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Category Archives: sketch
new lockets and fig buttercups
Two bits of good news. I am not mia or forgetting about this blog! I have some major time-consuming work obligations right now (which take up part of my weekend as well) but come the end of May it will end and I will be less busy! Also, I look forward to a relaxing, painting-filled and totally free summer in the coming months. I have been using this time to go back to the well, so to speak, and sketch, plan, journal. I hope to revamp this blog with more of my process, my inspirations, sketches. Would you like to see more of my sketchbooks? I’d like to know! The second bit of news is of a shop update, with a couple of lockets that feature my sketchings and bits from my oil paintings.
A preview of a vintage locket that will be in my shop within the next few days…
Close up, the blue bird is taken from Pulling on our Ribbons and Hair. I think I’m going to tie a piece of vintage fabric to the top of this one.
And the gal from the locket graces the inside of my giant sketching book/ journal.
I ventured to a swampy glen down the street to take some pics of my lockets. There are the most amazing flowers that carpet the entire woods floor, creating an almost day-glow effect. They are called Fig Buttercups, or Pilewort and they grow in moist areas (and often mix with the skunk cabbage, which is abundant here as well.)
A close-up of these sweet little perennial blooms.
I am so grateful for each and every one of your comments here! It keeps me going, inspires me to post more often… Thank you!!
pondside and sketches
As the snow gently fell all weekend long I visited one of my favorite spots…
Saturday morning I spent some time by a pond in my favorite meadow.
I often marvel at these two swans, they are too beautiful for words and always in the water! With the ice and the snow falling it was quite serene.
Staying in was nice! I worked all weekend on my art, especially on a painting inspired by the above swans (and ships at sea too!). Here’s a little peek at the initial sketch in my giant sketchbook:
Other musings, pondside:
Writing on ice.
Do you what bird builds a nest so low over water? (the white you see in the background is the frozen-over pond.) I’d love to know the name of the bird!
And I am so eager to work more on my paintings this afternoon! Have a beautiful day!
november
A golden November day, the sun poured through my windows like honey.
Found the prettiest vintage butterfly locket broach on ebay to house a mini print of one of my prints, but I don’t know if I can part with it…
With old Japanese faux pearls and a velvet ribbon around my finger to remind myself to sell it one of these days. Its golden, has a butterfly AND a locket for goodness sake!
A favorite crisp, clean part of my painting room (except the growing feather collection in the windowsill) I keep running out of places to keep my little finds!
And, new treasures! The little oval shaped framed portrait was given to me by my aunt, its so delicate I love it! Some acorns and pinecones from my forest walks, two new lockets to fill with mini prints for my etsy shop, a little ceramic wasp trinket box from anthro and other little things to admire..
A new painting I’ve been working on. I am loving this one and I am so anxious for the glazed layer in the background to dry so I can proceed. Hopefully by tomorrow afternoon. There’s another element to this piece but I’ll keep it a surprise for now…
On a more grim note (but appropriate for this time of year) I wanted to share some very old folksy headstones just a short walk from where I live. The cemetery is so old, with headstones dating from the early 1700’s! I went there today to admire the stones for the millionth time since I move here. These headstones fascinate me to pieces!
Mr. Aaron Burroughs. Born 1655, died 1755. I can’t believe he made it all the way to 100, back then. I love how they portrayed the wig!
Rebecca J. Bourroughs. She died in 1796. She has sort of a Martha Washington look, doesn’t she?
Poor Jonathan Darling. He only made it to 13.
A very bad attempt at cross bones from 1771. The lettering is pretty though.
This is my favorite. The folk art design, lettering and style is exquisite.
Yesterday was spent at my parents house Halloween Party. I was a kitchy little sailor girl (again). Today I worked on cutting watercolor papers for my new sketchbook (for my doodles and writings) went for three walks, painted, and sorted through my antique photos. Sundays are the best, as we usually don’t go anywhere and have the day to ourselves entirely!
Daylight savings. Hello dark late afternoons, endless grey and frosty windows. Hello November.
Tell me, what is your favorite part of November?
one last goodbye
to the morning sun in the field, in the woods and dappled on the trails where I walk…
A last goodbye to summer, that is. No not the actual day of summer, but my summer, as I went back to work yesterday. It’s always bittersweet for me. I’m probably not going to be able to paint or sketch or put anything together until this weekend, which bugs me to pieces! I have a neat little sketchbook I wanted to put up for sale in the shop. Please do stay tuned!
A big old post because I’ve been away so long…tangled hair teacups and sketches
Where did the week go? And someone tells me its March already… spring will soon be here! I am so awaiting the sweet colors of spring and sitting out in the grass. Anywho, lots of inspiration and sketching here. I have been collecting pictures of flapper-ish women, muses and models for paint and sketching maybe. This one I had for years. I found her in a cigar box in an antique shop (I have another photo of here too, in a differernt pose!) She had a very, very sad life the past couple of years though. You see, she went missing, but the good news is that she was found last week. I was cleaning out my wooden box with drawers, and she was wedged between the underside of the bottom of the drawer and the dresser. She was all folded up, like an accordian, which damaged the photo and made me very, very sad.
To make me feel better I bought this gem of a little photo on Etsy, just look at these sisters! The photo came in a set which included a boy but I threw him into my scrap box, as I really don’t care about photos of boys that much. But these two sisters..I am definitely going to use them in my painted imagery.
