New Video on homemade watercolor boxes!

It took forever to upload, guess it's pretty big but here it is...spilled coffee and all!

Watch for Interview # 15--it's Maria Hodkins!

I'm fortunate enough to have gotten to go out sketching with Maria on a number of occasions, and it's always a pleasure.  We usually have the evening to share lives, inspirations, food, and even paint--it's a ball!  Writer, artist, naturalist, journal-keeper, teacher, gourmet cook and so much more...you'll love Maria even more than you did in the book!

The image above was one of the first of her journal pages I ever saw...it looked as if you could lift the ripe peach right off the page and take a sweet, juicy bite!

Winter, summer, all year 'round, she records her life in Colorado with curiosity and love, wrapping her images with text that makes you want to sit and read every word...

You may have seen our post about her recent classes...you can find all the information in our Classes and Workshops tab at the top of this page, or click this link to go directly there to see the types of things Maria teaches.  (By the time Interview #15 is up, we'll likely have MORE information on classes, because she keeps very busy with travel, work, teaching and family.)

I'd love to show you more art, but at the moment Blogger's being stubborn!   Soooo...don't miss Maria's Flickr sets at http://www.flickr.com/photos/windwordwriter/ and watch for our interview, upcoming.  I guarantee it will be worth the wait.

Developing a journal page...

We went to Powell Gardens in Lee's Summit yesterday for our anniversary...what a wonderful idea THAT was.  The trolleys only run on weekends, so we had to stick to distances I could actually walk to...this sculpture by Dan Ostermiller caught my eye on the way to the water garden.  J. went to check it out...

Oh, wow.  Look at how the light and reflected like work on the bronze forms of the rabbits.  I liked this view--AND there was a bench to sit on to draw!

Here's partway through...I knew I'd want to add a lot more to the page, and the spread...

And so I did....more definition on the sculpture, the little ink drawing at upper left for scale, and more foliage--plus some text.

I had just gotten started on the new visitors' center, an elegant building with lots of glass, stone, and wood, when someone turned the sprinklers on--I had to finish from memory!  My dress was wet, my camera was wet, but I saved the sketch.  I've got my priorities straight...

That's the Marjorie Powell Allen chapel viewed from the water garden at lower center on that spread...its spiritual, silent, soaring space (pardon the alliteration!) with views of water garden, prairie and forest makes you whisper in spite of yourself.

I connected some of the vignettes with foliage, added a sketch of the water garden on the right, and the sticker they give to visitors adds a touch of collage, repeats some of the colors, and echos the round sketch at upper left.  A bit of text finished the spread!

Thinking about maps in travel journals and other things

Now that I have finally finished all my scanning from my recent 3 week trip to Eurooe, I was looking through a few of my travel sketchbooks last night...

last years big trip (11 weeks USA UK Italy) was so busy that I rarely drew maps, while during my 5 week trip in 2009 I drew maps every night. This year's trip I made an allowance for maps on my summary page and ended up drawing most of them when I got home.

What STRUCK me last night is... the few maps I drew last year where incorporated into a page with a sketch or two and that these ARE a lot nicer pages. If I hadn't got around to drawing a map on these pages, I could have added some text or some collage or just enjoyed the glorious white space which I generally don't have enough of in my sketchbooks.

Anyway... this has got me thinking of a different approach... it doesn't necessarily mean that it is another trip...but I am always thinking about how to do things different whether for a new trip overseas or just recording my day to day adventures.

Travel 'journal-style' pages, a set on Flickr.

Following on from last nights thoughts... I just created a new flickr set specifically for my favourite kind of journal-style pages.
A collection of some of my favourite pages that are in a journal style...ie. not just a single 'great' sketch on a page. Ones that tell a story, ones that I enjoy looking at and re-living months, years later.A combination of sketches, media, notes, a map, a bit of collage...and maybe even a tea cup sketch or two!

September 2011: New Scanner

September 2011: Grass, a photo by apple-pine on Flickr.

I just got a new scanner (Canon 9000F) and trying this automatic gutter correction feature - so far I'd say it looks good :) And color is very close to a real sketch - nothing corrected. I'll try to sketch in watercolor tomorrow to test and report on results.

It's Time For A Visit To Autumn's Garden!

 

Autumn has arrived and there's a chill in the air!!

Well, actually, I think maybe the humidity has just dropped as the high for today is suppose to reach 92º in Florida! Still, you can see and feel the changes....you just really have to be paying attention. Of course, many of you have really begun to feel the chill and see the changes.

And all this means it's time to start preparing for An Imaginary Visit to Autumn's Garden! This class is scheduled to begin on November 18th and run through December 16th. There will be one assignment each week.

For more information and to register for the class, please click here. If you're interested in registering, I suggest you not wait as this is one of the really popular classes over at Imaginary Trips!

September 2011: Sketching while Waiting

September 2011: Sketching while Waiting, a photo by apple-pine on Flickr.

I am not always comfortable drawing in unsuspecting crowd so I decided to use the simplest of tools - ballpoint pen. It's less of a give-away than watercolor set or my dip pen and I can put it away quickly ;)