Iris

Never sketch a flower one day and expect to paint it several days later - it won't be there. The day I sketched this iris in pencil, there was one bloom on the stem, and there were 3 buds waiting to bloom. When I returned to paint my sketch, at least there was still a flower blooming - but all the buds were gone. I was lucky that I didn't wait any longer!

I'm wishing now that I had erased a couple of the buds before I started painting, but I didn't, so it is what it is.

Spring Drive

This is a memory sketch; a general impression of the trees we were seeing on our drive, done in our hotel room in the evening.

Writing says: Every year for several years now, we have driven to Tennessee to visit friends. We left today. The trees don't have a lot of leaves yet, but we've seen lots of flowering trees, esp. Bradford Pears and some Redbuds.

Imaginary Trip to England - Kew Gardens

Laure provides photos for us for most of our lessons (although we are free to use other images if we choose). But for our trip to the Kew Gardens, we were to wander around on our own and decide what to sketch.

I wandered around flickr and found 3 photos to sketch. I've obtained each photographer's permission to post my sketches based on their photographs.

The Kew Palace photo is here.

The Camellia photo is here.

And the Tulip photo is here.

Imaginary Trip to England - Details

The true secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life. -William Morris

Imaginary Trip to England - Fog

England has a lot of fog, with over 30 inches of rain per year. I don't usually do mornings, but this sunrise was worth getting up for.

I'm not really in England (even though I'd like to be) - I'm on an Imaginary Trip with Laure Ferlita.

Imaginary Trip to England - Ancient Ruins

We traveled all the way to Yorkshire today, where we saw so many ruins I lost track of which priory this was. Most of what we saw dated all the way back to the 12th century. I so wanted to be able to open this door; what could the stones have told me? I certainly can't see anything this old in the U.S.

I'm not really in England (even though I'd like to be) - I'm on an Imaginary Trip with Laure Ferlita.

The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

I enjoy reading books that take ancient stories or myths and retell them from a new perspective.  I have read several books like this (Helen of Troy by Margaret George and the Guenevere series by Rosalind Miles are a couple of examples I've read in recent years).  The Red Tent is another example.  It is the story of Dinah, the daughter of Jacob and Leah from the bible, told in her own voice.  The title refers to the place where women gathered during their monthly cycles and to give birth.  It begins during Dinah's childhood with her mother and her father's 3 other wives and tells the story of her life.  It was an interesting look into the lives of women during biblical times.  I rate this book 4 out of 5.

Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

In July, 1942, 10-year-old Sarah and her parents are arrested by the French police, who are cooperating with the German Gestapo to round up all of the Jews in Paris.  Because Sarah believes they will back home soon, she locks her younger brother in a cupboard, their secret hiding place, to protect him.  Sixty years later, Julia Jarmond, an American journalist living in Paris, is researching the roundup for a story she is writing for her magazine.  She becomes obsessed with learning what happened to Sarah.  The early chapters alternate back and forth between the past and the present.  It was a very moving and heartbreaking story, and I rate it 5 out of 5.  It is my 7th book for the New Author Challenge 2010.

Imaginary Trip to England - Day 2

We went to a real English Pub (Public House) today, and what fun we had! It's so great to be with a group of artists - no one thinks it's rude to sketch while we talk and eat.

No, I'm not really in England (even though I wish I was) - I'm on an Imaginary Trip with Laure Ferlita.

Imaginary Trip to England - Day 1

I wish I was REALLY in England!! But this is definitely a fun way to "see" the country - no travel necessary. I've joined Laure Ferlita and several other artists in an Imaginary Trip. On our first day, we went to Buckingham Palace and St. James's Palace to see the Guards.

Beneath a Marble Sky by John Shors

The Taj Mahal is a mausoleum built by the Emperor of Hindustan in the 17th century as a monument to his beloved wife.  The Emperor's daughter, Princess Jahanara, tells the story to her two granddaughters many years after the fact, and also tells about her forbidden love for the architect.  The author does a good job of making the events and characters real.  The further along I read, the better the story got, until near the end, I couldn't put it down.  I rate it 4 out of 5.  This is my sixth book for the New Author Challenge.

Cat Figurine

I recently completed a beginning drawing class with J. Elizabeth Johnson. This was an in person class instead of an internet class, and Elizabeth is a good teacher (her website is here). She then offered an intermediate class to follow up, but I had date conflicts, so she very generously offered to teach me by email. I drew this for my first lesson.

A good friend gave me this figurine when her mother-in-law died - my friend is allergic to cats and she knows how much I love them, so she thought I would enjoy the figurine (which I do). My first lesson was to draw an object from life rather than from a photograph. I chose this figurine (the photo is below).

I'm finding that I really don't care much for drawing with graphite pencil, but I'm learning a lot anyway.  And the better my drawing skills are, the better my paintings will look.

Loving Frank by Nancy Horan

While this novel is labeled as historical fiction, it is the mostly true story of Mamah Borthwick Cheney, the woman who lived with Frank Lloyd Wright for several years without the benefit of marriage.  Mamah and her husband Edwin hired Frank Lloyd Wright to build a house for them, and during the building process, Frank and Mamah fell in love.  Mamah was a very well educated, independent woman, even by today's standards, but especially for her times.  While she was eventually able to divorce Edwin, Frank's wife would not agree to a divorce.  Mamah and Frank went to Europe together, and when they returned to the US, Frank bought property in Wisconsin and built a home for himself and Mamah.  I knew very little of the personal life of Frank Lloyd Wright, and I had never heard of Mamah Borthwick Cheney, so I found it to be an interesting story.  I rate the book 3 out of 5.  It is my 5th book for the New Authors Challenge.

