SKETCHES

Memphis got its own chapter of the international group Urban Sketchers in 2010, and sketching has become a much more important part of my work. I used to do a sketch or two just to lay out a painting, but sketching wasn't something I did for its own sake very often except occasionally on trips to help me remember. The Memphis Urban Sketchers have inspired me to carry a sketchbook much more regularly and to use sketching as a visual journal of my own life. In the process I have brought home images that have become paintings or prints later on because they were sitting in my sketchbook calling my name. The group also inspired me to experiment with watercolor, markers, and fountain pens after watching the other artists have fun with these media.

This is a small (even if it doesn't feel like it) selection of the sketches I do. Follow my blog to see them as I do them, or browse the blog archives for more. And you can scroll through my entire May to October 2026 and my September to December 2025 sketchbookssketchbooks to see the bare bones process.

Memphis

Memphis is my lifelong home and always my favorite subject. I love walking around my neighborhood and watching for new places to paint. All of these single sheet watercolors were done on site (the definition of urban sketching).

These days I do more of my sketching in sketchbooks than on watercolor blocks. Early on I did more loose leaf sketching so I could use the paintings in shows, but I like the power of having art journals. I just fall into places and events years later as I open the pages. Also the sketchbooks are only for me, so I'm not trying to be perfect, and I end up drawing more loosely and playing with styles. When these images do stay with me, I'll do paintings or prints from them, or more recently use them to make books.

Dogs

My dogs are my muses (along with certain trees), beginning with Mr. Darcy and continuing with my current guy Henry, a black and white printmaker's dream. I even keep a sketchbook on the coffee table within easy reach specifically for dog sketches, in case my regular one isn't beside me.

Home sketches

I also really enjoy sketching my domestic life, which means sketching a lot of teapots and cake and flowers. Things that make me happy.

Musicians

It's always fun to sketch live musicians. They are on stage, used to being gawked at, and not moving too fast. I also love the juxtaposition of bodies and instruments. Like all my other sketches, these live music ones also preserve those moments for me to savor every time I open up a book.

Road Trips

I always paint extra on trips (and sketch in the museums I see) since I'm in new places that excite me and that I want to remember. Then I bring that energy home and pour it into my studio work, so it's a total win.

Paris

These are a few of the watercolors from my 2016 trip to Paris that were included in my Celestial Paris exhibition. The show ran from October 28, 2016 to January 1, 2017 and also included some oils and prints as well that were done from these sketches after I got home. All the watercolors were painted on site, sitting on the sidewalk, or on a park bench if I got lucky. Sometimes even a cafe table with tea beside me. Sketching a place you enjoy being is a great way to lock it into your memory and savor it later.

After I did my big Paris show I spent more time in later years (I was lucky enough to have an annual cat sitting gig until it got interrupted by the pandemic) doing less formal things in a sketchbook. I've written out some off the beaten track hints if anyone is going and would like some ideas of fun places.

England

We took a family vacation (Dad, step-mom, and one of the sisters) to England in the summer of 2014. I hadn't been back to England, one of my favorite places in the world, since I became a serious landscape painter, so I was delighted to have the chance to be there with my watercolors. These sketches are from Winchester, Wells, the Peak District, and the North York moors.

Greece and Turkey

The line between vacations and work trips is pretty blurry for the artists I know. My family took a two week vacation to Greece in June 2012. I spent a lot of time hanging out with them but also a decent amount of time off painting by myself and meeting up with them for dinner. After they went home, I spent one more week on my own painting in Bergama, Turkey, where I had been with my pastels two years before. I had made friends there and was glad to go back with my new medium of watercolor to revisit another favorite place.