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I got to revisit Tower Grove Park last weekend for the first time in several years. It's always a muse for me, one of my deeply happy places, and I was delighted to have a full afternoon to wander with my sketchbook. I've painted the Chinese pavilion before, and this time I'm at least contemplating a print of it. The park has two gorgeous trees I love at two opposite ends. I checked on my my favorite sycamore in the bird sanctuary. She is old and has deep pockets, but she's a beautifully hospitable tree. The first one I ever fell in love with in a must-touch, spend-time-with-her kind of way.
At the other end of the park is a copper beech I've sketched and painted many times. More traditionally photogenic, with whorls and spirals all over the trunk. I did a larger watercolor of this one, fighting gnats, but so worth it.
It was good to revisit old haunts. I hit Ted Drewes frozen custard, of COURSE, and I saw a lot of friends dancing. A marvelous weekend.
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Memphis Urban Sketchers met at Dixon today, since our show is still up there. It was a perfect morning for painting outside, and I'd been meaning to get back out with my gouache and see how I could do outside, after those magnolia studies went well a few days ago. I'm working much smaller in gouache than I did a couple of years ago when I tried it the first time. I need some smaller brushes for it -- my regular watercolor brushes are too soft for the stiffer paint. But I had fun playing and feel like I'm on the track to somewhere.
I couldn't resist Ceres (at right). I always seem to paint her when I go there, but it's a much different image than my usual, more clear, watercolors.
I couldn't resist Ceres (at right). I always seem to paint her when I go there, but it's a much different image than my usual, more clear, watercolors.
After doing two in gouache, there wasn't much time, so I did one fast, small watercolor just to have the day in my journal as well. I was missing line and wanted to play with my green ink a little too. The two gouaches are on freestanding Kraft brown paper. It's always fun to sketch Elizabeth in her nifty sketching hat.
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I've been enjoying the pastel studies lately, but I'm frustrated with the limited range of greens available to me. I've gotten spoiled by all the lovely watercolor and oil ones. So today I got the gouache back out to try. I've been thinking about it anyway, and then my neighbor was having a magnolia tree taken down. I brought in a number of blossoms since I hated to see them going to waste. I had fun testing out the gouache over my morning tea. I used the same brown kraft paper I was using for the pastel forest studies as well. I'm still having trouble getting used to the texture of it and the color mixing, but I'm happier with these than the ones I had tried before. I just bought a couple more greens to add to my basic kit. Now I need to get back out and try this in the forest, but still life is always a good first step to keep things simple.
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I’m back to fast moving work again. I’ve had several paintings going lately, including the one above. It’s a little smaller than most of mine plus quite simple, so it was really a two session affair. Again, after struggling with a print that won’t get there, it felt good to dive into something where I could see immediate results.
Pen and ink has also been a lot of fun lately. I started my food journal this week (for three days before the holiday, anyway, and then we’ll see), and that’s got me doing some fast sketching with a fat, felt tipped pen plus a little tone with a brush pen. I’ve carried that over into a new series of self portraits, just for fun. I joined a facebook group called Self Portrait Sundays, so that’s inspired me to do another batch.
I spent the evening at my work table last night with baseball on the radio and a commission to finish. When I was done I did another quick self portrait and also a sketch of my studio helper Mr. Darcy. I haven’t been drawing him much lately and have been missing that. Plus at the bottom is yesterday’s food journal page.
Pen and ink has also been a lot of fun lately. I started my food journal this week (for three days before the holiday, anyway, and then we’ll see), and that’s got me doing some fast sketching with a fat, felt tipped pen plus a little tone with a brush pen. I’ve carried that over into a new series of self portraits, just for fun. I joined a facebook group called Self Portrait Sundays, so that’s inspired me to do another batch.
I spent the evening at my work table last night with baseball on the radio and a commission to finish. When I was done I did another quick self portrait and also a sketch of my studio helper Mr. Darcy. I haven’t been drawing him much lately and have been missing that. Plus at the bottom is yesterday’s food journal page.
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I’ve started a series of quick, fat pen sketches this week. I’m back doing a food journal for a few days. It makes me think about whether I really want something enough to sit down and sketch it, which helps me keep from just wandering through the kitchen and grazing. I’m enjoying the fast pen work and have also been doing a couple of self portraits along the way as well. I’m using a fat felt tipped pen on these along with a Pentel brush pen filled with warm dark gray ink.
A lot of my recent work has been that print of the live oaks, but I've been really struggling with it. It feels good to jump to some quick sketching and get some immediate gratification as a break. I'm also back working on the waterscape series in oils. I'll have a new one of them to show here quite soon. In the meantime, I'm on tea break to post here, but back to it soon.
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I've been walking daily in the forest lately thinking of trying some oils of it, as a break from the water paintings, but watercolors (my normal plein air medium these days) don't give me enough depth to work from in forest scenes. They're fine for wider landscape or water pieces, but the forest has a lot more density and depth, and I've never been happy with my watercolors inside it.
So I got my pastels out this week for the first time in several years and pulled the big French box easel down from its high shelf. (I usually just take a cushion and do watercolors in my lap.) You can see my set up at the right.
I had forgotten some of my colors, what and where they were, but it felt good to work in pastels again. They're the most immediate medium I use. There's no brush or intermediary. You just pick up a hunk of color and go.
I got all excited about the sycamore and started a painting of it the next day. It's simpler and more styleized than most of mine, and I'm going to keep working on it (I only had three hours by the time I started it before I had to be somewhere else. We'll see where it goes when I get the chance to get back to my easel. I'm also hoping to keep doing more studies and see what else I come up with.
