Faint Heart Art

Tennis Sketches and Swap Art

2012-01-27T08:22:00.000-05:00

I finally went to bed at a decent hour last evening, but I did stay up to watch the Federer/Nadal match even though Rhonda gave away the ending in her lovely comment yesterday. I tried to do some sketching of Nadal's serving and returning, but I found it hard to capture. I'm pretty sure if I hadn't labeled it, it wouldn't be recognized as a particular player, just someone playing tennis.

I also wanted to share with you the ATC I received yesterday from Cynthia of Artists of the Round Table (A.R.T). She sent it in a really cute card that she doodled. I really love getting art in the mail.

It's going to be another busy day today. I am going up to the Maple Street Mall to help the hubster move from one booth to another and then am hoping to find time to workout before Miss Z comes to spend the night. I'm not sure, but I may have Miss P overnight as well. I tried to get Miss K for the night, but she is at her Mom's this weekend.

I expect I will catch the women's final tennis match, but will surely have to watch with the sound off. I really like both Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka, but really hate the screeching. I wish it would be outlawed. They may not play until tomorrow. I don't think the men play until Sunday. I think the match between Djokovic and Murray will be a really good one. I really don't have a favorite, but think it would be nice for Murray to win a major.

I hope you are finding time for the Australian open (if you like to watch tennis) or for some other activity which you enjoy and that you are safe and warm.

xoxo

Tennis and Self Portrait

2012-01-26T09:20:00.000-05:00

I'm still staying up until the wee hours watching tennis. I found the Sharapova/Kvitova match a bit of a disappointment as both racked up countless unforced errors, but I stayed up until the bitter end. I'm glad for Sharapova (she is after all more American than Russian), but a bit sad for Kvitova. I couldn't stay up to see the Federer/Nadal match (It was scheduled for 3:30 am), but am sure to catch it some time today. While watching in the wee hours and working crosswords I did a bit of sketching. I don't think these are particularly good, but am pleased that I am at least trying.

Can you tell that the long, gangly sideways sketch is Djokovic?

I also decided to try a self portrait from the photo I took yesterday instead of sitting in front of the mirror. First I tried in ink (ugh!) and then used pencil. I like the pencil sketch, but am not sure I would recognize it as myself. I think the face shape in the ink attempt is truer to mine, but overall like the pencil sketch. I just wish I really looked like the pencil sketch.

I'm spending part of the day with a good friend I haven't seen in awhile. We will do a little bit of shopping and then have lunch out. I really must get on the treadmill afterwards as I didn't do it yesterday.

We had a lovely dinner late yesterday afternoon with the son and his family. I am surely going to miss them while we are on vacation. I have my lists all made and lots of planning going on in my head, but won't actually begin to pack until the weekend.

I subscribe to 217 blogs and must say that I really enjoy all the posts and art. I'm sorry I don't always take the time to comment and sometimes when I do try to comment, blogger won't cooperate. I do so appreciate all the fine bloggers out there - yes, you are one of them.

I hope you are having a fine day and that you will find time for creativity.

xoxo

Australian Open, A Sketch and More

2012-01-25T13:13:00.002-05:00

I stayed up until almost 2 again ~~last night~~ this morning working crossword puzzles and watching tennis. At one point there was an interview with Roger Federer and Rod Laver. Rod was sitting somewhat sideways and I couldn't help but notice what a great nose he had. So I did a quick sketch of him next to the one of Rafa Nadal I'd made earlier.

I just got home from the post office and a hair cut appointment. I heard from Tracey to claim her Andrea Joseph zine and she sent me her addy. She lives in a place I'd never heard of before, so I went to Google maps and tried to do a sketch of a house in her town.

I know that Photo Booth is not the best way to take a self portrait, but I wanted to show you my haircut and I thought that you maybe would like to put a face to this "voice" of mine. For what it is worth, here I am.

I don't own any make up, and wouldn't know how to apply it correctly anyway, so you get the real me.

I am hoping to watch more tennis this afternoon and then the hubster and I are meeting the son and his family for dinner. After that we are going to my daughter's to celebrate my birthday early. I will be the big "60" on Monday, but we are going on vacation so won't be around for it. The hubster's birthday is on Groundhog's Day, so we will be celebrating his tonight too.

I hope you are having a great day today. Tracey, I was told at the post office that it would take between 12 and 15 days for the zine to reach you. Please let me know when you receive it and how you like it.

xoxo

Birthday Girl, Her Art, & Today's Sketch

2012-01-24T13:23:00.000-05:00

My first born grandgirl just turned 9 last week. Just before her birthday she made her first trip to the orthodontist to begin her treatment. She has a palate expander and a Herbst appliance. It is causing her teeth to move apart so I had to take a picture so we can have a record to look back on and remember.

Here is my little beauty with her newly acquired "Lauren Hutton" gap.

And here is a bit of art she made for me using my Caran d' Ache Neocolor IIs and a bit of water on a brush.

I've done my 3 mile jog on the treadmill and decided to return to the scene of the activity and do a quick sketch of the view from there. I'm afraid the scale is not very good and the bridge looks a bit wonky, but here it is for what it is worth.

Maybe I should take some lessons from my girl tribe.

The Nadal/Berdytch match is on and I'm going to get a bottle of water and settle down in front of the TV and watch it a bit. Did you see the Clijsters/Wozniacki match last evening? Wow! I'm calling Kim for the champion when all is said and done.

Hope you are finding time to do some art and catch some of the Australian Open.

I am still waiting to hear from Tracey so I can send her the prize she won in yesterday's drawing. I am going to be going away for awhile at the end of the month and would like to get this prize in the mail before I go. If I don't hear from Tracey by Friday, I will choose another name from the comments.

xoxo

This and That and The Winner

2012-01-23T10:06:00.002-05:00

I think I am pretty seriously sleep deprived what with staying up until all hours watching tennis. I am using that as my excuse for not trying a Posemaniacs sketch this morning. But yesterday I did try a self portrait in pencil. It is not very good, but I chose not to fuss over it. Maybe I should try a self portrait each day until I get it right. Do you remember Myrna Wacknov's "Drawn to the Mirror" project, in which she did a self portrait every day for a year? I don't think I will do that much, but maybe once a week. Stay tuned.... Anyway, here is yesterday's attempt. I tried holding the pencil quite loosely and I didn't have my glasses on so couldn't quite see what I was rendering.

At this point, I think any others I try will be an improvement.

Yesterday I decided to concentrate on miles rather than time while on the treadmill. I jogged for 3 miles and then did some abs and upper weight training with Denise Austin. I have her ebook, "Denise's Daily Dozen" on my iPod.

I decided to take a couple of pictures of what it is that I am looking at while I am jogging and share it with you. I think what I need is a flat screen TV on the wall straight ahead with a path so I can do a virtual outside jog. As you will see, I have a pretty good view when I jog. The thing is I am usually far away in my head and sometimes don't pay attention to this view at all.

This is just left and ahead as you can tell from the angle. This is to the west.

This is right next to the treadmill to the right side. This is then north view.

Thank you for staying with me this far. I know you just came over to see who is the winner of the wonderful zine, "How to Draw a Loon" by Andrea Joseph. Drum roll, please....................

The winner is

Tracey Fletcher King

Can you tell that I went to her blog and copied her name from there. Isn't that a lovely font. Tracey, send me an email so I can put that lovely art treasure in the mail for you.

Thank you to all of you who took the time to enter and perhaps you'll have more luck on the next giveaway.

xoxo

Miss Z

2012-01-20T18:14:00.000-05:00

I stayed up until a bit after 2 am and haven't caught up yet. Miss Z spent the night last night and was here until about 4:30 this afternoon. She only took about 1/2 hour nap. Needless to say, I didn't do any art (or at least not the kind I usually do), but I did get some really nice pix of the little miss. I can't believe she will be a year old already at the end of February.

So my art for today is the art of photography. These are as shot, with just cropping and resizing in Photoshop before getting them ready for uploading.

This is my last post for this week, but don't forget I'll be drawing for the Andrea Joseph zine on Sunday night and announcing the winner on Monday. If you haven't put your name in the drawing yet, leave a comment on this past Monday's post. Good luck all!

xoxo

Winter Has Arrived

2012-01-19T09:08:00.002-05:00

It is cold and white out there this morning and the forecast is for a couple of inches today and a few more tomorrow. I am not a big fan of winter - mostly I don't like being cold and I hate driving on snowy roads. On the plus side, I like the slower pace of life in the winter. I read more in the winter months. It is beautiful to look out the window from a protected, warm home.

I have Miss Z coming late this afternoon to spend the night and much of tomorrow. I am so looking forward to it. She is such a lovely child and she is growing so fast. She will be a year old already at the end of February - what a fast year it's been. And she is into everything.

I did a warm up this morning with the Posemaniacs site. Some of these poses I am finding really difficult to do, but I will persevere because I really want to get better at it.

Don't forget to leave a comment here to have a chance at the latest Andrea Joseph zine. I will be drawing late Sunday night and will announce the winner on Monday. So far there are only 15 comments (actually there are 16, but I gave my friend, Nancy, one of my three copies as a gift so she will not be in the draw). Chances of winning are pretty good, unlike some of those that I've entered and I've been comment #2,564. C'mon, leave a comment - you know you want this.

Meanwhile, I hope you are safe and warm and can find some time for yourself and your creativity today.

xoxo

Poses, A Teaser, and In the Mail At Last

2012-01-18T09:53:00.001-05:00

I got up about an hour ago, but decided before I did anything else I had to get cards made and my two swaps in the mail. Mission accomplished! Unfortunately, as is usual with me, I am so anxious to get swaps in the mail I neglected to take pix. I wouldn't share them until they were received anyway, but nevertheless I like to have pictures of my "creations". This is what my card looks like:

You may remember this watercolor attempt from late last year.

I decided that this would be a pretty card and that it would be nice to get some use out of this painting of mine. I am quite happy with how the cards came out. I have a box of pre-scored card stock from Red River Paper and matching envelopes that I use each time I send a swap out. I just made a custom sized preset in my printer page setup menu and now any time I want to print to a card, I just select the 7 x 5 custom preselect and voila!

Once I'd gotten the two swaps in the mail, I opened my web browser and went to the Posemaniacs site to do my daily warm-up. As usual the "blind" contours are on the left and the "looking" sketches are on the right. I didn't notice until I was ready to take a picture to share that the poses were mirror images of each other. How quirky!!

I thought I would put a snap of another bit of the zine I am giving away as a teaser today.

This is a two page spread in the "How to Draw Like A Loon" zine.

REMINDER:

The drawing for Andrea Joseph's latest zine will take place on Sunday night and the winner will be announced on Monday, January 23.

You must leave your comment in the post from Monday, January 16. One comment per person, please!

I hope you find some time for yourself today to be creative in whatever way gives you pleasure.

xoxo

Today's Poses

2012-01-17T08:59:00.001-05:00

It rained in the night and is foggy and still raining. We are planning to take the loft bed the hubster built for Miss M to her house and get it set up. She is thrilled about it and is planning to help by handing us the tools to put it together.

I did spend the first bit of this morning trying out my warm ups with Posemaniacs. Some of the poses are so difficult, I've been tempted to skip them, but then I remind myself that this is an exercise in "seeing" and maybe the more unusual poses are actually better training. At any rate here are a couple of poses for today. I forgot to date the pages before I took the photo, but have now done so.

The blind contours on the left look a bit like a foot fight - Oh, well.

The girls did a lot of painting with my acrylic paints yesterday - even the neighbor girl got in on the art action, but they all took what they'd done home with them. Actually, Miss M and Miss P each made something to give to Nancy when we went to her house yesterday, but took the rest home before I had a chance to get pix.

We spent a little bit of time with Nancy and Abby before we headed out for lunch. I must say Abby was in heaven with two little girls giving her all that attention. Nancy loaned me some books to take on vacation with me later this month and had made some goodies called Bullseyes for the girls to take home with them. I didn't get a good look at them before I sent them home with my daughter, but it looked like a small pretzel with chocolate melted in a small mound and then with an M & M on top. The little girls said they were yummy.

The hubster just asked me when I would be ready to head out to put the bed together so I'd best wrap this up. I have my teacup for my Watercolour Pencil Buddies swap except to put the back with info on it and I have my Artists of the Round Table ATC ready to be put in an envelope, but they might not make it into the mail until tomorrow. It looks like the issue of months flying by is going to continue into 2012. I was hoping for a bit of a slow down.

GIVEAWAY REMINDER:

I know that blogger has been intermittently naughty for some of you who've tried to leave a comment on yesterday's post as required to get into the drawing for the lovely Andrea Joseph zine, but keep trying. It appears to be working a bit better now.

The drawing will take place late Sunday, January 22, so you have time to get in on this art goodness.

xoxo

Warm Ups and A Giveaway

2012-01-16T09:03:00.000-05:00

It's here! It's here! My copies of "How to Draw Like a Loon", Andrea Joseph's latest zine has arrived and it is all I hoped for and more. It consists of 22 pages, and has a Classified section in the back. I purchased a space there for my "Faint Heart Art" repurposed books. This is the lovely art piece that I am offering as a giveaway. Here is a copy of the Etsy picture:

THIS IS THE GIVEAWAY.

And here is a link to the listing and to her blog where you can more of this zine and more of her distinct drawing style. I've subscribed to her blog for a long while and bought a previous zine, "How to Draw Like A Nut". But I only bought one copy of that one, so it is not a part of the giveaway. I just thought you might like to get a look at its deliciousness.

This is NOT a part of the giveaway. I just wanted to share it with you.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

GIVEAWAY RULES:

In order to be in the drawing for a copy of the How To Draw Like A Loon zine you must leave a comment in this post.

Please only leave one comment so the odds of being chosen are the same for everyone.

I will choose one name on Sunday, January 22, around midnight, and will announce the winner on Monday, January 23, on this blog.

I am so excited about this giveaway. I've had a few of them in the past - mostly "how to" art books, but this is by far the loveliest giveaway I've had to date.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now on to the usual from my day - here is today's warm up Posemaniacs sketches. I actually used an app on my iPod touch to sketch these while waiting for Miss P and Miss M to arrive this morning.

They are here now and we have a fun day planned. Later this morning we are driving over to my friend Nancy's house where we will visit Abby and then go out to lunch.

As always I wish for you a wonderful day with some time for yourself and your artistic endeavors.

xoxo

Test

2012-01-16T08:10:00.001-05:00

I'm trying the Blogger app on my iPod touch to see if it works.

