and the drive takes about 40 minutes in the summer). Of course I haven't gone yet, but here are a couple of things I did back when I Was going regularly. I post them here to give me the incentive to get off my tush and get myself going!

The Peeper and the Dog

2010-10-11T17:25:00.000-04:00

I so appreciate all the good wishes I got from many of you for a successful eye surgery. I had it last Wednesday, and it was a piece of cake! (That's for any of you who might be contemplating having a lens implant in one or both of your peepers). It was painless and fast, and I could see out of that eye right away. I mean, I could see really well out of it. The last time I knew what my vision in that eye was, it was 20/200. That was years ago, and over time my vision got slowly but steadily worse. The day after the surgery I went to the doc for my first post surgical check up, and my vision tested (are you ready for this?) 20/25!!! I have the surgery scheduled for my other eye in mid-November. My contacts are what is called monovision, i.e., my left eye is corrected to see near, and my right eye to see far. I've decided to have the same thing done with my lens implants, so the lens put in my left eye will enable me to see near without glasses. I'm already used to seeing that way, so I don't think I'll have an adjustment issue. As I write this, I have one contact in. After my surgery, No Contacts Or Glasses!!! I marvel that it wasn't that long ago that cataracts ultimately led to blindness, and now in a 15 minute surgery, voila - near perfect vision! What a miracle.

So, that's the "Peeper" story of this post. Here's the Dog part of the story. Below is my first drawing post-surgery. Walter is a dog that I copied from a magazine. I did it wearing one contact, using pencils in the sketch book that I reported missing in my last post. Yep, I found it!! All in all, I have much to be grateful for, including all of you! Thanks again for all your support.

MIA

2010-10-04T16:25:00.002-04:00

So, because of my impending surgery and the need to keep putting drops in my eye, I'm sticking very close to home .... as in going no place. Today I was out with the dog making sure she didn't leave the yard (even tho it's fenced, she sometimes decides her acre to roam in isn't enough, so she jumps through the slats in the fence, (and more recently, through the bars of the farm gate), and looking down, I saw a grasshopper just sitting on the sidewalk. I got down for a closer look ... it didn't move. So, I picked it up - still not even an antenna twitch. Carrying it carefully after summoning Abby, we went into the house, where I set it down with a custard cup over it. (It's pretty chilly outside, and I wasn't totally convinced it was dead). After quite awhile with no movement, I decided it was, indeed dead, so I carried it upstairs to my studio intending to draw it.

That's when I discovered my everyday-use- it- in -and- around -the house journal is gone! I've looked everywhere for it. .... drawers, shelves, all sorts of canvas bags, under, over, between, through, closets, boxes, upstairs and down. It's driving me crazy. Sometimes I feel like I'm looking right at it but can't see it. I Will find it, of that I have no doubt. The larger question is, will I still have any sanity left when I do?

So, in the meantime, here's the grasshopper drawn in my new everyday journal. It's done with ink and colored pencil, and the lettering is indicative of my state of mind at the time. It's written from the inside out.

Bobcat Day 2

2010-09-27T15:06:00.000-04:00

I went back to the Museum of Natural History in Ann Arbor today in order to continue working on the drawing I started on Friday. The main purpose as some of you may remember, was to practice drawing while wearing my contacts in preparation for my "new eyes". However, I forgot that I have a pre-op appointment this week, and I'm not supposed to wear my contacts for the 3 days prior to it. So, while I did go back and work on the bobcat again, I did it wearing my glasses. It was still just as dark there, and he was still behind glass, so there was still a reflection to deal with. Nevertheless, I did my best. It still isn't a finished drawing, but he's definitely further along than he was. I don't know when I'll be able to get back there, but I'd like to finish it. Maybe I'll just wing it and try to finish it from memory.

So, without further adieu, heeere's Bobby!

Catching Up

2010-09-24T16:26:00.000-04:00

I definitely need to do something about the volume of email I get .... I simply can't keep up with it, even though I really want to and I really do try. It takes up an inordinate amount of my time, and it's one of the reasons I haven't posted in way too long. ..... OK, enough of the whining - I'll figure it out!

I'll be having surgery in early Oct. on one of my eyes for a cataract, then a little while after that, I'll have my other eye done. I usually don't wear my glasses or my contacts (well, never my contacts), when I paint or draw. I often work with very fine lines and I'm just more used to doing it without them. My contacts are called "monovision", meaning that one eye is corrected for nearsightedness, and the other for farsightedness. That way I never need reading glasses. When I have my surgery, I will have monovision eyes (one of each). The thing is, I'm not sure how that will impact doing art the way I'm accustomed to doing it. So, today when my friend Vicki and I went on an outing to draw (we went to the Museum of Natural History in Ann Arbor), I wore my contacts to see what would happen. It was slow going (not just because of the contacts, but also because I didn't do any warm up sketches before I dove right in). The lighting wasn't the best, and the specimen was behind glass so I had a bit of a reflection to work around. I didn't get very far with the drawing, as you can see. I'm planning on going back again to work on it more, again while wearing my contacts. I doubt I can do it this weekend, but maybe on Monday. So, anyhow, here is the result of my first contact drawing attempt.

Recycling and Contour Drawings

2010-09-06T20:39:00.000-04:00

OK, I'll start with the recycling part. I have lots of paper from my printer of things that for one reason or another didn't work out for me. Some things I used and then didn't need anymore, others just made crummy copies ... it doesn't matter - I just kept all that paper. I use it sometimes to test colors on when I'm painting, I use it when I glue things to protect my drawing table, but mostly it just sits in a pile. Then I started doing contour drawings (mostly blind). I really didn't want to use my good sketch books for them, and then I had this idea. I would make little books out of the used copy paper!

What I did was put two sheets together, printed sides facing each other. Then I used double sided tape to tape together the 4 corners. I folded them in 1/2, also folded an 8.5" x 11" piece of card stock in half, and then used my sewing machine to sew them together. I put 3 of my folded sheets in each booklet, giving me 12 pages to draw on!

Here's a picture of my first booklet, along with a couple of my blind contours. I've made notes to myself on some of the drawings if I took a peek along the way. I marked where each line started and ended, numbering them so I can tell later on what I did. Hope this makes some sort of sense to you!

Avocado Battle

2010-09-02T20:03:00.000-04:00

I have started avocado plants from pits before, and I decided I wanted to grow one again. I know how to do it ..... toothpicks in their sides, hang them in water, they sprout roots and grow a shoot, and you plant them in dirt. Well, I've been trying for several months to do it again. I hung pits in water for weeks and weeks with nothing happening except they got rotten. I don't like to give up once I start something, so I just kept at it. Finally, one of the pits grew long roots. It had about 5 of them, and I left it in the water until the roots were about 4 inches long. It still didn't have a shoot coming out the top. So, I put some dirt in a little pot and planted it, leaving the top of the pit uncovered. All summer long I watered it, talked to it, turned it so different sides faced the sun, but still nothing.
And then, one day I went outside and voila!!!! There was a tiny shoot sticking up! It seemed to take forever, but little by little it began to grow. And now, just look at its magnificent self!!! It has leaves ... it has a long "trunk" .... it's sturdy .... I love it!!! I just hope I can keep it alive all winter. Wish me luck!

Jackie O.

2010-08-23T16:30:00.002-04:00

I tagged this drawing a portrait, but only because it's a face. While I do think it resembles Jackie Kennedy (some of you actually guessed correctly in a previous WIP post, much to my amazement!), it's far from a ~~finished~~ polished drawing. So, I'm calling it a drawing of a face instead. I found I had been avoiding meeting up with her again. I'm not sure why, but I have to admit, I'm relieved to be able to give her a spray of fixative and move on down the highway.

