I stole a little time Monday morning with my paints and art journal to capture these last tokens of the summer sunshine. It felt good to slow down and connect with my creativity, with the light, with the ripe tomatoes sitting on the table in front of me.
The open window brought in the sounds of my fountain and the warbling of a Song Sparrow. Time stilled. Life expanded. All that existed were two tomatoes in the sunlight in the moment. Peace.
I hope you can steal a little time in your day today to create for self-care.
Friday's Osher Figure Drawing class brought us model Sophia, whose remarkable creativity and flexibility inspired us all. We began with 3-minute gesture poses in which we focused on the skeletal underpinnings first, then added in contours and shading.
We moved on to 4-minute poses, focused on drawing wrapped lines of cross-contours to help us understand how to express Sophia's foreshortened forms.
Sophia put a Herculean effort into the back bend pose below, with much of her body weight held by her right arm. We shortened the pose length to 2 minutes, yet everyone managed to get a full drawing. Energized by Sophia's effort, we artists drew faster, intent on capturing as much of Sophia's pose as we could.
We incorporated a study of drawing feet into our foreshortening theme, taking 10 minutes to draw Sophia's feet in a close-up study.
We finished the class with a long pose that included foreshortening and excellent lighting to show Sophia's contours.
Many thanks to model Sophia for inspiring us with her joyful spirit and expressive poses!
Our Osher Figure Drawing term began last Friday, and we were fortunate enough to have Hector as our model.
We began with 2-minute mass gesture poses to warm up. We swept the side of our charcoal over the page to express the forms of Hector's body. We moved on to 3-minute poses, adding several descriptive contour lines to the smoky silhouettes.
Changing to a more abstract approach, we played with using only 5 lines to capture Hector's 1-minute poses.
And finished up with a 15-minute pose:
And a long pose of nearly an hour. Hector had brought along a beautiful woodland scene backdrop, and some silk flowers, inspiring us to imagine him as the King of the Forest.
A delightful morning spent swept away into the Zen of figure drawing. Many thanks to model Hector!
The rainy summer has produced an abundance of flowers in my backyard garden. Lately, I've enjoyed snipping a bundle of zinnias, marigolds, calendulas, & Queen Anne's lace with a Purple Coneflower to top the bouquet. Basil and spearmint add a lovely green backdrop to show off the bright colors.
A pint jar of fresh flowers on my desk brightens the energy and gives me something beautiful and natural to focus on while in a Zoom meeting. Recently, at the end of one such meeting, when my note-taking was done, I added a sketch to my meeting notes.
I have wanted a fountain in my yard for the longest time. Having admired the elegant WPA-era fountains in public parks and gardens, I've always imagined one in my yard but never quite put the resources toward my vision until this summer.
I began bringing my imagination to life by creating my own "FrankenFountain" out of buckets, pots and quart canning jars.
Great for creating a vision, but I wanted something more refined. I searched online and found the one that suited me. When it arrived on Friday morning, I was ready with a location prepared with a level sand base for it to rest on.
But I wasn't prepared for the feelings that came after my husband David and I finished assembling the kit, filled the basin with water and powered it up.
I expected to be charmed and delighted by the beauty of this new garden feature, but I was mesmerized by the flowing water.
The fountain married with the stones and sand conjured images of early civilizations that demonstrated their organization by providing a public square with a fountain. I could envision early Romans in togas assembling alongside me as I stood enchanted by the musical water.
Simple running water represents the best in human civilization -- unity & cohesiveness that allow members to work together to improve everyday life for the people. What a surprising balm after daily news of division and rancor between humans.
I realized that the fountain wasn't just a beautiful addition to my garden, but a gift of self care. And I felt it fitting to bring out my art journal and watercolors and paint it.
Wishing you a Labor Day weekend filled with self care, positive energy and light.
August found me all over the map, but I took my nature journal along for my travels and captured quick sketches along the way.
Here's a walk through the pages of my journal, starting with the clouds out my father's study window:
And some lovely woods on a day trip with David:
Back at home, sitting in my backyard garden with my kitty, Miss Boo, admiring the blooming marigolds and a curvy Tromboncino squash growing on a trellis in my yard.
Imagine burying your face in the soft, sweet petals of a flower and nodding off to sleep! For the bumblebee, it has nectar awaiting it for breakfast when it awakes. Even bumblebees practice self care!
Butterflies & a stone wall in Raccoon Creek State Park's Doak Field:
The Tromboncino Zucchini plants in my garden have been growing lush on the recent rains:
And just yesterday, David and I went on a 5-mile hike & later a canoe ride at Raccoon Creek State Park. The mosquitoes were biting, so we kept our water break short. But, I managed to sketch this fabulous mushroom.
Our afternoon canoe paddle was interrupted by a brief thunderstorm. We paddled over to the dock at the beach and tied up our canoe, spending the rainstorm under the cover of one of the buildings.
The quickest of gesture drawings captures the memory of that hot summer afternoon on the lake. I can return to the heat of August any time of year just by flipping through the pages of my journal.
During a recent Introduction to Watercolors class demonstration, I sketched a favorite subject -- a feather from one of my wild relations. The turkey feather's bold contrasts caught my eye, and the adventure of following its contours and shapes captivated me. I used Burnt Umber and Burnt Sienna with a touch of Ultramarine Blue to paint the feather.
A dark background of Ultramarine Blue mixed with a touch of Burnt Umber defined the whites of the turkey feather and popped the whole subject forward. A sprinkling of table salt added the speckled & frosty look to the washes.
