Every Day in September 2016, #19 - Environments and Habitats - URBAN

EDiS – Environments/Habitats - #19 - "Urban"
This is as "Urban" as I ever care to get (except for Keith Urban, but that's another story). Anyway, "Urban" around here is Seattle, and I would rather have my fingers eaten by raccoons than drive down there. So urban, for me, is no stoplight, two cross streets, a general store, a tiny movie theatre, a post office, a couple of good coffee houses, a restaurant or two, no gas station or shopping, but a view of the mountains and some whales. Langley by the Sea, Whidbey Island, Puget Sound in the Salish Sea, Washington state, US of A.

@ SHAREN'S KOZY KROW'S NEST

A couple of years ago Sharen and Simon moved from their incredible "Big House" up First Street to their new "digs" down towards town a bit. Since then I have been fascinated with all the things you could see happening on the outside, as well as hints of the things happening inside (on her "I Love Langley" blog). Yesterday I finally got to see them all up close, first hand, because of their invitation for the Whidbey Island Sketchers to pay a call. I was greeted, right off the bat, by two of Sharen's "neighbors", sitting out on a wire in front of the house, waiting for a treat.

There is NO WAY to describe all the wonderful things there were to see and draw when we entered the house and yard. 

Sharen's House - photo borrowed from her "I Love Langley" blog

I wanted to sketch their famous enamelware "garden" so badly that I sat outside with no coat, in the middle of the first rain in 40 days, just to capture it. 

It was chilly, but delightful -- and musical! Crows were "talking" all around me, songbirds were singing, big drops of rainwater were plop, plopping over my head on the canvas umbrella, little drops were plink, plink, plinking into enamel cups and bowls and into gathering puddles. The air smelled fresh, clean and green (rather than hot, dry and dusty!)

When I was finally, completely chilled through, I moved inside to where everyone else was hunkered down around a crackly fire. Sharen was in the kitchen with Sheryl, cooking wonderful things. It REALLY smelled good in there! 

Everywhere you look in the Heath Home there are colorful, eclectic and fascinating things to admire and draw.

at Sharen's House - photo borrowed from her "I Love Langley" blog

at Sharen's House - photo borrowed from her "I Love Langley" blog

at Sharen's House - photo borrowed from her "I Love Langley" blog 

at Sharen's House - photo borrowed from her "I Love Langley" blog

Sharen took us down into their new "Bed and Breakfast Guest Rooms". Wow! What a delightful place to stay for a weekend! I was thrilled to find a gicleé print of my newest Crow painting in a place of honor in the bedroom! 

Sharen and Simon own three of my pieces ("Boy and Dog" is actually the first piece I ever sold when I got to Langley and started "making art"!)

 Also framed and on their wall, is a print of the "Star Store Shed",

 the original of which I sold to their friend/neighbor. Being in Simon and Sharen's home makes me feel like they are "my patrons" and I am "collected"!!
 I absolutely adore all of their "beloved clutter". It is MY kind of decorating. I could move in in a heartbeat!!

This is my finished sketch of the enamelware in their "Hokey Pokey - Turn Yourself Around" garden. 

 These are just a couple of the metal "flatty crows" tucked all over the grounds, and just one of the dozens of rustic birdhouses.

Thank you Sharen and Simon, for the fantastic day! You are the BEST!!

THE EVOLUTION OF "A DANCE FOR JOY AMONG THE STARS"

I am so pleased to have my painting chosen to be the "face" of CHOOCHOKAM 2013, the Langley Festival of the Arts. Here is a step-by-step of the process:

It started with just the roughest sketch of an idea. I knew what I wanted, I could see all the colors in my mind's eye. All I had to do was get in down on paper.

Step one - lay out the main shapes and apply masking, then put down the washes of color. New for me - color straight from the tube. New Gamboge, Cobalt Teal, Ultramarine, Cobalt. Laid down very wet on wet, and used a spritzer to get movement.

A BIG change-up here -- no pen and ink-work, at all. Instead, I re-discovered a treasured paintbrush - my #6 Dragon's Tongue. Such a sharp point, it almost works like a pen. I used it and a combination of Ultramarine and Purple to get my deep "blacks" and to do my line work. It worked great!

Choochokam is a Hopi, First People's, word which means "A Gathering of Stars". 

Here the Heron, Eagle and Crow, iconic Langley characters and symbols, dance for joy along the edge of the sea, among the gathering stars.

 I am hoping that the plans for all the "swag" at Choochokam pan out because they are all great. This is the proposed small graphic for the front of the t-shirts, with the full color graphic on the back.

I hope that's the way it works out. I hope, I hope. 

I got totally impatient waiting for the graphics people to come up with and show me their lettering layout for the poster, so I made my own. This is what I would have done if it had been left to me. Now all I have to do is wait to see what the professionals do. We'll see how close they come to my vision!

THE LOWRY-JAMES PINE TREE

Lowry-James Rare Books, at the corner of Anthes and First in Langley has, in its back yard, an interesting old long needled pine tree which sort of hangs out over the sidewalk. Its bark is very rough, scraggly and mossy. Right now it has these great bright, neon green/yellow upright cones that resemble long skinny pineapples. For day 5 of the Every Day in May Challenge we were to draw a pine tree or eucalyptus. The forest behind me is dense with fir, hemlock and cedar trees, but not a lot of pines. I chose to paint the Lowry-James tree instead. I love the way it looks, especially now with all the other spring colors around it.