Thursday – Brushes

391

This week I ordered brushes from the UK.  I am teaching an Acrylic painting class in the New Year and so I needed to order the brushes now.  Of course I ordered a number of them for myself too! 🙂

I found this video and thought you might like to see how DaVince brushes are made. I own one of their really big ones, a #30, for watercolour painting but I was surprised to see how not mechanized the brush making process is.  I use brushes almost every day and somehow I didn’t really think about all the elements that went into creating my most used tool.

Thanks to Katherine Tyrrell of MAKING A MARK for posting it.

Tomorrow I plan to begin to draw a larger version of a photo I got of lilacs with a butterfly that I want to paint.  Maybe this week I will get some painting done!  I am just about done the christmas cards!  The Gingerbread House Decorating invites are created and will be going out tomorrow.  🙂

See you after the weekend and maybe I will have some painting to show you!

Thursday – Going Live!

343

I have been working for man, many  hours researching, practicing, creating lesson plans and getting these workshops designed!  I am really excited about teaching.  I have made postcards to put around town and I have just begun the marketing.  I am enjoying the challenge of all the work that I have been putting into getting prepared.

Join me starting in January 2015 for a series of small intimate beginner drawing and painting classes.  We will be using tried and true techniques and new method and technologies to win in learning and building confidence.  If you have never drawn or painted or maybe you have just begun to explore these mediums, then these classes are for you.

For more information check out my WORKSHOP area on my website.

Registration begins on September 1st!  More to come!

Friday – Using my brain

337

This week has been one of feeling rather scattered.  I have done a bit of painting and drawing…but not much.  I have spent way more brain time researching and working out a range of business items.  I have my marketing stuff nearly ready to go to the printer.   I have spent a lot of time building pages on my website that are still private at this point.

 I am  so reminded that my brain likes to focus on one job at a time!  Notice the crazy forest fire smoke at the Drawing YK on Thursdays event .  We are painfully dry right now.  South of Great Slave Lake has gotten a bit of relief in the last few days with rain…not us we are still hoping we will get some rain soon.

I was interviewed for our Drawing YK on Thursdays adventures. We have a lot of fun.

Well I am off.  I will see you next week!  Hope you have a wonderful one.

Thursday – Working away…

336

and then outside to PLAY in the gorgeous summer weather.  It is hard to sit at the computer for long these days.  I did spend 2.5 hours the other night sorting out how to send out a “reconfirmation” email for those who have signed up for my bi-monthly newsletter.  I had to do this because our country has a new law about electronic email newsletters ect.  Thank you to all who have reconfirmed.  I appreciate it.

I have been painting and drawing and I am really feeling like I am back in the groove!

On Saturday I spent a happy 4 hours drawing as a demo at a very busy event (I don’t draw people at this point…I am working on skill development) for the Aurora Arts Society.  It was a great afternoon!

I am leading a Drawing YK group on Thursday nights.  Here are a few of us.  There were more folks participating but I didn’t get a group photo of all of us.  Next time I will do the photo before we spread out to draw.

Here is the drawing I did tonight with the sailboats.  The wind was making them move…so I would wait patiently for them to get back into position and quickly capture as much info before they moved again.  A couple of boats I did that three or four times…the light was very flat tonight because of smoke from a forest fire south of Great Slave Lake.

 I have been painting away.  I have one more bday card painting completed (I hope another one will be done tomorrow after my morning session).  I don’t have a great photo of that painting yet but here is my first completed painting from Australia.  I am framing it and will be hanging it as soon as I get another small piece from Australia painted!

 

I have begun to work out some classes that I will be teaching starting in January.  I have the dates picked out and now I am working on the lesson plans. I haven’t done a lesson plan in many years.  I am very stoked about teaching here at the house.  Can’t wait to explore this part of being an artist. 🙂

Congratulations to Wendy from Australia.  You have won another set of cards.  I will be sending out some bday cards! Watch for them.  Only 20 more comments until I mail out another set of cards!   See you on Monday (if I can make myself sit at the computer) if not, next Thursday I will definitely make the time.

 

 

Thursday – Commission completed

335

Sorry I missed Monday. I just was so intent on getting this commission completed and I have a very special friend in town.

“Sultry Dalliance”, 11x 14, Watercolour

Last summer I got a lot of cat items from a very special friend.  I was commissioned (1/2 Laurie and 1/2 me) to create a painting.  Janice came over and we did a still life set up lesson in my backyard using all of Henri’s cat items.  I had so many options but this one I liked because the cat shadow on the pitcher and the long shadows and the flowers complementing the decorations on the ceramic cats.  It just worked!  I had so much fun painting it.  And tonight Laurie and I  took it to the birthday girl!  Who was completely thrilled with how the painting turned out.  🙂

A little iPhone photo…forgot my big camera!  (Notice the orange flowers in behind Henri…some were the same as the ones I used in the painting)

I had some time to draw this morning while I waited for a friend.  I started this drawing in Fairbanks Alaska at the very cool antique car museum.  This is an 1899 “car” built with two bicycles (without the seats) and a buggy body.  It even still runs…much the way it did in 1899…not very well!  😉

Tomorrow I have a toddler for the day which means I will be up a little earlier than normal and there won’t be any art production.  I can’t wait to spend the day with Miss Prudence!  Let the fun begin!!!!!

