New Work in Moleskine

Some new work in my moleskine... Obviously I have abandoned the idea of completing the Every Day in May challenge. Life got too hectic at work and at home and so it goes... BUT since there are NO RULES in my sketchbook, then I refuse to feel guilty. I will simply move on and paint and sketch when time allows.






Had to take Daddy to the cardiologist for a checkup last Tuesday and the sketches above were the result of my waiting time, which turned out to be rather limited since we were only there for an hour total. The problem with waiting room sketches is the people don't wait very long. Each time I started a drawing of someone, they got up and left... quite frustrating.



I did this at lunch 5/13 sitting at Taco Bell looking across at this church steeple. I used my new Pelikan gouache later to add color.



I did this from my imagination - it is inspired by my rhododendron and bird feeder outside my living room window. An indigo bunting has been visiting the feeder and it a simply stunning sight nestled in the rhododendron bush! I used a Sakura glaze gel pen for the drawing and then Pelikan gouache for the color. I sort of wanted this stained glass look. I rather like this - it was part of a larger drawing and I had included a table set for coffee or tea in the foreground, but I didn't like how it turned out, so I collaged the window portion of the drawing, which I very much liked, in my moleskine. I haven't decided how to fill the rest of the 2-page spread, but time will tell.

Interesting effect

This is something I played around with last week. I drew the page on right with my Caran d'Ache (looking so luscious and bright in the photo below) and then wet a torn portion of a paper towel and pressed it into the dry watercolor crayons making the image/impression on the towel (pictured on the left). I haven't collaged these down yet not knowing exactly how I want this to turn out, but a very interesting effect I think.

A Blast from the Past

The pastel drawing above is now in my kitchen, quite by an amazing turn of events - divine intervention I believe. Here is how the story unfolds... I completed this drawing in 1992. I was dating a very monstrous young man at the time (another story) and was sitting out in his mother's garden at his home. She had purchased me a set of pastels and a sketchbook after hearing that I loved to draw and paint. These are her impatiens (I believe they were impatiens - pink flowers at any rate). After a few torturous months I finally rid myself of this young man and moved on with my pastel painting intact in the sketchbook. Later I framed this and then after I married my husband in 1994 this painting became linked to an old memory that I wanted to be rid of naturally. Our neighbor at the time was a dear older lady who had no close family and lived alone. When my daughter was born, she came to see us bearing gifts and we became acquaintences. She valued art and I gave her this piece. Years pass and my daughter is now 13... We moved and I've wondered about this sweet lady often since...

To the present... there is a church across the street from our house and they were having a yard sale last Saturday. I walked across the road and looked down to see this very pastel painting. I screamed, "I did that!!!" "How did you get it!!" Of course, upon remembering when and where I completed the work and forgetting that I had kept it after the breakup, my first thought was that it had somehow come to be there through this old boyfriend's family and I got a very sick feeling in my stomach, but then I kept asking and as it turns out, the nephew of that dear lady whom I had given this painting is actually the pastor of the church across the street from me!!! She is now in a nursing home and they had cleaned out her home and most of the things in the yard sale belonged to her. He had now bought the property where she lived and was renting out her home. BUT, the lady is still living although her mind is very bad, so I can actually go and visit her in the nursing home. She won't know me of course, but maybe it will make her feel good to have a visitor.

Now of course it is (as we all know) every artist's dream to have her work in a yard sale for $2, but it makes a great story nonetheless. I donated the money for the painting, refusing to say that I was buying it since I was the artist, and brought it back to its original home.

Amazing, huh!! Coincidence, I don't think so...

Rainy Sunday Evening

There will come soft rain and the smell of the ground,
And swallows circling with their shimmering sound;
And frogs in the pools singing at night,
And wild plum-trees in tremulous white;
Robins will wear their feathery fire
Whistling their whims on a low fence-wire;
And not one will know of the war, not one
Will care at last when it is done.

-- Sara Teasdale

EDinMay #14 - Health Screening

I created this spread in celebration of the successful health screening I had done at work yesterday. I have worked very hard during the past four-six months to get my weight and cholesterol down, and it has proven successful!! I'm so pleased!
I did find that I had very low blood pressure, but all turned out well when I called the doctor and was instructed to stop taking one of my medications, which was likely the cause of the low blood pressure. Less medicine and everything is great. I had a full panel blood workup done and everything is normal, including my iron. I do have low sodium so I need to drink less. I do tend to "drown my sorrows" in coffee, tea, and lots of water. I think it is more habit than anything else. So today I have tried to drink less. It has actually been very difficult. You know you hear everywhere, in fact we're bombarded with "Drink more water! Get your eight glasses a day!" Well for some people apparently that is not the answer to all problems. So now I have to try and break a supposedly great habit of drinking that water. Makes one think... I seem to be finding rules are made to be broken lately LOL. Hey - you know what else! I have not exercised during this weight and cholesterol reduction. I have cut back on calories and really haven't deprived myself at all. I do walk occasionally, but certainly not what you would consider actively. Another interesting notation...

