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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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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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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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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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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 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.
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The Memphis Urban Sketchers met at the Memphis Farmers Market yesterday. I am having a crazy busy week, but I decided to take time to go see some of my people, and I was very glad I did. It was fun to catch up with everyone after my trip, and I always enjoy drawing down there.
I did a good bit of printing, calendar work, and board cutting in between, but I also went for the second and third sets of Le Tumulte Noir playing at Huey's tonight. They're an incredibly talented across the board gypsy jazz group, and I even got a little surprise swing dancing when I happened to sit next to a few dancer friends. Such a perfect way to spend an early Sunday evening. They gu
The guys are really fun to sketch and very nice about my doing it.
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I took it easier in Paris this year. I didn't try to bring home 50 watercolors to mount a show. I hung out with friends, listened to music, did a little shopping, and sat in cafes. I did fast sketches this year -- wanting to have a journal of special times but not spend my whole trip with my nose buried in my sketching supplies. So here is a series of cafe drawings I did across several different neighborhoods. The first is Hotel du Nord, along the canal. A real old-time cafe my hosts took me to my first year here.
Next is a sketch from the cafe right at Marche d'Aligre where my friend Rene Miller often plays on a Saturday morning when the market and brocante are in full swing.
Next is a sketch from the cafe right at Marche d'Aligre where my friend Rene Miller often plays on a Saturday morning when the market and brocante are in full swing.
Next is a cafe right next to the Montmartre cemetery. Stopped in there on a cold drizzly day for a hot tea after exploring a bit of the cemetery. It was charming, with lovely woodwork and a tiny spiral staircase up to the W.C. I pass it regularly on my walk home but had never stopped before.
The last is Le Nazir in Abbesses, one of my favorite neighborhoods. Again, Graham and Anais had taken me here for my very first meal in Paris a couple of years ago, and I was happy to revisit it.
