lately

Lately the sky has been pale blue and cloudy with gentle rain here and there and strong sun in late afternoon. There are certain times of day when it seems like the whole world is glowing bright green and yellow. The trees are full and lush now and all the peonies around town are popping white and pink. I find myself lost in daydreams as I walk Sarge around town every day.I'm so excited for June. Seth and I decided early this year that we may have to skip a vacation in order to cover the cost of the new studio and garage. Our zoning application has officially been submitted and work on those projects will begin very soon! I'm over the moon excited to have a bigger work space. I can't even tell you how renewing it will feel to have an actual studio and not just a desk in the corner of a bedroom. Yay!About a month ago Seth's boss decided to send him to South Carolina in June for training, and we're scheduled to stay a few extra days for fun. I'm thrilled to be tagging along and plan on spending every waking hour on the beach reading a book or painting or just sleeping for crying out loud! :) I'm in desperate need of a nice long break from work to recharge my creative batteries. A "stay-cation" isn't very helpful when you work from home, I've found. Hope your week is short and sweet!

pretty spring

I'm not sure it could be any prettier outside. Dapple light pours into the house all day, surrounded by a cool, sweet smelling breeze of collected perfumes from neighborhood blooming trees. Each day the pup and I wind our way through town, dropping off packages to post, walking out our errands, and soaking up the warm sunshine. The trees have seemed to fill in all the gaps in the alley behind our house. The lilac blooms are SO fragrant right now that I've been stealing small branches from bushes in the alley to bring inside.

Sarge, the lucky boy, gets treats and pats on the head from just about everyone in town. The baby squirrels and bunnies see him trotting down the sidewalk with his nose in the air and ears bouncing and duck behind trees and bushes to avoid the nasty chase that would inevitably ensue.

Meanwhile, I've been dreaming of new paintings and longing for a bit of extra time here and there to sketch out new ideas. Seth and I have been talking up plans for the new studio and possibly bringing a studio assistant on board among other house projects and Summer trip ideas. Spring is just bursting with promise and potential!

How are you getting along? Has this warmer weather ushered your winter blues away? I hope so!

Sketch Journal no. 1

From now on my blog posts will be fewer words (if any) and more pictures. My goal is to turn the blog entirely visual with an emphasis on handwritten. Each post will be a large photo of my sketchbook from that day, and the only writing with be my handwriting as I'll treat my sketchbook like a journal. I'd love for this blog to become a visual record of my sketchbook, and my sketchbook to be a record of my days, dreams, and life.

What do you think?

Puppy Party

Summer is here, and I've officially lost my mind. I'm not sure if it's the concussion or all the blooming flowers this week or this gorgeous weather or maybe this adorable puppy my mother-in-law just got, but I'm so distracted these days. I'll be sitting at my desk painting or reading emails when my mind will just wander off into dream land. Don't get me wrong, I'm especially gifted in the "drifty" department, but this summer especially has me thinking.

Isn't little Chumley just the cutest? He's a wire haired miniature doxin with the biggest paws and personality. He loves to be held and cuddled and kissed, completely made over. And he gets it, too, because he's too cute to resist and completely spoiled. ;)

I'm working on a few things right now that have me jumping out of my skin with excitement. I've been cautious not to over-share but have been patiently waiting. Ideas are percolating. Almost there. 

How is your summer? Any dreamy plans or trips to speak of?

Wildflowers

Growing up in the country and being raised on a farm are two totally different things. I grew up in an old farm house on a couple of acres of land surrounded by corn on all sides. My parents weren't farmers. They just loved the solitude and charm of country living.

My friends, on the other hand, mostly grew up on farms in this area. They know all the best spots to camp, fish, hunt for mushrooms, and pick wild berries and flowers. I'm totally envious of their knowledge of this place- things you don't learn from books but from life. I'm mostly clueless about where the best black raspberries grow and how to tell when they're ripe for picking. But I'm learning, and yesterday they let me tag along.