See you on Monday.

Tuesday – life moves along

308

Well life goes along.  I made a decision not to worry about trying to be in my studio until I am done work at the end of the month.  Every time I go in the room and do a little work I end up leaving the room feeling out of sorts. I have such a long list of paintings I want to accomplish and it is impossible to do when my schedule has changed so drastically.   So instead I will do what I have time to do, which is work and keep up with life in general and the art time will be back.

Though I did find a few minutes to do a little more on this drawing.  The teddy bear is very chic indeed.  Thanks to my nieces, Natalie & Madeline and my nephew Xuanni for the lovely gift.  I do think she will make it into a few still life paintings in the years to come!  😉  I love the black and white dress with the pearls.  Tres fantasique!

I am missing the scanner part of our printer…I had to take this photo with my phone camera.  It is going to be a fun drawing.  I love the ladybug fabric for the picnic blanket!

12 more comments and the first set of cards for 2014 will be sent out.  Who will be the 25th commenter?  Will it be you!?!

I have 3.5 weeks left of work.  I have a lot of things at work that I want to get accomplished in that time frame.  I have made a good dent in getting rid of stuff that has been hanging around the area for a long time…it is important to leave a place better than when you came.  I have had a number of lovely comments from my boss this week!

See you next week.

Thursday – drawing time and Sad news

301

Sorry that I haven’t been posting regularly. I have been coming home from work and working hours on something that you will see next week!   A lovely surprise. But due to low volume of work…which happens when one is a casual at times…I had time to draw.  So here is what I did…

Today we had some very sad news as well.

We will miss you forever TJ.  So many good memories to hold us together in our sadness.

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope to become for regular with my blog posts in the next weeks as I get acclimatized to working full-time.

Monday – Maybe

 

 

 

 

 

248

I have the cutest bear in my studio and I love this cup.  I plan to use both of them more.  I built this drawing up dot by dot.  I like this style of drawing but it is awfully time consuming.   😉

I can’t believe it is 13 days until I start the September challenge.  I am going to add these to my ongoing but rather slow-going 120 challenge!

Maybe you remember this painting #4.

It gives me hope that I will be fairly successful with the paintings.

I hope you get your name in. We are now past the 1/2 way point of the month!  Get your name in to win an original 5×7 watercolour painting or a set of cards!

See you on Monday, until then have a brilliant weekend.

 

Thursday – another day another drawing

247

So in Old town and around Latham Island in Yellowknife you will see float planes moored by people’s homes.   The only other place I saw this was in Alaska!  I plunked myself down to draw this plane and 1/2 way through the owner came to start packing it up…I drew faster after that I have to say. I got it done.

Gees I am hoping to get quicker with figuring out what I am actually seeing.  Getting the angles correct is a real challenge.

Oh speaking of challenges…I am going to participate in one in September!  It is called 30 paintings in 30 days!  I have been thinking about the parametres that I am going to put on this challenge.  Thankfully it is self directed!  I want to paint  from life but I think my main motto is K.I.S.S. (keep it simple stupid).  I am going to give myself a time limit each day…mostly because I really need to stay focused on watercolour painting!   So I may be the person who gets 15 paintings done in 30 days but that is fine by me.  It will be an interesting challenge!  It starts September 1st.  Keep tune.  

Thanks for dropping by.  I do hope you will put your name in the hat for the 8th draw of an original watercolour painting.

See you on Monday and have a fabulous weekend!!!!

Monday – just drawing my life away…

246

Well maybe not that much drawing!  😉  But here is a little something that I did from a reference shot.

I was at the bike store before it closed and took some shots.  I find drawing difficult angles…well difficult but I like to challenge myself. This was a challenge!  This bike repair place stood on this same spot for as many years as I lived in Yellowknife.  The man who ran it is a long time Yellowknifer.  Wilf was a funny man but age caught up with him and he is no longer well enough to be there, in fact he hasn’t been there for a few years though the business continued on with the young men who he had trained and his rather quiet business partner stepping in. We will miss the excellent service in so many ways and the story he told of a certain doctor in town who forgot his credit card with Wilf and Wilf thought Hawaii would be a great place to go!  😉  Wilf delighted in sharing that story!

So do you know how to get your name into the 2013 monthly draw for a 5×7 original watercolour painting or a set of cards?  Well let me remind you, comment, sign up to follow my blog, and sign up for my bi-monthly Art Newsletter and your name will be entered into the hat!  Good luck and I hope you win!

Well I hope you had a great weekend and that the rest of the week is great.  See you on Thursday!