Currently Browsing: Random Thoughts
In Context—Losing a Loved One
We can find insightful quotes which remind us of our humanity everywhere.
Achilles’ Heel, Everyone’s Got One
My Achilles’ Heel, used to be the girls, and how quickly I could get them out of their crates (and with what tools) if there was an accident in the Bronco. Now it’s clear that my Achilles’ Heel is Dick’s eyes. Dick had cataract surgery almost a month ago. What should have been a quick […]
Why I Love Snow Piles
I love snow piles because their changing shapes and volumes are fun to sketch. They are also, even in the dead of winter, a reminder that spring is coming. This winter I wasn’t able to sketch as many snow piles as usual, but as spring came on and the odd 70 degree day (followed by below freezing […]
Saying Good-bye To The Bell Museum
Above: Pen and watercolor sketch at the Bell Museum on 9 x 12 inch white Stonehenge paper. And yes Stonehenge is not a watercolor paper, but sometimes you just want to paint on what you want to paint on. Sunday was the Urban Sketchers Twin Cities sketch out at the Bell Museum. I added the […]
Throwback Thursday: My Favorite Necklace and Fun with Holiday Cards
Left: The full holiday card, probably 1985 because we didn’t have the girls yet. And they became the focus of our cards. You can see the cover, inside panel, and back panel. Our cards always had a back panel. That “Priceless” bit—didn’t I ever tell you about that? When I first came into the family […]
Eyebrow Update: Another Gouache Painting in the Nostalgie Sketchbook
Above: Gouache sketch in a large A4 (8.27 x 11.69 inch) portrait orientation Hahnemühle Nostalgie Sketchbook. Dick sitting on the TV room couch. Direct brush painting (orange paint) then some areas of gouache added—using up paint and not getting white paint out. Left: Detail from todays image. Some days I think the journal page says it all. So […]
It’s That Time of Year Again—Puffy Coats
Left: A Sakura Pigma Profesional FB (Fine Brush) Pen sketch in a small (A6) landscape Hahnemühle Nostalgie Sketchbook which I’ve turned so that the gutter is horizontal and I have a LONG vertical to sketch in. It happens every year—the temperatures drop (I do live in Minnesota after all) and I find myself in waiting rooms […]
Review of the Seawhite of Brighton Sketchbook
Left: Water-soluble Color Pencil sketch of actress in the British comedy “Hebburn.” I first opened my first Seawhite of Brighton sketchbook in June of this year. I thought I’d be finished quickly (even though it’s a nice thick journal) and would write a comprehensive review. Then life interrupted. I continued to work in the Seawhite […]
We Work With What We Have
Left: In the smallest landscape Hahnemühle Nostalgie sketchbook which is about 6 x 4.25 inches—a Pentel Pocket Brush Pen sketch from a photo in the Sktchy app, while waiting in the doctor’s patient room. No new cartridges, just the barest flow of ink…I had to keep trying to move around the face and get in a […]
Family, Memory Loss, Design, and Fall Cycling
Above: Quick sketch of Phyllis sitting, Sensei Pen and Montana Acrylic Marker on Arches Text Wove (Velin) in a 7 x 5 inch handmade book. (Look over on the left and head and tail of the book so you can see the fun decorative paper I made with gold sparkles.) It has been a long […]