It does work. I am quite happy that it does, but I don't seem able to get to the bottom of the photo to add text.

But I think I can live with that. Actually I just moved it, and it works just fine.

xoxo

Daily Sketches

2012-01-13T10:23:00.000-05:00

I hate to admit it, but I haven't been on the treadmill since the day I upped the jogging speed to 3.5 mph from the very comfortable 2.5 mph. The fact is my right ankle has been a bit wonky ever since and I am limping just a bit. My problem is that I tend to be overzealous - I think if 2.5 mph is good, just think how wonderful 5 mph would be. Before I settled on 3.5, I actually tried both 5 mph and 4 mph. Every time I do something like this, I think to myself, "Lesson learned." Well, I guess I am a slow learner. I will continue to listen to this ankle until it appears ready for more and then I will jog at 2.5 and enjoy that again.

This evening I have Miss K and her little sister, Miss Z and I am quite looking forward to it. My first born grandgirl, Miss P, turns 9 tomorrow and I am left wondering where all that time has gone.

I got up a bit late this morning to a blustery, snowy world. I have to admit it is awfully pretty, but I am glad to be inside with no need to venture out. I've done my two Posemaniacs sketches, one as a pretty much blind contour and one "sighted".

And then did a quick sketch of an abandoned Texaco station. I used this as a warm-up exercise just to get the juices flowing. I should have taken my time and produced something better, but sometimes just a quick exercise is what I feel I need.

The latest report on my sister is that she will be sent home today with some kind of vest that inflates and deflates to mimic deep breathing (something she is unable to do) and I think it shakes your chest to dislodge mucus and the hospital staff is teaching her husband how to use a nebulizer. I'll wait until they've had a chance to get settled at home and then will call to check on her. Thank you for your prayers and good wishes.

I have had my two mugs of morning coffee and am about to head to the kitchen for my cereal with blueberries, strawberries, kiwi and banana. I am unable to decide whether to call it cereal with fruit of fruit with cereal.

I hope you are having a warm, healthy day and that you are making time for yourself.

xoxo

Posemaniacs and a Retry of the Street Scene

2012-01-12T09:41:00.000-05:00

This morning I decided to do a blind contour of the 60-second sketch and then a back and forth with the eyes drawing (I don't know what you call a drawing that is a contour, but not blind). It is interesting to me that for the most part my blind contours turn out much too wide and my others turn a bit too thin.

These two sketches are both of the same pose.

Then, thanks to my friend, Phil Davis, I decided to retry the street scene from yesterday by going more slowly and finding the vanishing point for each bank of buildings and trying to get my perspective better. I think I've achieved a much more pleasing sketch (as you can see it is not quite finished) and I feel quite good about it.

I'm going to have to try more of these to get the process to feel comfortable, but for now I see a huge improvement over yesterday's attempt.

I need to stay busy today so I don't worry myself into a tizzy. My sister, Margaret (Mags) is in the hospital with pneumonia and a partially collapsed lung. She was diagnosed with MS when she was 32 and by the time she was in her 40s, she was unable to get herself out of her chair and into her wheelchair. She turned 51 yesterday (how awful to spend your birthday in hospital) and she is unable to move herself much at all. I'm guessing she weighs about 90 pounds and it saddens me to so to remember that she was my pleasingly curvaceously plump sister before she was ravaged by this disease. I'm hoping to get better news today when Mom calls me with an update. I called the hospital to talk to her and her husband to find that she weighs 67 pounds and they are going to look at her lungs to see if the aspiration they did the night before is enough or if they will aspirate again today.

I hope you are well and that you are finding time for creative endeavors today.

xoxo

Housework as Workout and A Sketch

2012-01-11T12:13:00.000-05:00

In lieu of the treadmill this morning, I spent about 90 minutes scouring, sweeping, mopping and doing laundry. I may do the treadmill later anyway just because I can, but if I don't get to it I can live with that. According to a source online, doing the kind of housework I did this morning uses about 365 calories in 90 minutes. What they don't mention is the satisfaction when it is done. I still have the vacuuming, dusting, and finishing the laundry, but I am waiting until the kitchen and entrance floors are dry.

I decided to take advantage of this lull by trying a sketch from Posemaniacs. I used pen this time and I think I will continue to do so. It is not great, but I still feel that this kind of almost blind contour is somehow beneficial to me.

I also tried another street scene. Boy, do I ever have to work on perspective. I am awaiting the day (probably 1,000 tries from now) when I am able to do a good job of these. I don't know why when they are so difficult for me and mostly I want to slap myself when I get done with them, but I really like drawing them and am sure that with time I will improve. Just a second - I had to knock down my inner critic. Sometimes she is so overpowering, whew!

Miss P is getting her braces today and I am hoping to see her afterwards. I hope it isn't too difficult or painful for her. According to her and her Mom, the orthodontist they've chosen is really great and the office is quite kid centered.

Well, I suppose I can't sit here forever. I have a load of towels in the dryer and need to put the area rugs in the wash next. Then I can move the furniture back into the kitchen and eating area so I can vacuum and dust. Don't you just love the smell of Pine-Sol. I really liked it much better when I just smelled it as I came in the house and someone else had done all the work.

Still sitting at the mail box and I've decided if my treasure doesn't come today, I am going to contact Andrea and see what she can tell me about its expected delivery.

I hope you have made some time for yourself today and that your creative muse is hovering.

xoxo

This and That

2012-01-10T09:39:00.001-05:00

I've changed up my treadmill routine to try to challenge myself more, so yesterday instead of an hour of slow jogging (2.5 mph), I did a 3.5 mph jog for 30 minutes and then 2.5 mph for the last 30 minutes. Great workout! I think I'll try that again today.

I got up this morning and visited the Posemaniacs site as I am wont to do, but I've decided to go to the 60-second sketch instead of the 30-second - what a difference, it felt much longer than 1 minute. For today, the pose was like looking down on someone from a tree - maybe a bird's eye view. Here is what I was able to capture in the minute.

When I was done at the Posemaniacs site, I was thinking about Google maps and I remembered that there was a site that would bring up a random site and I ~~wasted~~ spent about 45 minutes exploring that. It is called MapCrunch. One of the sites it pulled up for me was a cute little cafe in Denmark. I've tried to capture it here.

Then when I checked my email, I had a very nice comment which I followed to the commenter's blog and found out about the Strathmore Online Workshops (thanks again, Cat) and I signed up for a watercolor sketch course with Cathy Johnson that begins on March 1.

I am reminding myself that I should be sketching in pen so I am not slowed down by tentative marks and erasures. Let's see how long I can stick with that.

I am not sure what is on the agenda for today. My daughter may be coming out this afternoon to use the treadmill - my enthusiasm and results are catching, it would seem. I've been thinking about Taco Tuesday at The Bone Island Grille and I think I have the hubster talked into it, but we would go in mid-afternoon. The evening we met a group there to celebrate my baby's 30th birthday, it was too crazy and parking was impossible. I'm not sure how I am going to calculate my calorie intake if we go, but I will do my best.

I also have to revisit The Virtual Paintout site that Lorna reminded me about. I've been there before, but it has been a long time. I should really try again and just sketch the first place I land when using Google maps. I find I look for the "perfect" setting for so long that I lose interest.

I am also working on a tea cup swap with the Watercolour Pencil Buddies Yahoo group and am ready to mail the ATC swap that I am participating in with the Artists of the Round Table Yahoo group, and am still anxiously waiting beside the mail box for my fantabulous delivery, but so far to no avail.

In rereading this post, I think I am getting overwhelmed with all the wonderful choices of things to do and participate in. Is there any way to get a few more hours in each day???

I hope you are finding lots of opportunity to play in your creative space today.

xoxo

Posemaniacs and Street Scenes

2012-01-09T08:26:00.001-05:00

While reading blogs over the weekend, I was keeping up with Nina who is currently in Spain. She was in the town of Rondo in Andalusia and had some fantastic photos of the town built on the edge of a gorge. I've been itching to sketch buildings and landscapes, so went to Google maps and set my little yellow guy down until I found an interesting spot to sketch. Google maps is a bit limited and I wasn't able to get anything as nice as the photos on The Other Side of the Ocean blog, but.....

Then one thing led to another and pretty soon I was in the small town of Ribiu, Romania and found a cute, curvy street and what was I to do?

I'm really liking this 9 x 12 sketchbook.

I again began this day with a visit to the Posemaniacs site. I am getting a bit frustrated with this. Perhaps it is the size of the journal I am working in. It is just 4 1/2 by 5 1/2. It is difficult to do really loose sketches holding the pencil loosely. Revelle suggested vine charcoal and larger movement and that sounds like a plan. First I have to find some vine charcoal and then I think I need a larger work surface. I am not giving up on this journal. I love it, but I think I may change it up to 60 or 90 minute sketches and see how that goes. At any rate, here is today's offering.

Despite all my wishing and hoping and hanging around the mail box, my treasures have not arrived yet. I am gnashing my teeth in anticipation and will share as soon as they arrive.

I did receive one lovely surprise last evening when I was sent this photo of the lovely Miss Z.

Meanwhile, do make time for some art and enjoy this early 2012 because you know how quickly these years are passing.

xoxo

Friday's Sketches

2012-01-06T09:55:00.000-05:00

This morning I tried two 30-second poses, one after the other. For the first one, I tried to put in shoulder, hip, and arm and leg lines and then go flesh them out. This did not feel natural and didn't turn out very well. On the second one I tried to just do a blind contour more or less. That feels much more like sketching what I see like Melliott said in yesterday's comment. I am going to have to commit to making these sketches blind contours and see if that doesn't improve things.

My first priority for today is to clean up my art room. I am blaming my lack of new projects on the complete disarray in here. Who knows maybe when I get it picked up and swept, maybe my Muse will return and get me started on a new piece of art.

I also have to get on the treadmill and do my one hour jog. This is my second week of 6 days a week. I am just taking Sundays off. There are lots of other things that need attending to, but if I can get my art room cleaned and do my treadmill routine, I will be happy. Anything else that gets done will be icing on the cake.

What about you? Do you have mundane tasks to do today? Or are you free to pursue creative endeavors? I hope you can find time for yourself and your art at some point in the day and throughout the weekend.

xoxo

More Sketches

2012-01-05T12:45:00.000-05:00

So first I tried another 30-second pose. This was a man from the back. The time went by so fast, it seemed more like 15 seconds than 30, then I spent 90 seconds on the pose that I tried for 30 seconds yesterday and I like her a lot better, but I ran out of time. Of course, if I would quit erasing, I'd probably get more done.

I just put Miss Z down for a nap and need to get things picked up a bit. I am making a ground lamb recipe that I got from my friend, Nancy, but instead of pita, I am using multi-grain tortillas. The hubster may choose some other kind of bread as he tried one of the tortillas last evening and declared them to be awful.

I am severely lactose intolerant, so I skip the cucumber yogurt sauce, but I find just the lamb mixture wrapped in a tortilla or stuffed in a pita to be delicious just the same.

What are you planning for dinner? Have you made time for your art today?

I just ran out to check the mail. I got some art sale catalogs, but still no art from overseas. I am so anxious to show it to you and get this giveaway underway.

xoxo

Today's Sketches

2012-01-04T09:24:00.000-05:00

I began the day with a 30-second sketch that was such a difficult pose I was pretty sure that when I shared it, you would have a very difficult time trying to figure out exactly what it was I was trying to portray. To help you with that I put a copy of the Posemaniacs pose next to my sketch. I just realized that for the most part these 30-second sketches are actually blind contours. I don't have much time to look at what I am producing. At any rate, for what it is worth, here is today's:

Some of the poses are from such a very different perspective that it is more of a challenge than usual.

Nancy commented yesterday that she would have to go to Posemaniacs and try a 90 second pose and I responded that you could only do a 30 second pose there and that I was using a timer to do my longer poses. When you click on the 30 second choice in the right hand column, it brings up a window with 10 seconds, 15 seconds, 30 seconds, 45 seconds, 60 seconds and 90 seconds, but all but the 30 second choice is grayed out. Imagine my surprise when I tried clicking on one of the other choices to see that I didn't need to time myself after all. Each of the choices are clickable. What fun - I am going to have to try some of the other choices.

Here is my 90 second attempt:

While it is not very good - way too skinny, I am pretty sure you are able to visualize the original pose from which this is sketched.

It is very cold here today, but I need to get out a bit today. I still haven't driven to the grocery store to pick up the essentials that are being depleted or are totally gone - milk, lettuces, apples, nuts, snack bars......

Miss Z is coming to spend the night again today. She is becoming a lot more challenging as she is getting into more and more things that I don't want her into, but what a fun child. I am going to get errands done today and do the treadmill before she gets here and still hope to find some time to get more art done today. I think I may try to sketch that pose I tried for the 30 second challenge today, but without a time limit to see what I can do.

Meanwhile, I am waiting patiently for the mail today and hoping that my surprise is in it so I can formally announce the giveaway. I'm beginning to feel as though I am teasing you by mentioning it and then not coming up with the goods, but trust me it will definitely be worth the anticipation.

I hope you find time today to stay warm and get to spend some creative time for yourself.

xoxo

30-second sketch, 90-second sketch and girl tribe art

2012-01-03T14:22:00.000-05:00

I have Miss Z and Miss K here. They came around dinner time last evening and spent the night. Busy, but fun.

I got up before they did and tried a quick 30-second sketch and then a 90-minute one.

This was a massive specimen with an abundance of muscle mass.

While she was here, Miss K painted me a picture of a bird in a tree.

My treasure for the giveaway still hasn't come and I am getting impatient to have it in hand. As soon as it arrives, I will show it to you and tell you what to do if you want a chance to win it.

When the girls go home, I need to get on the treadmill and work a bit; and I really should make a run to the grocery for some basics.

I hope to see you tomorrow.....

xoxo

First Sketches of the New Year

2012-01-02T08:01:00.000-05:00

I'm up early and ready for the day this morning. It is very cold and the roads are snow covered so I am happy to stay indoors and ~~work~~ play a bit. The first thing I did this morning was to try the 30-second option at Posemaniacs. Too little time and this poor woman looks a bit bumpy and quite large in the bottom, but it did help to loosen me up for the face I found on Google Images.

I took a day off from the treadmill yesterday and am anxious to get on it today. I am hoping to jog for 45 minutes to an hour.

I had Miss Z overnight on New Year's Eve and managed to get a few pix to share. She is changing so rapidly and is starting to make recognizable sounds. I am convinced she says "thank you" when you give her something, and she said "Nana" a couple of times. I'm not sure that is what she was trying to say, but I loved it anyway.

