"Trailer"

"Trailer" 5" x 7" loose watercolor paper, mechanical pencil, black Pigma pen, watercolor paints and opalescent watercolors. February 29, 2016, Leap Day.

As I take time to look at small RV's to travel in for my retirement, I sketched this little trailer from my imagination. I used watercolor paints, and a new set of "Pearlescent" water color paints. I used the new red and silver to add a metallic sheen to the trailer. I am debating several phrases to add to the sky, "Home Sweet Home" "Go the extra mile, it is seldom crowded" and "Life is a Highway, I want to ride it all night long" from the song of that title. I want to frame this and hang it in my RV when I get it.

"Hexagon Patterns"

"Hexagon Patterns" 2 pages, 5" x 7" watercolor paper pad, mechanical pencil, watercolor paints, Pigma pen. December 29, 2015

Some hexagon patterns I drew for a Christmas ornament, a center medallion with 6 side patterns arranged around it. They are traced on fabric, painted, outlined with a Pigma pen and sewn together in a floret design.

This is one I made from a published pattern, so I designed my own, to make more.

"Pencil Holder"

"Pencil Holder" 5" x 7" watercolor paper pad, mechanical pencil, watercolor paints, Pigma pen. December 28, 2015

A square ceramic pencil holder on the center table in my sister's kitchen. There are various pens and pens and two pair of scissors. The ceramic has three layers of color, a light yellow/green glaze, a brown glaze and a whitish glaze at the bottom.

"Iron Rack"

"Iron Rack" 5" x 7" watercolor paper pad, mechanical pencil, watercolor paints, Pigma pen. December 28, 2015.

A cast iron rack with hooks at the bottom, in my sister's kitchen. It has two granite ware ladles on the left, a white plastic bag, a large gold medallion, and a Victorian paper doll. The light switch is on the wall behind the rack.

1960's Tape Dispenser

"1960's Tape Dispenser" 5" x 7" watercolor paper pad, mechanical pencil, watercolor paints, Pigma pen. December 28, 2015

A bright orange 1960's tape dispenser, with yellow daisies on the side. It is made of iron and very heavy. It is quiet the novelty item.

Santa Ornament

"Santa Ornament" 5" x 7" watercolor paper pad, mechanical pencil, watercolor paints, Pigma pen. December 28, 2015

A small felt and fur Santa ornament, on a two foot tree, on my sister's dinning room table.

Boots

"Boots" 5" x 7" watercolor paper pad, pencil then ball point pen. August 2, 2015

A pair of worn work boots, at my nephew's new place.

Oak Stairs

"Oak Stairs" 5" x7" watercolor paper pad, mechanical pencil, watercolor paint, Pigma pen. August, 2 2015

Visiting family in Illinois, we helped my nephew move into an apartment in Chicago. My knee was bothering me, so I sat and sketched his oak stairs. The challenge was all the angles, that changed as the stairs tuned the corner.

Mossy Branch

"Mossy Branch" 6" x 8" sketchbook, watercolor paints 5-23-2015

Sitting at the picnic table at Camp Lane, this curving branch intrigued me, It curved up and forward towards me, hanging moss on the entire branch.

Watercolor Landscape

"Watercolor Landscape" 6" x 8" sketchbook, watercolor paints 5-23-2015

Just messing around with the paints, an imaginative landscape with a sunset sky. The dark green tree in the foreground was much darker in the wet, but dried lighter.

Darlingtonia

"Darlingtonia Californicus" 6" x 8" sketchbook, 5-23-15, pencil sketch, watercolor, Pigma pen.

I took photos at the Darlingtonia Nature Wayside, on Hwy 101, just North of Florance, Oregon. In May they are blooming, tall stalks a foot or two above the pitcher plants. The intricate red patterns on the bright green smooth bulb are high contrast. They have hanging yellow petals with a red pod in the center. The Darlingtonia are also called cobra plant and pitcher plant. They are in the family of meat eating plants, the bugs crawl into the opening at the bottom of the curved cup, fall in and are trapped. They are rare and found only in wet boggy areas. This preserve has a short trail, on built up wooden platforms, to keep you out of the bog.

Cheese Burger

"Tyee Landing" 5" x 8" 90# Watercolor paper,Sept 19, 2014
Collaged checker board deli paper, with matte gel medium. Watercolor paint background wash, acrylic paint cheese burger, Mod Podge gloss on the meat and tomato, Pigma pen lettering and colored pencil fill in on letters. I saved the deli paper from our trip to Tyee Landing for lunch. The 1/3 pound Angus beef burgers are awesome, and the weather was warm but crisp and clear. We sat on their deck and enjoyed the view of the Umpqua River below. The only place between Crater Lake and the coast with a view of the river in Douglas County.

"Poppy" & "Swallowtail & Birch"

"Poppy" 5" x8" sketchbook page, number 2 pencil, June 30, 2014.

My cat "Poppy" sleeping on my t-shirt, she was sound asleep so she was holding still. My first attempt at drawing her, I never wanted to try before, but doing Everyday Matters, gave me some confidence I did not have before. I think it came out pretty good. She is so hard to photograph because she is black and shiny, so she absorbs light but reflects it too.

