October
Against the vibrant backdrop of autumn in New England come all the seasonal chores that must be finished before the cold months arrive. I’ve spent hours glazing, priming, and painting windows; climbing up and down ladders; clearing gutters; and mowing and raking—and there’s still more to do. All of this is to say that my regular sketching habit has fallen off. It took me two weeks to finish this modest page. In that time, the once-fresh leaves dried and crumpled, the crabapples shriveled on the trees, and scarcely a nut remains; the… Read More
Poisonous to eat, irresistible to paint
Mysterious, varied, hard to identify, and so alluring to paint—I just can’t pass up a good mushroom. Though I thought I was finished with them for the year, you can see that I am not. A group of amanitas as big as dessert plates appeared under a spruce tree down the road and begged me to investigate. Poisonous to eat but not to paint, those first finds compelled me to check another spruce, where I discovered still more species emerging. Then my husband spied a cluster of huge mushrooms growing in our… Read More
A Deeper Dive
Nearly 20 years ago, while researching tide pools, I came across Rachel Carson’s 1941 book Under the Sea Wind. The book includes a fascinating chapter on American eels, and I was hooked. Eels begin their lives in the Sargasso Sea, a vast area of the Atlantic Ocean near Bermuda. Their tiny, leaf-shaped larvae drift on ocean currents for a year or more before metamorphosing into clear glass eels as they approach the coasts of eastern North and South America. When they reach river mouths, they transform again, shifting from ocean travelers into… Read More
Savoring Summer 2026
Here’s to all the farmers, harvesters, and gardeners for making summer so sweet. Their land and labor sustain body and soul, year after year. I am especially grateful in summertime, when I have the good fortune of going to a farmers market almost every Saturday. What a bounty there is, spread out on a half a village block: flowers, vegetables, fruit, bread, meats, and artisan goods. I buy some things to eat (beans, peppers, squash) and some to paint (kohlrabi), and supplement the bounty with a few homegrown cucumbers and tomatoes. What… Read More
Madeline Island Sketchbook
“The lake is the boss.” – Julian Nelson, Commercial Fisherman on Lake Superior When I read that statement in the National Park brochure for the Apostle Islands, it gave shape to everything I would see and learn during my week on Madeline Island, Wisconsin. I was there to teach a workshop for Madeline Island School of the Arts, and my class outings took us to forests, cliffs, and dunes on the lakeshore, and to the local historical museum in the tiny town of La Pointe. The lake—big, cold, deep, and windswept—influences it… Read More
Hot Topic
My desk and my free time have been given over to mushrooms– the best thing to come of our recent exceedingly hot, humid weather. The area under a small grove of oaks in our yard has been very productive. Many mushrooms form mycorrhizal relationships with plants, and oaks have particular fungi associated with them. In this partnership, the fungus provides the tree with nutrients, especially phosphorus, while the tree gives the fungus carbon. Over the years, I’ve tried to track and record as many species as I can, though it’s a challenge. Identifying… Read More
Portugal, Part 3: Cultural Heritage
In the Alentejo region of Portugal, the sweet clanging of livestock bells became part of the soundscape of our workshop at Sofia in Monsaraz. Sheep grazed under the olive groves just beyond our hotel, and we passed them each day on the way to and from the workshop site. I had read about these bells before the trip, so I was thrilled to find an exhibit about them at the Museum of Natural History and Science in Lisbon. Chocalhos, the traditional livestock bells of Portugal, are UNESCO listed for their Intangible Cultural… Read More
Portugal, Part 2: Olive Trees
Portugal’s Alentejo region is known for its olive groves, olive oil, and ancient trees. During my recent workshop at Sofia in Monsaraz, our group passed century-old olive trees lining a farm road on our daily walk between the hotel and the retreat site. I loved imagining their many years in the sun: sheltering sheep, bearing fruit, and growing more gnarled year by year, until each one developed its own distinct personality. I could draw olive trees for days and never tire of them. But time was short, so I only had the… Read More
Portugal, Part 1
I’ve just returned from a fascinating and rewarding trip to Portugal, where I taught a workshop at Sofia in Monsaraz. It was my first visit to the country, and I was captivated by the artistry on display in both Lisbon and the more remote Alentejo region, where we traveled for the workshop. Ceramic-tiled buildings, patterned stone walkways, ornate religious vestments, hand-loomed rugs, colorful pottery—I wanted to draw it all. I don’t often create such an elaborate opening page for a trip, but inspired by tile motifs and frequent sightings of House Martins,… Read More
Enough said.
“There is a sweetness of May verging on June that no other time can equal.” – Hal Borland Tips and Techniques– I’ve sketched allium for several years now and it’s always a pleasure. Poppies are usually next, with numerous flower heads ready to unfold in a week or so, but I’ll miss them this year while traveling and teaching in Portugal. I look forward to returning with a sketchbook full of new sights. (Sketched in Handbook Journal Co. 140lb watercolor journal, with a Micron 005 pen and QoR watercolors.)
