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We ate at Schweinehaus on the patio there. We got seats at the counter facing directly out on the now bustling Overton Square and had fun watching the people go by.
I picked Elizabeth's brains about ways to get a new group of sketchers going and confident in a workshop, thinking ahead to working with students at Memphis Theological Seminary. You can see my notes at the right of the page.
Elizabeth snapped a photo of our sketches together at the end. I love the way she can collage on the page and put different scenes together. I tend to spread out and cover everything immediately.
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I wish I'd been a little more conservative carving the "windows" in the green areas. I would have liked a little more shadow on the undersides of those areas. There's no going back in carving -- once it's gone, it's gone. But I can try some shading in the ink to see if that would help.
Here are the first two layers of the proof before I printed the key block (partly carved at the time on the left) over the top. The green and yellow are a bit too vibrant, but they're not as strong with the black on top as they were by themselves. It's so funny how much that can change with one more addition of pattern.
I think I'm going to try doing some gradients in the colors and see how I like that, as well as dulling the colors just a bit. I have several color proofs in my figure with this one.
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I drove up to Kentucky on Thursday and spent that night and most of Friday at Shakertown with my sketchbook (and banjo) for company on my way to meet friends and sisters at a dance weekend. Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill (to give it its full name, though the locals and highway signs all say Shakertown) is one of my favorite places in the world. The buildings are mostly early 1800's, and they have been beautifully restored. It sits on a ridge with a view out over the blue Kentucky hills, and it's one of those places where nature and craft have combined in complete and beautiful harmony.
I'm posting the rest of these on my sketching page, where you can also read more about the place and my time there.
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I got all excited about a new project today. One of the artists in my online linoleum block print group had created a hand carved, hand-printed poster/print for his new show.
The curators from the Dixon came out recently and were pleased with how the show is going and said I have almost enough work already. I decided I have time to do an exhibition poster, and my first museum show certainly warrants that kind of marking of the occasion.
So I've revisited my Arts and Crafts style travel prints from a few years ago, used the same font, and I'm working on this print. It has way more text than I've used before, but that will be a fun challenge. I'm grateful to several sharp-eyed friends online who made suggestions as I worked. Here it is so far, though I'll continue to look at it and refine the lettering and also possibly the design. I'm off to dance this weekend, so I'll come home with fresh eyes to pick it back up next week.
Please excuse the quality of the photo. It's just a cell phone snap to show progress.
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I do so many different kinds of work that it's tricky to keep the website tidy and also display all the various facets of my art. I don't want to spill off the toolbar at the top of the website and have some categories not visible, so periodically I rethink my entire organization. This time I removed the "Commissions" section, to put under other areas, and gave "Sketches" their own section. They'd been hiding under the "Watercolor" section before. I also moved "Prints" up to the first spot on the toolbar. I do so little oil painting now that prints deserve the pride of place. They're where my heart is at this point, though I still work in oils occasionally.
Check out my sketches and see what I've been up to lately. I'll be adding a few more sections there as I get more scanned in.
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It was a holiday weekend, and many of the kids and grandchildren had returned to the family center, but they welcomed us in warmly, gave us coffee and homemade cakes on the terrace,and showed us around the house and land. It was special to me to be there again. The trip was the last one we took with Mom. She was in remission at the time, before her final round of cancer. Being back in those spaces we shared with her meant a lot.
And the family was so very kind to us. The two things I remember so clearly from that trip were the overwhelming hospitality of the Dutch people (we Southerners take such pride in it, but I thought the Dutch outstripped us by miles) and the fact that they ate chocolate for breakfast. I couldn't believe I hadn't grown up in such an enlightened country.
We spent the second week just across the field with Fleur, the sister of our original host. She took us in, also at the last minute, after my sister broke her ankle and we couldn't move to Amsterdam with the rest of the group. Fleur had a sod-roofed home, baby goats, a lamb to bottle feed, and a duck named Walter who waddled across the bike path from the lake for his dinner every night. Marian and I were both enchanted. Fleur very kindly let us come visit her home too, and walking in to see the big round coffee table for some reason evoked the previous trip in the strongest way. Memory is a funny thing. It was so special to be there with them and welcomed back to this lovely place. I'm very grateful for the opportunity.
