Visit to a Sketcher's Garden

I hadn't gone sketching with the group in awhile.

We visited a member's country/woods garden.

The first image was a warm up, a rather chaotic response to 

a beautiful tangle of ferns and foresty plants

and an array of vivid colors in late afternoon sun.

Then, a more tame vignette, which is actually 

a sketch from a sketch using my photo as reference,

once back home.

The observer's eye, brain, & hand, 

like the body, gets out of shape without practice

and I felt it. 

Motto for the day:

Make sketching more of a priority because

I love the whole experience!

(To "Unknown" who asked permission to download 

some of my paintings for her studies: 

I appreciate that you asked.

I would ask that you not to do it. 

I feel vulnerable about my sketches being

on someone else's computer, & used, 

without me explaining my process & teaching.

Also, since I do sell paintings, it's awkward to 

have them be used, even though I know that's a risk

of posting them on the Internet.

And, I always encourage students to not get 

too tied in to some one else's work, but to experiment,

study techniques, watch demonstrations,

& let your own voice, experience, practice 

& responses develop.)

The Gift of Homegrown Vegetables

A friend who lives in the country 

dropped vegetables off 

on my front porch while I was out.

 They were from her own garden! 

They were beautiful, tasted divine, 

and were nourishing!

And: They were grown with love! 

( Some of the Summer Squash slices

 even had little cutout hearts

 in their centers! No kidding! )

Thank you, M!

I Finished my Book!!

This is a continuation from my previous post.

 Stopping to face my situation of the too many ideas 

& projects that had started to form,

& asking for help did the trick! 

Beth wrote to Just choose one project & finish it.

Not rocket science, but it helped to hear it from outside 

my own brain which was turning somersaults! 

Organizing my space & hiding the other projects was key. 

And accepting that my finished book would not be perfect...

All along there were decisions to be made.

What to do with the wildflower cutouts that I had drawn & painted 

from photos that I had taken for my project?

I had to abandon my original idea of 

making the flowers pop up from the page, 

(something I love to do in my little handmade cards),

because I had a cover that I'd bound that I'd wanted to use.

A new stiff white paper replaced the green Mi Teintes. 

(Thanks, Fiddlehead Artisan Supply for being right in town!!)

From there on, the book seemed to make itself.

Book Arts prof. Rebecca Goodale says that there's nothing

like the feeling of you & the paper working together "as one."   

(I'm paraphrasing...)

The beginning.

It's an accordion book, but can be view one spread at a time.

The middle.

The end. 

 One of my favorite parts was writing text,

inspired by my original thoughts on my subject. 

Lots & lots of editing to keep it focused & brief.

I had written in the previous post that "there was 

so little left to do" on this book. 

Haha!...Little did I know!!!

 

The cover came last. 
I wanted to decorate it more, but I had a deadline.
The handmade books, the final projects 
from our Book Arts Class will be on view at USM 
during September with a lecture & reception on September 9.

The book was delivered yesterday, & I am exhilarated!

What joy to start with vague thoughts & ideas 
& to work with them 
as they evolve into concrete words & images~
Bound into a book!
I got to experience what my young art students
used to experience!

And, I finished it!!

Thank you to USM & Rebecca Goodale's 
Summer Book Arts Course!

Draw What You Love: My New Neighbor

I have fallen in love with my new backyard neighbor:

A big hanging nasturtium. 

(En français, capucine. Po polsku, Nasturcya) 

Each day it grows new buds & blossoms. 

 There are at least 45 at this moment!

 This was not my usual very quick sketching. 

Slower, more left brain consciously accurate. 

I chose only one part of the abundant plant~ a vignette. 

You might call this a study-sketch.

I used pencil, even erasing & re-drawing. 

I was deepening my understanding of individual blossoms & leaves

and how they related to one another. 

My eyes were feasting on the colors.

By the time I finished the sketch, a gentle rain had fallen,

and configurations had changed.

I started with a preliminary contour sketch to help me focus.

I knew I couldn't draw the whole plant. 

The contour in ink was the introduction, a greeting. 

My gaze danced in & around blossoms & leaves, 

getting a feel for rhythms, lines & forms. 

While painting, I absent-mindedly tried out some colors

on this page as it was the nearest paper in sight.

And near the bottom, I seem to have been exploring 
some initial lines of nearby lupines.

The wonderful effect of drawing, 
beside the visual & tactile pleasure, 
is the concentration, the focus, the calm that occurs in me.
I always go back to my early guiding principle,
as presented by Frederick Frank, The Zen of Seeing:
Seeing/Drawing as Meditation, back in the early 70's.

Sketching at the Local Greenhouse

The staff, the airy greenhouse & the plants 

welcomed us Sketchers

to the Aubuchon Hardware Store & Nursery. 

I asked the worker above if we would be in the way.

"No problem," she said. 

"If you get in the way, we'll just water you." 

It was an idyllic spot of light, color, and happy people. 

(Except for the flies, the little black flies.)

Local professional gardener Kate pulled up in her truck. 

I'm in awe of her, her artistic talents, her knowledge,

& her strength. In the old days of my childhood

only men had trucks & tools like this!

You could spend days sketching individual plants!

 After our greenhouse visit we went for lunch

at the local café & diner. There we discussed 

our sketching experience & other matters of interest.