My husband surprised me with these roses which were on the kitchen counter when I returned home on Saturday nite. He admitted he thought Mothers Day was Sunday the 7th but who cares? I love the bouquet and the thought behind it.
My new goal is to paint as often as possible to improve my skills as well as create memories in my journals. You can compare my goal to that of a pianist who must practice in order to play a piece well.
It was cold outside. The fire was warm and toasty and filled the room with a glow. The room was empty, I had no choice but to sit down and paint.
Here are my favorites from the museum. I especially appreciate an artist who makes shoe art.
We are drawing and painting, really. We are also exploring this different parts of this city.
Many of you know I love shoes. Today we spent a wonderful morning exploring Vieux Quebec with our guide, Marie-Pierre of Nomad tours.
Maire-Pierre is on the left.
We were able to explore on foot despite the light rain, however I was forced to buy a pair of rainboots.
I returned to the Chagall exhibit today to see more of his work, I thought you might like to see some too.
Designs by Chagall for costumes for a theatrical production.
I still find it hard to believe that you are allowed to photograph these works of art (without flash).
I have always loved the paintings of Marc Chagall since my aunt gave me a book about his artwork when I was six. How could I not like paintings with flying brides, floating chickens, fiddlers on roof tops and more?
Today in Montreal we went to an exhibit at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts , called Chagall & Music. The exhibit is probably 10 rooms full of his paintings, drawings, sculptures, costumes he designed and painted and more.
I had to stop my self from attracting the guards because I felt the need to be up too close to the paintings to see the lines Mr. Chagall drew with his pencil.
Here is a little of the exhibit:
The computers are down at my boarding gate in Atlanta. Someon suggested they board us from a paper list, its causing some confusion. This is a very large airport so I couldn't stop at any shops enroute to my terminal. It wasn't too big a sacrifice because the only store in my terminal was a Spanx store and shopping there would be depressing.
More trip highlights when I land in Montreal.
When I am in airports I study people's baggage to see if I can pick up some tips to streamline my travel. So far I've decided I need a rather large Chanel tote to accommodate my baggalli purse and tuna fish sandwich.
Last Wednesday I offered a homemade sketchbook to the 10th commenter on my blog post. Thank you for submitting comments. I noticed many of your comments come to me via email. In order for your comments to show up below in the comment section you need to actually go to my website, click on blog tab in the header and then scroll down to the bottom of the post that you want to comment on and click on the word comment. In theory this should bring up a place for you to type your comment and have it posted on the blog. I will sometimes, (Rick tells me always), reply to your comment on the blog. If I don't somehow respond, please know that I read every comment and appreciate them all and am so grateful to you for reading my blog. I try to post something of value to you in my posts except when I get carried away by a whimsical wind.
Since we are talking about my blog posts, would you be willing to tell me what you find helpful in my blog posts and what types of posts you would be interested in me writing? Thanks a million in advance.
Dana Delman of Claremont won the sketchbook! It was crafted with found and salvaged materials by me and bound with my hand binder. It contains at least 4 types of paper.
I am putting it in the snail mail to Dana tomorrow.
It's good to pack light when you travel these days. Having your things in a small suitcase saves time, money and wear and tear on your body.
I've developed a wardrobe of fairly thin layers of clothing that just fits in my suitcase along side my art supplies and other travel needs.
But, I am always thinking of new ways to travel with less. One of the recent ideas I came up with, no one seemed to like or appreciate. I suggested we all bring one outfit in size one size fits all which we would wear and pass on to another traveler (washed first, of course).
I know when everyone sees these examples of one size fits all dresses and tops that I found online, they might not consider my idea foolish.
When you are traveling anywhere, from your kitchen to your backyard, from Temecula to Tuscany you need to find a sketchbook that suits your particular needs.
I am always looking for the best travel sketch book, but it doesn't exist, so if you're on a search for a sketchbook too, I suggest you use these questions to help make your choice.
1. What size and weight sketchbook can you easily carry?
2. What art supplies will you be using on the pages of your book? Watercolors need watercolor paper or 93 lb. or more mixed media paper.
