Otherwise

I wasn't planning on doing the Monthly Sketch Project this month until I noticed that one of my photos was being used as a reference. So I chose to do the other photo reference, a lovely butterfly on a flower, as a colored pencil drawing. Well. That one isn't complete yet and with the deadline looming I decided to do my photo reference as a quick watercolor sketch, trying very hard to keep it loose and not over worked as I tend to do with watercolor. Here is the result, in my moleskine watercolor sketchbook.

The scene is of Grandfather Mountain in the distance from the carriage trail at Moses Cone Manor off the Blue Ridge Parkway. It's a lovely trail to hike with many beautiful vistas perfect for watercolor sketching. It is a funny thing around here about Grandfather Mountain. Did you ever see the movie, "The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain"? A wonderful, lift-your-spirits film. And the setting has some similarities to our mountains here. In the movie, almost every interior scene has a picture of some sort of their "mountain". Whether it's in a shop, the pub, the church, or school, there is a picture of their mountain hanging on the wall, as the residents are very proud of their mountain. It's like that here with Grandfather Mountain. Most banks, gift shops, medical offices, and especially galleries, and any place else, have a picture of some sort of Grandfather Mountain on display. I think it is required of local artists to capture this mountain's image at least once for residency here. Please do go look at all of the entries this month for The Monthly Sketch Project. You won't be sorry as they are all fantastic.

So when I am not otherwise engaged with my art projects these days I am busy crocheting. I am fairly comfortable working on flat projects, scarves and afghans mostly. And always in one color only because I didn't have a clue how to change colors. But that is changing now. A while back I purchased Jennifer Edwards' "Everything But-the-Kitchen-Sink Bag" pattern because I have this thing for bags and her sample is gorgeous. And I have tons of left over yarn from all of my scarf and afghan projects. I figured if anyone could teach me how to make something three dimensional AND change colors it would be Jennifer. And she has! Here is the start of my bag project, multi-colored even. I am so excited! When my bag is completed I will post the finished product. In the meantime, check out Yarn Works by Jennifer. She will have you crocheting or knitting in no time. Besides, what else are we going to do until spring arrives?