Memphis Urban Sketchers met at the downtown welcome center on Saturday, and the heavens opened in the half hour before we met. Eight hardy souls sloshed their way downtown. The worst of the cloudburst was over  by the time I got there, and there are covered outdoor tables and super overactive indoor air conditioning, so I chose the dampish outdoors. My inflatable, waterproof butt cushion came in super handy. I perched on a table outside and sketched the first two pieces, including the rain coming down. I usually scan sketches for my website, but that light blue-grey sky just doesn't show up on the scanner, so here's the photo I took on site.

It finally started blowing more, so I moved inside and joined a group around the Elvis statue. All three of these were started in Inktense water soluble pencils and then watercolor on top. I've been doing quick forest sketches with those pencils lately and enjoying the texture and immediacy.

Just for fun I took a little video of sketching in the rain.

After several weeks of really restricted work time, I’ve worked two solid mornings and parts of afternoons this week, and it feels really good. I’ve been slowly chipping away at this first print, a three block view of Henry in the Old Forest. I’m doing a series of modest sized tree prints, and Henry has worked his way into two out of the first three. If I keep having more energy and concentration I’ll get back to that second snow tree print as soon as I get a solid first proof of this one.

I’ve also been doing a small print of Lindisfarne Castle, where I went with my grandmother when I was 17. The Holy Island made an indelible impression on me, clearly, and I’ve returned to that image for the cover of the book of poetry I’m putting together for my dad. Nerd family that we are, he spent several decades writing his way through British and Irish history in various challenging rhyme schemes. Because that’s how he has fun. And they’re really delightful. Self publishing wasn’t much available in the 90’s, but these days it’s beautifully democratic to make a book, and I’ve got several under my belt, so my main summer project is to finish this one up. A friend of his did illustrations for it back in the 90’s, but I’m doing a print for the cover as well as typing in and formatting. It’s slow but satisfying work.

Finally I’ve been enjoying organizing my print shop lately, and I’ve got a few fonts that I haven’t even printed yet. This week, in a bid to remind myself that a selzer will give my taste buds just as much change and novelty as a snack if I’m not physically hungry, I printed a small sign on scrap ends of mat board. This font reminds me of the Paris metro lettering, even though it’s not an exact match. I’m a sucker for anything Art Nouveau. I have somewhere between one and five of each letter, so I can’t set a whole poem or anything, but it’s a nice chunky size and really fun for limited projects. Like Parsons it also has extra long, extra fancy ascenders and descenders (bs, ds, ls, ps, ys, etc.) as well as alternative versions of various capitals. I’m a sucker for those too. So this sign now sits on my kitchen window sill for the moment.

We've had perfect windows open weather the last few days, but smoke is on its way from Canada. I woke up early Friday morning and decided to get myself on into the forest after breakfast on the back porch. Henry and I walked, sketched sitting on a vibrant fallen tree trunk, walked some more, sketched again, and finally headed home. It was a perfect way to spend a morning. I'm so grateful to have a huge park and an Old Forest so close to my home. I get the best of all possible worlds.

I am really struggling with fatigue this spring. I've had long covid for two and a half years, but it's especially bad just now. I miss traveling and seeing friends, but I've decided that if I can't go far, I can at least go deep. I've made myself a special Old Forest backpack to keep the car and always have (since I'm driving to the forest instead of walking there just now). It's got a smaller sketchbook, a more limited set of sketching equipment, a waterproof inflatable cushion to sit on (key with the wet week we're having), and a set of binoculars a friend gave me a few years ago. The top sketch is actually my full sized sketchbook (5.5x8"). I had my full kit so the Lamy pen had Diamine Earl Grey ink in it. It's not waterproof, and I like how that gentler color melts into the paint. Black ink would just make a puddle, but I like to draw with grey, brown, or green that will play with the paint.

Below are two from my new kit. It's a sketchbook I had started but but not gotten very far in. It's a 5.5" square that opens out to a more full landscape format. This was my go-to size for years, but I've gone a little bigger recently. It's fun to mix up shapes though. My friend Elizabeth knows I like Inktense water soluble pencils and gave me a bundle she was no longer using. I put several basic colors in this new sketch kit and then used a bit of watercolor on top.

This morning Henry and I were in the forest when a fellow walker called me off a few paces onto a side trail. He'd spotted a barred owl. I saw one last week before I had my sketching kit, so I was delighted to get a second chance at sketching one. She sat and watched us for ages, not too far off the ground. I used the black and the bark Intense pencils with just a little water on top to activate them, no extra paint. She finally took off, but I got to really study her with binoculars and pencil both. Owls have a prehistoric and a magical feeling, like you've stepped slightly into a different world. I'm grateful every time I get to see one.

Christina and I went to Tonica for a second time. It's a tapas place right in the neighborhood with a small back patio that feels like a cafe alleyway from Europe and that also is dog friendly. I appreciate the places where I can walk Henry, get a lovely meal, and walk home again. I also appreciate the slightly fancy places that still welcome dogs, since Henry completely panics if he's left at home alone.

I was right at the end of a sketchbook, and I did the last two pages. I wasn't super inspired about anything except my truly lovely sangria. Always sketch the pink drink, to misquote another friend. I seem to get the base of every wine glass I draw way too big and only realize it after the fact, but I had a good time anyway. Christina was facing the other way, back towards a tiny, lush patio of the business next door, and she was still working after dinner. I decided to do an even faster one just for fun. Neither is really great, but I'm always happier when I sketch, and it's always good practice.