A look back ...

The sketches below were done in 2002-2003. I love the crispness of the lines and the combination of pen and wash.






The sketch is above is of a barn that has since disappeared due to a highway addition. I was heartbroken when I saw it being torn down. This is one of many sketches I did of it. It was such an appealing addition to the landscape.



Thankfully this barn is still there, but is very dilapidated now - very close to falling down.

Isn't it sad, the slow disappearance of all the lovely barns.

Important Discoveries and EDinM # 11

Thanks to Liz Steel of http://borrominibear.blogspot.com/ who has inspired me so much. First of all, she knows that she is a "sketchbook artist only." She knows who she is, what she likes, and what her art is about. (Read her About Me section.) Decisive, focused, sure.
That's my goal - to know what I'm about, what I like, and what I need to be doing in my art. What are my goals and objectives for my art. That is a question that Roz http://rozwoundup.typepad.com/roz_wound_up/ posed to me in an earlier conversation about supplies.

I can relate to so much of Liz Steel's blog. Deep down my passion is sketching in a sketchbook; however, I continually feel this need to prove my worth as a "real artist." That is something I must overcome. What in the world defines a "real artist?" I think in my mind it is someone who has a studio and works full-time, making a living at their art. That makes one a "real artist." Reminds me of how Pinocchio wanted to become a "real boy." What is this need in me? This need for validation and this search for self worth... Sometimes I try and satisfy this need with the purchase of new supplies - a new purchase everytime I read a reference to something I don't have in a blog, or sometimes I enter local art shows; I've joined a co-op gallery, rented a studio space only to find that didn't make me a real artist and didn't work out for me at all - none of it fulfilled the need. Because I suppose the need is something in me... something that I need to let go of.
I've spent the last week contemplating and soul-searching. The result - I've decided to put a buying freeze on myself for one year. I will buy no art supplies or books for one year. I will use that year to enjoy, use, and explore what I have already amassed. I compare it somewhat to bulemic binging and purging, only not with food, but with art supplies and books. It is a sickness and it is not healthy, financially or mentally. So until May 11, 2010, I will refrain (at my own choosing) from purchasing any new art supplies or books. During that time I hope I can relax, focus, and allow myself to detach and figure out what's really important to me, without so many distractions and overwhelming "things to do."

Having said all this, in keeping with this new goal and these discoveries, I have done two 2-page spreads for today's Every Day in May #11. Thanks to Liz Steel, I had the fresh realization (or perhaps epiphany) that my sketchbook is mine. It doesn't have to be restricted to only "original art" nor does it have to be restricted to only archival materials. It is for me to play, experiment, learn and grow. I can copy or make a mess and it's okay!! Basically, anything goes - because it's mine! What freedom! I have decided that starting today I will try drawing new things - especially people and not just draw things I'm most familiar with or like to draw the most - like flowers, teacups, birds, books, etc. But hard things, things that will push me, test me, strengthen me, and motivate me to learn and become a better artist. I will feel free to copy drawings from books, draw from photos in magazines, or anything else I feel like doing, because there are no rules!! Imagine! No rules! Why did I never think of that before ? So below are my beginning studies of drawing people. I may continue it or I may not - because there are ... you guessed it... NO RULES!!

Every Day in May 9 and 10

Every Day in May Days 6, 7, and 8

Here are my latest three Every Day in May challenges. Today's (5/8/09) also satisfies EDM Challenge # 154 - Draw or Paint a Lemon.

Colored Pencil from Memory

Trying to capture the diverse greens in the May landscape. Did this
from memory - but will try again from life. I love spring! The greens are
spectacular - even in the rain, it's beautiful!

EDM 222 and EDinM # 5

EDM #222 - Draw your favorite drawing tool
This was a hard decision. I had to decide between two favorites -
the Prismacolor Warm Gray 90% pencil and the Pigma Micron pen.
This was drawn with a Cool Gray 90% pencil because I didn't have the
Warm Gray at work. So I was able to include both my favorite
drawing tools in this 2-page spread and to satisfy my Every Day in
May challenge for today. All in a day's work !

Every Day in May Days 1-4

Weekend sketching

Amidst spring cleaning I managed to do a couple of quick sketches

Birds at my feeder outside my living room window ...
A closeup view of page...

and below...a lovely white pitcher that sits on a cabinet in my living room - filled with silk daisies - hopefully soon to be real ones from my garden!

Need color on this one