She is "hugging" the baby in the book and making the appropriate "awww" sound.

She has a big personality.

She is growing up way too fast.

I still haven't received the wonderful art that I am planning to have a drawing for, but this time of year the post is slow and especially when it is coming from overseas. I will give a hint - think Andrea Joseph!! I'm getting anxious to see this treasure in person and will post a picture and announce the giveaway rules as soon as I receive it.

I'm just on my first mug of coffee and need to get this day started. I am hoping to spend a bit of time each day doing some kind of art this year and hope you are finding time also.

Happy New Year!!

xoxo

Today's Figure Sketch

2011-12-30T10:12:00.000-05:00

Today's 90-second sketch is a great disappointment to me, but if I am to be honest and keep track of each day's practice, then I will share it anyway.

As you can see, I spent way too much of my time erasing. Her head is way too small, her left shoulder is wonky, her left leg has no shape and I was working on fixing the lower part of her right leg when time ran out. Ugh!!

I have to remember the positives - her torso isn't too bad and her right thigh isn't too bad either, also her right arm was coming along pretty well.

I am hoping to get time to work on more art - I should work on the barn watercolor I have put aside for weeks now. I could probably finish it up today. I also want to try to make a couple more books today. I have been planning books in my head, but haven't made them a reality yet.

I will do the treadmill later and need to do a bit of dusting and sweeping. But as they say, "the best laid plans". Who knows how this day will unfold......

As for you, I hope you are not as wishywashy as I appear to be and that you are making time for yourself and your art.

xoxo

Today's Sketch and Girl Tribe Art

2011-12-29T08:36:00.000-05:00

Yesterday morning before their Mom came to take the girls home, they were very busy in the "little girls' room" while I was reading the blogs to which I subscribe. All they asked for was paper plates. There is plenty of paper and drawing supplies in the room. When they were finished they came in to share their art with me.

You gotta love paper plate mermaids!!

When I got up this morning I decided to try a 30-second pose thinking that maybe I could do that and not be tempted to erase as I have been with the 90-second poses. Ninety seconds seems like a long time, but the 30 seconds passed much too quickly. All I got done was the left side. So I went to the log of that pose and took another minute to turn it into a 90 second sketch instead. I found this pose to be much harder than the others.

I have to run into town this morning to do a bit of grocery shopping and then when I get back I will do my hour on the treadmill. While I didn't find time to jog when the furnace installers were here all day on Tuesday, I did get on the treadmill and did my hour yesterday after the girls went home. I do have a bit of house cleaning to do also. I'm pretty sure Miss K and Miss Z are spending the night with us on Saturday. I wonder if Miss K can stay awake to welcome in the new year.

I hope you are well and warm and that you will continue to share your art with me. I love looking at your blogs and seeing what you are up to.

xoxo

Today's Sketch and Giveaway Plans

2011-12-28T09:45:00.001-05:00

According to Site Meter, I've passed the 75,000 visitor mark and that is the point at which I was planning to have a giveaway. I am waiting to receive a really wonderful order in the mail at which time I will show the giveaway and set up the rules for being eligible for it. I am really geeked and can't wait to show you what the giveaway is, but for now I am watching the mail daily and will show it to you as soon as I get it.

Meanwhile, I am still keeping to my schedule of one Posemaniacs sketch per day and have a new one to show you.

And here is my little sweetie who spent the night with me last night. She watched me do the sketch giving her wonderful encouragement all the time.

I think she is my greatest fan. She always tells me that I am doing a good job and when I make mistakes or make a negative comment about what I am drawing, she is quick to tell me that I am doing a "good job".

I can't believe this year is coming to an end already, but am so looking forward to making next year even better than the last - at least as far as good health and daily art are concerned.

I hope you are doing well and that you are finding time for yourself and those you love. Do try to make time to do something creative today and do share it with us.

xoxo

More Posemaniacs Practice and A Wren

2011-12-27T08:26:00.000-05:00

I just realized as I was getting ready for today's 90-second sketch that yesterday's journal entry was incorrectly labeled 90-minute sketch. Surely in 90 minutes, I could have given that poor girl some realistic features and some hair!!

Here is today's attempt. I probably shouldn't tell you that this is supposed to be a female dancer. I think I've made her a bit manly. Of course, the fact that she has no hair adds to that look. I need to get more flow in my sketching to elongate her figure. Perhaps tomorrow I will do a better job.

And yesterday afternoon I was thinking about the absence of sound at this time of year with the house all closed up and I missed the song of the wren. Here is a quick sketch of a wren.

And now, today's drama (actually it was yesterday's). We called a serviceman for our oil furnace that has been acting up lately. When he arrived he informed us that there was a serious crack and that he was required by law to condemn the furnace and shut it off. I was supposed to have Zoë last evening, so I went to her instead of having her delivered to me. While I was gone, the hubster sat down with a salesman and today we will have a gas furnace installed. This requires getting rid of the fuel oil in the tank so the installers will remove it when empty. This also means getting a propane tank and a delivery of propane so the furnace can be installed and working by the end of the day. This also means an outlay of several thousand dollars that I fully intended to stay in our "emergency" savings fund. I do suppose this is just such an emergency.

Here's hoping all will go smoothly today and we will be warmly ensconced in our living space by the end of the day. Meanwhile I have to go to the post office and the grocery store this morning, so the hubster has moved my car so I will not be parked in when the installers arrive. I do intend to get in my hour on the treadmill at some point today, but will have to wait and see how the day unfolds.

Here's hoping life is being gentle with you today and that you are able to find time for yourself and your art.

xoxo

A New Journal with a Theme

2011-12-26T12:38:00.000-05:00

For a long time I've wished I would keep journals by theme instead of so randomly and I've decided to keep a journal of "life" sketches. If you remember (or not) I won a lovely small leather hand-bound journal from Ricë at Voodoo Cafe in April of 2009. I've decided I can finally commit to write in it. Here is the photo of the journal that was taken back when I first received it.

I have been afraid to write in it because it is so special, but I've finally taken the plunge. This is my first entry - a 90-minute pose from the Posemaniacs site.

I am hoping to see progress as I work my way through the journal. The really nice thing about the Posemaniacs site is that I can access it from both my computer and my iPod touch. There should be no excuse for not practicing regularly.

Meanwhile, I've finally committed to 5 days/week jogging on the treadmill for an hour and a log of all the calories that make their way into this body. I found a really nice app called MyFitnessPal that keeps track of meals (with a large database of foods), calories, carbs, sugars, vitamins, fiber, etc. It also lets me track my workouts including calorie burn. For today I've completed 5 miles on the treadmill and have had a nutritious breakfast.

Miss Z is coming over later to spend the evening or overnight (I don't know for sure which) with me, so I'd best get the carpets vacuumed. She focuses in on any little speck and goes for it. And of course anything that makes its way into her hand goes immediately into her mouth.

It is 41º and sunny and the hubster is out taking the Christmas lights down.

Hope all is well wherever you are and that you are making time for yourself and/or your art.

xoxo

Merry Christmas - Happy Holidays

2011-12-23T08:29:00.003-05:00

We celebrated our family Christmas on my son's 30th birthday, December 21, because both of my children had the day off. We had a lovely time with lots of food and good cheer. Everyone was quite happy with their gifts. I think this may have been one of our best, least stressful ever.

Yesterday we traveled to the hubster's sister's house for the annual Holdwick Childrens' Christmas party. I finally got to meet the newest member of the family, Sylvia. She is a beautiful, happy baby who is 10 weeks old. This, too, was a fun gathering with lots of relatives and food and the much anticipated white elephant gift exchange. Miss P and Miss M rode with us (their mother had to work) and my son drove over with Miss K and Miss Z.

I finally began my redo of the Polish woman and jumped right into it with a 2B, 4B, and 6B pencil. I used the smoother side of 140# cold press watercolor paper. Here is what I have so far:

Here is a link to the original photo.

I think the darks need to be darker, but it is so scary to really put a dark (besides the charcoal in her mouth and the pupils of her eyes) value on a face. I do think I need to darken the area under her ear and to the side of the eye on the left (her right eye). The nose needs more shading as well (not darks especially (except the nostril), but some difference in tonal value. I think this one is better than the first attempt - at least so far. It still needs work and I will tackle it again when I build my courage up.

Meanwhile, I am hoping you are having a lovely holiday season with your loved ones and that you get just what you want.

Wishing you a festive Christmas, Hanukkah, Rohatsu, Ramadan, Kwanzaa, and Yule. I hope I didn't miss anyone.

xoxo

Last Try for the Polish Woman

2011-12-19T08:34:00.000-05:00

I really wanted to add some values to the sketch of the Polish woman and was reminded by my dear friend, Nancy, about squinting to see where the values change. I couldn't wait to do the next layer. However, I think either the paper is didn't handle my layers very well or the paper I had under my hand moved too much and made the shading smeary, or I don't know exactly what went wrong, but instead of another layer of shading, I think she just looks messy.

I am so sad. I was beginning to really love her. Does anyone have any ideas for me? I'd love to make another attempt, but need to decide what to do differently. I am thinking I may try it on a better paper and try to handle it less. I am not at all happy with the lines emanating from her upper lip. They are much too pronounced.

I just returned from my daughter's house where I picked up Miss M and Miss P. We have a busy day planned. Miss M and Papa are going north to visit the Maple Street Mall and do a bit of last minute Christmas shopping and Miss P and I are heading south to do some Christmas shopping and shop for Christmas dinner.

I don't know if I will have time to start a new sketch today or not, but I am almost sure to do some kind of art with my girl tribe and I will share whatever I do with you tomorrow.

I hope you are having a wonderful holiday season and that you are finding time for yourself.

xoxo

Polish Woman Layer 3

2011-12-16T13:36:00.000-05:00

First of all I want to thank those of you who have so kindly given me suggestions for this current sketch in progress. I must say this is the most time I've ever spent on one sketch and I thank you for encouraging me to keep going. My original contour sketch looks so much less satisfying compared to the added layers. Here she is today:

I also have a couple of photographs that I took at Miss K's Christmas musical program last evening. She looks very angelic in these, but there is a little imp hiding inside (A very cute, playful one).

I used the liquify tool in Photoshop to disguise the out of focus kids in the background.

And here is her little sister, Miss Z, thoroughly enjoying the show:

Miss Z is coming to spend the night this evening. I am really looking forward to it.

I've already done an hour on the treadmill, cleaned the bathroom and cleaned the kitchen, and I have some salmon fillets thawing for dinner. Now I just have to vacuum before this little one gets here.

I hope you are warm and dry and that you are finding time for yourself. Remember to take care of yourself during these stressful holiday times. Happy Holidays!!

xoxo

Polish Woman Update and A Lovely Christmas Card

2011-12-15T13:01:00.000-05:00

I decided to act on the advice given yesterday about adding a bit of shading to the sketch of the Polish woman and I knew exactly what I wanted it to look like (think JD Hillberry). Well the mental image and the actual sketch have a huge gap between them and unfortunately when you use charcoal for the darkest darks (pupils, inside of mouth and nostril) you can't erase it and you'd better not accidentally touch it when you are wiping the regular pencil parts - it smears terribly.

So here she is today. Is she better in any way? Or have a ruined her completely?

I finally finished the December swap item I was working on for the Watercolour Pencil Buddies group and will put it in tomorrow's post. And speaking of post, I was thrilled to receive this year's card from Vivian Swift. It's really cute.

Since today was the first time this week I had to chance to get on the treadmill, I stayed on for an hour and jogged for 1.5 miles and then walked uphill for the remaining 1.5 miles. It was a really good workout. I am still sitting here in short shorts and a t-shirt and am beginning to chill off. I think I'd best get in the shower and put on some warmer clothes.

We've decided that we are celebrating Christmas with our immediate family on my baby's birthday (I can't believe he will be 30 on the 21st). Both my kids have that day off. I am planning shaved ham, iced shrimp, cheesy potatoes and a big salad. I think my daughter is bringing a green bean casserole. I think I can have all my ducks in a row by then.

I hope your preparations for the holidays are going smoothly and that you are remembering to make some time for yourself.

xoxo

Polish Woman Sketch and Miss M's Art

2011-12-14T07:50:00.000-05:00

I've attempted a sketch of the Polish woman that Nina Camic so graciously gave me permission to use and overall I am pleased with it. I think there is that "magic" something missing that would bring her to life, but I can't for the life of me figure out what it is. Can you help? You can see the original photo here.

Miss M at first thought the woman in the photo was a little angry, but then when I told her that this woman was beautiful and was smiling in greeting, she agreed that she was beautiful. She then said, "Her hair is beautiful, Nana. It's gray, but beautiful!" I had to agree with her. This is a face full of character and a certain charm. I'm not sure I captured that, but if you go to the original photo using the link above, I think you will be charmed as well.

Meanwhile, Miss M sat next to my computer sketching in her journal and made a self portrait while I was working. Here she is at work:

And here is her self portrait. Notice the ponytail off to the side. That is how I did her hair that morning.

Well, I am expecting Miss M again this morning. In fact, she will be here some time in the next half hour. I'm on my first mug of coffee and she and I will undoubtedly do some art, work some puzzles, and maybe snuggle together and watch a movie. I will take her to school around noon.

I hope to get a bit of time to do some art today and am hoping the same for you.

xoxo

More Sketches

2011-12-13T11:17:00.000-05:00

I have a couple more sketches from the weekend. I didn't get any art done yesterday as I spent most of the day grocery shopping and entertaining Miss P after school, including dinner at Red Lobster.

The first one is of the corner church that I pass every time I go the back way into Jackson. It is on the corner of Cooper and Zion.

The perspective to the right is not quite right, but other than that I like it.

The other sketch is from an old jewelry ad with a very young Liz Taylor as the model. She is wearing one of her pieces that is now on exhibit.

Today I am working on a sketch of a Polish woman from a remote village that Nina Camic posted on her blog. If you don't know Nina you should definitely check out her blog. She lives in Madison, WI, and is a law professor. She does a fair bit of traveling - to Asia, northern France, Spain, to do a short teaching stint to an African village, and to Poland, her homeland. Her blog is called "The Other Side of the Ocean". Most of the blogs to which I subscribe belong to artists, and Nina is an artist of sorts. She is very good at the art of narration. She tells a captive story and accompanies each one with really nice photographs. You really should go check out her blog.

I will share the sketch with you tomorrow. For now I have to get in the shower as Miss M was delivered about an hour ago and I have to take her to preschool in about 45 minutes.

