Sketchbook Tuesday - perspective

My perspective is a bit wonky in this sketch, but that's what happens in my sketchbooks. The tangerine was good, especially accompanied by hot chocolate. And I had written the quote on this page several days before I put a sketch there. Sometimes it happens that way too.

For what you see and hear depends a good deal on where you are standing: 

it also depends on what sort of person you are.

~C.S. Lewis~

right now

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"right now" staying focused on the present, mindful and in the moment, an image from the week, with no words or a few words, that acknowledges the "right now".  If you would like to join me in this mindful weekly exercise, put a link in the comments for this post to share your "right now" image.

Sketchbook Tuesday - housekeeping

I realized that I had skipped posting this page earlier in the month and thought now would be as good a time as any to share. And naturally when I did the sketch I had put the wrong date down on the page. Oh well, January was newer then.

But yes, housekeeping. You may remember that I have occasionally mentioned various de-cluttering projects. Working with that in mind I have begun de-cluttering paper work and organizing my routine. All in an effort to simplify my days and create calm in our home life. I was inspired by this post to create my own 'life binder', so I have been organizing files and papers in an effort for it all to make more sense. In my younger days I never would have imagined myself as a woman who would be overly concerned with keeping house. I have actually had conversations recently about laundry detergent, of all things. From my own mother I learned that housekeeping created anger. But back then I never imagined that I would be a mom, homeschooling, and working from home either. Which brings me back to housekeeping. It's a job like any other, and when done with imagination and integrity it can bring comfort. And for that opportunity I am grateful. 

right now

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"right now" staying focused on the present, mindful and in the moment, an image from the week, with no words or a few words, that acknowledges the "right now".  If you would like to join me in this mindful weekly exercise, put a link in the comments for this post to share your "right now" image.

Sketchbook Tuesday - green things

 Here we are in the grayest, darkest season of the year, yet I have managed to find some green things to sketch in my journal. This was done the other evening when I should have been getting dinner started. Because people were hungry. Sometimes meals are a little later in the evening when I cook, especially if I feel the need to get in a sketch first.

I found a hyacinth at the grocery and brought it home in order to bring a little spring inside on these gray, winter days. I was hoping that it would have blue blooms that I love. But it has begun blooming now and the blossoms are white. Still pretty and it smells wonderful.

You know, sometimes I leave a lot of white space on my journal pages when I do a sketch. Often times that space gets filled later on with writing or a quote from my reading. And sometimes I just like the feeling of space on the page with the sketch. One never knows. Just in case you were wondering...

right now

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"right now" staying focused on the present, mindful and in the moment, an image from the week, with no words or a few words, that acknowledges the "right now".  If you would like to join me in this mindful weekly exercise, put a link in the comments for this post to share your "right now" image.

Winter Field

Winter Field

graphite on 500 bristol board

6 x 8 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

Here is my latest drawing finished. It was a pleasure to work in graphite again. The scene is from a view just down the road from my house, from last winter when there was much more snow on the ground. Although I am not complaining, not one bit. I am thinking of doing a companion piece or two for this one before I tire of graphite and get back to my colored pencils.

I have also made this piece available a prints and cards on my Fine Art America shop. Since I set this shop up some time ago I have pretty much left it neglected. Now, however, I have plans to keep it more active and will be occasionally adding works available as prints and rotating out some of the older pieces. There is also a link over there on the side bar if you'd like to check it out.

Sketchbook Tuesday - orange

So, I was shopping with Kiddo at the mall and we stopped in at her favorite doo-dads store because she wanted to spend some of her gift money on a hat she had spotted there. As we were leaving, there was a display of handbags near the entrance and I swear I heard this one call my name. Even though I have never owned an orange bag in my life. I have brown, black, blue, and in some of my wilder moments have purchased khaki colored bags, but never orange. But I do like the style with a cross body strap and plenty of pockets. And now, whenever I look at this orange bag, it makes me happy.

right now

 As I was sitting here choosing a photo for this Friday's post I was thinking about trying something a little different with this idea, in order to make it more my own. I have been posting photos on Fridays for quite some time now and by doing so I have been motivated to capture all those little moments from the week that may have otherwise gone unnoticed. Or at least lost from my visual memory. There are days that seem to slip through my fingers like water. While sketching does keep memories of a place or time alive, as an artist who is also a homeschooling mom, who has the laundry and dinner, spelling tests, lesson plans, and where are my socks to tend to, even a quick sketch sometimes just doesn't happen. I have found that by collecting these simple snap shots that a moment can be saved, and shared.

What I am proposing, in keeping with my thoughts for this year to stay focused on the present, mindful and in the moment, is to continue with  photos on Friday, an image from the week, with no words or a few words, that acknowledges the "right now".  If you would like to join me in this mindful weekly exercise, put a link in the comments for this post to share your "right now" image.

What's on the drawing board

After finishing my last colored pencil piece, I was more than ready to do something a little different. I had been thinking about trees and snow. This is just the start of a new drawing in graphite, a snowy field. This field is actually right in my neighborhood and looked much like this yesterday with our bitterly cold, blowing snow day.  It will be 6 x 8 inches when finished.

Sketchbook Tuesday - Happy New Year!

It's a new year - 2012. Can you believe it? Gosh, I feel old. Yet, occasionally I still like to try new things. Like the clementines that I tried for the first time over the holidays. I had no idea.


And my new header up there. I'll try that out for a while and see.

Santa brought me a wonderful gift. I must have been pretty good this year. It all started when I picked up a copy of Joe's Journals, The Art and Tales of a Sojourner by Joe Miller, when in Cheap Joe's around Thanksgiving time. If you enjoy looking through artists' watercolor sketchbooks, this is a great book. It is filled with Joe Miller's beautiful watercolor sketches from his travels around home, here in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and places farther away, as well as his thoughts and notes.

In the back of the book he notes his usual sketching supplies and referenced a watercolor palette and paints that he prefers. Because I enjoyed his sketches and the colors he used I went searching for this palette but couldn't find it. However, I did find the one sketched above on his website. Apparently it is a new item for Cheap Joe's. It's called the American Journey Voyager 12 Color Full Pan Set. Well, that went on my Christmas wish list!

And I love it. The box is a sturdy metal tin and bigger than the little tin I had been using, yet it folds up nicely into a convenient size for travel. It has plenty of mixing space and the full pans are removable so you can switch out colors if you'd like. I was feeling that I had gotten myself into a bit of a rut with the colors I had been using so it is really refreshing for me to have a change of palette. Here is the color chart that came with the set, filled in by me. You can click the image to see larger.

I plan on trying a few other new things this year. You may even get to read about some of them here on this blog. And for the first time in several years I haven't made a list of goals, or reviewed the last year's accomplishments or lack there of. Yes, there are those things I would like to achieve but more than that I want to focus on the present. Stay mindful and in the moment. Now, is my word for this year.

"This year I want to stick a net into time and say 'now', 

as men plant flags on the ice and snow and say, 'here'."

-Annie Dillard-