3. Do you want a neat, clean looking sketch book or do you prefer a creative looking book?
4. Do you want your pages to be landscape or portrait? I must have landscape so I can stretch my work across 2 pages if I need
Best All Around Choice is: the Moleskine WATERCOLOR Book. Make sure its says watercolor on the label because you get the best results with watercolor paper, the moleskine sketch paper doesn't grabbthe watercolor and that alone will make you cry.
Second Choice: put together your own sketchbook. Gather the paper you prefer (I prefer a mix of papers including some watercolor and mixed media paper as well as lined, graph and brown paper. Either take your paper to a copy shop and have them spiral bind it or diy it. If you choose this option grab a piece of cardboard from the back of an old pad of paper and use that for the last page of your book. You can use cardstock or the front of s crackerbook for the front of your book. I like tonlaminate the front cover using my diy laminating machine I bought at Target or Walmart.
If you like vintage books, I slice the pages out of an old book, reinforces the spine with web tape and use the phamphlet stitch to connect my folded paper to the spine. I also adore gluing in envelopes and pockets to hold things I find in my travels.
What do you think?
SPECIAL OFFER: The 10th person to comment on this post will receive the gift of one of my DIY blank sketchbooks to record their travel details and images.
Here is the almost perfect sketchbook I took with me on our recent workshop tour of Scotland. It's definately not perfect but it worked well, was easy to carry and fit in my purse!
I was employed by our local friends of the library to teach a watercolor class last Saturday. The topic they gave me to teach was "Springtime". This topic can be translated into a painting in many ways. Since I had just observed Spring in Scotland, I decided to draw 2 pictures of lambs and daffodils which were popping out everywhere in the Scottish countryside.
Please tell me how you would paint Spring in your part of the world.
Feel free to copy and paint my Spring lambs and daffodils.
How can I find time to make art, is the FAQ I hear the most often. You can make your art supplies portable and easy to use, lose your inner art critic, learn some easy art techniques and buy preprepared meals. These are the answers I usually give to help you find art making time. Sometimes these strategies help but sometimes they don't.
So, I have found another possible solution:
a home for runaway artists, a sort of Never, Neverland, where you can make art all day, in your pj's or fully dressed.
Here is the home I am purchasing for us runaway artists.
The trip is complete. We are all home unpacking our suitcases. I thought I would share with you some moments from our trip.
I just received an email from Amazon suggesting books I might like. The book at the top of the list is mine! I think I will like it. I haven't held it in my hand yet. I didn't preorder my book because the publisher sends me some copies which haven't arrived yet. Since this is my first published book I am enjoying learning about the post publication process. So far I have one review on Amazon and there are a few slightly used copies for sale. How is it there are slightly used copies for sale when the book just came out in print?
As soon as my books arrive I will let you know what I think, other than I think if you are interested in learning how to paint and sketch anywhere, my book will teach you how.
If you purchase the book and like it, I would appreciate it if you would write a review saying so on Amazon and a thank you from the bottom of my heart for purchasing it.
is a good idea if you had not dumped all the water out of your waterbottle and water brush to get through security. Our flight from Edinburgh dropped us in NYC with a 3 hour layover. My plan was to paste my travel ephemera on the empty pages in my journal and finish up some paintings. However the time change has boggled my brain so I think I will just put ink over pencil writing etc.
Today was the last day of our workshop in Scotland. We made our way down from the highlands yesterday and spent today exploring the Trossachs area. We wandered through the streets of the town of Callender and met some locals.
Then we visited Doune Castle, a former hunting lodge and one of the filming sites for Outlander.
Today we all leave for our homes in different directions. Filled with memories of our trip to Scotland, scones and our new favorite Bellhaven's Best Beer.
Brian our guide mentioned we had to see what he thought was the most beautiful spot in the world. Naturally we had to include it in our tour itinerary. We drove to an inlet on the Isle of Skye and hopped on the ferry to the island to get to the most beautiful spot.
We were handed oil cloth ponchos to wear for our journey. The ponchos became indespensible when a light rain began to fall. We passed seals lounging on the rocks as we motored in to the cove. The boat dropped us off and sailed away.
It was the most beautiful spot.
Yesterday was our first day exploring the Isle of Skye. The Isle of Skye is filled with beautiful isolated landscapes dotted with white houses, barns and sheep.
Even though it looks chilly in the photo, the weather is 50 degrees, not too cold with no need for the 2 pairs of long underwear I packed.