I'm getting very close to 75,000 visitors and when I get there I am planning to have some kind of giveaway - I don't know what it will be yet, but I am thinking about it. Stay tuned for more information.

I also hope to finish up the Adirondack chairs background and get it framed for hanging. I will share that stage with you when I get there.

I hope you are making time for yourself today and that you enjoy my humble attempts at sketching.

xoxo

Girls, girls, girls

2011-12-12T09:45:00.001-05:00

We've had a busy couple of days. We had Miss P and Miss M overnight on Friday and Miss Z and Miss K overnight on Saturday. Loads of fun, but I have a bit of a sore back today and I slept more hours than usual last night.

On Friday, I got Miss M around noon and then picked up Miss P from school at 3:30. I took the girls to the Henrietta Branch of the Jackson District Library for a Christmas party at 5. It was also the end of the silent auction and I was able to score a hand knitted neckpiece and 3 hand knitted children's hats. The girls each made two different crafts and Santa paid a visit. We had a great time.

Here they are enjoying the back yard.

On Saturday, Miss Z and Miss K arrived around 5 pm and after dinner of rice and chicken in gravy (provided by the live in epicure, Papa), we got Miss Z to bed and watched Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer with Katie. Papa provided popcorn for the event. Here is my attempt at a sketch of Katie on the couch watching the movie.

I was following Dan Kent's advice about drawing people from the side instead of head on.

As seems to be true of all siblings, the little ones always want to be in on what the older ones are doing, especially if that includes electronics and the younger one is still a baby.

Miss K is trying to ignore Miss Z and Miss Z is hamming it up for the camera, as usual.

And finally, I have for you the best of the sketches that were produced this weekend. This is Miss K's rendition of Tigger in several positions. She got the idea from the book Drawn to Life by Walt Stanchfield.

I must say, I should take advantage of my relationship to Miss K and get her to teach me some of her insights for sketching realistically.

As for today, I am not going to have time for the treadmill, but will be doing plenty of running anyway. As soon as I get cleaned up I am headed for Sam's for salmon, chicken, cereal, baby food, tissues, nuts, dried cherries, wine, and water. After that I have to stop at Meijer's for the rest of the groceries. I will come home and get things put away and then am picking up Miss P after school at 3:30. She and I are going to make the rounds of the second hand stores looking for snowpants, mittens and the like for when the girls are here and want to play outdoors.

I'd better get this body moving.

I hope you are not too busy today and that you can make time for yourself.

xoxo

Girls, girls, girls

2011-12-09T10:05:00.001-05:00

I decided I had to try to sketch Miss Z today and here is what I've come up with:

I liked it better before I started fussing with the near eye. I really need to do more faces, especially young ones. I'd forgotten how difficult babies are to capture.

I am expecting more artists/models later today. Miss M is being dropped off around 1 and then I am picking up Miss P from school at 3:30. We'll come back here for a bit and then go to the local library branch for their children's Christmas party. They are going to be doing crafts, wrapping up the silent auction and I understand Santa will be there. Should be big fun. The girls are staying the night with us. And then tomorrow evening I get my other two girls, Miss K and Miss Z. They will be spending the night then.

Busy, busy times, but full of fun and hugs and kisses.

I had difficulty going to bed last night and by the time I'd finished up in my workroom and finished the book I was reading, it was 4:20 am. I think I will be ready to go to bed this evening about 9 and hope I have a warm little one to snuggle with then.

If you don't know JD Hillberry, and you are trying to improve on sketching realistically, you might want to watch this video on YouTube. I tried to embed the video, but blogger isn't being cooperative this morning.

Thanks, Pooja, for the link to this one. I can't wait to see his next one.

I am seriously in need of another mug of coffee and then I want to pick up in here a bit in preparation for little girls to have some space in which to create.

I sure hope you are finding time to be creative today.

xoxo

Quick Sketch and Miss Z

2011-12-08T10:35:00.001-05:00

We had a lovely lunch yesterday at Olde Peninsula in Kalamazoo. We met my sister and her husband to say goodbye and wish them a safe move. I will see them again in the Spring when I make the long trek to the far north where they are moving. It was a bittersweet meeting and went by much too fast. On the way out of town I spied a really cute yellow house that appeared to be small, but had three stories. I tried to keep it in my mind's eye all the way home, but had lost some of the detail by then so I got on Google map to try to find it. I was successful finding it, but it definitely lacked the lovely color and detail that it had in person. Nevertheless, I tried to do a quick sketch. I am not all that pleased with it, but am glad that I managed to put pen to paper.

We arrived home about an hour before Miss Z was delivered to spend the evening and overnight with us. She got up this morning around 8:30, got stripped out of a very weighty wet diaper and into a nice warm bath in the kitchen sink. Then it was clean warm clothes and breakfast of cereal and a mixture of pears and blueberries. Then we played for a couple of hours and then it was time for the mid-morning bottle followed fairly quickly by a stinky diaper change and then a bit of a rock in the glider with Nana. She is now taking her morning nap. Here she is just before nap time.

I'm not absolutely if this is "angelic" or "impish". She sure is a fun baby and is standing at every opportunity. She pulls herself up to anything she can get a hold on. It won't be long before she is able to get into all the things she shouldn't. She will be here until mid afternoon when her Mom gets off work.

The hubster is at physical therapy and is taking his truck in to have the brakes looked at. They have been noisy and uncooperative the past few days and I think it is time to have someone look at them. I hear him coming home right now.

I think I am making sausage and eggs or pancakes for breakfast this morning and suppose I should get that started as it is almost 11:00.

I hope you are having a warm and creative day.

xoxo

Preparing for the Holidays

2011-12-07T09:12:00.001-05:00

We had a busy, noisy household last evening and the house is now decorated. The pictures I took didn't turn out - it seems like either the subjects were moving or could it be that the photographer wasn't absolutely still. I will take pictures of the finished decorations soon and share them. I intended to get pictures of the decorated cookies, but they are no longer available. We sent some home with each of the kids and then the hubster polished off the few that were left here.

I do have a lovely drawing to share that was produced by Miss K and left here for Nana and Papa. I am amazed by her talent and creativity.

I've begun my holiday swap for the Watercolour Pencil Buddies group, but will not share it just yet. I will remember to take a pic this time and share it after the recipient has received it.

Today is the anniversary of my Dad's passing in 1994 - such a long time ago already. He and my Mom were married in 1942 and brought 14 children into this world. My Mom recently celebrated her 87th birthday and is doing quite well. I lost a younger brother to cancer a couple of years ago, but the rest of us are still of this world and in various stages of the aging process.

My closest sister (both geographically and emotionally) is moving to Marquette in a little more than a week. That means that instead of being just 2 hours away she will be about 8 hours away. While I am happy that they have made this plan of theirs work, I am selfishly sad that I will no longer be able to jump in the car and go over for a short visit. To visit her in the future will take some planning and a quick weekend trip will no longer be feasible.

The hubster and I are meeting her and her husband for lunch today in Kalamazoo. I am really looking forward to seeing them one more time before they make the journey to the far north.

Miss Z is coming over this evening to spend the night and then I have both Miss Z and her sister, Miss K overnight on Saturday. I think Miss K and I are going to have to find time to do some art while she is here. Who knows I just might learn something useful from her.

I've had my two mugs of coffee and think I'd better get this day started. I hope you are having a wonderful day and that you are making time for yourself.

xoxo

The Best Laid Plans

2011-12-06T07:50:00.001-05:00

I thought I had yesterday planned out pretty well early on, but as will happen, things didn't quite work out as imagined.

I worked out by jogging on the treadmill for 2 miles, ate a bowl of cereal and took a shower. I then took the laptop and some things I had for Miss P and Miss M and headed into town. First I stopped to take my glasses in to the place where I got them last week so they could make adjustments to them. That took longer than expected because they were busy. I've never seen more than one person there at a time in the past, but there were four people waiting. I visited with another grandmother while waiting my turn.

From there I drove to Panera for coffee and internet. I upgraded my system software and purchased MacKeeper, a multifunctional software for the Mac. I did a few sketches while waiting for the software to do its maintenance for the first time on that machine. I wanted to sketch some of the people in there working and visiting over coffee, but it seemed like every time I looked at a potential subject, they were staring right back at me as if daring me to start. I need to work on my drawing in public persona.

While I was at Panera my daughter called to ask if I could take Miss M to ballet instead of taking Miss P out during the class. She (my daughter) had worked late the night before and had to go in at six am on Monday. I told her I would pick up both girls and take care of ballet so she could have a nap. I finished up my coffee and computer work and headed for school. I fully intended to buy a cranberry nut bagel before I left Panera, but totally forgot. Just think of the calories I saved. Of course, I made up for those calories once I got home. The hubster made linguini with clam sauce for dinner. Yum! Yum!

I got to school a bit early so listened to my iPod touch and played Pinochle on it while waiting. Then I got out my sketchbook to try my hand at drawing a vehicle in the parking lot. My perspective really needs work and I am planning to work on that.

While I think you can tell what it is, it was much longer than that appears to be and the top wasn't visible at all. I added the curve to the top at the end to make it look "right" to my poor little left brain.

It is not at all what I intended, but it did get me drawing from life. By the way, the book I am reading right now is "Harley Brown's eternal truths for every artist". I borrowed it from the Peter White library in Marquette through MeL (Michigan eLibrary). I so love having the option of searching for a book by title, keyword, author, title and a slew of other options and then being able to have them ship it to my library branch for me. I feel so special!!

I am planning to get on the treadmill again today and then do a bit of clean up of the house in anticipation of the kids and the grandgirls coming over this evening for the annual decorating. I know my daughter and her girls are planning to be here for dinner and I am going to bake some refrigerator cookies and have some frosting and food coloring available so the girl tribe can do some art when the decorations are up.

It doesn't feel at all like Christmas to me yet. The time since August has been a blur and I've not had time to adjust to the fact that it is December, but I am sure the girls will get me in the mood. We will play holiday music and do lots of laughing and sharing.

I hope you are getting a chance to spend time with loved ones this holiday season and that you also make some time for yourself.

xoxo

A Bridge and Other Stuff

2011-12-05T08:35:00.001-05:00

I spent a good portion of the day with Nancy on Friday. We went to an antique mall near the outlet mall in Howell and then spent a bit of time at the outlet mall. The antique mall is very large and we didn't get through all of it before we decided it was time for lunch. We will definitely have to go back there. We shopped a bit for the grandchildren before heading back home. We weren't able to fit in the huge Salvation Army store they have in Howell, so that, too, will be saved for another time.

At the antique mall I bought four antique drawer pulls for the hubster to make a towel rack from.

I also managed to find a few ~~new~~ old books to repurpose into journals.

I found a book at the library that has really spoken to me about the value of drawing from life - not so much from photographs, which is mostly what I have done so far. So with that in mind, I took a sketch book into the north bathroom and sketched the bridge the hubster built over the creek.

It is garbage day so I mustn't forget to get my waste baskets out to the dumpster. I put on my workout clothes as soon as I got out of bed this morning so that I wouldn't find an excuse to put it off. Later today I am going into town to have my new glasses adjusted and then picking up Miss P so we can spend a bit of time together while her little sister, Miss M, is at ballet class. I had Miss Z overnight on Saturday and we had a lovely time.

The kids are coming out with the girls tomorrow evening for the annual hanging of the dated Christmas ornaments. I hope to get some pix and I suppose I should pick up some cookie dough and frosting, along with some food coloring so they can decorate cookies.

I think it is shaping up to be a busy day as usual. I intend to make time to do a sketch from life at some point in the day and will share it tomorrow.

Also, before I close for the day I wanted to tell you about an online art ad site, Artmarket, that has free ads from now until December 10th. I put up an ad there for my repurposed journals. I think even after the free period is over the ads are very affordable and it's a great place to patronize.

I sure hope you are having a great day and that you make time for something creative.

xoxo

More on the Adirondack Chairs

2011-12-02T07:16:00.001-05:00

The last time I worked on the Adirondacks on the Beach painting, I decided I wasn't at all happy with the dunes behind the chairs and I walked away in frustration. That may be part of the reason my muse went AWOL. Each time I would look at the painting (I intentionally left it up where I could see it.), I knew I wanted to change up the background, but I just couldn't get past the mental stage.

On Thanksgiving Day, my sister in law mentioned that she thought I could change the background and she agreed that adding a grassy hill behind would be a possible solution and perhaps that little bit of reinforcement helped me to finally begin. My sister in law is quite a good watercolor artist and I trust her input.

So, for what it is worth, here is what I have so far - be aware that this is just a rough in to see if I even like the idea of green behind. I now have to decide just what that hill is going to look like - shall it be just grasses with a bit of variety of color in it? will there be a few bushes? Perhaps some small trees?

I am spending the day with my dear friend, Nancy, and hope that just being with her will make some of her "artiness" transfer itself to me.

I will be at East Jackson High School with the hubster tomorrow at a craft show sponsored by the band boosters. That means that we have to pack the truck this afternoon. The show is scheduled to run from 10 am to 4 pm. I think set up begins at 6 am, but I am hoping that means we can go around 8. The hubster makes and sells lovely wood crafts. I am expecting that we will be displaying forts, barns, walking sticks, a variety of signs, towel racks, coat trees, bird feeders.... he may have some things that I haven't seen yet.

Miss Z is coming in the evening on Saturday and staying overnight until Sunday afternoon. I am so looking forward to that. She is pulling herself up and standing now and is so much fun. It won't be long before I have to put locks on the cupboard doors in the kitchen and put the doorknob thingys back on. It seems like I just took them off from when Miss M was at that stage.

I am hoping to make some more journals in the near future. That means I need to get to the print shop and get some paper cut to size. I just bought a new tool from Amazon. It is a Neiko hand held power punch, which is actually for metal punching, but I am hoping it will work with book board to make the process of punching holes easier. I will let you know how it goes. I suppose I should get some made soon so that I can offer them for sale as Christmas gifts. I know that a handmade journal is a great gift and I've already put it off too long.

I do have some at faintheartart.com if you haven't been over to look lately.

I am hoping to spend more time making art this month and look forward to sharing it with you. I must say I've missed both my art and you. I hope you are warm and secure in your art space and that you are finding time to create.

xoxo

Missing in Action (Or Inaction)

2011-11-30T08:28:00.001-05:00

I've not been blogging because I haven't been doing art. But I have been reading a plethora of novels and have been reading watercolor books and mentally planning my next art piece. I have also been mentally planning the next steps in both the Adirondack painting in progress and the barn scene painting in progress. I just can't seem to get past the thinking stage.

