Holidays = Making Cards

A tradition since childhood: Making my own holiday cards & decorations. Christmas cards! And Valentines, with their limited palettes of pinks, reds, whites & purples. They were simple this year, with my discovery of Caran d'ache water crayons, pearlescent watercolors, glitter markers & Posca white markers, along with the usual gouache & aquarelles. 

Roses are red, 

Art is fine,

Hearts are supreme

And pink is divine.  

Hahaha! 

Hannukah & Christmas

This year I celebrated Hannukah as well as Christmas. Both fell on the same day. Both holidays were part of my childhood. We had town lightings of a giant menorah & of a tall Christmas tree, in front of our post office. We sang songs & danced. And I sketched my menorah in my journal. Light & miracles, let us hope...Wishing you all a peaceful & bright 2025.

I can't Dance but I can Sketch

While healing from an injury I've been less active than usual. 

I especially miss my dancing. 

But having my art has been a saving grace. 

I've been sketching directly in my daily journal 

(InkPressions book, Tomoe River paper) more than ever. 

Sketching from observation is still so pleasurable, 

but I've also added memory sketching into my practice. 

Often it's a combination. 

Wishing you all a Holiday Season filled with beauty & kindness! 

Clearing Away November 2021

A great sunny morning for doing home tasks: 

Early morning grocery.

Dishes. Laundry. Accounts. Tidying.

It's time to clear away November,

 and to make a space for December. 

The tractor pumpkin farm drawing is by Nora McPhail,

whose work I adore. She has a blog here.

Two post cards are from a fellow Art Grouper. 

The lady behind the candle 

who is cooking a stew in a giant pumpkin, 

she is someone I created some years ago. 

The embroidered pumpkin pillow was made

by a fellow French Grouper, also some years ago.

Things are different again this fall (pandemic), 

but I still love this time of year! 

I'm leaving replies to your comments, 

so please leave one & come back & check.

The Easter Robin

Sketch on mix media Canson sketchbook, 11" X 14"

His Peeps have been keeping me company, 
right outside my windows.

Three, four Robins, sometimes more.

Since the heavy snow, 

they come close to the house. 

Hop hop, walk walk, peck peck. Stand. 

Hop hop, fly fly, walk walk. Stand.
Peck peck. Catch a worm. Walk walk,

Stand. 

Early this morning, 

he stood very still, staring at me.

"What??"

"Come on, sketch me! I'm posing!

It's a gift. Take it!

Sketch me in this little patch of light.
And, SW, I'm here to tell you,
you can find your own patch of light,
instead of that dark place you were in yesterday."

"I'm here for you.

I am The Easter Robin."

Nothing like Homemade Valentines!

 

At our library art group we, adults,

reverted back to childhood pleasures, & made Valentines.  

 Valentines Pot Luck: Rather than 

food to share, we brought ideas, art papers, & frills.

I brought some leftovers home.

 My three Valentines made at the meeting.

Très simple. Often when in a group,

I work quickly, creating sort of rough draft ideas

for future, more finished products.

This pop up was bought at a bookstore,

so I could bring it to show to the group.

 I bought these little girl cards at a stationery store

that's been in Portland for about 40 years.

The Paper Patch.

We used to have anonymous Valentines 

planted all over downtown on this day, 

on store fronts, on tree limbs,on brick walls, 

all tagged saying,"If you love me...take me...free!"

The anonymous makers, we hear, 

have moved away now, 

but this year one of our group has left Valentines 

in various shops... for people to take....for free!

Happy Valentine's Day, to you my blog friends!

Mini Zumba Greetings

I failed to send Christmas cards this year. 

But I have promised myself that I will send winter cards.

I did make up some mini-cards to give to a few local folks,

some of them being fellow Zumba enthusiasts.

 

 And a card for my Zumba teacher. 

I have enormous gratitude for her. 

This dance & her exercise classes have enriched

my life & my health tremendously!!!

Sketchbooks. End of 2018: Bring in the New, Continue the Old

 I have a new, larger sketchbook!! Paper Blanks, 7 X 9"!!

I use these for journal writing, but I got an extra one on sale

so I turned it into a sketchbook.

LAMY AL STAR fountain pens. I have "a few."

In the Wyeth Center at the Farnsworth Art Museum. 

The annual model train village, "Share the Wonder."

Sketching the mini buildings & cars is a fun way 

to work with linear perspective.

On the left: I sketched a line drawing that Jamie Wyeth

did when he was very young. Part of a series featuring

a Christmas wreath as a "character" in a medieval Christmas.

