We had a truly lovely week this past week, perhaps as cosmic atonement for the awful snow and cold, and I made the most of it. I've been outside sketching and lunching and walking and generally hanging out. Friday Jude and I had brunch at Cafe Eclectic. I get there a lot, but they're four blocks from my house, dog friendly, and are consistently willing to serve outdoors, unlike some places that shut it down no matter what the weather through the winter months. With a separation anxiety dog, I'm grateful for anywhere that lets me bring him to hang outdoors when the weather permits.

For the afternoon we wandered around downtown, letting me take photos for the M is for Memphis book, and we ended up at the river for the late afternoon and sunset. This sketch was when the sun was higher, but the sunset put on a real show, and it was lovely to sit and watch. One of the best things about Memphis.

I've mostly been doing book work lately, illustrations meant specifically for M is for Memphis. I'm excited about how it's going, but I also feel myself tighten up a bit when I'm painting for a purpose like that. It felt good yesterday to take advantage of a sunny 60 degree day and go get chai with my partner and then head over to the park for some sky studies. The clouds had been amazing as we sat on the cafe deck, but they were moving rapidly out by the time I got to the park and was settled on a picnic table with Henry tethered beside me to hang out.

I did one quick cloud study as the front piece to a new sketchbook. I'm kind of excited about this one. It's a Handbook watercolor book, like my normal bigger (8x8") size, but it's 8x4" or so. I had a vertical one this summer that was 8x10". It was fun to branch out of my normal landscape format double truck and have something more upright, but it was SO much real estate to cover that I was a little reluctant to start a piece if I didn't feel I had a good long time. I don't need a sketchbook that makes me reluctant to open it. The nice thing about that one was that it was slightly landscape format, but tallish, when open. This one is purely square, which isn't my favorite, but it's good to mix up my shapes, and I love the size. I stumbled on it in an art store out west and have been waiting to finish my last bigger Handbook to start the new one. I had fun and did a sycamore tree I love against the blue, blue sky once the clouds had gone. I'll be curious to see how this format feels as I use it more.

Memphis had eight solid days of snow and ice, so I treated myself to a staycation writers retreat. One of my two big goals for this year is to get a new alphabet sketchbook done. It's M is for Memphis, which my local bookstore has been nicely requesting. They sell a lot of P is for Possum and would love a broader Memphis book as well. I've been tinkering with the alphabet for over a year, but the last few weeks I've made a strong start on actually getting art together and putting it on pages. I'm doing a good bit of new work (A is for Arcade at the top)but also plundering my sketchbook to see if I've banked sketches over the years that would go well in the book. I sketched the Arcade's sweet potato pancakes several years ago and will add that sketch to the overall piece of the building itself. I go back through my sketchbooks fairly regularly for inspiration for prints or paintings, but it's fun to be able to pull out those done-on-the-spot images to use as they are.

This is going to take most of the year, but I'm hoping to be able to have it out for fall. Fingers crossed. Books always take longer than I think they well, but I'm pleased with how it's going so far.

I spent the lovely last day of 2023 outside at the park with Henry. We sketched and walked and sat and watched the sky and did a circuit of the neighborhood too. It felt lovely. January 1 was much less lovely, though I'm very glad to see a new year coming in.

I still made art that day, meaning to start the year as I hope to continue it. Henry and I had stumbled across a full length mirror in the Old Forest a few days earlier, and I took a series of photos. I can't stop thinking about how magical that pool of reflective light felt in the midst of the forest. I have two big projects on my plate, but I'm giving myself permission to follow the shiny object and do a small graphic essay. That's especially true at the holiday season, but I do try to take advantage of the more persistent inspiration when it shows up. It may not mean much to others once I finish it, but I'm enjoying the process and the play this week and am hopeful it might be something lovely when finished. After struggling to take my normal forest walks for a lot of the past year, it feels lovely to be starting out in a place that inspires me and feeds my work.

My friend Christina and I went out sketching in the neighborhood again. I was super drawn to the tree and then struggled a bit with the house behind it (partly because I used a water soluble ink without thinking and had to add a bit of gouache to the trim later to keep it from being super muddy). I finished with a super fast line drawing of a different house that was a lot less intricate and more fun. Of course. And I rounded the page out with a Christmas present from my potter friend Melissa Bridgman. So lovely.

Henry and I went out to the farm a couple of times this past week. I had thought maybe I'd missed my moment (of energy and will) to get a tree, but then I found a teeny tiny one that could be a table top one (out of Henry's reach). So we went back the next day with loppers, no saw needed. I sketched both days and enjoyed being out there in the winter landscape with a big open sky. I think we'll do this a bit more over the winter when there are neither crops in the fields nor ticks making their unpleasant presence felt.

I went to the Tennessee Shakespeare production of The Importance of Being Earnest on Sunday, and it was such a fun show to sketch. All the hats! I kept it super simple and used my newish Majohn fude nib pen with a waterproof DeAtramentis document black ink. Sometimes I try for color, but I really enjoyed just playing with line in the semi darkness. I haven't sketched figures and faces much lately, and it felt good to practice. There are a few audience sketches mixed in from intermission, and one final sketch of a tree at my family farm to round out the page, one I've drawn over a couple of decades now.

It's been lovely out this week, and I'm trying to get back into the habit of walking with my sketchbook. Henry and I stopped in the forest and did a couple of sketches this week on our walks, and I went out house sketching with Christina again yesterday. It's so good to sit and visit and sketch. This morning I gave myself a slow morning to use up the rest of the space on that page and sketch my tea things. I haven't done that in ages, and it felt great.

I included the tiny Bonne Maman jar from my current advent calendar jelly. In an inspired move, they offered a jam-a-day advent calendar, and I managed to luck into one before they all disappeared quickly. As a single woman I'm not eating even a tiny pot a day, so it will stretch into the darkness of January. Which is making me realize that instead of advent calendars with tiny daily treats (which, honestly, are not at all liturgically appropriate for a penitential season, even though they are delightful), what we REALLY need is midwinter calendars that run from, say, Epiphany to March 1. Those dark, post holiday days are when I find myself most in need of small boosts. So I'll be stretching out the Bonne Maman goodness in an effort not to stretch my waistline unduly and also to savor the small treats more mindfully.

I scanned in but hadn't posted the house portrait I did, the last of my "homework" outings with Christina for her architectural sketching class. I loved the impetus to just get out and sketch and watch the world go past. I've been doing some intensive and good print work lately, but I need to get back to this as well.

My sister and her husband came to stay for the Elmwood party and stayed into the holidays, so I've given myself a bit of time off. It was such good family time, celebratory time, hang out time, and I'm grateful. After they left, I got out a couple of times over the last weekend. I went to Six at the Orpheum, and I got there a little early to sketch. It's such a magnificent building, and  I always love sketching there.

Then Saturday my friend Christina was still doing homework for her architectural sketching class, so Henry and I walked over with her (after some excellent curry from Flipside Asia at the farmers market) to draw (me) and watch the world go by (Henry). I love sketching outings with friends.

Now I'm back to work and doing the Metal Museum Artists Market this Saturday from 10-4. Comfy shopping inside a huge heated tent, and a well curated group of local artists. It's my first time doing the show, and I'm really excited to be part of it. For those of you in Memphis their address is 374 Metal Museum Dr.  The best way to get to the museum (and avoid the marathon traffic) would be to come down Crump Blvd, take a left on Florida St., take a right on McLemore, McLemore will turn into Riverside Blvd, and then take a left on Metal Museum Dr. We'll be easily south of all the hooplah.