Daily Sketch - "Sandra"

Today, a little sketch in pencil. I decided that her name should be Sandra.

This has been a tough week, and it's only Monday. My sister had a heart attack,

which came as quite a shock, and, although she has been stabilized, 

it opens up a whole discussion about whether she'll be able to live by herself.

It's difficult - so I'm escaping for a bit of time each day, into my sketchbook, 

and that is a very nice place to go.

Hope your week has started off well!

Daily Sketch Completed

Today I added watercolor to the sketch I had done yesterday,

along with some markers. I took the photos on our front stairs, 

where geranium petals fell on my sketchbook! Perfect!

I hope you've had a wonderful weekend!

Daily Sketch - To Be Continued...

A sketch with Micron pen today - 

tomorrow I will paint it with watercolors

and photograph it in the daylight!

Daily Sketch and Quilt Shows

This is a little bird statue that lives in my kitchen windowsill.

I've been having to photograph my sketches at night and they 

come out this yellowed tone, despite my efforts to edit them.

Anyway, I'm getting bored with what I'm doing, so I'm planning to do

some more colorful themes and even some collages.

Also, here are a few photos I took at quilt shows this week.

These first images are from a quilt exhibit at the 

New England Quilt Museum in Lowell, MA -

"Carol Bryer Fallert: A Retrospective"

Exquisite work!!

And these pictures are from an exhibit called "Out of The Blue"

at the Whistler House Museum of Art, also in Lowell.

Artist: Betty Busby

Artist: Sarah Ann Smith

Artist: Deborah Babin

Also a very enjoyable show!

Hope you have a great weekend!

Daily Sketch - Kizzy the Parrot

Last night I went to art class at our instructor's home,

where she lives with 5 beautiful parrots.

I snapped a photo of Kizzy as he swooped down and

walked across the floor. Later I did this sketch from the photo.

Then one of the small parrots flew to my shoulder.

You can tell I was delighted!!

Tomorrow I'll add photos from the quilt shows I visited yesterday!

A busy week!

Hope your week is going well!

Quick Sketch!

A very busy day and night, but I did manage to sneak in a quick sketch from 

a quilt show I went to today.

I actually went with friends to two quilt shows today!

I'll post pictures from them tomorrow.

Daily Sketch

For today's sketch I used markers and watercolor pencils.

I seem to be gravitating lately toward sketches of 

females with curly hair - possibly because it's been very humid

and my hair is going wild!

I'm pleased that I've worked in my sketchbook every day this week.

It's a satisfying habit and I'm enjoying it.

Thanks for stopping by!

Daily Sketch - Barn Owl

Last night I watched a program called "Owl Power" on "Nature" on PBS. I'm fascinated with owls and the show was about two baby barn owls and their development, from chicks to adulthood. It seemed like a natural thing to sketch a barn owl today!! Not my best, but this is what I came up with!

I'm feeling like I need to see an owl in real life now! I'll have to do some research!

Sketchbook Entry and Some Precious Needlework

Today I decided to create a pattern, using watercolors and marking pens.

I'm trying to be less fussy with these sketches and I was a bit inaccurate with the design,

but this is the effect I wanted.

I'm saying to myself, "It's just a sketch" and simply enjoying the process.

Also, I had found this beautiful embroidery done by my mom in a closet and made it into a pillow for my sister's birthday. My mother was very skillful with embroidery, needlepoint, crochet, knitting and rug hooking and her hands were forever busy creating beautiful things. She would have been pleased to see this piece on my blog, although she was very modest.

I hope you've been having a good weekend!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Sketchbook Drawing

Saturday - drawing with watercolor pencils!

Hope you're having a great weekend!

Sketchbook - Day 1

And so it begins, my new endeavor to work in a sketchbook every day. My drawing skills are limited, my painting skills even more so, but drawing is the basis of my fabric art, so this will give me practice.

I'm limiting myself to 45 minutes maximum every day.

This sketchy painting was done with marker, watercolors and pencil. It's a start, anyway!

Hope you're having a great day!

Starting Sketchbooks - Again!

This week I decided that I want to do some kind of drawing or sketching every day. I'm so inspired by Jennifer at August Wren, who does daily paintings. I really love her work.

So I spent some time at my local art supply store. When I go there I need to carefully peruse every aisle -  it's just so inspiring! I finally focused on sketchbooks and fell in love with this small art book for my purse. It's light enough to be manageable, has a magnetic closure and hard covers - perfect! Then I wanted something that would stand up to watercolor pencils. I ended up going to the paper aisle and found this Strathmore mixed media pad. Thick pages, nice size (6 x 8 1/2) and spiral bound - just what I wanted.

 When I got home, I covered the larger pad with a fabric I like. The smaller sketchbook went straight into my purse and was put into action the next day while Bill and I took a little trip. 

 Just little doodles - I'm in the habit of making little sketches when I'm riding in the car or waiting for appointments. Now I need to get in the habit of doing larger drawings and paintings each day.

I'm planning to put my sketches and paintings on my blog. Some of them will be inspirations for fabric art, some will be just for fun! Hope you'll give me some feedback to keep me going!

Wishing everyone beautiful summer days filled with lots of creativity!

Thanks for stopping by!