Odds and Ends
It’s been much too hot and humid to be outside, let alone sketch outdoors. So, I pulled out some things that I have wanted to paint but haven’t made time for. The seaweed floats are from a trip to California several months ago where I picked them up dry from the beach and stowed them home. I had read that you can rewet seaweed and lo and behold, it’s true! I put them in a tray of water and they went from blackened dried up bits of algae to beautiful floating fronds…. Read More
A Most Intriguing Package
I received a wonderful surprise in the mail last week. Sent to me by a former class participant, the well-wrapped container held two mahogany seed pods—one closed and one open. The mahogany tree has evolved to create a serious package for its next generation—the pods are hard as rock, thick walled, and tightly sealed. When the time is right for them to release their winged seeds into the wind, the pods split open in five segments. Pods that fail to open simply fall to the ground – which is why it is… Read More
Not quite finished
Every time I thought I was finished with this journal page, something else begged to be included. First, an additional flower, then another flower pod, another leaf, and finally two seed heads. But while I was adding the seedheads, several ebony jewelwings appeared and I thought, okay, yes, you can be part of this too. So here it is, a week of poppies come and gone and a week of painting in the garden. It’s time to turn the page. Tips & Techniques– While it is important to plan your composition and… Read More
Glorious Globes
I discovered allium growing in a wild garden a few years ago and I’ve been enthralled by it ever since. This is the third year of blooms for the bulbs I planted in our garden and love the bright purple globes popping up amidst the green foliage of poppies, daisies, and other perennials that will bloom next. I hope you enjoy its unfolding as much as I have. Tips and Techniques– When you have fussy, small florets like allium or lilacs, you can paint a few of the small blooms and use… Read More
Fiddlehead
I spent the entire afternoon yesterday hiking and sketching ephemeral wildflowers and ferns at Bartholomew’s Cobble, a nature preserve in Sheffield, Mass. What a treat! Bloodroot sprang from rocky limestone ledges, and Dutchman’s breeches, hepatica, and red and white trillium carpeted parts of the forest floor. My wildflower sketches remain unfinished, so I have only these fiddleheads unfurling by the banks of the Housatonic River to share. How I wish you could go there in person to see them for yourself. New class coming up: Watercolor for Beginners, June 6 and 13–… Read More
Tender Greens
There’s a fleeting moment each spring when shoots emerge and recently barren ground begins to turn green. In another week these sprouts, these plants marching across my page, will be twice as tall and unfurling fast. If I had to wager, I’d say that Christina Rossetti (1830-1894) wrote her poem, Spring, in mid-April. When “blows the thaw-wind” and “drips the soaking rain,” she celebrates the season’s change in “tips of tender green.” I was pleased to find her words, connecting across time and place, resonating still. Tips and Techniques– Experiment with mixing… Read More
Springing into Yellow
I am sending you a bit of whimsy today as we spring into the return of yellow forsythia and daffodils, goldfinches wearing their summer suits, and—soon—the songs of warblers echoing in woods and fields. I painted this as a demo for my class Painting the Colors of Spring, thinking it would be fun for participants to try perching a bird on an atypical object. I hope you are enjoying spring unfolding wherever you may be. Tips and Techniques– Yellow can be a tricky color to paint since its value range is so… Read More
Renewal
It’s the season of waiting here in New York: waiting for warmth, waiting for blossoms, waiting for green, waiting for birds to return. But it’s the season of renewal, too, as spring unfolds with song, color, and light. I’m celebrating Earth’s turning toward the sun with this tree swallow nest and the promise of eggs and new life. Wishing you the same. I’m excited to be sharing techniques for sketching nests and other nature subjects during Botanical Art & Nature Sketching Retreat. This weekend workshop takes place Nov. 8-11 in New York’s… Read More
Unshelved
Most museums have far more of their collections tucked away behind the scenes than on display. Used primarily for research—or often just sitting in temperature-controlled storage—the public rarely gets a look. But as luck would have it, my visit to California coincided with an exhibition called Unshelved at the San Diego Natural History Museum (The Nat). On display were birds, mammals, and insect specimens in display cases that harkened to museum displays of yesteryears, before museums decided to shelve specimen cabinets in favor of exhibits that placed species in greater context of… Read More
Red Blooms in the Greenhouse
I met three artistic friends last weekend for a few hours of sketching and good cheer at the Lyman Conservatory at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. It’s always a treat to be surrounded by greenery during the transition from winter to mud season. As it turned out, hundreds of other people felt the same way. The place was packed. I had to be careful in the cactus room not to back into spines when letting people pass me in the aisles. And when I thought I had found a good spot to… Read More
Drawn In 