Old Autumn

ACEO October Leaf
colored pencil on paper
3.5 x 2.5 inches
©2008 Ann Thompson Nemcosky
Click here to buy

"I saw old Autumn in the misty morn,
Stand shadowless like silence listening to silence."
-Thomas Hood

Comfort

Of the familiar. I am catching up here with Everyday Matters drawing challenges. Above is #193, draw a small part of an everyday object as an extreme close-up. My pine cone close up is with graphite in my small hand.book journal. Graphite is a very familiar drawing tool for me. I really enjoy sketching and drawing with pencil. So simple and direct.
And here is challenge #194, draw a baked potato. Again, graphite in my small hand.book journal. I love baked potatoes, especially with sour cream and chives. And potato soup, fried potatoes, or mashed, all good. Hubby doesn't like potato soup. Kiddo only eats potatoes in two forms, fries and tater tots. So here's what I had on hand to draw for this challenge. They really don't even resemble food. We need to start eating better.

Work to do

A couple more sketches from our get-away last week to the South Carolina coast. Above is a sketch I did while sitting on the beach. The weather was glorious, mid 80's, nice ocean breeze, a beautiful day at the beach. Sketched this in my hand.book landscape journal with brown colored pencil then colored with watercolor. Below are a few of the many shells kiddo collected, drawn with watercolor pencils and graphitints, then washed with water in my watercolor Moleskine.

Now that we are back in our mountains I haven't had much motivation for working on art this past week. Hopefully I'll get it together and have some new work to show soon. But I did take care of one very important responsibility today. I voted. If you are a US citizen make sure that you vote too. It's our job.

A get-away week

We have returned from a long weekend get-away to the coast, down at Edisto Island, South Carolina. Our favorite beach destination and always so relaxing that it is now difficult to get back into the bustle of our daily routine. Our week began with Kiddo's 10th birthday celebration. Then packing and driving southeast for a few days of sand and sun. And this was the week that I decided to take Nina up on her challenge to do a journal spread for a week, adding a little each day. Above is my week of sketchbook journaling. The autumn colored leaves in our backyard to the palms of South Carolina. Mostly watercolor with a bit of wrapping paper collage in my hand.book journal. The key to our beach cottage is included because of the morning we thought we had lost it on the beach, leaving us locked out of the cottage, only to find it after much distress in our shell collecting bag.
Our rented cottage was very cute with a wonderful screened porch across the front. This quick watercolor sketch is the view from that porch. My favorite spot to sit and watch the world not going by along the palmetto lined boulevard.

Apples!

Apples ACEO
2.5 x 3.5 inches
colored pencil on paper
©2008 Ann Thompson Nemcosky
Click here to buy

This year we have lots of apples in our Southern mountains. Not so last year. A freeze the previous spring wiped out the entire apple crop in our region. However this year the apples trees are heavy with abundant fruit, and apples adorn the roadside stands and markets. I couldn't resist doing at least one drawing celebrating the return of our apples.

It's that time of year

When I start thinking seriously about holiday gift giving. Oh, I know it's only October, but I do like to plan ahead. Mostly because I don't enjoy becoming overwhelmed at the last minute with too many gifts to buy and things to do. I have always been one to make many of the gifts I give, not only for the holidays but also throughout the year for birthdays and other occasions.

So I spent a good deal of time yesterday putting together some new items for my CafePress store. Here is a sampling of my two favorites. My colored pencil piece, "On The Forest Floor" as a framed tile and a twelve month wall calendar. You will have to visit my CafePress store to see all of the items I have available.


Each month in the calendar features a different colored pencil painting that I created during the last year or so. When I thought of making a calendar I wasn't sure whether I would have enough pieces for 12 months. Then I started looking through my images and realized that I had more than enough. Enough works to edit down (not so easy) to my favorites, one for each month.
I also opened a gallery at ImageKind. You can find the link on my side bar. This is something I had wanted to do for some time, having seen this service on other artists' blogs. So here are two of the four images I have available for prints and greeting cards at ImageKind. If there is a work of mine that you would be interested in purchasing as a print, please let me know by emailing me (contact info is at right in the sidebar) and I will be sure to add it to my gallery at ImageKind.










Edisto Dune
©2008 Ann Thompson Nemcosky

November
©2008 Ann Thompson Nemcosky

Time floats

Or maybe it's just me, floating through time. This is for Everyday Matters challenge #192, draw something that floats. My daughter's rubber ducky drawn in graphite in my small hand.book journal. Even though she is now too old for bath toys, we still have this hanging around. I found it in our laundry room. Somewhere along the line kiddo outgrew bath toys and they migrated to other parts of the house. I don't even know when that happened. While I was looking the other way she grew from toddler to girl. In a few days she will turn 10. Ten! Ten years gone by just like that. I wouldn't trade them for the world.

Basil and tomatoes

ACEO Basil
3.5 x 2.5 inches
colored pencil on paper
©2008 Ann Thompson Nemcosky
Click here to buy

Garden Roma Tomatoes
watercolor in Moleskine sketchbook

The last of our garden bounty. Our basil plants did very well this year. Our tomato plants not so much. Gardening in our mountain climate is a challenge. Short, cool summers and our southern clay soil make for tough gardening conditions. Among avid gardeners in our area, growing vegetables is a competitive sport. Our little patch of basil, parsley, and tomatoes doesn't even meet the local qualifications to compete. But I did make some nice pesto, enough to freeze a few batches. And last week we enjoyed a tasty tomato and basil spaghetti sauce. We have already experienced some rather frosty mornings so it's time to say goodbye to the garden until next year.

Sigh. . . . . . . .

Everyday Matters challenge #191, draw some paper money
graphite in small hand.book journal

Awards

I have been woefully behind in acknowledging my appreciation for receiving all of these lovely awards from fellow bloggers. So here is my new collection of sparkly awards. Thank you so much!From Delph at Kazumiwannabe

From Terri at Life With Terri

And from Rachel at The Jacobite Rose (sorry it has taken me so long to post this Rachel!)

I am honored to receive these awards. And I appreciate everyone who takes the time to stop in and leave comments. As I plod along with my artistic ventures it is very encouraging to read such kind remarks, especially when I can get so wrapped up in my own little day-to-day stuff. As I have said before, keeping a blog for my art is very motivating to keep going, try out new things, and share in the process.