I'm not sure what I want to do next. My mind has been awhirl with thoughts of watercolor painting, mixed media, doing something with fabric that includes embroidery and applique .... I'm feeling sort of restless. Then, to add to my angst, in a corner of the closet in my studio is a sweater I started knitting last year (or maybe even the year before). It's in there grumbling and complaining, and the noise is getting louder. One of these days I'm going to have to pay attention to it. Actually, it's almost finished, but the the thing is, I got to a part where I'm not exactly sure how to proceed, and I find myself hoping the knitting fairy will deign to visit and beg me to let her finish it. I'll be sure to let you know if that happens!

Zippity Do Da!!

2010-08-20T20:01:00.000-04:00

Well, as always, things have been very busy. We had a great time in Nashville (our son graduated from college, we got to hang out with our 2 year old grandson, both of our sons were there with us, and only one of our DILs was missing due to an unavoidable out of town trip..... more on that later!). The weather was waaaaay too hot for those of us who live in the mitten, but no matter - we just stayed inside all the time. And, just to add frosting to the cake, our new graduate got a new job today!!!! Not easy in this economy, and we're really excited for him and his family.

On another note, my friend, Vicki, and I went to Ann Arbor on Tuesday for a bit of "drawing in the wild". It was a lot of fun, although I'm not thrilled with my output. The weather cooperated, it's always fun to hang out with her, and we had a great lunch together. I tried out my new water pens (I think that's what they're called - those tubes you fill with water and they have brushes on the ends). I bought a set of 4 - 3 sizes of round brushes and 1 flat brush. So, here is the piece I did with them. I've missed blogging, so I'm glad to be back.

On another quick note - someone is using my email address to post on some of the art groups I belong to. I think it's really a shabby thing to do, and I don't know if there's on darn thing I can do about it. Whoever you are ..... shame on you!! Use your own address to post your phony baloney things. Enuf said!!!!

This is called, "The Talking Head" .... my model up and left me. : ( so I just added the background. I see that the chair seems to be floating .... perhaps I'll add a shadow or 2!

Life Do Intrude

2010-08-11T19:50:00.000-04:00

Is it just me, or are things really busy these days? It's been way too long since I've posted to my blog, and I've missed it. What have I been doing? Hard to say, exactly. Spending time with friends who needed a friend, volunteering at the county Health Dept (only 1 day a week, though), getting ready for a trip, cleaning, shopping, ..... I don't know where the time goes! Anyhow, here I am, and I'm in the process of doing a pencil drawing of the same woman I did the dom/non-dom drawings of in ink. This is a woman all of you would recognize from her photo, but certainly not from my ink drawings. The pencil drawing (a WIP), is closer to what she really looks like, but since she's a WIP, she's still not there yet.... maybe she never will be ..... who knows?

I don't know when I'll get to visit her again. We'll be traveling soon, and even tho it's not a long trip, somehow it takes me a long time pre and post trip to organize everything. Abby (our wonderful dog) will have to go to "camp" (the kennel, but we Never use that word around her), and then, of course, she'll have to be picked up. The camp is not very close to our house, but they love her there and she's been there often enough that she's comfortable (at least that's what we prefer to think). I have to say, tho, she has yet to bring home a gimp lanyard..... anyone besides me remember those?

Enough of the rambling .... here's the WIP:

Dom/non dom 5 comparison

2010-07-28T16:40:00.002-04:00

It was suggested that I do a drawing with my left hand (dominant) to compare it with the one done with my right hand (non-dom), so today I took a bit of time to do just that. My brush marker is almost out of ink, so I did minimal work on her hair. As a result it looks like she has a new hair style. Actually what happened is that the humidity got so high (90% here), that her hair fell. I can relate, and she has my full sympathy. I may do a few more pairs of drawings, just for the fun of it. There are different things I think work with each of them. I thought about using pencil, but to make a better comparison, using ink again seemed like the way to go.

I do love using pencil, as you know, so maybe with the next set I'll do that. Although, that could very well make me ~~crazy~~ crazier what with all the erasing, shading, changing, fretting and fussing.

Non-dom 5

2010-07-25T20:38:00.001-04:00

OK, so all of the non-dominant hand drawings have been pretty small so far. In the world of large drawings, this one is also small, but it is quite a bit larger than the other ones I've done. Even tho it doesn't look like the model I used, I'm pleased with the way it turned out. The proportions are pretty accurate and it just works better than the other ones. I anticipated that doing a drawing larger would be more difficult, but actually it wasn't any harder than the other ones were.

I did find that I had to turn the paper upside down to work on the right side of the drawing. Also, I found it interesting to find that sometimes my hand was in the "left-handed" position while I drew ... that is sort of curved over the top of what I was doing, with my hand above where I was drawing. Oddly, I don't do that with my left hand when drawing or writing, unlike many lefties. (My sister, Maryanne almost always wrote that way, unless she had her hand in some sort of crab-like position under the line of writing and wrote backhand). So, here is my "large" drawing ... 5.5" x 8.5", done with Micron pens and a Micron brush pen.

Non-dom 3 and 4

2010-07-23T21:33:00.000-04:00

Today was beastly hot and humid ... finally it rained, which helped. I was home in the morning, then off with a friend in the afternoon - thankfully everywhere I was had air conditioning (wimp that I am). After dinner (homemade pizza which we have almost every Friday, being somewhat boring bears), I did 2 very quick sketches with my right hand. Considering how long I spent on the 2 of them (maybe 6 or 7 minutes), I think they're not too bad. But here's the thing. Spending such a short time on them gives me the illusion of having an excuse for their not being being very good - pretty sly! Except it's not working since I can see right through me.

One of these days soon I'll spend more time on doing just one to see what happens. Until then, here's what I've got.

Non-dom handwork

2010-07-19T19:39:00.001-04:00

So I've been messing around with using my right hand (my non-dominant hand), to do crossword puzzles for awhile now. Some days are better than others in terms of the legibility of my printing, but I've been doing it long enough now that every once in awhile, I actually reach for a pen with my right hand instead of my left when I'm doing something other than a puzzle. So today, after having been gone all day and not having much time for drawing, I decided to try drawing with my right hand. I only had time for 2 drawings (about 25 minutes in all, including finding faces in a magazine to copy). Also, I used my smaller sketch book (5.5" x 8.5") rather than one of my larger ones. I used Micron pens, my favorite ink tools. I've noticed that when I'm trying something I think will be hard, I tend to gravitate towards working small. I have no idea why, but I sense it's an odd form of protectionism, if that makes any sense at all...... don't worry if it doesn't.

Anyhow, here they are. The first on was really a bust - distorted, out of proportion, crooked ..... name a drawing flaw and you'll find it there. Even the printing is really terrible. The second one is much better, I think. Not good mind you, but better. And, even the printing is better. I think I'll mess around with this a bit more. It was kind of fun, and since it was my non-dom hand, I didn't feel pressured to do something really good. It would just be what it would be!

The Pen

2010-07-16T16:52:00.000-04:00

Today my friend Vicki and I went out ~~drawing~~ sketching together. It's very hot here (in the 90s today), so we sanely decided to do our sketching indoors. First we went to a mall and sat on a sofa near a coffee kiosk. In spite of my love of the pencil, I used a Micron pen to do my sketching as I almost always do for this kind of playing. Here's why (just in case anyone is wondering). When I use a pencil, I tend to want to keep refining and refining my drawing. This is all well and good when the subject is staying in one place, but when everyone is moving, it doesn't work very well. So I've learned that for me, using a pen is better. There's no real going back to correct things - it just is what it is. It forces me to move faster, and even though the drawings aren't very good, oddly it seems to put a sock in the mouth of my inner critic. I think it's because my expectations are lower - I already know the sketches will be rough and may not look anything like the person I'm trying to secretly capture. So, here are the sketches done at the Cool Beans Coffee Kiosk.

