Sketching and Greeting Fall

Time seems to be flying by lately. I can see already that Fall will be a busy season.I've done a few drawings in my sketchbook and I'm liking the look of  a grey pentech marker outline and colored pencil. Of course, underneath it all is a pencil sketch. I'm going for a graphic rather than a realistic look. 

Our daughter Kate was visiting recently, taking a break from her artist's residency at NYU, and we had a great time watching the lunar eclipse on our front walkway together with my husband Bill. We all took turns taking pictures, and this was the one time I wished I had a better camera. It was a wonderful experience!

And finally, we had a few gloomy days of heavy rain and the cats flopped on a bed

 and never came up for air except for meals. I was tempted to do the same thing, but didn't!

Hope you're having a good beginning of October, my favorite month!

See you soon!

Sketchbook Venting!!

Don't worry - I'm fine.

But don't you feel at times that things are overwhelming?

I know I do!

I like to express a bit of emotion in my sketches, obviously!

Here's wishing you a wonderful week!

Daily Sketch - Angie!!

My nephew's wife Angie is celebrating a special birthday,

so I made this sketch for her!

She loves owls, as I do...

and all of nature!

She is one of the nicest people I know and a wonderful 

companion for my nephew Dave.

Lucky guy!!

Daily Sketchbook - "One of Those Sleepless Nights"

Just a quick sketch. I guess I was inspired by the people on Facebook

who talk about being insomniacs.

Other than a rare night when I'm really stressed about something,

I'm usually a good sleeper, thank goodness, unlike this poor fellow!

Hope you have a restful weekend!

Daily Sketchbook

This sketch took two days, done in between other tasks.

Here is the original...

and here it is "antiqued" with my computer's editing program.

Hope your week is going well. 

Thank you for stopping by!

Daily Sketch - Shades of Blue

Today was a sleepy day, after a very late night before,

so I randomly colored with my watercolor pencils and

gave the squares a dash of water!

Actually, it was very soothing, if not very inspired.

Hope those of you in the USA are enjoying this holiday weekend!

Post Script - my head has been in a whirl lately with my sister being in and out of rehab and the hospital. I had read and commented on my friend Ann's post here about a week ago, and completely forgotten it, except in my subconscious memory, I guess, because I had no recollection of it when I did this. We had spent the night before in the emergency room with my sister (who is OK) but lack of sleep does crazy things to my brain! Sorry, Anne! I should be caught up on sleep now!

Daily Sketch - Nana and Nessa

I confess, I did this sketch years ago.

My friend Lorna and I were going to write a book 

about a little girl who goes to visit her Nana on Nantucket Island every summer.

We never quite got the project off the ground, 

but I did do a few sketches for it!

Hope to have a new sketch to show soon!

Daily Sketch - Color!

I painted this early this morning, with gouache paints and white acrylic ink.

I wanted it to be a splash of color and I guess I succeeded!

I think I needed to "let go" a bit!!

My sister is doing better, but it's been stressful, so art is keeping me sane.

Hope you are having a good week!

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 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.

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 - 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!