Art
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Cracking Open A New Sketchbook | The Sketchbook Diaries
After taking so much of last year off from doing any kind of art, I am back at it. I have started two new watercolor sketchbooks and am planning to get back into my perpetual nature journal, too. In fact, I finally completed an entry from last March recently and need to work my way through more of them to catch up. I wanted to start a sketchbook for some hikes we’ve been doing and will continue to be doing in the coming year for the Big Thicket. I’m working from photos because: time, but at some point it would be nice if a few of these were en plein…
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Trespassers: James Prosek and the Texas Prairie at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art
I came across James Prosek’s work last fall when someone I was following on Instagram posted that he had an exhibit, Trespassers: James Prosek and the Texas Prairie at the Amon Carter in Fort Worth. I hadn’t been to the Amon Carter in probably two decades but put it on my list to wrangle some people to go with me during the Christmas holidays when we were in Fort Worth visiting family. My mom had taken Forest and his cousins there last summer, an activity to beat the searing Texas heat, and they had all loved it. So, we wrangled up the kids again and my mom, Chris, and I…
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Art with Hummingbirds
While in New Mexico I had hopes to spend more time working on some sketchbook art, primarily my perpetual nature journal that I started in early September last year. I’m several months behind because I sunk into a pit of not doing anything in May so I’ve been continuously working to get back on top of things. A perpetual nature journal is one that has some flexibility but ideally you are using one page or set of pages to chronicle something in nature for a certain time period on every year until that page is full. Mine is set up weekly, though the weeks will slide a bit as they…
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Postcard Art | 1
Winter means that my studio is too chilly for me to work in usually, and so I have been making do with watercolors inside the house. I keep several sketchbooks and now some watercolor postcard paper on my desk and have been working away these last few weeks on small art pieces that I am mailing out to folks. I’m trying to do monthly themes, January’s was orchids, as you can see. February is currently abstract and I think March will be native plants or spring. All of these are taken but when I have others in the future I will share them here and if you want a little…
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A Bit of Art Tucked Away
Last week I was attempting to organize our office and started pilfering through my desk. Inside I found all sorts of goodies along with this little pastel. It needs a touch up, signing and spray. I’m not sure why I left it in my desk for 2.5 years instead of packing it, but my guess is that my portfolio was already packed in the POD when I found it in my desk in Florida. So there it stayed. I guess I will display it in my studio, but I’m contemplating making prints to sell of some of the pieces I’ve done over the years. Just seeing this little piece reminds…
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Baloo | A Pencil Drawing
Whenever I think of myself as an artist I usually feel like a fraud. The simple fact is that this is the first thing I’ve drawn in a year. The last thing I drew was a sunflower for my sister in law and the month before that a hollyhock pastel. The drawing of this sweet doggie is titled Baloo after the man himself. If you’ve only been reading in the last two years and haven’t followed during my life in Florida, then you wouldn’t know that Chris and I dog-sat this fella for nearly a year and a half with many other fun stays along the way. We became his…
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My First Photo Show | Thoughts & Review
Last weekend I drove down to the San Bernard NWR for the Migration Celebration. It was very busy and full of activities but I only had time for a trip to the San Bernard Oak and to see the exhibit hall which included the photo contest exhibits. The photo above is the 2nd place award I won for the Nature Photography as Art part of the contest. As I said, I entered on a whim, mostly to test my skills to see if I even had a chance. And I guess I did. But, I don’t think I will enter this contest again. The photos above were the rest of…
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Artist at Work
I did this project at the last minute. I’d remembered my sister in law, Stephanie, had once asked for a sunflower painting, but I just never found the inspiration to get it done. Her birthday came up and I decided it was the right time so I went for it. I said in another post that I typically take my time hemming and hawing over things before finishing it up but this one worked quickly. I think the last hour was spent listening to Mumford and Sons on Youtube. Good music to work to. A conversation came up with Chris last week with his mom when she asked if he…
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Hollyhock Pastel—Finished?
Finishing something is a struggle for me. At what point is it done? Right now I am struggling with the background. I don’t particularly like it. I tried to mimic the photo, the blurry background and all but I’m not liking it too much. What do you think? I was thinking of blending it more and making it a more generic darker/darker green background. I just don’t know.. What I want to do is spray it and put it away but I also don’t want something crappy lingering around either. I did the main part of the flower with pastel pencils, which I actually liked except I’d invest in better…
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In Progress | Hollyhock in Pastel
After more than a year and a half hiatus from drawing I’m trying my hand at it again. I’ve been toting around some art supplies every time we went to a project but it had been gnawing at me to do this for awhile. So, here it is. I go back and forth from thinking I’m doing ok to wanting to say it sucks. If I look across the room at it I think “oh, it looks good”, and then I look at it up close I think “who am I kidding?” So there it is. I’ve had the photo I am working from printed for maybe three years. Yep.…