But I have been encouraging my little ones to sketch. Does that count?

I was given a couple of angels as a gift when I participated in my nephew's wedding in the far western UP last year and my little one is in love with them. Miss M sketched her rendition of them (with just a little bit of help).

Miss M drew everything except the arms; I helped with those.

I helped with the arms and the words.

I awakened to a beautiful sunny wonder world of snow this morning and couldn't resist opening all the blinds around the house and getting a few pix. Here is my favorite so far.

I have to drive out to the Potter Center this morning to pick up the watercolor that was being displayed for the month of November and I need to stop at the grocery store while I am in town. I am also planning to spend some time with my daughter at her house to help her get her iTunes set up and get her iPod ready for use.

Who knows, maybe I will actually do some art today......

I hope your muse hasn't deserted you. And if you happen to see my muse would you please send her home.

xoxo

Thankful Again Today

2011-11-25T10:33:00.001-05:00

We woke up to no heat at our house this morning. It is a crisp 59º in here, but I am quite able to find good things about it and be thankful that:

the baby didn't spend the night last night
it is 51º outside and sunny
the roads are clean and dry for my trip into town to purchase a new sprayer/filter
the store where I had to go to get them is nowhere near the busyness of Black Friday
the hubster will replace the filter and we will warm up prior to the baby's stay with us today

On Wednesday Miss M and Miss P spent the day and we went out to lunch. We each took a journal and did some sketching while waiting for our food. I decided to try to sketch my fork and the girls followed suit. Miss M drew hers still wrapped in a napkin; Miss P drew hers without even looking at a fork, and mine has a knife added and could be better. But we all sketched together and had a stressless wait for our food.

We hosted Thanksgiving at our house yesterday. My kids came with the girl tribe, except for Miss K. She was with her mother this year. We had turkey, mashed potatoes, squash (provided by my dear SIL), green bean casserole, two kinds of dressing (the hubster made traditional and I made a sausage and dried cherry variety for the first time), ham (brought by a dear BIL), and three kinds of pie (BIL brought pumpkin, I made cherry, and the hubster made apple.). We had a lovely day.

Here is the table just before we sat down - I forgot to get a picture of the turkey just out of the oven. It was beautiful.

Nephew Evan and Niece Drew had just found a seat.

And here are the pies:

The hubster has the furnace running and now is waiting for me to join him outdoors to rake the last of the leaves. He will do the tractor and I will do the raking. He is unstable on his foot still and the last time he raked alone with a fracture boot on one foot, he hurt his back and it is still a bit sore. I will go help him and we will actually have fun because we always do when we work together - at least I have fun. I wonder if he does, too.

Gotta go. I hope you are having a wonderful weekend and that you had a lovely Thanksgiving.

xoxo

RIP Faith

2011-11-22T09:59:00.001-05:00

My daughter's little girls, Miss M and Miss P, had two cats - Trevor and Faith. They were both rescued from the shelter. They had Trevor first, but he was Mr. Adventure and got out one day and was gone for about a month. My son saw a cat of similar color squashed in the road near their house and was pretty sure Trevor had gone to that big cat farm in the sky. The little girls put out posters and patrolled the neighborhood to no avail and their Mom said nothing about the cat in the road.

After some time, they went to the shelter once again and picked out Faith. She was smaller and still had claws, but Miss M fell in love. Shortly after they brought Faith home, Trevor showed up at the back door and they've had two cats since.

Not too long ago, the three girls moved in with the Dad and took the cats, but that household has a pit bull that is an indoor dog and Faith was terrified. She wouldn't even come out to eat. The girls are now back in their mother's house with the two cats and have been for several weeks. Trevor was his big "no problem" self, but Faith was terribly thin. We gave her lots of love and food and expected her to bounce back, but after all this time she was just getting worse and worse. She was taken to the vet yesterday to see if this was an inexpensive treatment thing only to find that she had something terribly wrong with her liver. She was put to sleep. Only Mom was there, but she was in tears. The vet wrapped her in a towel and gave her a box to transport her in.

The three of them buried her in the backyard and Papa will help the girls make some kind of marker for her - much sadness for these two little girls.

The girls are coming for dinner tonight and staying overnight. I think we are going to draw and paint Faith. Maybe this will offer a bit of catharsis for them.

I just did a quick sketch this morning, but used a Staedtler liner so the eyes are a bit much. Next time I will sketch her in pencil and then use watercolor or watercolor pencils to add the color. Here is what I have now:

And here is the reference photo provided by the girls:

We'll miss you, Faith.

Today, the hubster has physical therapy followed by a follow-up doctor visit and then the three girls are coming out for dinner and the little ones are staying overnight. My daughter has to be at work at 6 AM tomorrow. Miss M doesn't have preschool tomorrow and Miss P has half a day. I will take her in at 8:30 and pick her up at 11:45. Meanwhile the hubster has the dentist at 11:20 and one of us is scheduled to work at the antique mall in Mason from 2 until 6. Busy, busy, busy.

I guess the house will have to get a reclean in the afternoon after the girls go home and before the pies are made. I may do some of that cleaning today. The hubster is out right now removing the bird feeder from outside the front picture window so that I can clean the window. It is a tad cold to be washing windows outside, but it is a mess. Gotta love those birds, but they make a mess of the window. We may move the feeder further away into the yard.

I hope you are staying warm and are enjoying the build up to the Thanksgiving holiday. The thing I am looking forward besides having lots of family around is the wonderful aromas that will be experienced from Wednesday until we eat on Thursday.

xoxo

A Real Post on My Repaired Computer

2011-11-21T16:10:00.001-05:00

Shortly after I posted my little blurb this afternoon, the computer shop called to tell me that my computer was ready and that they were able to retrieve all my data. Hallelujah!

Now I can show you some of the art I've done in between reading some really good books.

First of all, I thought you might to see what my computer looked while in kernel panic.

Scary, scary!!!

Here are a couple of sketches I've completed in the past week:

While I don't think any of them are particularly special, it does me good to be able to share them and my little girls think they are super - they are so nice and are my biggest fans.

The rest of this week is going to be very busy, but I am hoping to spend some time in the art room and make some progress on both the farm scene and the Adirondack chairs. Hopefully I will have something to show next time I get a chance to post.

xoxo

And So It Goes

2011-11-21T13:34:00.001-05:00

I was heartened by the better connection I am getting with the new AT&T device that I decided to upload pix to my laptop and post to my blog with updates to my sketching and watercolor. The card reader wouldn't read the card from my point and shoot camera (I usually just load it right into my desktop computer bypassing the card reader), so I retook the pix using my SLR camera whose pictures are always read by the card reader - no luck this morning.

So, I am able to read the blogs to which I subscribe and have even been able to leave a few comments, but I still have no way to load pictures. I will keep trying and will try to keep doing art.

This week is extremely busy getting ready for Thanksgiving. We are expecting between 12 and 15 people for dinner. I may have Miss M and Miss P all day Wednesday and overnight on Thursday and perhaps overnight on Friday as well. Their Mom, who works at Toys 'R Us is scheduled for 8 AM to 10 PM on Friday.

I have been reading dozens of good books and trying to stay upbeat in the face of technological failures seemingly on all sides. The hubster is getting better and has given up the crutches. He is still going to physical therapy and is making strides.

I hope you are having fun planning for the holidays and that you will have loved ones around and will keep the stress to the minimum.

xoxo

Still No Desktop Computer and The Funk Deepens

2011-11-19T11:30:00.001-05:00

I called the people who have my computer only to be told that hard drives are not being shipped right now. One reason he gave is that there is a very high demand for them right now; the second reason for the delay according to him is that Thailand is experiencing severe flooding right now and 90% of all hard drives come from there.

I am in a funk. The good news is that I've read 4 books in the past two days. The bad news is that my new hotspot (read cold spot) is so extremely slow that I cannot upload pix to my blog site and I only have a few things to share. The funk continues.

I am hoping to get things into better shape soon. Is there anyone out there who can tell me why if the wifi hotspot device is reading 4 bars and I get an RSSI of -47 and a Transmit rate of 73 that I can't get any speeds on my computer faster than about 6 kB per second. What am I missing here?

I am busy with the hubster and the girls and am the hostess for about 14 family members for Thanksgiving so hopefully will not have much time for sulking. It is not in my nature to be pouty and unhappy, but circumstances are trying to push me in that direction.

I am going to go try to get happier and hope sincerely that you are having a great weekend and that your internet is working and you have time to do some art.

xoxo

Kernel Panic

2011-11-15T11:19:00.001-05:00

My computer has suffered a kernel panic and is now in the shop in Lansing awaiting a hard drive transplant. When I called Apple support, they determined that the serial number of my computer was one of the ones that is eligible for a free hard drive replacement. Apparently, some of the Seagate hard drives being used in Macs were defective. I didn't have a back up and am now regretting it very much.

It will cost around $100 for the shop to recover my data. This is considerably less than the $2500 I was going to be charged many years ago by the "experts" when my LaCie back up drive died. Needless to say, I am shopping around for an exterior hard drive to serve as a back up.

I will continue to try to do art every day, but probably will not be sharing it here until I get my machine back, which is expected to be in 2 or 3 days.

I have Miss M overnight tomorrow night and the hubster has physical therapy today and Thursday. I have an eye doctor appointment on Friday and have Miss Z overnight Friday until Saturday afternoon. It would appear that I won't have much time to miss my computer in the time it will be gone, but I miss her terribly already. I suppose if I am going to talk about my computer like this and call it "her", I should give her a name. I'll have to think about that one.

While I am gone, I will try to stay current with the blogs to which I subscribe and may even be able to leave comments here and there. It looks like I won't be playing Snood, Solitaire, or Pinochle until my computer returns. I guess that just gives me more time for reading, crossword puzzles and art.

I hope you are having a lovely and productive day and that you are finding time for yourself.

xoxo

This and That and More Progress on the WC WIP

2011-11-14T07:30:00.001-05:00

It's been another busy weekend and is shaping up to be a busy week as well.

Miss M is coming this morning to spend time until I take her to preschool at noon and then at 3:30 I am picking up Miss P and we are going to spend some time together while her little sister, Miss M, goes to her ballet class. I think the two of us are going to the Potter Center so Miss P can see the art that is displayed there which includes my small one called "Reflection". Then we will stop somewhere for a bite to eat before I take her back home.

The hubster has therapy on Tuesday and Thursday this week and I have an appointment with my ophthalmologist on Friday. I am planning to get some glasses with bifocals - but this time the right lens will be clear glass so that my uncooperative eye won't be affected. I am so looking forward to a life without searching for the cheaters so I can read.

I did a little sketch of Miss M holding her cat on Saturday, but it is hanging on her refrigerator and I don't have a photo of it. I do need to get back to sketching every day, but for some reason I've been in a funk and haven't been sketching at all.

I did more work on the watercolor farm scene and am still liking it. I still need to do the detail work, but so far I think it is coming along nicely. Here is what I have so far:

I performed a system update this weekend now that I won't be kicked offline for using too much bandwidth, but something obviously wasn't "digested" by my system very well because some of my programs are not performing as they used to. I guess I have some trouble shooting to do today.

I am hoping to do some sketching today and hope to have something to share tomorrow. I do have some house cleaning to do today, but I cleaned the bathrooms and did a bit of dusting yesterday so maybe just a bit of vacuuming will do for today.

I hope you will have a wonderful day and that you will make some time for yourself and your loved ones.

xoxo

Internet Access

2011-11-11T17:22:00.001-05:00

I am trying a Wireless Hot Spot device through AT&T and so far am pleased with the results. I am going to give it a weekend worth of browsing, uploading and downloading and see how it goes. If it continues to be as good as it is today, I will cancel hughes.net on Monday.

I've had the grandgirls all week and haven't gotten anything else accomplished, but am planning to do lots of catching up on art.

I have a favorite photo to share with you from Christmas time in the UP from a few years ago.

I want to acknowledge all the former and current servicemen and servicewomen on this Veterans' Day.

xoxo

EDinNov 8 and Watercolor WIP

2011-11-08T22:38:00.000-05:00

I've had another incredibly busy day which began with a phone call to Hughes.Net again. This is the third day in 8 in which I was unable to get internet access. To say I am frustrated would be an understatement.

I took my daughter out to lunch and then did a bit of grocery shopping before taking her to pick up her two girls from school. I came home and made a wonderful chicken salad with avocado and hard cooked eggs for dinner and finished the book I was reading.

At this moment I am able to get online, but am not sure how long that will be true. So I will show you the sketch I attempted for this 8th day in November and then will show an update of the farm scene in progress.

This is a city scene with lots of buildings and a bridge over a river.

Interestingly, blogger allowed me to upload the pencil sketch, but I had to use Flickr and copy HTML text to bring the watercolor wip into this post. Go figure.

Tomorrow I have Miss M in the morning and will take her to preschool around 12:30 at which time I will finish the grocery shopping that was cut short today because of having to be at school to pick up the girls.

After that I hope to come home and work a bit more on the farm scene.

I hope you are finding time for your art and that your internet connection and blogger are treating you better than they are treating me.

xoxo

Busy Weekend, Daily Sketching, and A New Watercolor WIP

2011-11-07T07:55:00.002-05:00

I'm not sure where the time is going, but it is already a full week into November and I'm not sure I was done with September yet. At least the weather has been pretty nice so far and it isn't a typical bitterly cold November (yet). I suppose part of the reason that time is going by so quickly is that I've been so busy. We had the lovely Miss Z from Friday afternoon until Saturday afternoon and then had Miss P and Miss M early Sunday afternoon until I delivered them to their Mom's and into bed last night. I got home around 11 pm. So busy, but so fun.

While Miss M was here she did a bit of art for me and I thought I'd share it with you:

While I really like the cat with the yarn, I am totally in love with the "patchwork" dog and flower.

On Saturday and Sunday I worked in my Every Day in November journal and here are the two sketches:

And finally I began a new watercolor using a picture from a lovely book by Terry Harrison (I love how he explains things) called, "Rustic Buildings and Barns in Watercolor". I am hoping to work on it a bit more today, but I have Miss M arriving around 8:30 this morning and I have her until I deliver her to preschool around 12:30.

I am expecting my friend, Nancy, to come over for a visit this afternoon and am so looking forward to it. We haven't had the opportunity to get together for a long time and I am missing her.

