Happy New Year! A New Painting Project...

After a great trip to Sam Flax today, I am celebrating the new year with new paints, new paper, and I am beginning a new project. I have taken the inspiration from Claire Fletcher's  "What to Look For..." monthly paintings. 

I love the rich colors of the new paint. I am trying Holbein watercolors. I purchased Ultramarine Deep, Crimson Lake, and Yellow Lemon. The paints move on the paper well and are very vivid. When I mixed them, the purple, orange, and green were beautiful!

I'm not sure about the paper yet. I purchased 100% cotton, cold pressed block paper made by Aqvarelle Arches paper.

I think this is going to be a fun project. Wish me luck!

Happy 2013!

More from Savannah...

Savannah is such a beautiful place and there is so much to sketch. The beautiful river, cobblestone roads, historic buildings and SCAD are perfect for sketching outdoors. Here are 2 drawings I made when I was last there. 

Thank you for reading.

Savannah, Ga

Savannah, Georgia is a beautiful place and is one of my very favorite places to visit. The architecture is ornate and diverse. The history is deep and rich. The place is magical. 

My daughter, Maggie May, enjoys photography so we visited the famous cemetery Bonaventure. She took many interesting shots and we stayed away from the ghosts!

While MM was taking pictures, I concentrated on the fences and the gates. I recently had discovered a jewelry line created after Charleston Gates.

 It got me thinking about the frequently overlooked fencing. As I started looking around the fencing was just beautiful! I could have easily missed it. 

The variety is amazing. The metal workers were true artists.

This one seemed upside-down to me. The weight of the fencing was on the top. 

The one above was so heavy and this one was created so delicately.

One of the difficulties in sketching these old gates and fences is that they are sinking and off-kilter. I had to rely on what I was seeing instead of what I thought. It was good practice. Notice the cement block on the right it is facing down in the front. I have been struggling with perspective and I have to learn how to see!

Thank you for peeking into my sketchbook.

5 Fabulous Friday Finds

Andrea Joseph

I love Andrea Joseph's Sketchblog. Her sketches and paintings are so detailed and uses all the white-space so effectively. I love the sketches where she includes her drawing tools in the sketch. 

These are absolutely beautiful in their simplicity and their intricacies. How is that even possible? Andrea inspires me to improve my sketches by adding detail and seeing the beauty in everyday items I enjoy.

Claire Fletcher

Claire is a wonderful artist. I love her work and she is one of my favorites. One of her paintings gave me a great idea...I want to do a monthly painting of all the important events for my family for each month. I can't wait for January to get here so I can begin! Check out Claire's work on her website, Claire Fletcher Art.

Origin Unknown

This photo has a wonderful message...I think the message is to enjoy life. I found this on Pinterest and can't track down the photographer (or owner) of the photo. The person who posted it on Pinterest included the following caption..."You can choose to live your life with the joy of the front row or solemness of the third row. The choice is yours. // what a HUGE contrast." Let me know if you can identify the owner and I will give credit for the photo.

Maggie May

My daughter made these wonderful hand warmers. I love these because SHE MADE THEM HERSELF! They are made out of the softest fabric and don't have the lavender in them like the store bought ones do. (The lavender is a bit to over-powering for me.) She filled them with rice. Another thing I love about them is that she made them on my great-grandmother's sewing machine. 

I learned to sew on this machine. In my lifetime, it has never had another foot on it other than the zipper foot. I learned to sew this way and had quite a bit of trouble sewing using a regular sewing foot. (Don't tell anyone but I would rather sew on this machine than my fancy embroidery machine.)

Great job, Maggie! You are an amazing young woman!

Allie Ward

I picked up this tote on clearance for $1.99. Who doesn't love a tote? It was plain as plain could be. I added a little Kate Spade to it with paint and some great painters tape. It is begging for a monogram. I can't decide what font to use. I'll update you when I decide. 

I hope you enjoyed my 5 Fabulous Friday Finds. I sure enjoy all these pretty things. I can't wait til next Friday to share some more!

Thank you for reading.

The Word for the Day...

Yesterday and today I just played "home-body" so it was difficult to pick a word to describe these days. Yesterday I watched old movies and rested from all the holiday cooking, cleaning, and shopping. I collapsed into the vortex of slumber (the papasan chair!)

A lot of thoughts were running through my head today so I decided to begin thinking about 2013. Maybe this year I should make some resolutions? 

I also practiced my calligraphy today. I can't believe how rusty I've gotten...notice the misspelled word "thoughful" LOL!

Thank you for reading.

Travel Journal

I was cleaning out a drawer this morning and found my travel journal. I really liked these two drawings. 

Thank you for peeking into my journal.

One Word Wednesday...

I thought I had an original idea! Nope. Check out RH Carpenter's Blog. She has "One Word Wednesday". Love the photo "Enter". Great work!

Just One Word...

A few weeks ago I found Moleskine journals with watercolor paper on the Internet. I ordered 2 in different sizes as a little Christmas present for myself.  When they arrived I realized I hadn't paid any attention to what size I ordered. One was only 3 1/2 x 5 1/2 inches big.  What was I going to do with that? I was a little worried that I wasted my money. I had just finished a small locket with for a Christmas gift and it gave me the idea to work small. 

I'm trying to sketch everyday...what if I filled the little journal with my daily sketches and what if I limited myself to one word to describe the day. It is an interesting idea. Can I sum up my day in one word? Can I make little sketches? Here is the beginning of my journal...

Here is an example of the difference one word can make. I made one horrible batch of cookies when I mixed up the word "tablespoon" for the word "cup".

It's hard to post work when I'm not absolutely pleased with it, but I think you can do anything you want in your sketchbook. Right?  So what its worth...here's my little one word sketchbook. 

Wonder what today's word will be?

Glory to God

Inside my Sketchbook...

New watercolor paints! This is my first set of "real" paints. I love playing with the vibrant colors.

A walk in the woods...

I went for a quiet walk the other day and made a quick sketch of a little hill.