Snow!

Well, today in central Alabama we had snow! They predicted anywhere from 1 to 6 inches, but we ended up with about 1/2 inch here. However, it was a lot of fun watching David and all the neighborhood kids play. They had snowball fights and built snowmen (small ones) and got really cold. A really fun day!



One night this week I did a quick sketch from a photo in the files of Watercolorworkshop to try to keep my goal of sketching every day this year. The blue in the sky completely dropped out of this scan, but the rest is pretty close. It was fun.



I also did a sketch of some cactus flowers, using a reference photo I took in the Botanical Gardens in Birmingham last year. I'm finding I like my sketches better when drawn from life.



Have a wonderful holiday!

2008

Lots of artists' blogs I've read in the past couple of weeks have mentioned their art-related goals for this year. I have decided that the only one I can realistically attempt to accomplish (with everything else I've got going on) is to sketch every day. It can be a quick 3 minute one if needed, but I do want to try to keep my hand fresh. I know I won't have time to paint that often, since that requires clearing off the kitchen table and getting out all my stuff. :)

This past week we collected ants for David's new ant farm and have had a blast watching them dig tunnels! Fascinating. That first day, I did a quick sketch of an ant while watching them through the magnifying glass. This is with pencil on a note pad- one of those freebies from a business.



Another night this week I did a quick sketch of a grapefruit and a bell pepper for a scavenger hunt item (from Wetcanvas). It was done at night in very poor light and the colors show it!



Then this evening I did a sketch of the three tadpoles that we've had since August!! These things are huge. I think they must be bullfrog tadpoles, which can take as long as three years to become mature frogs!! Yikes!! I don't know how much of those three years they are tadpoles, but we may have taken on a longer commitment than we knew! :)



I hope your 2008 has begun well!

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!

Bur Oak, otherwise known as Mossy Cup Oak...

Thanks to all who emailed us with the answer to our question of what type of acorns Jon found! We also googled it and found the same thing- these acorns are from the Bur Oak, and are the largest and sweetest of all acorns. They are also sometimes called Mossycup oaks, and the moss-like fringe certainly shows they are aptly named!

With our Christmas preparations this week I've only now had time to do a small sketch of one. I plan to do more, however! This one was fun, but the painting doesn't show the mossyness nearly as much as it should. I'll work on that in the next one.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas!!

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.

Last week we had our local county fair. David entered several things including 2 pairs of pajama bottoms, a wooden shelf, and a beautiful photo of a garden spider. He won a blue ribbon for each! We are so proud of him, and happy that he had the opportunity.

I haven't had much time to paint lately and I miss it! I'm posting a couple of sketches I did last year and hope to have something new to put up soon. The top one is David's fishing hat, and the bottom one is a green anole who visited our back patio last year. We enjoyed watching him and drawing him for our nature notebooks.

For you Auburn fans, check out my newly created cards in Greeting Card Universe. I have some cards made from photos I have taken on campus through the years. I hope you enjoy them! War Eagle!