The hubster continues to improve as far as exercising his right foot and ankle and has actually been outside a bit. This is not only good for his physical being, but is a great boost to his mental outlook as well.

I am still having issues with blogger and trying to upload photos, so I spend a bit of time uploading my photos for the day to Flickr and then copy and paste the HTML code here. It works fine, but is an extra step hassle regardless.

I've just about drained my first mug of coffee and am ready for another. If I am to get anything done this morning, I'd best get moving.

I hope you have some plans for your Monday and that all is fine in your world.

xoxo

EDinNov 3 and 4

2011-11-04T08:51:00.001-04:00

I had serious problems with my internet connection yesterday and so was unable to post. In order to troubleshoot when I call tech support, I run a web response test. The desired response time is under 12 seconds and I am asked to run the test 5 times in a row and then average the results. On Monday when I spent a bit more than an hour on the phone with them, my speeds were in the twenties and thirties. The test records the number of seconds it takes to load very small images. Yesterday the test generated these results:

64.6 seconds
82.9 seconds
128.7 seconds
128.2 seconds
74.6 seconds

Needless to say, I was frustrated to the max and unable to get even the most simple pages to load in any reasonable amount of time, and I spent way too much time on the phone to tech support again. It appears that my connection is running in the 3 or 4 second range this morning. My concern is that it will not continue this way.

Yesterday was the hubster's first physical therapy appointment and it went well, but we were there for far too long. He is now able to put a bit of weight on his right leg and is much happier with the crutches with that bit of improvement. He did a series of 6 different exercises several times yesterday and was actual in a bit of pain be bedtime. He took a pain pill and had a good night.

Later in the afternoon I took him up to the mall and out for a burger and beer. We had a good day overall.

I just read a really good book by Ann Patchett called "State of Wonder" and am beginning another by Jeffrey Archer. I will let you know how that one goes.

I drew the little girls' cat as yesterday's EDinNov assignment so here is the November 3 sketch:

Today I did a little value study of a mountain lake scene:

It is quite cold out this morning. I have an appointment for a haircut later this morning and we have Zoë overnight tonight. I am hoping to have a wonderful day. I need to stop and get some fruit after my haircut and then need to do a bit of house cleaning (ugh!). It is imperative that I vacuum the living room before the baby arrives as she can find the smallest thing on the carpet and her mouth is her major sensory organ these days.

I can smell the coffee that I made on my way in here to post and I think I need a mug or two in order to properly get this day started.

I hope you are staying warm and are making time for yourself.

xoxo

EDinNov 2 and Sunset WIP

2011-11-02T14:59:00.002-04:00

I've sketched a garden shed as my every day in November Day 2 work. I find I have to make myself find something to sketch to meet the requirements. I've decided that my November challenge will be separate from the other art I am working on. Here is the building:

I've also added some darker color into the sunset work in progress. Here is what I have for now:

The water is looking greenish and that is not my intent at all and now the yellowish reflection needs to reflect the darker sky color. That will be my next step.

I have a couple of books ready to be picked up at the library and the hubster and I are working on a 750 piece panorama of Chicago puzzle. It's a toughie. For now it is time for the afternoon flavored coffee.

I just finished a couple of miles of jogging on the treadmill so after coffee, it is into the shower and then to the library. The hubster finally has his first physical therapy session tomorrow so we should find out a lot more about his convalescence then.

Don't forget to make some time for yourself today.

xoxo

Every Day Month and Sunset WIP

2011-11-01T19:28:00.003-04:00

I have joined Leah and the November Every Day Month. For my first sketch, I used what I had to hand - my coffee cup on my desktop.

I've also been working on my Leelanau Sunset painting.

This is the second time I've written this post today. The first time it acted like it was adding photos, but when I published it, there was just a broken link indicator. I hate it when things don't work.

I ran into town today and took my "Reflections" painting to the Potter Center. The other paintings that were there looked WAY better than mine, but I stuck by my decision and turned my in. I am going to take Miss P to look at the display some time later this month. She said she'd love to go take a look.

On my way home, I stopped at the office supply store and bought 100 CD-Rs that were on sale and bought some large binder clips. I then went next door to Michael's and bought 4 bulldog clips along with 2 frames that were "BOGO". After that I stopped at my daughter's and hooked up her printer to her computer.

This afternoon I made some "monkey" muffins (banana oatmeal) and the hubster and I enjoyed a couple warm out of the oven with some flavored coffee. Yummy!!

I hope you are having a good day and that you are enjoying this beautiful weather. My thoughts and positive energy I am sending to those of you who are on the east coast in the dark. I hope you get your power back on real soon and that you are keeping warm and safe.

As a workaround to my uploading photos in blogger, I copied the location and chose from a URL instead of loading directly from my computer. I think this works.

xoxo

Halloween Costumes and Adirondack Chairs WC WIP

2011-10-31T09:58:00.001-04:00

On Saturday I spent four hours at the Maple Street Mall working the hubster's shift since he can't while he is on crutches. I had a lovely time, met a new friend, and visited with friends that I don't see much except when I am up at the mall.

When I got home my two and their children came over in costume (the girl tribe, that is) and spent the afternoon with us. I managed to get a couple of pix:

I had a pot of chicken noodle soup started on the stove and the hubster called a pizza order in which the son picked up and they all had pizza except Miss Z - she had baby food, of course. And I had chicken soup when it was done.

This morning I drove to the daughter's house at 6:30 am and almost hit a deer on the way - I so hate driving in the dark. I got Miss P to school around 8:15 and drove Miss M out to my house. She has already had breakfast and we played a couple of games and now she is entertaining Papa in the living room while I write this. Later, she and I will take a shower and then I will get her to preschool by 12:30.

This weekend I finally got the cushions, shoes and bug stuff in bottles off the deck and moved all the furniture away from the screens for their winter setting. I then moved the grill into the screened porch and swept the open part of the deck. And then I made time for some art.

I worked on the Adirondack chairs a bit more and think I am finally beginning to like it. I'm not sure if it is done or not. I'll leave it sitting up so I can look at it from time to time and decide if it needs anything more or not.

I'm also working on an ATC. It has a watercolor background and then I sketched the rooster with watercolor pencils. I think I need to do a bit more blending of the colors, but overall I think he is rather cute. What do you think?

When I take Miss M to preschool I need to make a quick stop at the grocery store for candy for tonight (although we hardly ever get any kids), mothballs to put in the grill to keep the mice out and odds and ends for cooking. Hopefully after that I can spend a bit of time putting more color into the sky in the Leelanau sunset watercolor I am working on. I will share it tomorrow.

Tomorrow I have to deliver my framed and matted watercolor to the Potter Center where it will be displayed for a month. This is a non-juried show and I am not sure how many paintings are being featured. I am quite nervous about this, but think it is probably good for me to do. I am planning to take Miss P there one day during the month to look at all the art. She is very excited that I am participating in this event.

I hope you are having a wonderful day and that you are making time for your art,

xoxo

Watercolor Sunset with Lighthouse

2011-10-27T16:38:00.002-04:00

I've begun the Leelanau sunset painting. So far all I've done is a wet in wet background of Hansa Medium and Lemon Yellow and a bit of Cadmium Orange. I am going to let that dry and then decide how I am going to add the next layer. Here is what I have so far:

The black is just a digital mat to make it stand out a bit.

I had a lot of fun with Miss Z last evening and until this afternoon when her Mom came to get her. She is really becoming a little person.

I am hoping to work a bit on the Adirondack chairs this evening and tomorrow. I still have a lot to do on it. I also have to put a wire hanger on the picture that is going to be on display at Potter Center for the month of November. I am getting a little nervous about that.

I've reconnected with the ATCsForAll group and may be participating in an ATC exchange. It has been a long time since I've made anything quite that small and I am looking forward to it. I will share it when I have it made.

That's all I have for today. I think I have tomorrow off so maybe I will get more done then.

I hope you are having a wonderful day,

xoxo

Finishing and Beginning

2011-10-26T12:46:00.001-04:00

I've decided to call the second barn attempt done and am moving on. I am planning to do a series of barns until I am happier with the results.

In the mean time, I have a framed photograph that I took at Good Harbor Bay in the Leelanau Peninsula many summers ago that I've always loved and wanted to try to paint. I have decided to give it a try. I took a photo of the framed picture, but it is almost impossible to get one without glare unless I want to take it out of the frame and I really don't want to do that, so here is my shot. If you can just ignore the reflection in it, I think you will see what it is I want to paint.

I've also added a bit of shadow under the chairs in my ongoing Adirondack Chairs work in progress. I still have a lot to do with it if it is to be saved, but for now I think the shadows, although not perfect, do help to ground the chairs.

I've done my two miles on the treadmill this morning and feel quite good for it. I am hoping to stay on that regimen for the rest of the Fall/Winter so I will be in good shape for Pensacola Beach in February.

I am getting Little Miss Z later this afternoon and keeping her overnight so will have a busy, fun-filled evening. She is a delight and is changing all the time.

I hope you are finding some fun to do today and am making some time for yourself,

xoxo

Surgery Follow-up and More on the Barn

2011-10-25T16:21:00.002-04:00

I took the hubster to the doctor for his first post-op visit and things are looking really good. He has had very little pain thus far. They removed the huge plaster and wrap and we went to a medical supply place with a prescription for a compression sock and a pneumatic walking boot. He will not be allowed to put any weight on that leg for another two weeks, but will begin physical therapy next week.

I spent a little time working (read: overworking) on the barn. I wanted the sky to be darker and screwed it up. I tried to put in the tree and it looked way too much like a lollipop, so I overworked it in a darker green and tried to reshape it a bit. I need to add a bit more shading under the eaves of the barn and the tree needs to be giving off a bit of shade as well. The grassy area needs some stuff to break it up a bit. Ackkkk! I'm ruining another one.

I can only hope that adding the shadows and some interest on the sides of the barn and in the grassy area will save it a bit. I think it is still a bit of an improvement over the first one. At this rate, I'll only have to do about 100 more and I will actually get something that I am totally proud to share. I think I spy the "ugly inner critic" rearing her head.

It rained really hard just before we headed into town for the doctor visit, but then the sum came out and it was actually quite warm. The bank readout said 69º. That is pretty impressive for late October in southern Michigan, don't you think? Or as the yooper in me would say, "that's pretty warm for late October, eh?

I read a really good book yesterday that held me captivated to the very end. It is by Dan Chaon and is called "Await Your Reply". On the cover it says he also wrote another one called, "You Remind Me of Me". I may have to check that one out as well.

Here's hoping you are making time for your loved ones and yourself today,

xoxo

Try, Try Again

2011-10-24T09:10:00.001-04:00

I've begun another small barn watercolor. It measures 5 x 7 and so far I don't think I've messed it up. I've tried very hard to put down color and then leave it alone. I tend to be the master of overworking when doing watercolor. Here is what I have so far:

I also made a new soup yesterday and so far I think it is my favorite.

This is the recipe I used as a guide. I used hot Italian sausage and took it out of the skin. I didn't have zucchini or spinach and used a bit more beef broth and a little larger jar of great Northern beans. YUMMY!!

I also had my little Miss Z from Friday afternoon until Saturday afternoon. She is such a delight, but so busy these days. She is into everything. She still isn't actually crawling, more like creeping, pulling herself along, but she is fast!!

She looks so much like her big sister, Miss K. The bib says "Will Smile for Food". And I think she earned every bit I fed her!!

It is my Mom's 87th birthday today. This is the first time since Dad died in 1994 that I am not there to celebrate with her. I made my trip early this month before the hubster's surgery to make up for my absence on her actual day. She will have lots of company and a zillion phone calls and I am sure she will have a great day.

I am going to try to work a bit on the new barn watercolor and may try adding a bit to the Adirondack chairs as well. I may go into Jackson later today to watch Miss M at ballet class. She called me last evening to invite me to come. I could do the recycling while I am in the neighborhood.

It is a beautiful morning here and I am full of energy. I think the treadmill needs a good workout today as do I.

I hope you are having a great day and that you will make some time for yourself and your artistic endeavors.

xoxo

Running with my Girls and My WC Barn

2011-10-21T13:43:00.002-04:00

I drove into Jackson and met my son and Miss Z at the Lumen Christi track to await Miss K and her school mates for the Run For Education fundraiser.

It was really cold so after a walk around the track and meeting up with Miss K, Adam took Zoë home. I stayed and did 3 laps around the track walking and 5 laps jogging. I don't think I need to get on the treadmill today. It sure was fun to see Miss K with all her friends and the wonderful parent volunteers who participated.

I tried a watercolor barn on 5 x 7 watercolor paper and am not happy with it, but will share it anyway. This will be my benchmark to which I will compare the next ones. Actually I am happy with the sky and the furthest back color, but as you come forward into the middle ground and the foreground, not so much.

I will try another one maybe on Sunday. I am getting Miss Z around 3 this afternoon and keeping her until about 3 tomorrow afternoon. I will try to get some new pix. I can't wait until she is ready to do art with Nana. It might be awhile - she is just 8 months next week.

I hope you are finding time for family and art today.

xoxo

Another Old Barn Sketch and Shadows on Chairs

2011-10-20T09:46:00.001-04:00

I seem to be stuck on the old barn theme, but then barns come in so many styles, shapes, colors, conditions, settings.... I don't suppose I'll ever run out of examples. I think maybe I need to try a watercolor of a barn. For now I've sketched another one and like it pretty well.

I recently bought a block of 15 sheets of 140# cold press watercolor in a 5 x 7 size and this might just be the ideal size to try a series of old barns on. I'll have to try one and see how it goes.

Meanwhile I tried adding shadows to the Adirondack chairs in my current work in progress and don't know if I like it or not. Are they too dark? the right color? I have positioned the sun very high in the right hand corner of the painting. Do the shadows look like they are in the correct position? I know I still have to put shadows under the chairs in the sand. Do I use the same color over the brown or do I just put another layer of brown in those spots? I'd really appreciate some input on this please. I know I have to add more depth and dimension to the grasses and the sand and I will get to that sometime soon.

I did my 2 miles on the treadmill yesterday, with a slow jog for 1.5 of them and it felt great. I think I'm going to do that again today.

It is still gray and rainy here today, but we are fortunate that we didn't get all the rain they predicted and we have power. It appears that many in the area are not so lucky as we are.

Have a great day and try to make a bit of time for yourself while you are at it!!!

xoxo

A Barn Sketch and Watercolor WIP Update

2011-10-19T12:40:00.002-04:00

Well, I've read many times that watercolor (or any painting) goes through a really scary stage(s) before it is complete. I am hoping that means I am on the right track. I still haven't added shadows to the chairs, but have been working on the sand and grasses. This is by no means complete. I just hope I can resuscitate it before I get to the final stages.

