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The weather is utterly beautiful for late October, so Mr. Darcy and I had lunch on the back porch and also took a sketching walk in the forest late this afternoon. I've been loving the graffiti addition to the trail marker in the Old Forest, and this week it seemed topical for me. I decided to go sketch it.
It's funny. I had just had a discussion with a friend about work/life balance and keeping a distinct line between work and leisure, since I work at home. It gets blurry immediately, though, because in the midst of all my framing and show work, what I've wanted to do for fun for an hour is get out and sketch. It's nice to have a vocation.
Then in my art journal group online, this interview with Liz Steel appeared. "How do you unwind? Having a cup of tea and sketching it. That’s why I don’t have any work/play balance. The act of sketching helps me unwind because it gives me processing time."
It's nice to know I'm not alone, at any rate.
It's funny. I had just had a discussion with a friend about work/life balance and keeping a distinct line between work and leisure, since I work at home. It gets blurry immediately, though, because in the midst of all my framing and show work, what I've wanted to do for fun for an hour is get out and sketch. It's nice to have a vocation.
Then in my art journal group online, this interview with Liz Steel appeared. "How do you unwind? Having a cup of tea and sketching it. That’s why I don’t have any work/play balance. The act of sketching helps me unwind because it gives me processing time."
It's nice to know I'm not alone, at any rate.
Mostly this week I've been framing for Dixon. I'm getting close. Ten out of eleven are in frames, though I still have the biggest one left, and I have to get brown paper and wires on all of them. Work is due Monday, though, so I've got time without killing myself, which is nice. It's been a full work week, though.
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I took my adorable teapot by my friend Melissa Bridgman (who will join me for my Holiday Open Studio Sale in December) plus a white cup and saucer to Memphis Theological Seminary yesterday to set up a still life for my art journal group.
I wanted them to easily see values (on the simple, white forms), and I also wanted to practice making grays with French ultramarine blue and burnt umber. That's one of my favorite things about watercolor -- that lovely gray that can be pushed from warm to cool and have a spectrum of colors in it. I also mentioned squinting to see value more clearly, getting rid of detail and color (an art class trick that doesn't necessarily trickle out to the wider world), and using one rich color to go with a mostly monochromatic sketch, like the blue above.
It took me a while to get going. My first sketch (below) didn't make me as happy as the second one, but that's also how things work when you're creating. Some of it isn't as exciting as other bits that happen how you want them to. It's just part of the deal.
I wanted them to easily see values (on the simple, white forms), and I also wanted to practice making grays with French ultramarine blue and burnt umber. That's one of my favorite things about watercolor -- that lovely gray that can be pushed from warm to cool and have a spectrum of colors in it. I also mentioned squinting to see value more clearly, getting rid of detail and color (an art class trick that doesn't necessarily trickle out to the wider world), and using one rich color to go with a mostly monochromatic sketch, like the blue above.
It took me a while to get going. My first sketch (below) didn't make me as happy as the second one, but that's also how things work when you're creating. Some of it isn't as exciting as other bits that happen how you want them to. It's just part of the deal.
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My week has mostly been prep for my Dixon exhibition. Work is due a week from tomorrow, so I've been working on getting final prints and framing. But I took a break to join the Memphis Urban Sketchers at the historic Elmwood Cemetery, one of my favorite places to go sketch. Because we were outside, Mr. Darcy could join me, which is always a treat, and it was fun to catch up with my friends after my recent travels.
After sketching a remnant of us went to lunch. The group kindly agreed to eat outside on the patio so Mr. Darcy and I could join them. We ate at Tart, and they immediately brought out a bowl of water for Mr. D, which won me over. And the beet/goat cheese salad was lovely.
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No, that is not a typo. My local bookstore just had a bash to celebrate 140 years in operation.
I have been joyfully shopping there all my life now. Dad used to take me as a kid. I could walk there for years from my home, and while I miss them being close since their move, they're now in a good-for-business area with lots of restaurants and shops.
I had a great time going today to see friends, drink a little champagne, and have a cupcake. And, as so often happens, just the book I was hoping for was sitting right on the shelf smiling out at me.
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I am continuing to celebrate Inktober (and my lovely new pen) with some very simple line drawings. I've been crazy busy and exhausted with the Pink Palace Crafts Fair (which went BEAUTIFULLY! Thanks to all of you who came out to support and hug me and say a few words) and getting ready for the Dixon exhibition. So a quick line sketch of Mr. Darcy on the sofa in the evening is just what the doctor ordered. It's lovely to do something creative in the midst of the show prep and printing.
Today I did two rounds of printing and filled my print rack, worked with my art journal group at Memphis Theological, and picked up framing supplies. By 5pm, it was gorgeous outside, and I decided to treat myself to a sketch outing in the forest. I started with another simple line sketch.
As I was drawing, Mr. Darcy settled firmly on my foot, and I couldn't resist sketching him as well. That's twice in two days sketching him on my feet. I'll be glad for that come winter.
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I just finished the St. Francis print that has been in my head a good while now. I managed it in time for the Blessing of the Pets at Memphis Theological Seminary, and I was glad for them to use it in the worship.
It's a very personal print. My housemate Neil is representing St. Francis. He also does a rocking Jesus in his bathrobe, patient man. That's my beloved Mr. Darcy, of course, receiving the blessing. My sister's donkey Crispin and one of her llamas is represented (the llamas were off campus last time I was there, so this is more of a nod to her having them than her particular llama, since I couldn't sketch and photograph it. The cat is Mikey, once of the best cats I've ever known, who now lives with my ex but is still in my heart. And the baby owl was the reason for this print. A friend of Neil's rescued it and brought it to visit one day. I photographed and sketched it, and a friend of mine suggested that instead of Jesus, Neil would look great as Francis with the owl on his shoulder. So the print was born.
