January 13, 2013 January 13, 2013

Another page of sketches from Gulf Shores. I was amazed at the color diversity I saw looking at Heather’s shell collection this year. I have never seen a green shell when collecting in the past. I also have never seen the fragile beauty of the tiny shell with the purplish stripes. The green, purple and pinkish/gray shells were all tiny, fragile things – obviously not drawn to scale. I was just trying to capture the general shape, color and direction of the stripes and blotches. I really mangled the purple stripes which were a delicate purple/magenta color much lighter than shown. Oh well – I was on vacation… I’m always too hard on myself. It’s our nature, isn’t it?

Just a quick note about the BP Oil spill. Workers were on the beach two days during our visit searching for and cleaning small blobs of oil from the beach. This activity ended while we were visiting Gulf Shores. I did not see any oil in evidence but my son-in-law saw two small blobs. The birds and fish and dolphins appear to have recovered but I thought you would find it interesting to know that BP continued to fund clean-up until January 2 or 3, 2013 and that it has now stopped. I hope the municipal areas continue to monitor the situation since this was such a massive environmental disaster. Again, I must be honest – I didn’t see any problem during my visit. Here are my shells:

Gulf Shores Shells

January 11, 2013 January 11, 2013

I took my three daughters and their familes to Gulf Shores for the holidays. Ken and I loved Gulf Shores. When I worked on my MBA, Ken would pick me up after my last final in December and we would start the 12 hour drive to the sandy beaches. Our anniversary is in mid-December so we used these vacations as a time to celebrate. The most interesting story I have from our time there was about the native’s reaction to snow. One December we were staying at the State Park in Gulf Shores (buildings destroyed but hurricane Ivan, I think) and they had their first snowfall in 15 years. The response to less than an inch of snow was very dramatic…schools closed, servers sent home, road crews responded…for someone from the snowy north pretty extreme stuff. I’m not making fun but we did enjoy the reaction – after we found somewhere to eat dinner!

My daughter, Heather, was the shell collector on this trip. She walked on the beach every morning looking for specimens that she did not already have. I have never found crabs on the beach before but she found three whole, unviolated specimens. The birds had not had time to peck them to pieces yet. I used one of her finds for this sheet of sketches. The page includes gestural, contour and colored pencil sketches. Very fun to do.

Sketches and colored pencil drawing – Gulf Shores

October 23, 2012 October 23, 2012

We have storms blowing in and rain is pounding outside. Seems like a good time to show you the second little painting I did from a monoprint in Cheng Khee Chee’s workshop. I explained the technique in my last post. Here is the second monoprint I did. Both monoprint 1 & 2 are small – probably about 6″ X 9″.

Monoprint 2

With these colors and the textures and shapes in the middle, I could see a flower garden so that’s what I decided to develop. I did positive and negative painting and also used colored pencils. If you need to lighten an area the unsized paper will swallow watercolor but colored pencils will do the job. Here is my flower garden.

Monoprint 2 – Finished

I actually wanted to spend more time working on this but I had reached the point of diminishing returns. Probably back to my ATC’s. Enjoy some summer on this sodden Fall day!

October 19, 2012 October 20, 2012

The maple leaves are falling fast and soon they will gone. So sad because this time of year is absolutely beautiful in Indiana.  I have finished two more maple leaf ATC’s. It has been fun to play with the compositions and to choose a new leaf for each piece. These are on watercolor paper and are a combination of both watercolor and colored pencil. Such fun! I will have to explore the neighborhood to see if the oaks have much color this year. Some years they have beautiful, rich greens and reds and purples but they don’t have the glow and fire of the maples. Enjoy this slice of an Indiana Fall.

Maple Leaf 4 – ATC

Maple Leaf 3 – ATC

October 18, 2012 October 18, 2012

Hi! Indiana apples are here! I was able to complete two more ATC’s for the collection that I send to friends and relatives at Christmas. Yesterday’s leaves were on vellum finish bristol board and I used colored pencils. The apples are on watercolor paper and I used primarily watercolor with some colored pencil. Making progress! Only about 10 more to go. The maple leaves are falling fast so I may have to use pears and oak leaves – or my imagination!!??

Apple 2- ATC

Apple 1 – ATC

October 16, 2012 October 17, 2012

Some of you that have followed my blog for awhile will remember that I give my family ATC’s for Christmas. They get an original work of art with their Christmas card and I have fun creating them. Two days ago I suddenly realized I had not started making my ATC’s (artist trading cards)…not one! Luckily I am immersed in a vibrant, glowing Indiana autumn. When I walked Buffy and Baxter yesterday I gathered a handful of beautiful red and orange maple leaves. They are full of color and vitality and I made a start. Photography exaggerates the flaws since these are so small.

Maple Leaf 2 – ATC

Maple Leaf 1 – ATC

December 18, 2011 December 18, 2011

I want to thank all of my friends in the blogging world for your kindness and for sending blessings, prayers and positive thoughts our way. It has been a very trying and challenging period for us. To make a long story short I will tell you only that in the last two and a half weeks Ken has been in two hospitals and last Thursday he was admitted to inpatient hospice. His pain was uncontrolled and he has refused to eat and drink. At the hospice they have adjusted his pain management plan and he is painfree at this time. We have had two and a half days of comfort, quiet and peace. If this continues he will probably come home Monday afternoon. Hospice will be with us from here on out and they are wonderful and the facility is homelike and incredibly peaceful and comfortable.

I have only had the energy to do one drawing. It is in colored pencil and as you can see was done several days ago. It is my little Sami girl and I am still trying to capture the fact that she glows with light.

Sami Girl Redux in Colored Pencil

I don’t know how often I will be able to post. Ken will have my attention from here on out. Thank you all again for your kindness, generosity and support.

 

September 13, 2011 September 14, 2011

This MAY be my last ATC of cherry tomatoes. I thought I was done but I saw a beautiful cluster on the vine yesterday. The tomatoes are ripening more slowly and this cluster had  yellows and oranges and reds. Really gorgeous. But that may be in the future. Today’s post is another ATC using primarily colored pencil. It is on vellum finished illustration board. The greens in this one started to “get away from me”. Greens are tough…

Cherry Tomatoes 4 - ATC

 

 

September 10, 2011 September 12, 2011

Summer rolls on and the weather here in Indianapolis is wonderful – some light rain, temps in the high 70′s and low 80′s, light breeze. Windows are open and the air conditioning is “Off”. Just great! My garden continues to be bountiful (at least for two people with a few give aways.) I am still enchanted by the beauty of cherry tomatoes. This ATC is done on ATC sized vellum surfaced Bristol Board with colored pencils and a dark gray marker.

Cherry Tomatoe 3 - ATC

For me this is good prectice because I don’t normally work with colored pencils but I am amazed by what experienced artists can achieve with them.

Reminder: End of Spring Challenge June 6, 2011

Just a reminder!

Hi all you creative types! Last year we did three virtual paint-outs here on WordPress and boy were they fun. I am issuing the call for our first paint out of 2011. I am a devoted reader of Oprah magazine and this month I was captured, I was enchanted, I was gripped by six words from a poem by e. e. cummings. I am a farm girl who grew up among the green fields and forests of Indiana. The words that captured my imagination are “the leaping greenly spirits of trees”. I would like to offer these as the inspiration for our first paint out. I hope everyone reading this realizes that the “Paint Out” is open to all artists whether you paint with a brush, a needle, a word processor.

On the last day of Spring, Monday, June 20th, please post your creation on your blog and leave a comment on my post. If you are not a blogger and would still like to participate, email me your creation and I will do a follow-up post with your work.

Thanks to all who join the community and accept the challenge.