Across from the sofa where we were sitting was a jewelry counter. There was a young man looking at the jewelry - I imagined he was looking for a special ring .... maybe so, but he was only there for a couple of minutes before moving on.

After lunch we left that mall and went to another one. There was a Secretary of State office there with lots of people patiently waiting their turn. Happily, the front of the office was all glass, so we were able to sit outside of it and do our sketching. I sat on top of a counter that probably used to be a business of some sort, but now is empty. That way I could see their faces.

I had a really good time (as I always do with Vicki), and I hope we can do it again. Even if I go by myself, the practice is good for me and I always feel so much better after having done something like this! Have a great weekend, my friends!!

The Humble Pencil

2010-07-07T21:35:00.000-04:00

My first love in making art is the pencil. I just love it. I love the texture, the feel of it in your hand, the forgiveness it has, and its warmth. There's something immediate about it - it's humble and very basic. It has no airs of importance and it's almost universally available. It hangs in there when other media run out, dry up, or spill. It fits in your pocket or purse and will make marks on almost anything, including your cuff, in a pinch. It doesn't stain your clothes, even when you write on them, and it won't leak in your pocket. You can borrow one from someone, and they don't worry about what you might do to its point. Most of the time, they won't even mind if you walk away with it! Also, they're cheap, come in several degrees of hardness (which greatly expands their flexibility), and they can be blended and smeared. You can make a myriad of different kinds of marks with them, and you can use them on the tiniest piece of paper. You can use an eraser to change a mark, or in a pinch you can use a rubber band or even your finger. But best of all, I find a pencil completely non-threatening. Put a paintbrush or a pastel in my hand, and I have a clutch of fear (especially with the brush). Now I ask you, what's not to love about a pencil?

So, in honor of the pencil, here are a few drawings of my hands. They are gnarly and old, bony with stubby fingers. But here's the thing about them. They are always with me, so they are like a captive model! I find hands very difficult to draw, and I intend to draw more of them, starting with my own.

The Watercolor Version

2010-07-01T08:35:00.000-04:00

So, I really struggled with this one, and it shows. In the interest of honesty, I'm posting it, though I'm not happy with it. But, it's OK ..... I jumped in and did it. My rational self knows quite well that not every painting is going to be successful, but still, that doesn't quell the desire. I was going to stop midway through (actually, truth be told, I was going to stop before I started), but fortunately common sense prevailed and I just kept going. There's no need to point out all the problems this painting has ... they're self evident. Since I had already started it before the great suggestions about using smaller paper were made, I painted it on a 9 x 12 watercolor block. Maybe my next one will be a tad smaller, looser, and a more relaxed process than this one was. Thanks again to all of you - I really appreciate all your support and helpful ideas!

It's Over

2010-06-21T15:07:00.000-04:00

I can't call this finished because it isn't. There are too many things about it that disturb me. However, it is over. I'm tired of fiddling with it, so I'm moving on down the highway. The question, of course, is which highway? Yes, I know this was supposed to be the prelude to a watercolor. The paper is sitting on my drawing table with tape around the edges as a sort of frame. The tubes of paint are on the table, too, but not the brushes. Hmmm - a Freudian slip in neglecting to get out the brushes?

I did do a quick pencil sketch on the paper .... and by quick, I mean I spent about 2 minutes on it. Now in the past when I've done watercolors, I've spent a great deal of time on the sketches - both the value sketches as well as the finished sketch on the watercolor paper. I think my approach to this one is indicative of how I feel about starting it. OK, I'm getting entirely too self-analytical and I'm feeling a bit silly about it all. So, without anymore comments, here's the colored pencil drawing.

watercolor to be

2010-06-20T21:12:00.000-04:00

So, I'm still struggling with my art. I've had this strong pull to return to watercolors for quite some time, but I find I've lost my confidence. So, recently I decided to do a painting of a small corner of one of our gardens. I could have photographed it first to make it a tad easier for myself, but I didn't. I decided that I would do a quick sketch followed by a value sketch, then I'd sketch it out on the watercolor paper (which, by the way, I've had sitting next to my drawing table for I don't know how long all stretched and ready to go), and just dive right in. It didn't work out quite that way.

I did the sketch, started the thumbnail value drawing, got impatient, did a quick sketch on the watercolor paper, and then just froze. I even picked out my palette - the tubes of paint are sitting on my drawing table as we speak. What I did instead is get out my journal and start a colored pencil drawing of the scene. I haven't finished it, but since it's been so long since I've posted anything on my blog (another stumbling block, I might add), I thought I'd share with you where things stand at the moment. As you can see, the drawing isn't finished yet, but I'm hoping to finish it tomorrow. But here's the thing..... when it's finished, I won't have any excuse not to start the painting. The thought fills me with dread and fear. I know, it's totally silly - who the heck cares? But there it is ..... it's how I feel right at this moment ...9:06 PM on Father's Day, 2010.

Nashville Weekend

2010-06-09T10:01:00.001-04:00

We spent this past weekend in Nashville with our son, daughter in law, and our wonderful, 2 year old grandson. It was Hot and Humid and we had a Great Time!! CC, our grandson, has taken to running full-tilt boogie up and down the sidewalk. Since it's right next to the street, someone has to be with him every step of the way. I ran and ran, back and forth, every now and then trying to coax him back up to the porch. Finally I spied 2 sticks that had blown down in a storm - one his size and one my size....Walking Sticks!! Of course you can't run with a walking stick, and he was completely taken by them. So then we spent a lot of time walking up and down, discussing many things. It was fun, interesting, and oh so much easier than running in the sun. He's so cute I can hardly stand it.

OK, enough grandma talk. I took a wee bit of time to do a rather quick watercolor of a lovely plant holder that they have hanging outside next to the door of the porch. It's a very cool piece, and Sarah had put hydrangeas in it cut from one of the many lovely flowering shrubs they have. I'm so out of practice and still struggling with the inner beast, but I'm happy that I did something, at least! Oh, I recently bought the book The War of Art, but I haven't had time to start it yet.

Another beginning

2010-05-29T16:24:00.000-04:00

I had a wonderful birthday, thanks in part to all of you who so kindly and generously sent me your helpful and supportive remarks. You are just the best! When my sweetie and I got home from having a wonderful dinner at The Common Grill in Chelsea (Michigan, that is), we sat on the porch and I made good on my vow to do something arty. It had cooled off considerably so it was very pleasant outside. I got out a watercolor block, pencil, and my trusty, old, watercolors in the tin. I made a start .... I did a bit of a drawing of a few things on the porch, and did a bit of painting. It's not complete (and may never be), but the thing is, I did it! I'm trying not to be unduly critical of it (but the truth is, I can't quiet that voice completely), and it's about as simple as it can be, but maybe I'll sit on the porch again tonite and have another go at it .... or not!

So, thank you again, to all you special people!

P.S., it's called, Warts and All

Birthdays and Blocks

2010-05-27T19:50:00.000-04:00

I haven't posted anything for a very long time - almost a month. After being ill, I found myself blocked. First, a bit of personal history. Some of you know that I am a registered nurse, although I have been retired now for some time. I retired quite early. Anyhow, I spent most of my nursing career in administration at a major hospital in Ann Arbor. 2 years before I retired, I decided I wanted to go back to clinical nursing, and after having been away from it for about 15 years, I decided to take a job in the ER. Before I actually started there, I hit the books on my own. There was so much to learn - how to read the monitors, I had to get certified in advanced cardiac life support - well, you get the idea. I finally started actually working there, and I have to tell you, I was scared shitless every time I went to work. It was a 35 minute drive, and all the way there I was talking to myself, asking myself what in the heck was I doing - was I totally insane? By the time I got there I had so much adrenalin in my system that every cell in my body was on full alert. I felt like a fraud. I was certain that at any moment someone would discover that I had no idea what I was doing. But here's the thing .... I was good at it ..... I really did know what I was doing, I just didn't believe that I did. The manager came to me one day and wanted me to be a preceptor to a new nurse in the department! She also wanted me to train to be a charge nurse. I was stunned.