It's on 14x22" paper, and I've just put it up in my online store at https://squareup.com/market/martha-kelly-art. I also printed several just after getting home to my printing press so I could have them at the Pink Palace Crafts Fair in Memphis this weekend. They should be dry enough to package tonight. I'll be out there in the demonstration area showing printmaking the next three days. 10-6 Friday and Saturday, and 10-5 on Sunday.
It's a very personal print. My housemate Neil is representing St. Francis. He also does a rocking Jesus in his bathrobe, patient man. That's my beloved Mr. Darcy, of course, receiving the blessing. My sister's donkey Crispin and one of her llamas is represented (the llamas were off campus last time I was there, so this is more of a nod to her having them than her particular llama, since I couldn't sketch and photograph it. The cat is Mikey, once of the best cats I've ever known, who now lives with my ex but is still in my heart. And the baby owl was the reason for this print. A friend of Neil's rescued it and brought it to visit one day. I photographed and sketched it, and a friend of mine suggested that instead of Jesus, Neil would look great as Francis with the owl on his shoulder. So the print was born.
It's on 14x22" paper, and I've just put it up in my online store at https://squareup.com/market/martha-kelly-art. I also printed several just after getting home to my printing press so I could have them at the Pink Palace Crafts Fair in Memphis this weekend. They should be dry enough to package tonight. I'll be out there in the demonstration area showing printmaking the next three days. 10-6 Friday and Saturday, and 10-5 on Sunday.
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So this happened today. I went to Dixon to have a final meeting before my exhibition, and Laura Gray told me there was a banner of one of my prints out on the corner of Park and Southern. The plants have eaten my name a bit, but it is a total thrill to see my work blown up and out on a museum banner. A career moment for me.
It's funny, because this morning on my walk I noticed a spotlight of a sunbeam picking out one tiny sapling in the Old Forest. I took a photo and posted it on fb. It felt like such an encouraging image that we all get a spotlight at some point in our life. This afternoon when I saw the banner, I flashed back to that spotlight, feeling like it had been an omen. I just read The Alchemist last week, and it talks about being open to and aware of the omens in your life. It feels superstitious to me to wait around on them for decision making, but a wise man of my acquaintance today said, when I told him of my feeling about an omen, "A lovely thought. It's good to cultivate a sense of wonder wherever you go." I love that idea of being open to wonder around me. And, as E.M. Forster said, "Only connect."
It's funny, because this morning on my walk I noticed a spotlight of a sunbeam picking out one tiny sapling in the Old Forest. I took a photo and posted it on fb. It felt like such an encouraging image that we all get a spotlight at some point in our life. This afternoon when I saw the banner, I flashed back to that spotlight, feeling like it had been an omen. I just read The Alchemist last week, and it talks about being open to and aware of the omens in your life. It feels superstitious to me to wait around on them for decision making, but a wise man of my acquaintance today said, when I told him of my feeling about an omen, "A lovely thought. It's good to cultivate a sense of wonder wherever you go." I love that idea of being open to wonder around me. And, as E.M. Forster said, "Only connect."
A lovely day.
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There was a noticeable trend last year in my art fb circles of people doing ink drawings for "Inktober." This year I was given a lovely new/old fountain pen just at the end of September. I've been using more pencil than pen with my watercolors recently, except for my quick sketches from Paris this past summer, so I'm enjoying playing around with the pen and waterproof ink as a new-again thing for me.
Here are a bunch of sketches from my recent time at Country Workshops, a woodworking school on a beautiful farm in North Carolina. It's one of my favorite places to paint. Above is Big Boy in my lap, one of my very favorite cats.
Below are the cows I kept drawing. Both those scenes are looking out the window from the work table I use when I'm there.
Here are a bunch of sketches from my recent time at Country Workshops, a woodworking school on a beautiful farm in North Carolina. It's one of my favorite places to paint. Above is Big Boy in my lap, one of my very favorite cats.
Below are the cows I kept drawing. Both those scenes are looking out the window from the work table I use when I'm there.
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I've been proofing as I carve, playing with colors. I think I may do a variable edition on this. The solid red is a bit too bright, but a darker red might be fun. I may also try one in blues and greens and purples as well. But so far, the top one is my favorite.
It's been fun to get my Dixon show finished and be able to work on something fun and just for me. This is an aspirational print for me. I'm not there yet in achieving this, but there have been some changes in my life over the last month or so that are moving me closer to this goal, which feels very good. So here it is. A wish for all of us. Less tempest and more teapot.
It's been fun to get my Dixon show finished and be able to work on something fun and just for me. This is an aspirational print for me. I'm not there yet in achieving this, but there have been some changes in my life over the last month or so that are moving me closer to this goal, which feels very good. So here it is. A wish for all of us. Less tempest and more teapot.
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I had been hearing about Noodler's ink for years on sketching forums. It's a non-water soluble ink, so it won't run when you watercolor with it. A lovely friend just gave me an old fountain pen and a partial bottle of Noodler's to try. I'm having a fun time this week. I shifted from pen to pencil with my watercolor several years ago, but I had fun revisiting fountain pen and watercolor sketches in Paris. That was with ink that would run, and I kind of liked the looseness, but this has a neat, spontaneous, kind of graphic feel to it. I'm going to enjoy playing around with the ink as well as using the lovely pen.
