The Depth Of Your Education

"The length of your education is less important than its breadth,

and the length of your life is less important than its depth." 

~ M. vosSavant

New Sketching Class Launches on January 17th!

Get 20% Off with coupon code until 1/21/20.

1. Watercolor on Cotton Rag ~ 5 x 7", matted to 8 x 10"

2. Watercolor on Yupo Paper ~ 5 x 7", matted to 8 x 10"

3. Alcohol Ink on Yupo Paper ~ 5 x 7", matted to 8 x 10"

 

X ♥  O

BABY BLUEBIRD ~ STAY SAFE LITTLE ONE ~SOLD

"When nature made the blue-bird

she wished to propitiate both the sky and the earth,

so she gave him the color of the one on his back

and the hue of the other on his breast."

~ John Burroughs

BABY BLUEBIRD ~ STAY SAFE LITTLE ONE ~ When the bluebirds fledge, we are all on edge ... looking, waiting and hoping to see them again soon. Those first few days are so critical. There are so many dangers in the big wide world. Their parents do all they can with their limited resources. The babies need to hide, eat and grow. They need to learn their flying and survival lessons quickly. We can only stand by helplessly and hope and pray that luck will be on their side and keep them out of harms way.

Baby Bluebird ~ Stay Safe Little One

8" x 6" hand painted watercolor on translucent Yupo paper

acid free double mat w/ backing in sleeve - 8" x 10"

Signed and certified by the artist.

• SOLD

This bluebird piece was drawn and started as a demonstration with one of my students on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, another student came and we drew and painted this cardinal. Both reference photos are from Paint My Photo. When I heard the exact same comment from both ladies; "I didn't think this was going to be so hard.", I had to chuckle.

In painting, like in any skill, I think the basics take the longest to learn. Once the fundamentals are understood and repeated many times, with determination and desire they should become second nature. Things eventually do become easier. I think it's the most challenging endeavors in life that give us the most satisfaction in the end.

"Happiness does not come from doing easy work

but from the afterglow of satisfaction that comes

after the achievement of a difficult task

that demanded our best."

~ Theodore Isaac Rubin 

Do you agree? Where do you find your satisfaction?

Have a nice weekend and as always, thanks for stopping by.

X ♥  O

From Out Of The Blue ... Something to Crow About

"Seize every opportunity along the way,

for how sad it would be if the road you chose

became the road not taken."

~ Robert Brault

Pencil sketches for my next Yupo painting series.

Please excuse my unbridled enthusiasm here, but I needed to crow a little and share a very pleasant and unexpected surprise which took place yesterday! It came in the form of an email inquiry from a gentleman from a paper company to do possible in-store painting demonstrations on Yupo paper. The first engagement would be for the grand opening of a new Dick Blick Store in Midtown Manhattan! It will be on Thursday, August 22nd, from 2-4pm; the first day of Blick's big two week event which is expected to get mega traffic! I don't know how I am going to get myself up there just yet, but I'll be doing a dry run to meet with Marc on Madison Ave. at Legion Papers and then on to check out the Dick Blick location at 6th Ave. and 20th St. towards the end of July. Whoa Nellie! Here we go. What a wild ride for a little 'ole piney woman like me!

"My life is so full of surprises,

nothing surprises me any more."

~ Kim Wilde 

Have a great weekend ya'all!

X ♥  O

Moore Girls Picturing Poe

Moore College of Art - Illustration Major Classmates
L/R - Nan, Sandy, Carmella

On Sunday morning, a mini college reunion took place.

Picturing Poe:

Illustrations for Edgar Allan Poe's Stories and Poems

at the Brandywine River Museum

Our get together was just the spark needed for we three, ever searching middle aged creative friends. Even now, well into our fifties, we are all still trying to evolve and reinvent ourselves as artists. What will be our next new interest, project or direction? We talked about college, old times, teachers, art, artists, creativity, jobs, family, growth, expression, creativity, style, blogs, ruts and goals. We got absorbed in the art of more than two dozen artists featured in the exhibit, including some of my favorites; Édouard Manet, Paul Gauguin, Aubrey Beardsley, Howard Pyle and Arthur Rackham. We also went through the N.C. Wyeth and Andrew Wyeth exhibits. It was all very exhilarating. After a delicious lunch at the museum cafe, we strolled by the river and enjoyed the beautiful warm sunny autumn day.

Watercolor Sketch of Edgar Allan Poe

License this image through iStock here.

Thank you Nan, thank you Carmella, thank you Edgar;

for a most memorable and enjoyable day! 

♡

Keep Moving BEAR!

I've been obsessed with bears since there's been several sightings in this area last week. I've been drawing them the past few days for my Summer Sketching Series and today I did this painting. I did it from a blurry shot of one of the actual bears someone had in their backyard. His gesture in the photo made me feel sorry for him. He must hear the words; "Keep moving, bear!", all too often. To me, he looked scared and lonely. The reference for the facial features came from a public domain photo on Wikipedia that I posted on my sketching blog. This bear painting didn't come out how I had planned or hoped. It is what it is, though. There's always next time and another chance to get it right. If you've got any suggestions for my next attempt, I'd be grateful for your input. Check out today's bear drawings on www.SketchingEverday.com.