So, fast forward to now. In many ways I feel exactly the same about my ability to make art as I did about practicing nursing in the ER. I feel like I don't know how to do it .... any minute now I will be unveiled as a wannabe with absolutely no talent. Sometimes I feel like there's an elephant standing on top of me. I know, it's crazy. I mean, who cares what I do? What difference does it make? I can only think that my inner critic has grown to monstrous proportions. So what to do?

Tomorrow is my birthday - I can't believe it, but I'm going to be 65!!! (which has nothing to do with any of this). I'm giving myself a present. I'm going to draw or paint something, and no matter what it looks like, I'm going to post it. It may not actually get posted until Saturday, but I'm doing it tomorrow. I don't care what it turns out like, I'm posting it, warts and all.

I'm sorry for the length of this post. I like to keep them short because I know many of you check out many blogs and long ones take too much time. But there you are - the next one will be short, I promise.

Oh yeah, the "blocked" thing was done the last time I was blocked, it's not new.

Illness and Inchies

2010-05-04T20:18:00.000-04:00

I've been a tad under the weather for over a week now, and it's been impossible for me to do any art because of it. I had a medical procedure last Monday, then got bronchitis on Thursday (I like to cluster my ailments - it gets them out of the way faster). I have a few more antibiotics to take and I'm much better now, but I'm waaaay behind in lots of things, not the least of which is making/playing with art. I'm not quite finished with the Rubens drawing, but I just haven't had the wherewithal to keep an appointment with her. Also, I'm so far behind in my email that I think I'm just going to have to start over. I hate missing all the wonderful posts to people's blogs (I've been doing my best to visit them and leave comments, but I'm drowning!), so I think the best thing to do is start fresh and just accept the reality of my current situation.

I've been feeling really guilty about not posting anything on my blog, and as I'm sure all of you know, feeling guilty sucks (to put it less than delicately, but then, guilt isn't a very delicate emotion, is it?). So, since I don't have anything current to show you, I thought I'd post a picture of some inchies I did a while back for an inchie swap. I like making inchies - it's fun to have such a small canvas to work on. I'm thinking of making more with an eye to incorporating them into a larger piece .... a sort of inchie assembly. So, anyhow, these are the ones I made that I rejected for the swap and so kept them. I put them in my art journal

Rubens Version 3

2010-04-25T20:42:00.000-04:00

OK, so she's proving herself to be a worthy adversary. I've been working and reworking her face and I just can't seem to get it right. Of course, part of the problem is what I mentioned in her first (very faint) appearance, which is that right out of the gate I had the angle of her head wrong. But, since I decided to forge ahead anyway, the problem only magnified itself as I drew. I had the eyes at the wrong slant and the line of her right side (the one on our left) is wrong. Howsomever (I know, not a real word, but it seem to fit the bill), I valiantly (or stubbornly, which is more to the point) struggled on with her until I just had to stop..... which is not to say that during this process I didn't walk away from her a number of times, giving each of us a much needed time out. I turned her upside down and sideways, trying to get a better feel for the lines, and the acrobatics did help. She, however, didn't agree and complained bitterly. So in the end, I told her we were through for the day, leading to a giant sigh of relief from us both.

Rubens Version 2

2010-04-24T12:37:00.000-04:00

Today one of my daughters is running her first half marathon in Nashville. She's been training faithfully for it, and I'd love to be there with her other cheerleaders to lend my support and encouragement. I'm waiting to hear from my son to see how well she did - I just hope it's not really hot down there right now! Tonight my other daughter is skating in her final roller derby bout of the season ... Yes, she's a Detroit Derby Girl, and she's amazing! Last year her team won the championship of the league - alas, not so this year, but they did great! I'm so impressed with my two wonderful girls who married my two wonderful sons. How did I get to be so fortunate, anyway?

I between many other things, I did manage to spend a bit of time with Ms Fourment, although not as much as I'd hoped. ~~She~~ I am having much difficulty with her, but then I always do when I try to copy these drawings. I'm using a softer pencil now, so it shows up better than version 1. I like to start out with hard pencils because I'm such a chicken - it takes me awhile to get plucky enough to go for the softer, darker pencils. I'm not at the softest I'll use yet, but I'm getting there. So, without further adieu, here she is!

Rubens copy

2010-04-21T10:07:00.000-04:00

Meet Susanne Fourment (sister of Helene Fourment (1599 - 1643). Now you know as much about her as I do. I plan on trying to find out a bit more about her, but for now, she's serving as the reference for my most recent attempt at copying drawings of the Masters. As you can see, I've only just begun, after several days of busyness and being away from home.

I can already see that this drawing is off - her head is too straight. I haven't decided yet if it's so early in the game that I might just scrap this one and start over. Or, I may continue, knowing that it is flawed, and then attempt it again another time. So, anyway, here's the original, followed by my beginning (as if you couldn't tell which was which!).

Albert Einstein and friends

2010-04-16T21:30:00.000-04:00

Today was a wonderful day. The weather was beautiful ... windy, warm but not hot, sunny, and filled with two dear friends. Kathy and Jennifer have been my friends since our children were very little - babies, in fact. But, as sometimes happens in life, our paths diverged, one by one we moved away, our children were in different grades (and sometimes in different schools), and we lost touch for many years. We all still lived in the area, but our paths rarely crossed. Then about a year ago, when I started volunteering at our county health department, Jennifer and I reconnected. She's worked there for a long time, and now I get to see her once a week ... lucky me! So we hooked up with Kathy again through a planned lunch, and now the three of us get together every couple of months for lunch. We'd do it more often, but there's schedule conflicts. Today they came to my house and we had lunch. We talked - there were tears and laughter, and best of all, there was the love shared between friends. I'm so grateful that we have each other again.

Now, what does all that have to do with Albert Einstein, you might ask. The answer is Nothing!! It's just that I got to thinking about him after working on a bulletin board at the health department, and decided to draw him. He continues to be a very stubborn man, even as he was in real life, so what I'm thinking is that this may not actually be Albert at all, but rather his little known brother, Alfred.

watercolor sketches

2010-04-14T20:01:00.001-04:00

Today was a very busy day - I left in the early morning and didn't get back until mid-afternoon, then after doing a few things in the house, I worked outside in the garden. Sadly we neglected our gardens last fall (we have 13 or 14 that we try to maintain, and 4 others that we've given up on) and they're full of grass, flowers that are thugs and spread everywhere with terrible, underground runners, weeds, ..... well, you name the thing that you Don't Want in your garden, and we have it in ours. I've been laboring in them for days now, and so far I've got 3 of them fairly well under control, and a 4th that I've made a pretty good start on. With that one, I might have 3 more days of working on it to wrest control back from it.

OK, enough whining. Since I didn't have much time, after I finished working, being hot and trying not to be out of sorts what with the cut on my wrist and the spider bite and all, I changed my clothes and sat on the front porch with the new sketchbook, a tiny watercolor box, and my trusty Micron pens. ... oh yeah, and a glass of white wine. This time I used the largest one (.08), and even that one balked on the rough paper in the sketchbook. I didn't care, though. I only did 3 small sketches before fixing dinner. Tulips that haven't bloomed yet, a small, wrought iron fence portion, and a shrub that is really pretty with pink blooms (when it blooms, which is hardly ever because we keep cutting it back so we can see out when we're sitting on the porch). So, here they are - modest, small, but fun to do.

