MAEOW THAI SI NOM THON DREAMS OF A GARDEN

I finished this painting which I started Monday. It should not take almost a week to do a watercolor, but I had to stop and "rescue" it so many times.

To me, as a finished piece, it has so many issues, SO MANY. But as a "process piece", I did learn so many things.  I am torn between starting a totally new piece, and doing this one a second time, using what I learned the first time. I wonder how long I will continue as a "painter" before I quit having these feelings of self doubt. Hmm. 

I love the photo I took of Mae for her "portrait".  There were two images, one full profile - very clear and high definition, and this one, which was not so good, but had a better face pose. Mae sat so still for her photo because there was a big old spider outside the window, way up in the corner. She really wanted to get out there and GIT IT!

"TOY STORY, 1929"

So, Deon Matzen, my watercolor teacher and Guru, gave our little painting class an assignment - take one of the little toy Chevron cars from her collection and create a painting around it -- subject matter and style of our choice. The car she gave me to paint was this little Woody.

I knew I wanted to put it with other toys, maybe under a Christmas tree, or in a toy box or sandbox. I started searching around the internet for images of kids and toys. I found an antique photo of some children with their toys. It's probably from the Netherlands (based on the tulips painted on the wooden duckie pull cart and the costume on the dolly). The children are about the same age as my mother in an old photo I have of her out on the farm. I slipped the Woody in among the children's other toys and made it look like someone had hand oil tinted the photo.

The painting's title is "Toy Story, 1929", in honor of my mom, who was five then, with a haircut just like the little girl holding the dolly. Mom probably had a doll just like hers, too. 

NEW FOR THE "COLOR! COLOR! WALL AT THE GALLERY

I've had a digital image of the canoes piled up on the dock in Coupeville for over a year now. I started two paintings of them, neither of which got finished for one reason or another. We are changing the displays down at the Whidbey Gallery on Wednesday, and our feature wall is going to be "Color! Color!" So this morning I dragged out the photo AGAIN and decided to go for broke, and not quit before it was done. 

This one turned out the best of the three so far, but I am still not 100% happy with it. The scanned colors in this image are a little duller than the finished painting. The colors and composition are okay, but I think the shadows are still bugging me. Or maybe it's that, once again, I have the old overpowering urge to get out the Lami-Pen and the black ink and get crazy with them. Can't seem to shake it.

CYNTHIA'S SWEET LI'L MUFFIN

Cynthia invited the WISkers to her home tucked into the woods on a bluff  overlooking the water of Saratoga Passage, and over to Camano Island. The day was clear and bright, and the view was spectacular. 

The stockings were all hung by the chimney with care . . . . . 

. . . . and everywhere you looked there were pretty things to sketch and draw.

Sue held a coaching session on how to put our images up on the internet by using the Whidbey Island Sketcher's Blog. Everyone learned a lot!

Then we got down to the serious business (if you don't count the wine and cheese!) of getting some sketching done.

 I had MY personal favorite subject picked the instant I walked in the door! This is MUFFIN, and she is an adorable luv puppy of a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.

This is her little "nest". It is two stuffy baskets - one red with puppies, and the other Olde English Cabbage Roses on Chintz.

 Is she cute or WHAT?? Just LOOK at that face!

Here is my sketch for the day. Of Sweet Li'l Muffin.

NEW!! - THE "CHRISTMAS CORVUS"

SANTAS AND MATROYSKAS

ALELI'S BIG RED CHINESE LACQUER HORSES

Once again the Anacortes Sketchers extended us an invitation to join them for their holiday gathering at the home of Aleli and John.

Their condo sits at the very tip of Fidalgo Island, just over the Deception Pass Bridge, north of Whidbey. It has a sweeping 180° view of the water and San Juan Islands.

After years of world business travel, Aleli and John have amassed so many wonderful and eclectic collectibles. Everywhere you look there is something interesting to see.

It is almost impossible to choose just one thing to draw. Last year I holed up in the library and sketched the Matryoshka dolls, some of their hundreds of Santas, and their exquisite stained glass lamp. 

With so many interesting subjects from which to choose, it is hard to settle on just one.

A lot of the sketchers do two or three drawings, but I am so slow that I only ever seem to get one done. This time I concentrated on these two beautiful red horses and Santa.

We were so fortunate to receive an invitation from our friends "up north" to sketch here again this year!

 

 Thank you so much to Aleli and John for their warm hospitality. We enjoyed ourselves immensely.

 And here is my finished sketch of the big red Chinese lacquer horses.

Here's to a year of continued friendship and GREAT SKETCHING!!