On our walk back from picking berries we cut across a tall field of grass and wildflowers where us girls picked big bouquets of Black-Eyed Susan and Purple Coneflower. The milkweed is also blooming, but wilted before I could get it home. The daisies are from my garden and are of the less-wild variety. :)

Oh, and I'm reading through this fabulous book about the life of Christ and learning so much. You really must read it!

Crown of Flowers

Today is sunny yet cool and breezy. Perfect, really. I'll be in the studio most of the day, drinking iced coffee and listening to Empire of the Sun on Spotify. I'm working on a Summer playlist to share with you, but there are just so many good songs I'm having a hard time narrowing it down! I've found that painting and listening to good music loud in the privacy of my own little room puts me in the best mood. Especially with the windows open and the curtains swaying in the breeze. It's my happy place. :)

Anyways, I wanted to share an on-going project I've been working on for weeks now. This first painting will be one of several in a series for an up-scale hair salon in Seattle. Carolann is the sweetest and most stylish gal and is married to a web developer who just so happens to be building me a new website. Paintings for a new website- pretty sweet deal. The paintings will feature floral crowns and butterflies with of course the focal point being the hair. More to come.

Hope your week is off to a sunny start!

Farmer's Market

The best part of summer, in my opinion, are fresh flowers and food. Last week I went to a few farmer's markets in the area (one with my friend Corrie) and picked up a bag full of juicy peaches and sour cherries and a bouquet of oddly beautiful flowers for $5. I think my favorite type of bouquet is one that looks freshly picked and a little wild. Fresh, seasonal, local. Those are the words that define summer to me. What are your summer words?

Mornings

As I sit here this morning the sun is pouring in the windows and all the flowers in the backyard are in bloom- English roses to my right, peonies in front. And there's this new songbird at my feeder I'm pretty sure is a Warbling Vireo. It's a drab grey in summer and would be tricky to identify if I wasn't sitting here all day long listening to it sing. Our neighbors have lots of trees and bushes in their yard where all kinds of bird families live, including (I'm assuming) this vireo. Listen to it singing here and tell me it's not the prettiest thing!

This week it's all house portraits for me in the studio. Yesterday I got up early and worked late to finish two. I get so lost in painting sometimes that I forget all about the time until my stomach starts to rumble, and I realize I missed a meal and nearly missed my bedtime! I love those long uninterrupted painting days.

More roses!

Three Roses
4x8 in Watercolor on paper, mounted

Here's my "Roses Square" twin as promised!  Turns out, painting flowers really isn't that difficult for me.  It's so funny how long ago memories can really influence what I choose to paint at now.  For some reason flowers have never been an area of real interest for me...which is odd considering my huge floral affinity.  What I mean to say is that although I find them breathtakingly beautiful, I've really never wanted to paint them until now.  It's all I can do to get red and pink flowers out of my head!

I think what I'm trying to say is that you just never know where the inspiration will come from.  I barely know from day to day what will strike me as beautiful, and what idea I'll toss in the trash, even though the day before I couldn't stop seeing it as a painting.  And although that can seem a bit haphazard and unpredictable and disorganized {as my husband nods his head in agreement}, I think that's what I love {and sometimes hate} the most about being a painter.  It's so completely unpredictable.

Like today for example.  I saw this sweater in Garnet Hill's summer catalog...

here

I intended to start a painting today of an African boy riding a lion, but now I can't stop drooling over this sweater and thinking about how wonderful it would be to paint a portrait of a girl in this sweater using my black acrylic ink and bright Grumbacher Red.  Maybe she could hold a rabbit in her arms?  Oh!  I've been wanting to paint a rabbit!

I think the lion can wait until tomorrow.

I must go and paint this portrait now before I toss the idea in the trash tomorrow!

Looks like I'll be back next week to show you new paintings! ;)

Happy Weekend!

something for you...

Just wanted to give you something bright on a dreary day to wish you a happy and restful weekend.

Flowers always lighten my mood and add so much beauty to any room.