Early Arrival

2010-04-13T20:57:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I was meeting a friend at Panera Bread Co. for lunch, and I got there early. I knew I would be early as I had an appointment in the area that I was certain would finish in plenty of time for me to get there before my friend. I wanted to score a booth - I like the privacy and comfort of booths, but they can be hard to get. Sure enough, when I got there all the booths were filled, so I took a small table where I could eyeball the booths, whipped out my new sketchbook, and settled in. I just got going on my first sketch when a booth emptied - I was on it in a flash! The cost of the booth was a partially finished sketch, and I was sitting where I couldn't see my subject anymore.

Undaunted, I just started a new one, and soon my friend arrived. (We had a great lunch, a great chat, but sadly, no dessert). But, I digress. Back to my new journal. It's by Savoir Faire and it's filled with handmade paper. I had no idea what it would be like to draw or paint in, so I was very interested in what happened. I used my .005 Micron pen which was a bit too fine for the roughness of the paper, but it wasn't all bad. I did the painting at home tonite, and I used a Very Old Set of pan watercolors by Pelikan. (It's the first set of watercolors I bought as an adult, and I think I've had them about 30 years ... no lie!) The paintings are nothing to write home about, but I think I do like the sketchbook and the paper. I have to work with it a bit more to be sure - it's very different from what I'm used to, but it was fun to play with. So, here they are - the guy who got stood up (I made that up), and the woman who had such a great story to tell, her friend's hair stood on end (I made the story part up, but her hair really was standing up on end).

watercolor sketch

2010-04-09T15:51:00.000-04:00

I've been hungry for watercolor for quite some time. I think about it, eat, pace around pondering, eat, read about it, eat, ..... well, I bet you get the idea. I've been avoiding it. Why? Well, the truth is Fear. Yes, that old voice in the head that keeps saying, "You don't know how to do it. You can't even think of what to paint. Just get out a pencil (with a Big Eraser), or maybe do a collage". It causes great anxiety in me sometimes. My reasonable self knows what's happening, and also, there's always my mantra (it's only a piece of paper, what's the big deal), and yet, here I am dithering and blithering around.

So, today I bit the bullet. I decided to start out small .... just dip a toe in, so to speak. I got out my jar of shells and my trusty .005 Micron pen and went to work. It's modest .... small .... tentative. But, It's Watercolor!! Hooray for me!!! I have to go lie down now with a cool cloth on my head to recover.

Back from Nashville

2010-04-07T16:14:00.000-04:00

We were in Nashville to celebrate our little grandson's second birthday. It was so much fun to be with him, our son Ben, and our daughter (in-law), Sarah. CC (our grandson) is talking and gets more interesting everyday. He declared in no uncertain terms "I wuv birthdays!", and who can blame him? Neighborhood children came over to play almost everyday we were there, (all considerably older than CC), and they treat him kindly and with generosity. The food was great, the company was great, the dog (Monkey), was pretty good .... she has a habit of running off. She's the only dog I've ever known who can do some sort of flexing of her body and maneuver her way out of a harness (that's as tight as it can be without cutting off her circulation). She does it in a nano-second, and then off she goes to "visit" someone in the neighborhood. We started working with her using treats, but it's slow going. I do dearly love her, though.

I've done no art since before we left, so I thought I'd share 2 things I did in my journal 2 years ago. The first one is a collage I did when Sarah was pregnant and we were so excited about the new grandbaby, and the second one is a rather quick pencil drawing I did of him when he was just a few hours old. As you can tell by the note on that one, it's version 2 - I really didn't like version 1 at all, so I did it again. It's fun for me to look back on that time and remember how excited we were!

Holbein WIP 4

2010-03-29T15:26:00.001-04:00

Every time I scan my drawings and compare them to the reference drawing, I see things in them that I totally miss when I'm in the process of working on them. I wonder why that is. I'm not talking about little differences, I'm talking huge, glaring, jump-off-the-page differences. Things like a totally wrong shape for something that's as plain as the nose on your face. ...... yes, I'm talking about the nose on Her face. However, even in the face of that, I've decided that it's time for me to move on. Mrs. Butts and I are finished with one another. She's tired of looking at me, and all I can say to that is, "Ditto, Mrs. Butts, with the unfortunate name". ....... I can be soooo mean.

Holbein WIP 3

2010-03-28T19:15:00.000-04:00

Soon we'll be going on a wee trip, so I've been slowly getting ready for it. There were presents to buy and wrap, Easter cards to get ready to mail (and mail), groceries to buy, packing lists to do, etc, etc. And, of course, I've been using the new treadmill 5 days a week . (By dividing the number of times I've used it into the cost, so far each session has cost $44 - a number that is acting as a motivator for me, who Hates to Exercise). We haven't told Abby (our dog) that we're going yet, because she'll be going to "camp" (the kennel), poor dear. They love her there and do their best to spoil her, but she doesn't really like to go.
In spite of all the preparations (which aren't finished yet, I've also set aside a bit of time to work on my Holbein drawing..... not a lot, but some. I'd like to finish it before we leave, because I know I won't be working on it while we're gone, but on the other hand, a break from it will probably give me a whole new insight as to what I need to adjust. With that in mind, I won't be spraying it before we go so that upon our return, I can fiddle with it if I want. Enough of my babbling .... here is WIP 3, followed by the reference drawing, as always.

Holbein WIP 2

2010-03-26T15:54:00.000-04:00

I didn't have a lot of time again today to draw, but I did do a bit more on my Holbein copy. I'm finding her mouth is posing a special challenge for me - there really isn't much mouth there to work with. With just a few lines and shadows, Holbein was able to create a mouth that is just perfect for that face. I'm having trouble with the line itself, as well as its angle.
As you can see from my version, I have been working with relatively hard pencils. The softest one I've used on it so far is a 2B. I'm not ready yet to move to the softer, darker, lead - I'm still feeling my way along with this. I've only just started doing her headpiece. I can say this about it, though, I'm Oh So Grateful that I don't ever have to wear anything like that on My head, aren't you?

Holbein WIP 1

2010-03-24T20:25:00.000-04:00

Well, after a busy day and being away from the house most of the day, and then finishing ironing my sweetie's shirts (a birthday present to him - he irons his own shirts .... isn't that just the best?), fixing part of the dinner (he did the main course - a recipe of his own invention that was really very good), doing the dishes, and giving the dog a bath, I finally sat down to do a bit of drawing. A very little bit. I still have a few things to do before hitting the hay. So, here is the start of my newest Master's copy. As usual, I'll post my WIP and the reference photo so you can comment and give me suggestions. It's just a bare beginning, but what the heck - you go with what you got, right? p.s., Of course, now that I can see it here in the post, I can immediately see what's wrong with the nose, just for openers.... but, that's why it's a WIP!!

How Did I Do It?

2010-03-23T21:00:00.001-04:00

When I was a young mother with 2 growing boys, I worked part time, was the president of a co-op nursery school, volunteered at my son's elementary school, was a consultant for a non-profit agency, and had time for my art .... not a lot, but still, I did it. I sewed Halloween costumes, baked, cooked, wall-papered rooms .... well, you get the picture. I was a normal American mom, doing the things normal American moms do. Now my children are grown. I volunteer at our county health department, but only one day a week. There's only my sweetie and I and our dog, Abby, here at home, and for some reason, all too often I have a heck of a time finding time for my art . Why is that, I wonder. It's true, I exercise every day now, but I'm finished with that most days by 7 AM, and I'm not locked into a schedule like I used to be. We do go to bed early most nites (Sweetie gets up at 4:00, so of course, I'm awake then, too) so I don't have the evenings to work like I used to, but still .....

