Pileated Woodpeckers and Roosters

The day after I posted the last update we saw a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers come to the tree nearest the kitchen window, then fly to the back of the yard. They hung around that tree for about ten minutes, during which time we all three stayed glued to the window and kept passing the binoculars back and forth. How wonderful! The night before we sat outside and observed the beautiful lunar eclipse. :)

Since then we've had a quiet two weeks of school, fishing, and enjoying the outdoors. Today it turned cold, however! We woke to snow flurries and wind, and the temperature never got above 43. For this Alabama gal that is quite cold!



Our neighbors have two very colorful roosters, and they wander into our yard occasionally. They rarely come close enough or stand still long enough for me to do more than brief sketches, but I love seeing all the color on them! I'm going to continue to try to capture them in my sketchbook and enjoy the process. What beautiful birds!



Last night I roughly sketched my grandmother's very pretty bread board. The sketch doesn't do it justice, but it's got a ring of carving around the edge. I keep it because it was hers, but I don't use it. :)

I haven't done any actual painting lately, but I sure have been enjoying sketching!

Daffodils in the new home

Yesterday I took a break from unpacking and sketched the first daffodils blooming at the new house. I only spent about ten minutes on it, but really enjoyed doing it! I have to get back to pursuing my goal of sketching every day this year. This past week I've not done so well...

I'm part of an online art group called Everyday Matters, and there is a weekly challenge of something to draw. They are currently at week #157 or so, and I just recently joined. Therefore, I am going to be doing some of the older challenges mixed in with other things! Here is #1- a shoe. The daffodils fit #76 (flowers) and #124 (something yellow).

Christmas Fun

Well, after most of the gifts were exchanged and the wonderful meals cooked and eaten, my dad, sister and I decided to sit at the table and do some sketching! Mom and Dad gave me a new sketch pen and sketch book, so I used the pen. The sketch book is the perfect size for my purse! I used larger ones for these sketches, however.

I had the newest scavenger hunt list from Wetcanvas, and we drew some items from the list. My favorite things were the tools that my dad brought out for us to draw. They were his father's clamps and a London Screwdriver, and they are over 100 years old. You can click on the pictures to see larger versions with more detail.

The larger clamp is about 24 inches on the longest side, and the screwdriver is maybe 14 inches long- very hefty. I've never seen another screwdriver like it.




I don't have scans of anyone's drawings but mine, but my dad and sister did a great job on theirs! My new pen contained non-permanent ink, so I used a waterbrush to blend the lines and add shading, and added a touch of watercolor as well. I had so much fun!

One more item from the list is below- a sweet potato. There are several more, but I hate to bore you with posting them all! It's the most I've been able to participate in one of the scavenger hunts in ages, and I really enjoyed it.



I hope you all had a very pleasant Christmas, and are looking forward to a blessed new year!

More pictures of David

I thought I'd upload a couple more pictures of David during the Expo last week. He and I took a break (or gave the other exhibitors a break!) for a couple of hours on Thursday and went out to the beach. I was so cold! I was wearing jeans and a light jacket and still wrapped up in our towels while David played. I also brought a small sketch book and did a couple of drawings while sitting there. Just about the time I started really getting into them and enjoying the opportunity to draw some Laughing Gulls, David got cold and we had to go in.

I thought you might also like to see the view from our window of the spectacular sunset that night! Wow. Isn't God's creation magnificent??!

I've sold a number of my card packs already, much to my encouragement. Today I sat down and looked through other paintings and decided to have a few more printed to see how they look. If I like them I may print notes from them as well. I need to find time to paint! :)

If I don't post again before Thanksgiving, I hope everyone has a blessed one! Stay safe on the roads if you travel.

Note Card packs for Christmas gifts

After I sent out my last blog update, a friend followed the link to see my note cards on Greeting Card Universe, but wanted to buy them in packs to give as Christmas presents. Greeting Card Universe doesn't do that, so I decided to do it myself. :)


For now I've come up with 2 different groups, each composed of 8 note cards (2 each of 4 designs) and envelopes. I have several paintings not included in these, but plan to increase my selection in future if these do well.


The first set is all florals. The second one includes paintings of a monastery in Ukraine, so I'm calling it the monastery group. If you'd like to order some packs to give as Christmas presents, please let me know! thebrashers1@bellsouth.net Each pack of 8 cards and envelopes is $12.00.




We just returned from a home builders association's new product expo, where Jon had an exhibit of his invention, Storm Greeter. It seemed to be well received, and everyone who stopped and looked was very interested. We're really excited about it and expect it to take off very soon! For more information on this great product that will protect metal construction components from rust and corrosion, see http://www.missioncreekllc.com/.


David had a great time! He became the sous chef of the chef hired to demonstrate an induction stove for one of the exhibitors. One thing about David is that he is NOT shy. He got to know all the exhibitors in the hall and then cooked most of the day. The chef said that he made a wonderful helper, doing exactly what he was told and then able to recreate the recipe on the third time around. It was a really good experience for him!


I also got a chance to do a little sketching on two afternoons, and I enjoyed that!

Art class

This summer I am teaching a couple of children's art classes in my home, and yesterday after the scheduled lesson, I had the group draw an onion, which I set on the table. I sat down with them and drew it, too- here it is. I used pencil, colored pencil, and then went back in with a bit of ink.

I was planning to take ds to the pool today but it has rained off and on all day. I also need to grind some wheat and make bread! I'm behind on my housewifely duties this week. :) I'd love to ditch it all and just paint, but then what would we eat?