Yes, January 31st postmark ends the submission for the Sketchbook Project 2012; a constantly evolving library of artists' sketchbooks from across the globe.
I DID IT!
You can check their website to see when the world tour will be in the city closest to you. This year thousands of sketchbooks will be exhibited at art spaces in 14 cities. After the tour, they will join the collection of the Brooklyn Art Library and made available to the public seven days a week.
A few years ago I fell in love with a hanging cactus plant that had the most incredible, huge blooms. The plant was full of buds and it was one of those "must haves".
How could one resist this beauty?!
Needless to say it has never bloomed again :( The new growth is pencil thin and would never be able to support a massive flower.
I can dream though......
Only one more sketch to complete my Sketchbook Project 2012. YES!
I glanced out my kitchen window this morning to find Buddha smiling wrapped in a blanket of snow. Made me smile as I got ready for this morning's winter wonderland walk.
Another favorite snow scene was the bird bath with a layer of snow nesting on the bird and froggie with a mouth full of snow.
One day I was driving to our favorite walking spot and I saw my friends on the bridge at Woodard Bay in Olympia, Washington, watching and taking photos of what?
Stopping I learned that the Mama Mergansers will carry her babies on her back to move them. Later when I got home Barry sent me an e-mail with photos! Barry Troutman is not only a great photographer but also a wildlife specialist who shares his knowledge about what you are looking at when you are with him. Even in his e-mails!
"Here are some of the birds we were watching today down by the bridge. The Mergansers nest upstream, then move downstream with their broods within a day of hatching. Once they head out, they don't return, but spend their early days growing up out in Chapman Bay or outer Woodard Bay beyond the trestle."
The photo is dated July 1st, but it has taken me this long to capture Mama and her ducklings in my sketchbook.
I have a book entitled, Why Cats Paint by Heather Busch and Burton Silver, but had not come across a dog that paints until now.
Hallie is a little black and tan long haired dachshund that was adopted from an animal shelter by the artist, Dee Dee Murry.
Hallie is a constant companion to Dee Dee even when she painted. One day Dee Dee wondered if Hallie might like to paint. Hallie learned to pick up the brush out of the paint cup and go over to the paper to make strokes and dabs. Hallie has a website of her paintings for purchase. Since she is a rescue dog herself, the proceeds from her artwork are donated to Purple Heart Rescue of Centralia, Washington.
In April of 2011, Hallie went blind overnight from an autoimmune disease called SARDS (Sudden acquired retinal degeneration syndrome). After Dee Dee took Hallie to Iowa State for possible treatment, she found out that Hallie's blindness was irreversible.
After several months adjusting to her disability, Hallie re-learned to paint. By trial and error and some assistance from Dee Dee, Hallie once again repeats her routine motions of applying a brush stroke of paint followed by several dots of paint.
Dogs are so resilient and amazing in their positive adjustment to disability and Hallie is a shining example and inspiration to not fear our pets' disabilities, nor shy away from adopting disabled dogs.
The flow of the water and pigments on paper fascinates me. Painting with watercolors is a blend of spontaneity and control and freedom. Each act of painting begins with the thought, “I wonder what will appear?” There is no formula to painting with watercolors. In the midst of painting an inner guidance says, some purple here, now.
Along with creating art, especially watercolor painting, I design workshops and classes with specific foci to explore the creative process through art media to foster self-awareness.
"Artistic expression lies in all of us and requires only a sense of trust and the freedom to allow the flowing for magic to happen."