Here's what I think. I think that one of the big obstacles (as well as one of the blessings in my life), is the internet. I get tons of email - things I'm interested in, mind you, but still, it takes me a lot of time to visit all the blogs and leave comments on all the wonderful work I see others doing. People send me links to interesting sites that I just have to check out! I had every intention of doing some art after dinner tonite, but since I was gone all day, I had tons of email that I wanted to check (in part because I knew if I didn't prune it, by tomorrow it would take me most of the day to go thru. I think I need to find a way to be more organized and efficient in my internet use. I'll have to ponder that.

In the meantime, I've decided on another Master's drawing to copy. This one is by Holbein, and I like it because it's an older woman. Her name is Margaret, Lady Butts, Wife of Sir William Butts, physician to Henry VIII; lady-in-waiting to Princess Mary. It's done with Pen and brush ink reinforcement and metalpoint. Mine will be done with pencil. I'm planning on starting it tomorrow morning, but here is Lady Butts, my newest model!

fish

2010-03-18T07:09:00.000-04:00

I'd like you to meet my new fish. I've been wanting some fish for a long time ... don't ask me why, it just seemed like a good idea. It's been a cold winter here, and I've been waiting to get them because I thought that transporting them home in the cold weather would not be such a hot idea (even tho they'd be in the car, still it's been a tad nippy). So about 2 weeks ago, I brought 2 goldfish home during a warm spell. In preparation for their arrival, I bought a punch bowl to keep them in. See, after finding out that each goldfish needs a gallon of water (yes, a Gallon Each!!), I didn't want to spend the $$ on an aquarium, so I bought this 2 gallon punch bowl at a second hand store - clear glass with "pressed glass" flowers around it. I brought the fish home, put some gravel in the bottom of the punch bowl, a few plastic plants, room temp water, and then introduced them slowly to their new digs. They freaked out and hid among the plants. They stayed that way for days .... wouldn't eat, didn't swim around, just hid in the bushes. It finally occurred to me that what scared them so was that looking thru those pressed glass flowers distorted their view so much that it scared their little selves half to death.
Another problem (I know this is long, but I can't help it) is that we're going to be gone for 5 days and I worried that they might starve while we were gone. Then I found this magic fish food block that you just put in their bowl and it lasts for 7 days! But, it works best if the water is moving. So, back to the pet store to buy an aquarium, the fish food block, tubing, a pump, and a bubbler thingy. (Now my $2.00 fish have cost me about $30). I set them up in their new home, and guess what? They're Happy!! They swim, they come to the top when they see me, and they eat like little piggies! I'm happy, too!

Here they are .... colored pencil drawings (which I'm not very good at and which I did on paper with too much tooth for colored pencil).

EDM 8 and The New Giveaway Winner

2010-03-17T11:38:00.001-04:00

One of the groups I belong to and am active in is Every Day Matters http://tinyurl.com/yjv2mma They have a long list of "challenges" designed to help get past the "I don't know what to draw" days. The prompts also act (for me, at least) as encouragement to just keep in there ~~working~~ playing at making art. (I just remembered about that crossing-out-a-word thing that my computer can do!). So, today I'm sharing one of my drawings based on EDM number 8, "draw your watch or a piece of jewelry". As you can tell, I'm not that good at following directions, so here are a few of my "jewels", rather than just one.

Oh, and Alex, I almost forgot ... the new giveaway winner is YOU!! ..... I didn't really almost forget, I just wanted to tease you a little bit.

Greenhouse and Giveaway Update

2010-03-16T11:15:00.001-04:00

Well, I haven't heard from Sabine, the winner of the giveaway yet, and I've tried contacting her without success, so if I haven't heard from her by tonite, I'm going to draw again and give the book to someone else. I'm sorry to have to do that, but this is the 3rd day since I announced the winner, and I'd really like someone to have this book! So, Sabine, if you're out there, please contact me!

On another note, because spring is almost here (yippee!!), I thought I'd share another watercolor painting I did of a greenhouse. It's another one that I sold a few years back. This one is the "Geranium House" at one of our local flower centers. I have a hard time restraining myself when I'm there seeing all the beautiful flowers. All too often I come home with what seems like just a few plants when I'm buying them, only to find out they multiplied in the car when I got down on my knees to plant them (the little devils!).

New Toy

2010-03-14T20:04:00.005-04:00

Awhile ago there was a discussion on the Everyday Matters online group (I would put a link in here, but not only am I not sure exactly how to to it, but when I tried, the link was about 4 lines long - it's a Yahoo group, if you want to find it) about a toy someone had as a child that was a reflector gizmo that allowed you to copy pictures. I had a hard time envisioning how it would work, but as these kinds of discussions have a way of doing, someone found one online that was for sale! It's called a Reflecting Sketcher, and I got it at closeoutzone.com (I tried putting in a link to it, but for some reason it wouldn't work) The price was right .... under $10, including shipping, so being a curious bear, I quickly ordered one. It really is a fun toy, although it does have its drawbacks. For one thing, the far edge of what you're copying sort of disappears from view, making it difficult to copy that side. It should be noted, however, that I did this at night using lights, so maybe the results in the daytime might be a bit different. I did a quick outline with few details just to give it a test run, and this is what I got.

You put the original on the side of your non-dominant hand, and your paper on the other side of the plastic divider. Then you look at the reflection of the drawing on the plastic and "trace" it with your dominant hand. I know it sounds odd, but that really is how you do it. I had trouble keeping the reflection lined up with the drawing I had done (note his ear), and I didn't try to add in all the details, but you can get a rough idea of what you end up with. And, you will notice that you get a mirror image of the original. So, here are pictures of the device, the original that I copied (a rather plain Rubens drawing), and the copy I did of it. I think I'll just keep this thing as a toy for my grandniece and other children who come here to play.

And The Winner Is ....

2010-03-14T11:22:00.000-04:00

Thanks very much to all of you who left comments on my blog post about the book I'm giving away. We were out quite late last night, so I didn't check my email to see if there were any additional comments. I just did it, went to one of those "random number selection" sites online, and came up with a winner! So, (pretend you hear a drum roll) the winner is Sabine! So, if you'll email me privately with your snail mail info, I'll get the book in the mail as quickly as I can! To everyone else, I wish I had enough copies of this book for each one of you to get one. Maybe next time, you'll be the winner ... I hope so!

Another drawing

2010-03-12T20:42:00.000-05:00

This is a picture I copied from a National Geographic Magazine. It isn't a "quick sketch", nor is it a marathon drawing. It's sort of in between the two. I spent the day today cleaning the house (ugh), and it left little time for drawing. So, I decided that rather than embark on some new project (i.e., another Master's copy or my "timed sketch" experiment), I'd just do what felt comfortable, which is to just sit down and draw. This is my one and only version of her .... no going back to correct or improve. I'm not happy with her nose, but then, I'm not that happy with my nose either! So, here she is, imperfections and all .....

Quick Sketches

2010-03-11T14:54:00.000-05:00

These are a couple of sketches I did using a ballpoint pen. I can see issues with both of them, but the one that bothers me the most is the girls mouth. Ink isn't real forgiving, that's for sure. Quick sketches aren't my strong suit, although when I see what others can do quickly, I'm inspired to get better at it. I read about artists doing collages and they say, "I just sit down with all of my scraps of paper, paint a background, start stamping and gluing and this is what I did". Others say things like, "I sat in a coffee shop and this person kept moving so I had to finish him in about 3 minutes". Collages can take me days and days .... an ATC can take me an entire day as I worry and fuss with it. Drawings take me a long time ... they just do. So, I think I might start setting a timer, do a sketch, and when the timer goes off, bang! The drawing is over. I'll pretend the model just walked away .... even if it's my cup of tea that I'm drawing.

