Holiday sketching

. . . or just another story for Kiddo to tell about her wacky family. You see, the day before Thanksgiving we went looking for figs to make fig bread. This was inspired by our friend's recent experience eating fig bread while on one of his travels, and wanting to share this new treat with us. We located a recipe and three stores later came home with figs. They were so interesting to look at that we all decided to sketch them first, before making the bread. Meanwhile, Kiddo is patiently waiting for dinner to happen. She knows how involved we can get with our watercolor sketching.

So Kiddo finally comes into the kitchen to check on the progress of dinner and finds the adults in her life standing on chairs photographing our sketching set up, because the table was so visually interesting you know, what with all of our sketching gear, and figs, scattered about.

The table was eventually cleared, we had a lovely dinner and made the fig bread later that evening, which we thoroughly enjoyed as a breakfast treat Thanksgiving morning.

Thanksgiving day our table was in much the same state, watercolor supplies and sketchbooks about. But Kiddo kept us on task and we had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner.

The following day we were back at it again, with watercolors and sketchbooks. Holidays with family, friends, and good food (that also makes a good still life subject) is a holiday well spent.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; 

they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.

-Marcel Proust

Apples to apples

I have exciting news! I now have prints of a few of my favorite works available in my Etsy shop. These are drawings that I really enjoyed doing, and the originals sold fairly quickly. I have plans to do more works like this. But until I do, I thought it would be fun to bring these back as prints. If all goes well, I will continue adding more works as prints to my Etsy store.

These top two are colored pencil drawings on Rising Museum Board. The one above is titled Apples, and to the left is More Apples. The giclee prints of these works are 5 x 7 inches centered on an 8 x 10 inch Somerset velvet paper.

I was a little nervous over how prints of these works would look, but I have to tell you, they look really, really good. I was very pleased.

I also had prints made of my graphite drawing, Clementine. The prints of this one are 4.5 x 6.5 inches, also centered on an 8 x 10 inch Somerset velvet paper. The prints do show all the richness of the values, especially noticeable in this piece. Seeing these works again as prints makes me eager to get back to the drawing board!

Familiar Path

Familiar Path

oil on canvas

6 x 6 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

For purchase information click here

This is #48 of my 100 painting project. It is a late summer view of the carriage trail at Cone Manor on the Blue Ridge Parkway. This old carriage trail is one of our favorite locations to hike and sketch. From here the trail dips under the parkway and then climbs up a hill where you can see Grandfather Mountain out across a mountain pastoral view. I wish I could take you there, you would love it.

Get ready

ACEO Carolina Coastal Marshland V

watercolor

2.5 x 3.5 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

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ACEO Carolina Coastal Marshland VI

watercolor

2.5 x 3.5 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

Click here to purchase 

Here are the last two art cards of my Marshland series. Both are watercolor with a few touches of watercolor pencil thrown in. I really enjoyed making these. It was fun to select my favorite marsh scenes and translate them into these small watercolor paintings.  They also helped keep my mind on sunny days as we have settled into November here. Next week it will be all about cooking and baking and visiting and feasting as the winter holiday season gets underway. No, I am not ready. Not even close. Are you?

(this moment)

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

-inspired by Amanda Blake Soule of SouleMama

Solitary Here

Solitary Here

oil on canvas

6 x 8 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

Click here for purchase information

This is #47 of my 100 painting project, a scene from Botany Bay at Edisto Island, SC. I was taken with this tree, or is it two trees, standing alone out in the marsh. Trees can exhibit such dignity and grace. All the more noticeable when out on their own, without the company of others for security.

I love what John F. Carlson had to say about trees:

"It is curious how one's feelings about trees change in proportion to one's appreciation of their importance and dignity as live beings. Trees are individual beings: they can be comic, heroic, tragic to the sensitive, practiced eye of the landscape artist."

Marshes, snow, and beans

ACEO Carolina Coastal Marshland III

watercolor

2.5 x 3.5 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

 Click here to purchase

 

ACEO Carolina Coastal Marshland IV

watercolor

2.5 x 3.5 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

 Click here to purchase

 

Here are the next two in my series of Carolina Coastal Marshland art cards. I sure do miss that warmer coastal climate, especially after the prelude to winter we experienced here this past week with our first dusting of snow. There is a saying here in the southern mountains that for every fog in August there will be a snowfall in winter. So this past August Kiddo put a bean in a jar every day there was fog. Seven beans. We removed the first bean last Friday when there was snow on the ground. One down, six to go. That doesn't seem so bad. Especially after last winter. I might be able to handle six more snowfalls. Maybe. At the very least we'll find out if that old saying is true.

(this moment)

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

-inspired by Amanda Blake Soule of SouleMama

Marshland Art Cards

ACEO Carolina Coastal Marshland I

watercolor

2.5 x 3.5 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

Click here to purchase

ACEO Carolina Coastal Marshland II

watercolor

2.5 x 3.5 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

Click here to purchase

Here are the first two in a series of six art cards inspired by the marshlands of the coastal Carolinas. These were done with watercolor and a few touches here and there with watercolor pencil. I worked from my favorite scenes from our travels to the coasts of North and South Carolina. Coming from the mountains I always enjoy seeing the open space of the landscape and a wide horizon. And the suggestion of water reflecting all of that sky.

Something orange

This little pie pumpkin and several small gourds have been decorating our table since the beginning of October. And I have been meaning to sketch them since then, too. So, on Saturday evening while the professor took Kiddo out to collect some treats, I spent my time making this sketch while waiting for the little goblins collecting candy to come to our door.  And, last week's Everyday Matters drawing challenge was to draw something orange!