Tools of the Trade
Wishing you a good weekend filled with art, art supplies, or both. Tips & Techniques– I recently made a sketch of my art supplies using sepia ink. I was happy with the way it came out, but also eager to do it again in color. I always learn a lot from painting ordinary objects. They force me to figure out how to approach different textures or consider new layouts. Doing a page like this is sort of like putting together a puzzle– figuring out what the picture will look like as you… Read More
Unexpected Connections
A sudden flash of white-and-black wings lifts from the roadside and then vanishes just as quickly into the field. Only one bird shows so much white in winter: the snow bunting. In good years, I spot them at the edges of nearby agricultural fields where they forage for seeds. Snow buntings are birds of the high Arctic that come south to the northern U.S. and Canada in winter. After painting these birds, I went looking for images of their eggs to add to the page. I was delighted to discover a nest… Read More
Silver Lining
The silver lining of the past week’s snow and cold is the flock of juncos that are hanging out on our back porch every day. We put up an extra bird feeder there to help them through the freezing weather and heavy snow. Unfortunately, my perch for sketching by our back porch door has proven rather drafty— the birds are surviving the chill far better than I am. Sketched in pencil in a Handbook Journal Co. sketchbook with 140lb cold press watercolor paper, Micron 005 black pen for the text, and watercolors-… Read More
Snow Caps
It felt so great to get outside to sketch yesterday afternoon, even in snow. I’ve painted these flowers in summer, fall, and now winter. They look rather handsome in their snow caps, don’t you agree? Tips & Techniques– Take the bare minimum of art supplies– pencil or pen and sketchbook– outside when it’s cold, and choose a subject that you can sketch quickly. I used a Micron 005 sepia pen in my Handbook Journal Co.140lb watercolor journal. Inside, I painted with QoR watercolors, using predominantly cobalt blue and raw sienna for the… Read More
Zooming Out, Looking Ahead
The “research phase” has officially begun for my summer workshop, Drawn to Nature, at Madeline Island School of the Arts on Lake Superior, July 20–24, 2026. I’m starting with the wide view—looking at the Great Lakes as a whole—before narrowing in on Lake Superior and the many things that make Madeline Island so special. Drawing a map always helps me focus. It gives me a sense of the land, water, and geography that shape a place. From there, I begin layering in plant communities, wildlife, and human history—the roots from which cultural… Read More
Winter Birches
“It was one of those winter days that suddenly dream of spring.” – Shirley Jackson You know those days—when the sun comes out and the wind drops, when you can see a bit of color in a shadow, and hints of grass show through melting snow. When geese are flying overhead in magnificent noisy flocks. We were lucky to have a few days like that recently. Not warm enough for a real thaw, but welcome just the same. Tips and Techniques– Use the negative shapes between trunks and branches when drawing trees…. Read More
Cold Day, Warm Light
Though no longer cloaked in their brilliant red of June, poppy seedheads have their own naked beauty in November. I was so pleased to sketch these, backlit by the afternoon sun, at the Botanical and Nature Sketching Retreat at the Ashokan Center a few weeks ago. I didn’t have time to paint them there, but thanks to Faye of Flowers by Faye I got to take them home. Now, the seedheads sit on my windowsill where, even as the weather turns cold, they continue to bring warmth to the room and remind… Read More
Grateful
Sending you good wishes, a bit of November beauty, and gratitude on this Thanksgiving holiday! I’m grateful to you for taking time in your life for art and for your kind “likes” and comments on my posts. It’s a strange thing to send my sketchbook pages out into the world each week and not really know where they go. I’m grateful to those of you who I’ve met in person or online who thank me for being on the receiving end. I’m also grateful for the wonderful artists who take my classes— I love… Read More
Inspired by the Moon
In just 15 words, Japanese poet Matsuo Basho, who lived in the 1600s, correctly explained a beautiful night sky phenomenon that I recently saw: the lunar halo. “The moon glows the same:it is only the cloudsmake it seem to change.” For those who prefer science to poetry, a bright halo around the moon is caused by light refracted through ice crystals suspended in cirrus clouds located at altitudes of 20,000 to 40,000 feet. Seeing one is more common in winter when the moon is full or nearly so. But no matter how… Read More
Golden Hour
Last weekend I had the pleasure of teaching a four-day botanical and nature sketching retreat at The Ashokan Center in the Catskill Mountains. Hosted by Draw Botanical, it was a joy to work alongside the amazingly accomplished Wendy Hollender, Lara Call Gastinger, Giacomina Ferrillo, Vern Fannin, and nearly 70 participants. I started this page during a session I led on “Sketching on the Go.” It was late afternoon and the setting sun’s still warm light cast its last glow over fields and woods. But really, anytime I get an hour to sketch… Read More
Drawn In 