P.S. Don't forget to leave a comment on the "giveaway" post if you want to be in the drawing. You have the rest of today, tomorrow, and Saturday, then I'm doing the drawing thing on Sunday. Be sure to check back to see if you won!

DaVinci WIP day 3

2010-03-08T19:25:00.000-05:00

OK, this time I really mean it! This is the last version of my DaVinci copy. I darkened the values, although it still isn't quite right. But ol Yeller and I are parting ways. It's time for me to move on to something else .... not sure just what yet, but definitely something else. He was a good model (you know, he Never Moved At All!!), but I'm a tad tired of him. So, one last look ....

p.s., don't forget to leave a comment on my "giveaway" post to win the book. You have until Sat. 3/13!

Time for a Giveaway!!

2010-03-06T14:37:00.000-05:00

Well, when I had 4,000 visits to my blog I decided to give something away when I got to 5,000. Well, I missed that mark, and so I decided I'd do it at 6,000. Then, I missed that one too, so decided I'd do it at 7,000. The thing is, I missed that one too! So, rather than wait any longer, I'm going to do it now. I'm so appreciative of all the support, encouragement, helpful suggestions, and generous comments all of you have left for me, that I want to give a little something back to you.

So, here it is. It's a North Light book of Painting Techniques. It covers a variety of media - oil, watercolor, and pastel, among others. It has tons of really clear photos showing lots and lots of different techniques. The scan I did of it isn't the best. The book is a tad big for my scanner, so a bit of it is a bit blurry, but I think you can see enough of it clearly to give you the idea. It measures about 9" x 9" and has 208 pages.

If you want to play, just leave me a comment on this post between now and March 13th. On Sunday, March 14th, I'll use one of those on-line random number thingys to pick a winner! So thanks again, and good luck!!

p.s., sorry the post is so long, and oh, one other thing ... please leave only one comment! Thanks

Charcoal drawing

2010-03-05T16:39:00.000-05:00

This is a drawing I did awhile ago that depicts some of the things that I love. They are symbolic of some of my many interests. Three of the items are self-explanatory, but two may not be as evident. The ribbon represents gifts - the many gifts in my life, both given and received. I've been so blessed to have been the recipient of so many wonderful gifts - special people in my life, circumstances, and of course, all the spectacular, one-of-a-kind jewelry that my sweetie gives me! lol The duck represents my personal history. When I was 3 my father took me to a Halloween party for children. I was dressed as a clown. All the children (I think sort of by age group) went up on a stage while the crowd "voted" by their applause for the best costume. We were up there alone. Anyhow, I looked out over the sea of faces and I couldn't find my father. I burst into tears, which of course, made finding him that much harder. I won the contest - I'm sure it was because I was the only one crying. The prize was this cast iron duck bank. I still use it, and I love it.

DaVinci WIP day 2

2010-03-04T19:38:00.000-05:00

What a day!!! It was sunny and warm (well, warm for the mitten in March), and I got to spend most of the day with 2 friends, one of whom I seldom see because she lives in Florida .... she thought it was really cold here! We were helping to pack up her mother and dad who have sold their home here in order to stay year round in Florida. We had a lot of fun, and actually got some things done!

I didn't have much time to devote to art .... between spending time with my (new) treadmill (another really long story about a woman who detests any kind of exercise), settling the dog, feeding the birds, etc, etc, I didn't do anything on my DaVinci drawing until the dinner dishes were done and the trash barrel was down by the road. That said, I think I'm calling this one done ... yes, I know, I don't have the shading just right, but I'm ready to move on to something else. I'm going to give the Masters a rest from my efforts for now and instead do ........ well, to tell you the truth, I don't know what I'm going to do next. I'll have to ponder it a bit, I guess. So, here he is .... old yeller. Ok, ok, now that I see him here, I may have to have one more go at him.

Watercolor Painting

2010-03-03T07:29:00.001-05:00

I had a very busy day yesterday and have another fairly busy day today, so I thought I'd post a picture I painted some time ago. We took a trip to northern Michigan one summer and I was really taken with this little wall. In the picture it looks like it's quite high, but in reality it is only about 2 feet high. I loved that it was made by hand with native rocks, and that the rocks had so many different colors and shapes in them. I also loved the view of the lake in the background. This painting took me quite a long time to do, what with all the details in each stone. The colors in the scan are more intense than the actual colors in the painting - the actual painting is more subdued and subtle. But it's one of my favorite paintings that I've done ... maybe because it brings memories of our wonderful vacation with the boys, and also much of it was painted with a group of artist friends. The group is no more - some moved away, some moved on. But when I see this painting, I remember them all with love.

Next Master's Drawing - Day 1

2010-03-01T16:18:00.000-05:00

My next copy is based on a DaVinci study for The Battle Of Anghiari. One of the challenges in this one for me is the many values in it. Another is that it's a face (yikes !). I find faces very difficult to do. I have a hard time getting proportions right, correct angles, and the proper relationships between the various features. So, this one seemed like a good one for me. DaVinci did so many faces - many of them quite monstrous. I'm thinking that at some point I will do some of them. So, here is my reference photo, followed by my initial go at it.

Concertina Book

2010-03-01T10:31:00.001-05:00

Yesterday my good friend Vicki and I went to Hollanders www.hollanders.com (I don't know how to do that "click on it and you go there" thing so I have to put in the url) which is a spectacular paper store in Ann Arbor and took a class on how to make a concertina book. It was taught by Christine Reising and David Burkam ( moonmothpress.etsy.com ) and they were just wonderful. The idea was to use a found book, remove the spine and replace it with an accordian folded spine, and replace the inside with new signatures made with art paper. The paper we used for the new signatures is called Somerset (I think that's how it's spelled) and it comes from England. I was initially going to bring my own paper to do the signatures because I want to be able to use watercolor in this book, but then I decided that since the cost of the paper was included in the price, I'd rather try out a new paper. I knew I'd be making another concertina book and I can use my own paper in that one. After I try out the new paper, I'll let you know what I think of it.

Besides being most excellent and patient teachers, they brought many examples of books they've made (and sell on their Etsy site), and I have to tell you, those books were absolutely spectacular! One of them even had a beautiful handmade fabric bag to hold it that was just so lovely. I wanted them all!

My book is very modest - I just couldn't find anything in my stash that was really interesting that I wanted to cut apart. But, I don't really mind all that much since it's my first one and I didn't have to worry about ruining it. So, here it is!

By the way, if you click on "Faint Heart Art" on the left under blogs I follow, you can see Vicki's wonderful book!

Raphael - Finale!!

2010-02-27T17:47:00.001-05:00

First of all, a huge thank you to everyone who left such helpful suggestions and encouraging comments. I can't tell you how much help all of you have been. Secondly, thanks to everyone who noticed that I've been misspelling Raphael's name all this time and didn't point it out publicly. You left it for my sweetie to kindly point out (and he did it very gently, too, bless his pea pickin' heart). The thing is, I've always known how to spell his name, and yet, time after time I spelled it wrong. I wonder if I'm drifting into the stratosphere and just not thinking about spelling shortcuts... lol

So, here it is, the final adjustment to a drawing that I've loved doing. Yes, it has been difficult for me, but I've learned a lot, too. All in all, I feel satisfied with the outcome. Of course, every time I look at it I see something else I could add (or subtract), but for the most part, I think I've reached a point where I'm ready to move on. And yes, I have chosen another drawing to work on. All I'll tell you right now is that it's another DaVinci .... did I spell that right?