I've also been looking at pix of old barns and decided to try one. I found that the barn and outbuilding with a few trees wasn't quite complete and then saw this one (almost the same set up) on Kathy Los-Rathburn's blog and decided to add the fences and foreground grasses. I hope she doesn't mind - this is after all just practice in my art journal. If you aren't familiar with Kathy, you should definitely check out her blog. She is doing a series of 5 x 7 pieces for an exhibition gala in Chesterton, Indiana, and hers are in wonderfully colorful watercolor. If she is in northern Indiana, I may have to check out when she has workshops and go meet her.

Here is my pen sketch:

Unfortunately you can see the caligraphy practice on the backside through this.

We lost power for about an hour this morning and I was right in the middle of the salting of the foreground sand in my watercolor so I sat in front of the living room window and worked crossword puzzles until it came back on.

I am planning to do a bit of a workout this afternoon. I haven't been on the treadmill in weeks and I miss it.

It is a cold, rainy day and we are expecting it to rain for a few days in a row - gray and depressing. I think I will put on some loud rock and roll and make my own sunshine.

What are you doing to banish the blues today??

xoxo

Watercolor Work In Progress

2011-10-18T11:44:00.001-04:00

So far all I've done is add a bit of underpainting. I have no idea how to paint sand - I think it needs speckles of colors and I think I need to put the beach grass in such a way as to convey hills and distance behind the chairs. Any ideas would be appreciated.

I am thinking I need to put in some variation of color in the sand directionally behind to indicate hills and distance. I am planning to put in some beach grasses in greens, browns, yellows. Does that make sense at all?

I need to go to the store later this morning to get milk, bananas, soy milk, Claritin (the hubster is experiencing a lot of sneezing and runny eyes), chicken broth, etc. Dana and the girls are coming out for dinner this afternoon, so I have some chicken breasts thawing and will make rice and a vegetable to go with it. Miss M is still running a fever between doses of her medicine so is not yet back in school.

Miss K is supposed to be running at the track at Lumen Christi tomorrow morning as a fundraiser and I am planning to go if the rain holds off. Meanwhile I am trying to be a good caretaker. There is a fine line between doing too much for the patient and doing too little.

I stayed up until after 3 this morning to watch the next video lesson in the Artful Journaling class and so slept in until 9:30. The hubster had already made coffee and managed to get himself and the coffee in a locking travel mug into the living room and into his easy chair. We've each had a bowl of cereal with blueberries and are ready to get this day started.

Are you making time for yourself today?

xoxo

Housecleaning, Girl Tribe Art, and A New Watercolor in Progress

2011-10-17T17:59:00.001-04:00

I was quite a busy girl today. I decided the house was seriously in need of cleaning so I began in the master bath. From there I dusted the master bedroom and living room. I then swept the floors and shook the rugs and did the vacuuming. I gave the oak table in the eating area a good cleaning and washed down the dining chairs. I got my long handled duster and swept along all the edge of the ceiling all around the house. I also did two loads of laundry. I was saved from continuing into the back of the house by my son bringing Miss Z out for a visit.

I finally have managed to start my next project in watercolor. I talked with my sister today and told her I was planning to do a landscape of a church and I was thinking of incorporating a fence and perhaps a portion of a cemetery alongside. However, once I cut my watercolor paper to size, I was seized again by the need to finally do a scene with Adirondack chairs. So without further ado, I drew two chairs and then decided to have them facing the water (which will not be shown) and to have sand dunes and part of a fence behind them. Here is what I have for my initial drawing:

I realize it is difficult to see, but if you click on it you should get a bigger picture. I did try to darken it a bit in Photoshop.

I also have a photo of Papa drawn by four year old Miss M while she was spending some time with us this weekend.

She even put glasses on him. I don't think she has done that before.

I've been a busy little cook over the weekend, too. I made a beef stew and a pot of chicken rice soup. I do so love soup on these cool Fall days.

I did a bit of Geometry tutoring this afternoon as well, so feel my day has been quite busy and complete - I've done grunt work (housework), brain work (tutoring), and arty stuff in my work room.

I also mailed off my October swap to my partner in Ontario, but forget to take a photo of it.

How is your day going?

xoxo

Busy, busy

2011-10-14T09:28:00.002-04:00

Yesterday afternoon I went to Miss P's basketball game; Miss M was there and sat with me to watch. After the game their coach/Dad took the team to the ice cream shop up the road. I took Miss M in my car and followed them there and then took the girls home with me. I had gone into town earlier to buy a frame for my watercolor and to pick up a few things for dinner.

When we got home it was almost 7 pm, so I quickly made pork chops and corn with garlic bread (I let the girls decide what was for dinner) and we ate. I then took the girls to their Mom's house where Miss M colored with me and Miss P got in the shower. We visited and gave their two cats lots of love before the girls went to bed at 9.

After their Mom arrived home, I visited a bit and then drove home to check on the hubster and the Tiger game and then washed up the dinner dishes before hitting the sack.

I got up early this morning so I could watch the next video in the Artful Journaling class and then did the assignment. It amazes me how when Laure says she did quick sketches hers look so good and when I do quick sketches mine look so lame. The assignment was to fold an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper and then do 4 possible sketch arrangements for the next page in the journal. I couldn't think what to do, but you know how I love barns so I chose a farm theme.

This is the page opened up and scanned.

My daughter is bringing Miss P and Miss M out around 1:30 this afternoon and they will stay either until she gets off work around 9:30 or overnight, I don't know which yet. Miss P has an early release today and Miss M doesn't have preschool on Fridays.

Here is what my watercolor looks like framed for the exhibition. I forgot to sign it, but will do so before I enter it.

I have a question: where do I sign it? in the light blue water on the lower left? up the green part of the reflection along the lower right side? below the brown of the ground under the trees on the right side? Is there a right place to sign a painting? Do I print or write in cursive? Do I make it legible or arty? As you can see, I am full of questions. Those who know me well might say I am full of something else altogether .

I'd better get this day started or I am going to be behind all day.

xoxo

A Bit of Art

2011-10-13T10:06:00.002-04:00

I've finally spent a bit of time in my art room since the hubster's surgery (I'm afraid I am not a very good nurse - I tend to hover) and spent that time working on an assignment for my Artful Journaling - Foundations class. The assignment was two part: make a page of borders and make a page using a border.

Here is the page of my borders:

I'm afraid these are not very "arty", but they will have to do for now.

And here is the page I made using a border:

I am hoping to get into town today to pick up some mats and a frame or two from Michael's so that I can see what my watercolor is going to look like when finished. Meanwhile, I think I need to get on the treadmill and get my routine going again.

I am planning to make some lamb stew later today and start to think about meals for the next few days. I am not used to doing all the cooking and I'm afraid it shows, but so far I've had no complaints.

I have to watch the Tigers again today - they must win to stay in it!

xoxo

Surgery Update and Scrapbook Pages

2011-10-12T06:15:00.000-04:00

The hubster's surgery on his Achilles tendon went very well and I got a very good report from the doc when the surgery was completed. He is not allowed to put any weight on it until the follow up visit in about 2 weeks. He is finding that crutches are a big drag and his sciatic nerve is not at all happy with the stress placed on his backside while using them. Thanks for all your well wishes.

I intended to do some sketching while waiting for him, but found myself working crossword puzzles and listening to my iPod instead. We got to the hospital around 6 am and were home about 1 pm. The hubster slept for a bit in the afternoon and I probably should have as well. We watched a great Tiger game later in the evening and then made a night of it.

I had a lovely surprise in my email this morning from the people at My Memories - they have some freebies on their site and I couldn't resist trying one of them out. They come as png files and can be used with the My Memories Suite software or independently. Here is what I put together this morning:

I used the quick pages to make this two page spread, but the freebie comes not only with the two quick pages, but all the elements used to make them. That means you can custom them to your own needs. You can find the freebies here. And if you are interested in the software you can use the code in the sidebar to get $10 off.

A big thank you to all of you who took the time to comment on my two watercolors. I am planning to use the trees with reflections as my exhibit piece and am hoping to add a bit to the "blob" on the left to make it look more convincing. I'll share the finished piece when I think it is done.

I am way behind in my assignments for the Artful Journaling class and hope to get to them some time today. I have to run some errands and should get back into the workout routine. I have another Tiger game today and am hoping we can win again to make the series 2 - 2 before we head back to Texas.

I am hoping to have some art to share with you tomorrow and am wishing for you a wonderful, artful day.

xoxo

Home Again with Miss Z

2011-10-10T11:27:00.001-04:00

Miss Z came over last evening to spend the night with us and she is right here in her high chair keeping me company while I write this. Actually she began to fuss and she only fusses when it is time to eat. So I gave her a bottle and put her down for a nap.

Before she arrived yesterday, I made some Chorizo Soup which turned out really well and we had some for dinner. I made a double batch so I sent some home with Miss Z's Mom.

It is a really easy recipe and only takes about an hour from start to finish. Here is the recipe:

I gessoed over the water on the old watercolor that I was working on and then watercolored over it, but was still very disappointed, so when I arrived home yesterday I started a couple more. I have two of them and like one of them quite a bit more than the other. Of course, the hubster likes the one I don't like, so I'd like to ask you this: Should I use one of these as my entry in the non-juried exhibition? If I should use one of these, which one? Should I trash these and begin again?

My daughter just called. She is sick (possibly strep; she is seeing the doctor at 1 pm) and wants me to pick up Miss M after school this afternoon and take her to ballet practice. That should be fun and I will take my camera and see if I can get some decent pix.

The hubster is having surgery on his Achilles tendon first thing in the morning so I will be spending most of the day at the hospital. I should have plenty of opportunity to do some sketching. I'll check in sometime tomorrow after we get home.

I'd really appreciate some feedback on the two watercolors above.

xoxo

Last Day In St. Ignace

2011-10-07T10:39:00.001-04:00

This is the last day at my Mom's and she's been keeping me so busy that I haven't done any art or taken any pictures. We've been on the road every day - to the grocery store, library, the bank, out for tea, to Hessel and Cedarville, to visit Molly and Mags, and today we have a doctor appointment, a visit with Hilda, and out for fish fry dinner.

I brought my art supplies with me, but Mom really enjoys having company doing crosswords and watching the Tigers (what a nail biter last night, but the boys persevered and are on to the next round), so my supplies are just sitting in the guest room.

I am leaving at the crack of dawn tomorrow so that I can be home before noon. Miss P (formerly known as Miss 8) is going to spend the day and overnight with me. We are definitely going to do some art. I have to get working on my landscape that has a space reserved at the Potter Center for the month of November. I was unable to fix the one with the spots in it, so will begin anew. I will share my progress with you once I get started.

For now, I will leave you with a picture of my Mom and Miss 4 (when she was just 2 1/2) when my Mom was visiting me a year ago last Spring).

I hope you are enjoying this wonderful weather and that you are finding time for yourself and your art.

xoxo

We Have a Winner and I'm Hitting The Road

2011-10-04T08:34:00.001-04:00

I am happy to announce that the winner of the My Memories Suite 2 digital scrapbooking software is Julie. Thank you to all who entered. Don't forget even if you didn't win in the giveaway there is a $10 off coupon on the sidebar.

I overslept this morning due to the lateness of the Tigers/Yankees game last evening. I am heading to the far north to spend several days with my Mom so after I have a couple of cups of coffee and grab a quick shower I am hitting the road. I am taking my laptop with me so will be posting and sharing from there.

Gotta run.......

xoxo

Girl Tribe and My Troubled Watercolor

2011-10-03T08:28:00.000-04:00

I think I've finished my watercolor, but I think it is ruined by the pigment spots in the water. Is there any way to rescue it? I may have to start over and not use the offending Ultramarine or figure out how to use it without it settling like that. I was planning to use this for the exhibit I have a spot in for the month of November. Does anyone have an idea if this is salvageable? At any rate, for what it is worth, here is the finished product:

Here is some art by my Miss K who spent Saturday evening and overnight until Sunday late morning with her sister, Miss Z at our house.

In my Artful Journal class, the next assignment is to do some Word Art. I used to do quite a bit of word art using Photoshop. As a matter of fact I sold a few pieces and I have the originals to show you. What do you think of this kind of art?

I think the assignment for the class was to make a journal cover and to do it by hand using watercolors, so I have to do some thinking and decide what I will do. When I have it decided and put it together, I will share it with you.

I am driving up to my Mom's tomorrow and staying until early Saturday morning. I am sure to have a great time and hope the weather cooperates and that I get lots of pix of gorgeous Fall color. I will be taking my computer and hope to have things to share with you while I am gone. I will be taking my journal and some watercolor supplies so will have no excuses for not being creative.

For now, I will leave you with a lovely smile from Miss Z:

Reminder: I will be drawing for the My Memories Suite 2 digital scrapbooking software around midnight tonight. Get your name in here if you want a chance to win.

xoxo

Artful Journal Update and Watercolor WIP

2011-09-30T08:31:00.000-04:00

I tried to get some interesting photos of barns and Fall color as the hubster drove yesterday for our lunch meeting with my sister and her husband, but was unable to get anything worth showing. We talked about walking around Shipshewana after lunch and taking pix, but it was pouring rain by then and we just headed for home. We had a lovely lunch and a good visit before transferring a 4-drawer file cabinet and some lovely garden rocks from their vehicle to ours. But the ride home was less than lovely. It poured all the way and there were more large trucks on the road than I've seen since the dreadful semi parade of the far north.

Nevertheless, we made it home by 5:30 or so and the hubster made chili for dinner. We ate in the living room while watching the game shows. I won a ton of money, including the bonus round on Wheel of Fortune and didn't do too badly on Jeopardy either.

I then spent a bit of time working on the watercolor that is in progress. I added the water to it and am puzzled by the spots in it. I haven't had something like this happen before. Could it be pigment that wasn't well mixed? Is it something from the brush? Is it dirt? I did brush off the paper before I began.
I am planning to put more color into the water so am hoping it will not be noticeable when all is said and done. Have you ever had anything like this happen to you?