I got to participate in a truly amazing event over the weekend. I was one of four chosen authors to be featured by the National Civil Rights Museum at their annual Ruby Bridges Reading Festival. It was Ruby Bridges herself, two New York Times best selling authors, and my self-published self. The introductory press conference was a little intimidating — I still think of myself much more as an artist than an author, but the other authors were incredibly inclusive and gracious to me, and I had a ball all day. I did two sessions of signings (and ran out of the 100 books the museum had bought to give away), talked through the M is for Memphis alphabet from the stage with a group of rapt kids, and watched kids of a variety of ages wander around clutching armfuls of books with enormous grins on their faces. That was truly the best part.

The signings were fun — I did a small drawing in the front for each kid (and occasional adult, which also delighted me). There was a steady stream of folks wanting my book, and everyone was having a great day out. The great Ella Fitzgerald’s foundation had given the museum 2000 books to distribute to kids, and my middle school book nerd self was delighted to be there as an author but also to see so many kids just delighted about new books.

The day was beautifully organized and went like a well oiled machine. The museum was kind enough to give me the end space in the signing tent so I had a fan and some fresh air coming in to combat the crowds of folks. With my long covid still such a factor in my life, crowds continue to make me a little nervous. All the authors had a dedicated all-day volunteer, and I totally won the lottery with Ewa from International Paper. She was kind, involved, and offered to take a whole string of photos while I did my reading, which hadn’t occurred to me at all. I’m so glad to have those memories of this fantastic day. Here we are below at the start of the day, at the end of the press conference and ready to dive in. I can’t say enough how honored I was to be invited to participate. The NCRM is the spiritual center of Memphis. It was definitely a career moment for me.

I started a tiny sketchbook on Friday since I often carry a pretty tiny purse. I'd like to do more sketching my daily life. I've been using the Handbook watercolor books, but this was my first not w/c paper since they got bought out by Strathmore. The paper quality is definitely down, but I liked my first sketch once I added more paint. It bled through a little with the pen work, but not too much. The second sketch I did with a felt tip instead of a fountain pen, and I I had no bleed through. For this tiny size I might try one of the softcover Stillman and Birn, but for my bigger sketchbooks I still like the hardback nature of the Handbook watercolor, and I love having the pocket in the back.

Because the sketchbook was in my purse this morning, I did a second quick forest sketch, the one with the Pigma Graphic 1 felt tip, and it was fun to pause for not too long on my forest walk and do a quick sketch. Hopefully this will get me back in the habit.

On Friday I met my sketching friend Libby at Dixon for Food Truck Friday My favorite food truck Flipside Asia was there, so I made a point of getting to it. I did the superfast sketch of the small girl statue as a warm up and then moved to. my bigger book. Of course I liked the fast, looser sketch of the girl herself better, but I ended up liking the conservatory and the deep shadows of the full page version too. I started both with a fountain pen using KawekoParadise Blue ink, which is my favorite funky color lately. It's water soluble and melts into the paint, which is fun and loose. Then I went and got meatballs in an Indian marsala sauce to eat in the gardens with Libby. A lovely day.

My friend and sequential art inspiration Martha Park has released her first full book (after numerous graphic essays). I went to the book event at Novel and loved seeing her have a packed room of people supporting her. Christina and I had a lovely dinner on the patio of the bistro first, so it was a really perfect night out.

Memphis Urban Sketchers met at Memphis Botanic Gardens yesterday. Because of a rain out last month, Trollfest coincided with our morning there, and it ended up being fantastic. The garden is big enough for folks to spread out, so it wasn't too crowded. I headed straight for the iconic red bridge in the Japanese garden that generations of kids have had their photos made on (including my sister and me). I just filled my new Art Toolkit palette and put in a record number of greens: Sap green from both Sennelier (cooler and more opaque) and Windsor and Newton (warm and translucent), my favorite W&N green gold, a bright, cool Sennelier Pthalo light green, and a darker, less saturated granulating green from Daniel Smith called Green apatite. I'm always drawn to the trees, so I decided to lean into greens in the new palette more than any other color, and I had fun mixing them together and with ultramarine or burnt umber to get even more shades.

The festival brought food trucks, and I had a messy but delicious duck confit sandwich with mango chutney, and afterwards my friend Libby suggested a walk around the gardens. We did a wide loop, ending up back near the lake, when I spotted the Mississippi Wildlife Rehab set up, also there for the festival, with people holding hawks, snakes, and OWLS. It was utter magic to get to stand next to first an Eastern screech owl (so tiny!) and then a full grown barred owl. Both had lost sight in one eye and were unable to hunt and therefore not able to be released back into the wild. Their handlers spend time with them at the center and occasionally bring them out for educational events. I stood just watching for a while and eventually got out my sketchbook. I was standing up so kept it simple with just pen and ink, but what an immense treat to get to sketch them both close up. Owls are my favorite wildlife.

Libby had gone back to the lake to finish her sketch from earlier, and I rejoined her and did a watercolor of the second scene that had caught my eye that day. I loved the scraggly trees towering over the pavilion, looking the other way in the Japanese garden. I need to get back over here and draw more often. What a truly fantastic day.

I'm working on a companion piece to my first snow tree, but it's really slow carving with all those tiny branches. I can work on it for a couple of hours in the morning when the light is best on my print table and I'm fresh. Then I do some other work later in the day. I won't be able to proof it for several more days yet, but I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out. I'm drawing out a spring tree print with leaves on all those branches, which won't be fast (I mean, what carving is?), but which should move at a much better pace than this current one.

You can also see my muse watching me hopefully and waiting for a trip to the dog park.