I didn't have time to sketch much at all, so I'm adding a few photos as well.
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We got a marvelous welcome in Enschede. This city had a textile economy that made it a trading partner with Memphis for decades. Memphis helped rebuild her partner after WWII and sent cigar boxes from all the children of Memphis to the children of Enschede stuffed with things they couldn't otherwise get.
My great grandfather helped spearhead that effort, and my family participated in an exchange in 1982. In March, some leaders of the Memphis Heart and Sould festival came to Memphis to find musicians and renew ties. They had a newspaper clipping from 1947 that had a photo of my dad as a boy. The mayor recognized him and called Dad, and he had lunch with the Enschede folks. We decided to come over for the festival and got a warm welcome.
There was a documentary shown the first night about the link between the two cities, and Dad was in it. He was introduced at the reception afterwards and said a few words about his grandfather. I was proud of him and touched by the warmth of everyone who has welcomed us so kindly.
Here's dad being introduced at the reception.
The documentary was marvelous. They had done a huge amount of research and went everywhere in Memphis and its surroundings that I would have recommended for their cotton and blues double focus. I hope we can get it shown on public tv when they get it fully subtitled.
We spent yesterday at the festival and also wandering around the center city a bit. It was Saturday, market day, and I was entranced by the cheese stalls at the market with the big rounds of cheese.
Today we get to go visit our two hostesses who had our family to stay in 1982. It was a special trip, and I'm looking forward to seeing them again.
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I got a cheap student weekend package to Amsterdam when I was an exchange student at the Unversity of York. I spent about all my time in museums, and the one that just floored me was the Van Gogh museum. I haven't been back since, so it was lovely to spend a chunk of the day there yesterday.
I look better in museums when I sketch, even if the finished product isn't that wonderful. I knew I wouldn't do very well sketching from Vincent, but I wanted to try a few to help me remember. I liked the Montmartre view above, since that's where I stay when I go to Paris, and I did a couple of marker sketches of other ones I liked.
This very tall and lovely Odilon Redon painting seemed like it would lend itself to watercolor. I love my tiny Altoid tin watercolor kit and the water brush. I can paint easily standing up in a museum.
I also love that, unlike Memphis (this is one of my biggest complaints about my home city), I can draw in ink, paint, and marker without being hassled. Honestly, people do copies in OIL in major museums. I hate that both museums in Memphis limit you to pencil. I loved being able to work more richly from the paintings.
I finished up copying a Bonnard. I loved the evening light that just glowed.
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I am charmed by the Oude Kerk downtown. It's big, quiet, calm space makes me feel as if I've walked into one of those Golden Age Dutch interiors. I was always partial to Saanredam.
I went yesterday and dropped my essential water brush, but I had been there right at closing time, and I was happy for an excuse to go back and sketch more this morning.
The above watercolors were the morning ones. I had started with a marker sketch but not been as happy with it. I added a little watercolor at the end to soften it a bit.
I also love the floor stones and sketched a couple. The one that first caught my eye had both a dog and a tree in it, neither of which I consciously saw until I looked more closely. Obviously, though, my subconscious was on the qui vive.
I didn't sketch it, but Rembrandt's wife Saskia is buried here. It was special to see her stone after loving the portrait of her wading and hitching up her shift that's in the London National Gallery.
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Probably the number one reason I've fallen in love with this city is the coffee shop around the corner. They have kind and welcoming people, a charming interior filled with fresh flowers and good light, a garden patio, and freaking amazing food. I've been going twice a day, and I'm already plotting a painting trip here with the understanding that I have to be within about three blocks of this place. Around the corner is perfect.
There is some seriously good hot chocolate there as well. Plus house-made salmon salad. This morning I had a melt with Brie, chorizo, and fresh tomato jam that started with whole tomatoes as I watched. Everything is marvelous.
They also have a charming cat. The best shops and restaurants have four legged greeters. America is so behind the curve on that.