I also decided it was time to sketch the pear in my Artful Journal and thought it would be fun to draw it as a letter in the word pear. I rather like how the word turned out - I used an alphabet I found in The Speedball Textbook as a model and I don't think the spacing of the letters is too bad. However, when it came time to put in the striped dish towel/tablecloth, I was at a loss. I found a red Pitt brush pen and began to put in the stripes. At about stripe number three the brush failed, so I switched to a Sharpie marker. Unfortunately, the color closest to red was a mauvy purple and I am not so sure I like how it turned out at all. I can't remove the color so I will accept it as a creative accident and share it anyway. I thought about adding shadows to the letters too, but really wanted the pear to be the star of this page, so left the letters flat.

Except for the "striped cloth" I am really pleased with how this turned out.

Imagine my surprise when I'd photographed the "pear" page and was preparing to upload it to the Artful Journaling blog, I was distracted by the arrival of an email from Laure Ferlita with the next assignment for this class. Would you believe the next assignment is "word art"? Does this situation fit the definition of serendipitous? I have no idea what I am going to do for the word art assignment, but may have to do something with Zentangle doodles.

The Tigers are playing the Yankees this evening in the first game of the playoffs on the way to the World Series. We are playing there and I am looking forward to seeing Curtis Granderson, but have to hope he doesn't have his usual spectacular game against us. With Verlander on the mound, I am hoping we can beat the Yankees soundly. I do like a close game much better than a runaway, and hope I will not be disappointed with this one.

Tomorrow I have my son's Miss 8 and she is staying overnight. I am planning to make time to do some art and maybe a bit of cooking. I haven't made any monkey muffins in a long time. I have some hot Italian sausage and some chicken thighs thawing in the refrigerator and am planning to make some gumbo today. It is a perfect day for it - gray and wet.

I hope you are having a fine day and that the sun is shining where you are. If your weather is like mine, try to get lost in art, cooking, a hot cup of tea and a good book and really enjoy yourself. A day like this is a great one for losing yourself in some kind of project. I just hope the rain doesn't prematurely knock the leaves off the trees. I am anxious for Mother Nature's Fall show.

xoxo

Pear Practice and More WC WIP

2011-09-29T08:09:00.002-04:00

I had the day to myself yesterday and expected that I would spend it in the art room, but found myself cleaning the laundry room, replacing the contents of the master bathroom closet (purging as I progressed), cleaning up my art room, and finishing a novel I was partway through.

I then heated up the homemade chicken soup from the day before and watched the Tigers with the hubster before finally spending a little bit of time doing art.

I finally tried the method of putting salt on wet watercolor and then brushing it off when the paint dried. The photo I shared yesterday had the salt on it, but it hadn't dried yet and now that it has and I've brushed off the salt, I have quite a different look. I am still planning to add some very dark color and then scrape much of it off to reveal the color underneath, but haven't had the courage to do that yet.

Can you see the texture in the hills? I think I like it.

I also have a new assignment for the Artful Journaling class. It is to sketch a pear or slice of melon in ink and then add color. I have always liked drawing with ink, but decided to practice this in my everyday journal first. I found that I just couldn't get the roundness of the pear just right and think it looks more liked a chicken ready for a bit of salt and pepper before being roasted.

As you can see I did a couple of practice ones on the left.

Sometime this afternoon I will try the real thing in my Artful Journaling sketchbook. In the picture provided there is also a red striped cloth under the pear and it has lots of shadows and folds. It should be quite a challenge to draw it - and in ink....

Today I am getting my teeth cleaned mid morning and then the hubster and I are taking a day trip to meet my sister and her husband for a late lunch. They are bringing me a four drawer file cabinet they no longer want and I am planning to use it for art storage. I have it all planned out - acrylics in the top drawer, adhesives in the second, pastels in the third and paper in the bottom. I think my room will be so much more organized and I should have more counter and shelf space once I've moved these items into the file cabinet.

If you haven't yet entered the giveaway for My Memories Suite 2 digital scrapbooking software, you have until Monday, October 3, to do so. Find out more here.

xoxo

Watercolor WIP, Girl Tribe Art, Art in the Mail

2011-09-28T08:45:00.001-04:00

It is a gray, rainy morning and I think my current work in progress reflects that fact. This morning I added the underpainting of the mountains. I am planning to go over the ones in the foreground with a very dark paint and then scrape most of it off to reveal bits of the underlying color. Here is what I have so far:

I'd love some input - ideas, suggestions.....

While the girls were staying with me, Miss 8 spent some time in my art room making a painting for me. I so love these gifts. She really liked the yellow and reddish skies I had painted as backgrounds on the last few papers I had prepped for her that she decided to try it herself.

I am so fortunate to have such arty girls.

I forgot to show you what I received in the mail the other day from my friend Suzanne in Luxembourg. She sent me a watercolor painting of mushrooms along with a card and a small picture of The Grund. You know I want to draw that scene.

If you haven't already entered the giveaway, go to the previous post and get your name in the drawing for the My Memories Suite 2 scrapbooking software. Here is a quick two page spread that I made this morning with photos of my Mom and Dad and a photo of the whole family circa 1963. I used one of the included designer templates. The whole process took about 3 minutes. Besides adding the photos, I changed the text on the right hand page from "Never Forget" to "Remember When".

The hubster just left for the dentist, my coffee has gotten cold and I need to do some housework (ugh!). I hope to see you tomorrow.

xoxo

My Memories Suite Giveaway

2011-09-27T18:24:00.003-04:00

It is Monday and as promised I am having a giveaway of the My Memories Suite 2 digital scrapbooking software. I was given a copy to try (It is very easy to make wonderful pages and there are lot of tutorials for those who would like some extra help) and a copy to offer as a giveaway.

I must tell you this is the easiest scrapbooking software I've ever used. I've tried Photoshop Elements and Photoshop and they had a pretty steep learning curve, especially the full blown Photoshop program. With My Memories Suite I was able to make a page quickly and easily and was impressed by the sizes that I could default to and by the amount of free background papers, embellishments, word art generator and more. You can even make a picture an embellishment; you can wrap text; you can make embellishments from background papers and so much more.

Here is what you need to do in order to be in the drawing that will be held on Monday, October 3.

1. Go to the My Memories website and decide which Kit you like the best and leave a comment telling me what you've chosen. You don't have to buy anything - just go look around. This gets you one entry.

2. If you have a blog, blog about this giveaway with a link back to this post and leave another comment with a link back to your blog. This gets you a second entry.

3. If you are a member of Facebook, leave a status update telling about the giveaway and leave another comment with a link to your Facebook update here. This gets you a third entry.

That's all there is to it.

Don't wait enter now!!

xoxo

Artful Journaling and A New Beginning

2011-09-27T08:37:00.001-04:00

I have finally finished the lemons page in my artful journaling class and have also finished the fortune cookie page. I am having fun with this class, but feel dreadfully inadequate. I am hoping to see some improvement over time and am trying to squash the inner critic - she is such a spoiler of fun and creativity!

Here is the lemons page:

And here is the fortune cookie page:

I have a new assignment to start today and am looking forward to having some uninterrupted art time to work on it and to do more on my new watercolor landscape. I finally scrapped the other landscape I was working on - can you say "overworked"? and have begun another. This one will be essentially a redo of the other, but I am determined to use a minimum of brush strokes on this one so I can keep it fresh and avoid another overwork. Here is just the sky that I did last night:

I am hoping to add the mountains today and will try to use a variety of colors with a minimum of brush strokes. I will share that next part tomorrow.

Meanwhile, I finally attempted to sketch a picture of Alex, and chose to use a Staedtler pen - scary!! I used the drawing Dan Kent posted as my model, but didn't get the likeness that Dan did. I may try it again in the sketch book where I originally sketched both Raena and Dan in pencil to see if I can get a better likeness. For now, here it is:

I think this is the next sketch I need to attempt:

Today I need to recycle (the bins are threatening to overflow into my parking spot in the garage) and pick up a few groceries. I think it is a good day to make some soup, too.

I hope you are having a good day wherever you are. It is sunny and beautiful here and I predict it will be a very good and very productive day.

xoxo

Sleep Deprivation and Photos

2011-09-26T10:39:00.000-04:00

I am seriously sleep deprived. Miss 8 and Miss 4 have the reputation of sleeping in quite late on the weekends, but not while at my house. On both Saturday and Sunday they were up before 8:30. And Little Miss 7 months (who arrived just after the Lions beat the Vikings in sudden death overtime) is teething and has a seriously runny nose and was up at 1:45 am and 3:00 am and up at 6:00 am.

She is napping right now and I suppose I should be also, but I've had my two mugs of coffee and am thinking about breakfast. I have lots of art to do today - a couple of assignments for the Artful Journaling class and more work on my watercolor work in progress. I have the baby until about 3 this afternoon after which I plan to do some painting.

For now, I have some photos to share:

My girls each chose a journal and did some sketching.

This is one of the things Miss 8 was drawing.

Here are my "big" girls helping to take care of baby Zoë.

I started this blog post about 1 1/2 hours ago, but blogger hasn't been cooperating and baby hasn't been cooperating, so I will finish here.

I need to go wash bottles and clean up from breakfast while she is back down and hopefully sleeping.

I hope to have some art for you tomorrow.

xoxo

Running with My Girl Tribe, Garage Sale Finds and WC WIP

2011-09-23T09:40:00.001-04:00

I finally found time to work a bit on my watercolor. It is coming along, but still has a long way to go. I added a bit of color to the sky and significantly darkened the mountains. I added some color into the water. Here is what I have so far:

After Miss 8's basketball game yesterday, we came home and the girls helped Papa make pancakes for dinner while I worked to finish my chicken noodle soup for today. Here is a photo of the girls in their cooking regalia:

After dinner, while we were watching the Tiger game, the girls played a bit of dress-up.

This morning on my way home from dropping Miss 8 off at school, I came across a garage sale and was able to find some treasures. I bought a wooden wine box and a handful of children's books.

On Monday I will outline the rules for the My Memories Suite 2 scrapbooking software giveaway. I will try to have more examples of pages I am working on. I was planning to do a tutorial, but the ones that are already available are quite thorough and explain the software so nicely, it isn't necessary for me to do so. I will tell you that the software is all I could have hoped for. Stay tuned.

For now, I have a little girl (Miss 4) bugging me to work a puzzle with her and she is patient so far but is becoming a bit frustrated waiting for me. I will say goodbye for now and hope to see you bright and early on Monday (I will have Miss 7 months then) with all the information regarding the giveaway.

xoxo

Girl Tribe and Blind Contour

2011-09-22T09:52:00.001-04:00

So I have survived the first overnight with Miss 8 and Miss 4. Yesterday I picked them up from school at 3:30, brought them home for a snack and then took Miss 8 to ballet practice. First she had an hour practice in Tap and then an hour in Jazz, Hip Hop, Fusion. It was a lot of fun to watch.

While she was in the first class, I sat outside a beginning ballet class (there wasn't a chair near her class) and did some quick sketches. These are practically blind contours since I didn't have my glasses on. I could see the girls pretty well, but couldn't see my sketches at all. They are not really very good, but I am practicing and that is what I think is important.

Sorry about the picture quality. The one on the right is a Mom reading a book.

It is spirit week at the girls' school. In preschool it was crazy hat day and here is what Miss 4 wore:

She's such a ham!

Today is crazy hat day at Miss 8's school. Here is hers:

Notice the scarf. She has been bugging to wear my scarf and I finally let her wear it to school today.

This afternoon after school Miss 8 has a basketball game and tomorrow is picture day. Miss 4 doesn't go to school on Fridays, so tomorrow may be a little more relaxing.

I have finished my September Watercolour Pencil Buddies swap and will try to get it in the mail tomorrow. Once it is in the hands of the recipient, I will share it with you.

I'm still hoping to find some time to work on my watercolor work in progress and may have something to share tomorrow.

While I was at ballet class with Miss 8 yesterday evening, the son called to see if we could take Miss 7 months on Sunday and overnight. I am thrilled that the hubster said yes.

So much to do - it is starting out a beautiful day and I'd better make the most of it.

xoxo

Surrogate Parent, AJE, and More Digital Scrapbooking

2011-09-21T10:52:00.001-04:00

Beginning today after school, the hubster and I are "parenting" Miss 8 1/2 and Miss 4 until Sunday. I think I'd better start getting more sleep in preparation. I didn't go to bed until 4:30 this morning. I was downloading free stuff from the My Memories website, uploading old patterns and embellishments that I made in Photoshop many moons ago, and watching watercolor videos in YouTube. There are some wonderful tutorials for this software, too. I can only use this much bandwidth between the hours of 2 AM and 7 AM, so sometimes I am up most of the night.

I was able to verify that all my old files work just wonderfully in the My Memories digital scrapbooking software and I have another couple to share with you. The pictures are from when the girls were little.

This photo is one of my all-time favorites. This little one is now 8 years old.

What great memories I have of those all too fleeting days.

I've begun to make some new memories as well. Yesterday after school my daughter brought out her two girls so we could have a little celebration for Miss Morgan whose birthday we missed this past weekend. I bought cupcakes and ice cream and picked up some "school" books and a pair of slippers for her presents. She was thrilled with the whole celebration.

As you can see, I made the cupcakes myself .

Big sis - posing.

I have begun to have so many interests again that I think I am going to need a schedule - maybe something like:

Monday - bookbinding

Tuesday - watercolor

Wednesday - digital scrapbooking

Thursday - journaling

Friday - sketching

Saturday - watercolor pencil

Sunday - oil pastels

Oh no, I've already run out of days!!! What about photography, digital art, mail art, acrylics, collage, crochet..... and just where does housework fit into this schedule. So much art, so little time.

Meanwhile, while waiting for my downloads to arrive, I began adding to my new journal as part of the Artful Journaling - Explorations class. Here is the cover page (in progress). It needs color and doodling before I can think of it as complete.

I'm thinking the letters need some layers in other colors and perhaps the word "Explorations" needs to be added into the background maybe on a diagonal.

And here is the beginning of the "Lemons" assignment:

It needs the addition of color and decoration. The bowl is white with dark blue stripes and the lemons have a bit of yellow, gold and green. It is a bit light, but if you click on it I think you will be able to see it better.

I've had a couple of cups of coffee and now need some cereal and fruit to get this day started. I think I am going to get back to the watercolor landscape I've put aside. I hope to have some progress to share with you tomorrow.

Meanwhile, if you like what you've seen so far in the digital scrapbooking part of my posts, you can use the coupon code in the side bar to get this amazing software at an incredible price. I will be putting together the rules for the software giveaway real soon. I would like to have ways you can enter more than once and would love to hear if you have ideas besides either a post on your blog linking back to me or a visit to the website to choose a favorite designer pack.

It is almost 11 am already and I think I'd better get this day started.....

xoxo