Raphael WIP day 4

2010-02-25T15:34:00.001-05:00

Well, I'm getting close to calling this one done. I have some tweaking left to do and also some darkening in some areas, but other than that, I think I'll leave well enough alone. I'm sure someone who's studied art history knows the answer to this, but I can't help wondering why so many of the masters used seemingly nothing but lines to fill in areas of their drawings. I have to say, it does make it very difficult to copy them. Duplicating the lines done by another hand is next to impossible (at least it is for me). Maybe it was their way to copyright their work since there were no copyright laws back then! lol So, once again, here's my drawing, followed by the reference photo.

Raphael WIP day 3

2010-02-24T18:22:00.001-05:00

Another rather busy day today without a lot of time for art, but I did manage a bit of time to spend with Rafael. As you can see, I'm still struggling with the foreshortening and the proportions, but little by little it's beginning to come together. So far I've done all of it with a 2B pencil (and, of course, a kneadable eraser, lol) and when I get it further along, I'll darken some areas. I used the "auto contrast" thingy in Photoshop, which makes it look darker than it really is.

As always, your suggestions and comments are more than welcome!

Round Robin Pages

2010-02-23T20:37:00.000-05:00

Tuesdays are always full days for me. It's the day I volunteer all day at our county health department, then get home, have dinner & do the clean-up, etc. Then since Wednesday is recycle day, I finish bagging all the recyclables and load them into the car and take the dog for her last walk (at least I hope it's her last one ... if not, I'll be getting up at about 1:00 to take her out again) before getting ready for bed. Somewhere in there is reading and responding to my email, which usually takes me quite awhile. Anyhow, all of this is to excuse me from not adding to my Rafael drawing.

Instead, I'm posting the last 3 spreads in my round robin book. The first one is by Tanya Peacock, and it's full of wonderful textures which, sadly, don't show up in the scan. It even has a bit of braille on it - how cool is that? The second one is by Pam Hartman. What I love about this one is the fabric butterfly - it's very delicate, and the piece of lace. It has interesting text relating to sewing, pattern pieces, and of course, the adorable ATC sized card on the right side. And, last but certainly not least, is the spread by Candace Wareham. Each book she worked in had small, hand made little fabric quilt block, embellished with the most wonderful things. Mine has buttons, beads, charms, lace, beautiful fabrics and beautiful stitching. It's simply exquisite. What can I say? I feel very blessed to have this special book and am so appreciative of all the effort each participant put in.

Raphael WIP day 2

2010-02-22T15:23:00.001-05:00

Well, I got wonderful suggestions from you, and I tried them. I had already been doing the "upside down" method for the beginning, and I continued to use it as I went along. I also tried lightly penciling in his body, and that did help me some. It isn't shaping up to be a perfect copy (again), but then, I know none of these will be. The reason I'm doing them is to glean whatever I can from the process. The other reason I'm doing them is that it's fun .... oh, and one more .... I don't have to come up with an idea of what to draw for awhile, which for me, can be the hardest thing of all to do!

Raphael

2010-02-21T20:56:00.001-05:00

We had a bit of a birthday party here last nite for our son Andrew and Carrie, his wonderful wife. Their birthdays are just a day apart, so we celebrate them together. I've spent the last few days shopping, wrapping, cleaning, planning and cooking, so I haven't had the time (or energy) to spend making art. Also, since I'm not in the habit of staying up late, I must admit that today I was a tad slower than usual. Oh, and in a non-art aside, I got a treadmill delivered on Friday, and today was the first chance I've had to give it a go. I have to say, I do love having it here .... now all I have to do is develop the habit of using it! No easy feat for a person of my athletic persuasion ... that is to say, I really have a strong dislike for working out. Enough of that, tho.

I finally decided on my next attempt. Rafael wins the day! The name of it is "Study for a Soldier, His Leg Repeated", done in black chalk. I found the drawing in one of the books I recently bought, and it's filled with really complicated, difficult, sketches. Part of the challenge of this project for me is that each artist has his own style and "hand". Switching from one to another has been hard for me. This is the first one I've done that involves the whole body, and I'm finding the position of this body especially difficult. I don't know if I'm going to include the second sketch of the leg in my version of it, but I'm thinking probably not. As in my previous drawings, I'm using pencil. As you can see, I've only just started it, and even tho there's almost nothing to look at yet, I'm going to follow my practice of posting the day's outcome, no matter how small.

Watercolors and More RR Pages

2010-02-17T15:04:00.000-05:00

I've been pretty busy the last few days and haven't done much with art except look thru some of my new books to decide on a new "masters" project. I've narrowed it down, but no decision, yet. So, I thought I would share a couple of watercolors I did some time ago. I took reference photos in a local greenhouse, then painted them in the studio. They were hung in a solo exhibit I had a few years ago, and I sold both of them. I have a hard time letting go of my paintings sometimes, and yet, I also have a nice feeling knowing they are "living" someplace where they are appreciated. We are complicated little beings, aren't we?

Also, as promised, here are 2 more spreads from my RR book. The scans don't do these lovely pages justice, but then I guess they never do! The first one is done by Bonnie Linhart, and the second is done by Cheryl Wrede. Aren't they beautiful?

Rubens copy - version 3

2010-02-14T20:53:00.001-05:00

Well, I tweaked it a bit more today and while it still doesn't look like the reference photo, I think it's getting close to being all I can do to it to make it better. I think I still need to make the left cheek (as we look at it) rounder - the face still looks a bit flat. I can't tell all of you how much I appreciate your suggestions and comments. This has been a challenge - but the truth is, every master's drawing I've tried to copy has been really difficult for me. That said, I'm so enjoying doing them ... good thing since I bought all those books! So, here's my version of today, the reference photo, and then another page from my RR book.

This one was done by Anne Downen, a wonderful artist in Washington who is also a blender and seller of the best tea ever! She has a blog, which you will find in my blog list (Eccentric Pastiche) - just give it a click, and you'll be there!

Rubens copy - version 2

2010-02-13T06:45:00.000-05:00

Well, I've done some more on the drawing, and here is the next version. I decided that since the angle of the head is wrong that rather than start the whole thing over, I'd just make the best of it, forge ahead, and then sometime in the future, try this one again. I like the eyes better now. They are more nearly looking in the same direction, unlike version1. Oddly, I think this little person is beginning to look like a former neighbor of mine! lol As before, I'm going to include my reference photo with each posting so comparison is easier.

This is the next spread in my book and was done by Liisa Mannery. She wrote in her fine, delicate, hand, "Absolutely pure, pure white is just a dream of a dream ....

Rubens copy

2010-02-12T12:17:00.001-05:00

Recently I went nuts and bought a bunch of new books. True, most of them weren't expensive, but still, in the last week or so, I bought 9 new books, and they do add up. Anyhow, one of the new ones is called Rubens Drawings, published by Dover. It has 44 plates of drawings by Peter Paul Rubens. So, in my on going desire to improve my drawing (starting with the most important aspect of drawing which I think is Seeing), I've begun another copy of a master's drawing. This one is entitled "Portrait of a Child" done around 1619. The original was done with red, white and black chalk and pen and ink. I'm planning on doing the whole thing in pencil. I have charcoals and conte crayons, but for the sake of tidiness, I'm going to stick with pencil. So, here they are - my beginning and my reference photo. As you can see, I'm having great difficulty with the eyes. Also, the angle of the head is wrong. I'll post my progress as I go along.

This is a picture of the second spread in my RR book. This was done by my friend Teresa Stebbins, a wonderful artist and maker of books. The photo doesn't do it justice.