"Paper Birch and Swallowtail" 5" x 8" sketchbook page, colored pencils, July 2, 2014.

This is a sketch in colored pencil of my 3-D quilt, that is sitting on a shelf in front of me. It is about 20" tall and 5" diameter birch tree, made from my original photo printed on fabric and thread painted, with 3-D leaves and butterflies.

Writing Daisy

I am sorry that I have not been blogging. I have not been sketching because my hands have been hurting. I have a hard time writing and holding a pencil for very long. Saying that, I did manage to write out a whole page, in short bursts, that I can use in my art work. I have been trying to use more "Words" in my art. Making rubber stamps, word stencils, or just writing. The handwritten page I put through my scanner and printed several copies, then I went over one of them with a wash of watercolor paints. I tried to use all the colors on my palette, and get some blending too.

I made a card for my sister, by tearing the colored paper and making flower petals, and two leaves and a stem. Using gel medium, I put them on some card stock over a watercolor wash. Next I added texture with acrylic paints, through a sequin waste stencil. If a few dots looked good, a lot was better. NOT! I did way too much, I liked it earlier in the process. But it was a learning experience, I went over some of the darker dots with a soft white, to tone it down some and that helped. I sealed it all with gel medium. I was going to send it as is, as a postcard, but decided to put it in an envelope. After writing a cheerful message on the back, I put it into snail mail, it is so nice to get something besides bills and ads in the mail. I really liked doing the collage, and have other ideas for the writing papers.

My Sewing Room Diagram

5" x 8" journal page, pencil sketch, Pigma micron pen, colored pencils. Oct. 13, 2013.

I was just goofing off and decided to sketch out the layout of my sewing room. It is about 12' by 14' and FULL of stuff. I have shelves with boxes, clear to the ceiling, the fabric is stuffed in so tight I can't squeeze in another piece. I have bag and boxes piled in the NW & SE corners, and under the ironing board. This is a working studio, I do not waste space on cute little sitting areas, or wall space on displaying my quilts. It is organized but not neat, all the boxes are labeled, the supplies separated, the fabric sorted by color, but there is too much of it. The scanner did not pick up the light colored pencils, the green cutting mat, or the blue ironing board cover.

Unlucky Hummer

5" x 8" journal page, watercolor, dried flowers, feathers, mat medium. Oct. 12, 2013

We found a pile of feathers on our front porch this morning. A few days ago the cats brought in a dead hummingbird, Poppy has been sitting below the bush of Fuchsia Californicus, it's bright red tubular flowers bloom late into fall. I thought this was a second hummer, but now I know it was a sparrow. I used mat medium to save some of the feathers in my sketchbook, and dried a piece of the Calif. fuchsia. I used watercolor to paint the flower and a small hummer in the corner. I hope the hummers fly South for the winter soon, I did not put out a hummingbird feeder this year because of the two new cats.

Hope Soars

5" x 8" 90# watercolor loose page, Tsukineko Inks, Acrylic paints, rubber stamps, medium charcoal pencil, General's white charcoal pencil. August, 10, 2013.

I was playing with inks on watercolor paper, and a straw to blow the ink around, I ended up just painting washes of color, as a background. I used acrylic paints to print a foam curly cue stamp, and was going to add words, but my stamps I was making, would have been reversed, so I just painted the words. Rubber stamp, lace doily circle, and charcoal pencil to draw the bird and outline the lettering, I wanted a free sketchy look. I highlighted with a white charcoal pencil. Spray fixative.

Fortunes

8" x 10" double journal page, water color paints, Pigma pen, rubber stamps, collage papers. August 3, 2013.

I used watercolor paints to paint the fortune cookie before I ate it, and a red wash in the background. I added outline details with Pigma pen. I collaged a lot of my collection of fortune cookies around it, with a red chopstick paper wrapper. A business card from China Buffet, is in the top right corner. I used several rubber stamps, one of "Wisdom," the other "Hope" in Chinese characters. And a square stamp with Chinese characters, which I have no idea what it says.

Puget Sound

5" x 8" gray toned paper, watercolor paints. August 3, 2013

I painted this on gray paper, it is very monochromatic, so it was a challenge to get the subtle contrast and color changes. I kept adding more and more pigment in layers to get the darker colors, and I am surprised the white paint showed up so well. When I used the white, it just looked like wet paper, no white, until it dried. I did not paint the sky at all, the gray fit the mood, and lots of times, that is the color of the overcast sky. I used a magazine photo for inspiration.

Byron Portrait

5.5" x 7" gray toned paper, charcoal and white charcoal, loose page. May 26, 2013.

I drew this at my friend's wedding, at Camp Lane, Florence, Oregon. The tow headed Byron was sitting on the picnic table bench watching the volleyball game. He did not sit still for long! I had to finish the clothing without him. I have not been drawing for the last two months as my hands hurt, and my right hand has been getting numb, I think I pinched a nerve in my elbow. Only time will heal.