Spring Cleaning

Sorry for my sparse postings of late. I have been in a spring cleaning frenzy these last few weeks. As a result I now have bags and bags of stuff to donate. I can now find the books on my book shelves and actually walk into our little attic space. It's amazing what one house can accumulate over the years. Tons of stuff. And here, our small home is also where we work and school. Having multi-purposes for every room means clutter happens fast if we're not careful.

So while I am in this de-cluttering state I haven't worked on art as much. One thing at a time, you know. I did do a couple of sketches last week in my hand.book journal. Above is one of them, from a photo taken while on our recent beach trip, of the marshes at Edisto. This is sepia Pitt pen with watercolor wash. Two mediums I am probably the least comfortable with, pen and watercolor. Must be the coming of spring that has me changing everything about.

Loops of meditation

So I have been catching up with Everyday Matters drawing challenges. The one above is #214, draw something representing your favorite hobby. It's graphite and colored pencil in my square hand.book journal. I guess you could say crocheting is one of my hobbies. I enjoy the meditative aspect of the repetition of making the stitches, all those loops. I don't try anything too complicated, usually just scarves or afghans, flat pieces all in one color of course. I am just not interested in learning to do anything more complicated in crochet at this time. That would require more thought to learn more skills, and take away from the meditative activity that it is for me. I like that I can sit and crochet and not think about anything at all.
And here is #215, draw your thumb. Graphite in my square hand.book journal.

Happy Spring!

ACEO Cosmo
2.5 x 3.5 inches
colored pencil on paper
©Ann Thompson Nemcosky
click here to buy

I hope everyone is enjoying this first day of Spring! Even though the temperature is still pretty cool here, the sunshine we are having today is a nice reminder that warmer weather is on its way. And I am still thinking of flowers. Our daffodils have greeted us with their sunshiny blooms and perennials are poking up in our flower garden. Our Cosmos were so cheerful last year. I am looking forward to seeing them return.

Marsh plein air

Here is another vacation sketch, the marsh along the Inter-Coastal Waterway from the base of the bridge to Edisto Island. I and a long time friend who is our traveling companion and also an avid photographer set out that bright morning on a photo excursion. We parked at the base of the bridge and started walking up along side the traffic lanes to capture photos of the marshes. It is a very long bridge that rises up high enough in the middle to allow the big boats to pass underneath. I had my little 'point and shoot' while my photographer friend carried his tri-pod and super-duper camera. When I finally had enough of traffic whizzing by I headed back down to the base of the bridge and waited in the cab of my friend's pick-up while he continued on his photo quest. Since I had my sketchbook and watercolors with me I made this quick sketch of the marsh. The gnats were terribly persistant, you can even see where a couple of them stuck to my sketchbook page while I was painting.

Sea Fever

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea's face and a grey dawn breaking.

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea gulls crying.

I must go down to the seas again to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull's way and the whale's way where the wind's like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow rover,
And a quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.

~Sea-Fever by John Masefield~

We have just returned from a glorious and restful week at Edisto Island, South Carolina. We had such a lovely time with bright, warm beach walks, good company and wonderful meals. And I did manage some quick sketches while there as well as gather tons more reference material for future art works. These are a few of the watercolor sketches done at Edisto in my hand.book journal.

Miss Sarah

Sarah
graphite on Strathmore 500 Bristol
4.5 x 6.5 inches
©Ann Thomposon Nemcosky

Sarah B. Baba Puppy Pants aka Miss B. We adopted this Pembroke Welsh Corgie as a puppy when Kiddo was 4, so she had the honor of naming the new puppy. In addition to her string of colorful names, Sarah is also affectionately called "The Princess", which she does her best to live up to. Because really, as far as she is concerned, it's all about Sarah.

You say tomato

This is my sketch for Everyday Matters #212, draw a mirror image. This little tomato from the supermarket looked pretty, but didn't taste like much though. I do miss fresh garden tomatoes. This tomato and its reflection were drawn in graphite in my small hand.book journal.

And that snow on Sunday - we ended up with a foot of snow. Twelve inches. For this area it was greatest amount of snow in one snowfall since January of 1998. The sun has come out yet it's still just 10 degrees. Oh yay.

March begins like a lion

There are seven
or eight categories
of phenomena
in the world
that are worth
talking about,
and one of them
is the weather.
-Annie Dillard




As I sit here typing this
the snow is already
over the three inch mark.
It is not unusual
for us to get a good
deal of snow here
but it has been many years
since we've had a snowfall
quite like this one today.
Well enough gawking at
the weather. I need to get
back to my chore for today-
taxes!