Russ

I want my sisters to know I tried 10 minutes of sketching on Saturday afternoon - on a constantly moving model. Russ was busy fixing a table that fell apart when Stef and I were moving it. He was very gracious about his rather space alien appearance in the upper left!
I've started on a water colour of a sunrise cactus... But simply HAD to clean up 4 months of pile up on my desk first. Hopefully this will help me feel like I can spend time painting with a clear conscience!

Hyacinth watercolour

My first watercolour in a very L-O-N-G time... I thoroughly enjoyed doing it, once the beginner nerves and pangs of anxiety were overcome. My b/w sketch below - the balance of the picture is more accurate. Here I made the blossoms huge and didn't leave enough room for the tall green leaves. Four days after the b/w sketch, the flowers lowered themselves to touching the table. I wasn't able to come up with the delicate shade of lavender... Since its January and quite grey and rainy outside, I worked under a very bright spot light.

Hyacinth in the house

So I finally got down to some 2008 drawing. I struggle to know what to do with the background of a little sketch like this. I'm getting used to my assortment of beautiful brushes!
The scent of these flowers has been quite overpowering, but in a pleasant way!

Astromeria

I was trying out my new paint pen... I got the background way too dark. Mix with more water!!
And the vase doesn't look very SEATED on the table - more like its floating...
But I'm amazed at the way the posting improves my artwork!! This one looks much better here than in my little book!

Backyard

A favourite view of our backyard through the French doors. The umbrella bathed in afternoon sunlight. The green of the lawn, leaves and foliage lit up like a Tiffany masterpiece. I'm going to have to be brave and try it in watercolour some day.

A Cold Day

It is nippy in Sugar Land today. This post reminds me of hot Texas days - our umbrella, sun faded and friendly, offering much needed shade - if one is to sit in our backyard.

The Floating Bench

This was a doodle sort of drawing. Whenever I feel the urge to doodle, I usually draw flowers or some sort of mother/child picture. I hope to use this little sketch as a reference one day... the early sketches - - - and the later, hopefully much improved sketches!

Bishop Hall

I drew this from memory in a rather child-like fashion. We drove Vonnie, our daughter, to her new college campus - new to her, that is. The time was spent moving her into her dorm and exploring the place. I don't think she would have been pleased with me if I'd sat on the lawn to draw her dorm building! Hence this one from memory...

On the road to Ohio

I'm quite pleased with this little farm sketch I did as we were driving...
I was VERY relaxed and in my own little "bubble." I can get really tense when I draw, frustrated that its not turning out quite right. Oh to come to appreciate that the learning is in the doing, no matter what it looks like - to leave behind the pressure of my drawing having to be brilliant and successful! It certainly helps to be relaxed.

Lily Cat

This was a doodle in the car driving our daughter up to Miami University in Ohio. Sadly we had to have Lily put down last November ('07) But she was a really beautiful cat - a ginger tabby with Siamese body type - long and lean. My sister, Vivienne, told me she was very unusual because most ginger cats are MALE! I dreamed last night, that she came to our door - I opened the door to let her in, and realized it wasn't her - but a male ginger tabby with a very short tail like a manx. He was sweet - and in my dream we decided to keep him!

Mick Jagger

Left... Stef looks a bit Mick Jagger'ish here, but I like his body pose.

The Long Arm...

My son, Stefan, watching telly with our mutt puppy, Pippa. They held this pose for - oh... 2 seconds. But I love it because it does remind me of the boy and his dog relationship.
And if I had an arm like that, I'd never need my little step ladder!

Hmmmm...

Well - it's day two of me and my blog. The scanner on the printer isn't working - so... no posting of old sketches just yet. The pantry is coming on nicely though! It is starting to smell "lemony fresh" in there. I discovered THREE containers of caraway seed. And a pound of cumin powder... What am I going to do with that?

My blog...

Started today - January 10, 2008. Inspired by my sister, Catherine. Her blog has been so much fun to follow, and has clearly brought her and ME such joy - that I thought I should give it a go too.
But ha ha ha - I'm not going to tell anyone about my blog just yet. It's a secret. Just to know that I've got it is GOOD at this point! I have to go and clean my pantry, put some more Christmas stuff away... then I might go and find some of my "old" drawings to put on here. You have to start somewhere, right? So long - for now...