NC Wyeth's large painting: "The Morris House: Port Clyde". 

Can't do it justice with a quick sketch 

as the colors are so beautiful!!!

But sketching gave me the opportunity 

to scrutinize it more closely, & to gaze longer.

The Wyeth Center is only open a couple of more days.

I went to say good bye to the NC Wyeth paintings upstairs.

When they are back on display sometime, you have to come to Maine to see them in person!

And to see the Maine coast on which they are based!

I've been sketching in my usual 4 X 6" 

Pentallic Traveler Sketchbook.

It also doubles as my Art Learning Journal. 

Both live sketches & notes from books, 

museums, etc. go in there.

 Earlier in the month I went to the Farnsworth 

with an artist friend who wore an adorable felted hat

that she'd found at a thrift store. She sketched 

the gold dragon in the Chinese Zodiac exhibition.

She made a lot of people happy with that hat!

 Waiting in the small town post office line before Christmas.

A relatively small line in a relatively small town.

We enjoyed good natured conversations while waiting.

And for me, sketching made it go very fast.

At the Belfast Saturday Indoor Farmer's Market.

It is my Saturday morning ritual to go there. 

The vendors are not just farmers.

They are artisans, artists & musicians too.

They are local.

 LL Bean, the flagship store is like a theme park. 

There are these real stuffed animals on display.

While waiting for J to try on clothes, I sketched 

"The Three Headless Men of LL Bean." (my title.)

 Trip to Boston in November. QUICK sketches! 

It was my very fist visit to

The Granary Burying Ground. Boston's 3rd oldest cemetary

where many notable men 

from the American Revolution are buried.

 I guess the live people interested me 

more than the dead ones, though it was impressive.

 A quick stop to the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University. "Animal-Shaped Vessels from the Ancient World."

Subway Sketching, 

The Red Line from Cambridge back to Boston.

 Thanks for browsing through my sketches.

I wish you the happy pursuit of your passions

& pastimes in 2019.

Good Bye to Autumn Colors

This little sketch isn't really about today.

Pumpkins are now covered in snow, 

& green appears on evergreen trees 

rather than in downtown window displays.

But it's one I reworked recently.

The oranges, warm browns & golds that you see on 

all those Thanksgiving cards have been replaced 

by blues, grays, cool browns: & lots of white! 

Brrr!

It's May!

It's May!

Happy First of May, Joyeux 1er mai! 

In France it is La fête du travail.

In Poland it is too, Swięto Pracy.

A long time ago,

In the US

 we used to make & give May baskets.

So here is my little May gift for you,

including un brin de muguet.

Batches of Mini Cards

My mom & I used to bake Batches of Christmas cookies.

A few times we made crafts. Each year during 

the darkness of the year I fall into making cards (not cookies).

This year, Batches of mini cards, 2.5"X 3". 

I call them "Reet's Paper Treats".

 Some to give away. Some to sell at The Sail Locker (click here). You can also catch the Sail Locker at the Saturday United Farmers Market of Belfast.   

 Using my bits & pieces again,

and my themes that have sat in the idea journal for awhile.

They're in cellophane packets, hence the reflections.

I forgot to photo them before wrapping.

Also a batch of 4" X 6" cards. 

Some are re-purposed pop-ons from last year's French alphabet series.

Working toward a line for summer tourist season in Maine.

So many talented artists & artisans on the coast of Maine

who are also great entrepreneurs. (Marketing is not my forté.)

"Magic for you!" says the fairy!

Summer Celebrations Summer People

Summer in my little town: Friday morning Farmers' Market.

The Belfast Bay Fiddlers!

And people browsing, shopping, local plants & food.

One key to making a lot of quick sketches:

Use an inexpensive book with lots of pages.

Bring 2 sketchbooks so that one can dry

while you work in the other.

 Thursday night outdoor concerts, 

sometimes on a blocked off road in town, 

sometimes on the Common, overlooking the harbor.

Lots of opportunities for fast sketches of what seems to be

my favorite subject.

My fascination with observing people began

with my mom & little me on vacation. 

We would sit on a bench on the boardwalk,

& describe the summer people strolling by. 

A sort of Conversational Sketching.

The Saturday indoor United Farmers' Market. 

Another happy place. It's crowded, but I found a great
corner with a table on which to rest my book.

Dot's Café in Lincolnville has longer hours now.

The wine bottles, like sparkly little people.

I'm allergic to their content, but they are festive!