Amaryllis

Our amaryllis has 4 blooms on one stem this year; I elected to just paint one.

Appalachian Trail

Journaling reads:  "We drove to Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia, with Brian and Jessica so that they could start their hike of the Appalachian Trail.  We hiked with them for about a mile before we turned back and they hiked on.  I hated saying goodbye to them, but they trained for this trip for months, and they’re ready for it.  Their goal was to make it into New York state, which they did in less time than they expected (one month instead of six weeks)."

I've used a sketch by Jen Caputo, a date stamp by Heather Roselli, an overlay by Linda Gil Billdal, and papers and elements by Eve Recinella and Manda Bean.

Lighthouses of the Outer Banks - right

This is the right side of a 2 page spread from our trip to the Outer Banks of North Carolina in 2008.

Journaling reads:  "We climbed to the top of Cape Hatteras (268 steps) and Currituck Beach (214 steps) Lights.  Currituck is one of the few unpainted lighthouses. We went inside but weren’t allowed to climb Roanoke Marshes Light.  We weren’t even allowed inside Bodie Island or Ocracoke Island Lights."

I've used a sketch by BlueMedia, a date stamp by Heather Roselli, and papers and elements by Eve Recinella, Michelle Coleman, and Amber Clegg.

Lighthouses of the Outer Banks - left

This is the left side of a 2 page spread from our trip to the Outer Banks of North Carolina in 2008.

I've used a sketch by BlueMedia and papers and elements by Eve Recinella.

Saint Paul Winter Carnival

My DH complained recently that I hadn't done any scrap booking for over 2 years and we had a lot of photos. So I've decided I need to do at least a few pages. These are just a few of the many ice sculptures we saw in St. Paul when we went to the US National Figure Skating Championships in 2008.

I've used a sketch by Rachael Giallongo, a date stamp by Heather Roselli, and papers and elements by Michelle Coleman.

Lighthouse

This is the final page in my Imaginary Visit to the Beach sketchbook. It was not part of the lessons, but I had one page left, and I couldn't leave it blank. Since I love lighthouses, I decided that's what I would paint. I'm quite pleased with it.

Cover

This was my final lesson from Laure Ferlita in her Imaginary Visit to the Beach class. I have enjoyed it so much and learned so much! This page is the cover of my journal.

Old Banyan Tree - Again

I put this in my regular journal. It's amazing how much more you learn by doing the same painting more than once! I wanted to see if I could get clouds in my sky (I did) and make my roots look more gnarled (I think I did). And I wanted to get more colors and values into my tree. There is a white spot in the water that must be some sort of flaw in the paper - it wouldn't take the paint. So I put a few more white spots around it to make it look a little more natural. Weird.

And I think I've finally learned how to use my water brush. Sometimes I'm a little slow on the uptake - I finally realized that if I squeeze it while I'm painting, I'll get water on the page. DUH! Up until now, I'd just been holding the brush, being careful NOT to squeeze it. I don't know why that never clicked with me before, but better late than never I guess.

Single Shell

I decided to paint this shell for my regular journal. I am quite pleased with how it turned out, especially since I didn't have Laure's video instruction for how to paint it.

Shells

There is only one more lesson in my Beach Visit. I'll be really sad to see it end.

Old Banyan Tree

I'm still learning to use my waterbrush. This is lesson 8 in my Imaginary Visit to the Beach with Laure Ferlita.

Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin

Set in England in 1171, four children have been brutally murdered.  The townspeople blame the Jews, who are placed under the protection of King Henry II for their own safety.  Because the king needs the taxes paid by the Jewish merchants, he asks his cousin, the King of Sicily, for help, because the best medical doctors in Europe are some of his subjects and include an early form of medical examiner.  But he sends Adelia, who is viewed with suspicion everywhere she goes.  It is a fascinating story of superstition, prejudice, and intolerance.  I rate it 4 out of 5.  This is my 4th book for the New Author Challenge.

Sea Turtle

There are only a few days left with Laure Ferlita at the beach - I'll be sad to see it come to an end. But I think I'll join her for An Imaginary Trip to Paris in April. Anyone else want to come along? You can read about it here.

Boardwalk

I'm continuing to enjoy my Imaginary Visit to the Beach with Laure Ferlita.

Pepper

In addition to the drawing class I'm taking, I'm also trying to work my way through the book Keys to Drawing by Bert Dodson. This exercise was to draw two peppers - one from memory, a second from an actual pepper. I'm not going to post the one from memory; one of the points of the exercise was to learn that our mental images of items are only symbols of the actual items.

Car

I think I may have mentioned that I'm taking a drawing class; if not, I should have, because it's been great. I'm taking it at a rubber stamp store called And Bear Makes 3 that is located in Moore, Oklahoma, and it's being taught by Elizabeth Johnson. Today was my last class. We were to choose a photo from a magazine of something we wanted to draw. I have no idea why I chose this; I think I might have thought it would be easy; I was wrong. Once I got into it, I discovered it was MUCH more complicated than I thought it would be. But I'm fairly satisfied with how it turned out.

In the Lake of the Woods by Tim O'Brien

John Wade has just lost a primary election for the U.S. Senate.  He and his wife escape to a remote cabin in northern Minnesota.  A few days later his wife disappears.  The story moves backwards and forwards in time.  Through flashbacks, we learn about John's difficult childhood, his love of magic, his service in Vietnam, and his political ambitions.  The author presents a variety of theories for what might have happened.  He also presents a great deal of information about motivations and how it is impossible to really know another person.  It was extremely well written, and I rate it 5 out of 5.

This was my first book for the Vietnam War Reading Challenge, my third book for the New Author Challenge, and the current month's selection for my book club.