They fulfilled my criteria for the photos I collect.. post victorian (preferable 20’s and 30’s)…soft waves in short, shiny hair, slightly out of place and frizzy…a certain facial expression that I can’t quite put my finger on, and oh the sepia…
A very cold windowsill this morning, strange little bird family, icy outside
Oh my and I bought the most pretty golden teacup earrings, at the thrift shop of all places!
They have these little saucers and even little golden spoons! And my hair always tangles all around them.
My friend bought me this pretty mug yesterday during out treasure hunt.
and the other side, sewing machines!
hehe for pure fun and whimsy… a love of tangled hair in strange places…
Which leads me to share a new love for wooden hair sticks! I bought these from Etsy and they are in need of beaded ends, which I will add. I looooove hairsticks (and my hair loves them too, they are really gentle on the strands!)
Been filling the pages of my journals with sepia tones watercolor sketches, which helps so much with underpainting and its a good reference source too. Creating a visual log of my own personal imagery for more narrative pieces in the future.
I am SO inspired by this painting by John Everett Millais:
Isn’t she a dream? She’s been a springboard for some new ideas. More sketches and other things to come!
doodles
Recently my sketchbooks have been brimming with ideas for future paintings, so I thought I’d post some here. It makes me a bit nervous…they are for future paintings, which means they might not happen for awhile or at all. But they happened in sketchbook form, so why not show? And I absolutely LOVE to see other artists sketches posted! So much work goes into a final piece, from inspiration concepts to little notes in the margins to color ideas and torn pages…usually unseen behind-the scenes scribbles and such. My sketchbooks have become more and more valuable to me, I can dream of having piles and piles of well-worn sketchbooks filled to the brim with little ink, pencil and watercolor, mmmmm!
Although I tend to switch back and forth I LOVE this sketchbook’s paper! It’s a hardcover 8 1/2 by 11″ acid free recycled light brown.
Bee stings and rosey things like cheeks and cherry red lips…and the girl wearing the garden is getting painted, without a doubt!
sepia rose sketches and other Tuesday things…
Yesterday I sketched this two page spread in my moleskine. If you look carefully on the left side there is a garden behind the woman. In the garden are three sleeping foxes amongst paper ephemera sepia colored roses. They blend in all too well!
Right now I am jumping for joy! I have been eyeing these vintage lace up boots for weeks now. I could not get them out of my mind (yes, they are the reason my favorites were set to private!) I like to try on so I scoured the stores to find new ones like these but no luck anywhere. They are from one of my favorite vintage stores on etsy, Salvage Life. The store is blooming with subdued colors, my favorite. These boots are just what I need to wear with all my winter skirts, and I just love lace ups!
Etsy is just blooming with the best vintage things! Two other vintage items on Etsy, still for sale at JohnDoeDress. Lovely, lovely colors and shapes, lots of pretty things in the store too.
warm pumpkin and golden tones like those above have been inspiring me as of late. I guess its warmth that I seek. It is COLD here! Everything is covered in a thick layer of shiny ice. I am looking forward to the holidays when I can hibernate! ~*~*~*~*~*~*~
forest walk
The weekends are spent meandering around and exploring in nature. Now that the days are short, dark and chilly I have to squeeze in my long walks on saturday and sunday. I think in the wintertime I need to look harder for inspiration, but when I find it I am so happy! The sky is gray but the crabapples are plentiful…their ruby red fruit is a visual feast! Yesterday when I was walking I stumbled upon this tree…just look at the fruit!
The trail in the woods where I walk…
It was so snowy and magical the other morning!
A new favorite wool sweater to keep me warm. Not vintage but vintage-inspired and perfectly faded and soft. The colors capture my favorite tones as of recent. Reds, grays, brownish-greens.
When I walked by the crabapple tree on the way home there was a flock of blue jays and other little brownish birds perching in its branches. I stood quietly trying to get one to come close so I could snap a picture. This little gal was perched above me and againt branches and sky she was so pretty!
I’ve been collecting little nature things along the trail for inspiration. Usually when there’s snow my treasure hunt is useless, but yesterday I filled my pockets with these seed pods. They are so delicate! I put them on my book shelf
On a side note, my vintage dress came in the mail! It is so pretty and feather light, a billowy shimmer of gray with burgandy accents and cute little buttons. I am going to make a deep red sash for it. Its from the Etsy store of Stephanie Bracciano (and thats her in the photo below, modeling my new lovely dress!) She was such a doll and included two pretty little prints in the package as well.
And here we are…Monday. I have to admit that not all days are full of walks and seedpods. Some (or should I say most?) are full of to-do lists and trying very hard to squeeze even a sketch in. And here they are, scanned, to-do lists and sketches, worn and crumbled from my pockets:
~*~*~*
A catch-all of sorts…
I keep a spiral bound book to record my ideas as they are unearthed…mostly ones with snippets of fabric and papers and such (these are too bulky for my hardcover sketchbook…it would never be able to close!) . Yesterday I bought some yummy golden printed fabric snippets and glued them on the page (along with a piece of favorite paper) and sketched a girl with a fox-like mask. These little experiments help so much with my painted images. And its fun to rummage through treasures in dusty corners for inspiration!
And here’s a glimpse of fabric from a vintage dress I got in the mail…the twig-like cotton fabric is divine.
Oh, it is snowing and icy outside (again!) Very happy indeed, an excuse to stay in!
~*~*~*