So I got my pastels out this week for the first time in several years and pulled the big French box easel down from its high shelf. (I usually just take a cushion and do watercolors in my lap.) You can see my set up at the right.
I had forgotten some of my colors, what and where they were, but it felt good to work in pastels again. They're the most immediate medium I use. There's no brush or intermediary. You just pick up a hunk of color and go.
I got all excited about the sycamore and started a painting of it the next day. It's simpler and more styleized than most of mine, and I'm going to keep working on it (I only had three hours by the time I started it before I had to be somewhere else. We'll see where it goes when I get the chance to get back to my easel. I'm also hoping to keep doing more studies and see what else I come up with.
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My friend and sketching inspiration Elizabeth Alley was giving a lecture on sketching at a conference and wanted to practice first on some friends. Naturally several of us sketched her as well as listening, and I took some notes too, since it was really interesting information. Plus I never pass up a chance to draw a Muddy's cupcake, which she kindly provided for the group.
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My minister Steve Montgomery retired yesterday after 19 years of leading Idlewild Presbyterian Church. I don't often sketch during worship, but I felt like I needed to mark the occasion, and drawing it for me is a way of memorializing it. I did one sketch during the prelude and one during the children's sermon, and then I paid attention the rest of the time. Sketching is a deep way of paying attention, but it also distracts me from other elements of what's going on.
I was honored that they used my artwork on the bulletin for the last Sunday. Steve Berger had written a song for Steve M. that went well with it, so we used my print to illustrate the song, and it ended up on the front of the bulletin. I love this photo by Frank Kelly of Steve holding my bulletin and listening to a hymn that was commissioned for him. It's powerful for me to belong to a church that understands the importance of the arts in marking these moments and that encourages the artists and musicians who belong to the congregation.
I was honored that they used my artwork on the bulletin for the last Sunday. Steve Berger had written a song for Steve M. that went well with it, so we used my print to illustrate the song, and it ended up on the front of the bulletin. I love this photo by Frank Kelly of Steve holding my bulletin and listening to a hymn that was commissioned for him. It's powerful for me to belong to a church that understands the importance of the arts in marking these moments and that encourages the artists and musicians who belong to the congregation.
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I have work at the Walter Anderson Museum of Art (WAMA). That right there is a beautiful sentence to type. Anderson is one of my main art heroes, and I have dreamed of showing there for years. I've been working on this whole series of water paintings since last fall, and then the call for a show of water paintings at WAMA popped up in my facebook feed. Beautifully, they accepted these two paintings plus my block print of the kayak as well.
I went down to deliver art and stayed three nights to be able to go to the opening as well, and it was a marvelous trip. I loved having several days to go in and out of the museum and drink in the artwork there.
I went down to deliver art and stayed three nights to be able to go to the opening as well, and it was a marvelous trip. I loved having several days to go in and out of the museum and drink in the artwork there.
I've only ever been able to go for one day, sandwiched in with other things, so that was a rare treat. All the folks who work there were warm and welcoming, and I got to have some great conversations as well as looking at art.
They also went above and beyond the day of the opening. It was a day of six hour tornado watches and a huge wave of bad weather coming across the state. It would have been supremely easy for them to simply push the opening back a day. But they knew several of us had come to town and stayed for the party, so they decided to work quite late two nights in a row and had a storm party on Thursday and the official opening on Friday, an evening later than originally planned. I was so grateful for this generosity because it was a huge marker for me to have art in what is essentially sacred art space for me. Those of us who were there got a marvelous tour of the collection with Mattie Coddling, the curator who has recently put up a comprehensive exhibit tracking the progression of Anderson's life and work (which are essentially the same thing).
The unexpected and amazing bonus was that John Anderson, one of Walter's children, generously came out on a terrible night to be present. It would have been even easier for him to simply stay home. Because of the smaller crowd, I ended up having a couple of long and delightful conversations with him. He was kind and remarkably generous with his family stories. I was halfway through his mother's memoir, Approaching the Magic Hour, which is marvelous. John talked to me about art in general, living as an artist, and how his father wanted to invite everyone into the process. It was a standout moment in my life, and I could not be more grateful to everyone involved in making it happen.
They also went above and beyond the day of the opening. It was a day of six hour tornado watches and a huge wave of bad weather coming across the state. It would have been supremely easy for them to simply push the opening back a day. But they knew several of us had come to town and stayed for the party, so they decided to work quite late two nights in a row and had a storm party on Thursday and the official opening on Friday, an evening later than originally planned. I was so grateful for this generosity because it was a huge marker for me to have art in what is essentially sacred art space for me. Those of us who were there got a marvelous tour of the collection with Mattie Coddling, the curator who has recently put up a comprehensive exhibit tracking the progression of Anderson's life and work (which are essentially the same thing).
The unexpected and amazing bonus was that John Anderson, one of Walter's children, generously came out on a terrible night to be present. It would have been even easier for him to simply stay home. Because of the smaller crowd, I ended up having a couple of long and delightful conversations with him. He was kind and remarkably generous with his family stories. I was halfway through his mother's memoir, Approaching the Magic Hour, which is marvelous. John talked to me about art in general, living as an artist, and how his father wanted to invite everyone into the process. It was a standout moment in my life, and I could not be more grateful to everyone involved in making it happen.
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I saw outside the Walter Anderson Museum of Art last Thursday before my opening and drew the tunnel of live oaks that reach across Washington Avenue. I love the fern covered lives oaks of the Deep South. They have a character no other tree has. So incredibly expressive. I took a few photos of my process as I was doing this one so you could see how I work.
After that I forgot and just dove into the paint. It’s hard for me to think about anything else when I’m painting.
