sketchbook Tuesday :: frightful

The weather, that is. Not these honey crisp apples that I sketched yesterday. In between keeping up with hurricane reports, local weather reports, I had little focus for much of anything else. I made the apple bread thinking that I should prepare as much food as possible before the power went out. Those wind gusts got up to around 60 mph. The snow was blowing sideways. As I sit here I can hear the wind still howling through our mountains and the snow is still coming down. But we never did lose power and are safe inside our cozy home. For that I am so thankful. I do hope all of my readers are safe and warm this evening as well. Check in when you can, okay?

right now

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 "right now" staying focused on the present, mindful and in the moment, an image from the week, 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 :: Autumn leaves

Our back deck is fast becoming covered in leaves. Our yard has all but disappeared under drifts of leaves. Every time our springer comes in from outside, he brings leaves in with him, stuck to his fur. There are still many colorful leaves hanging on to the trees, but not for long I am afraid.  However, if you enjoy the fall season, North Carolina is probably one of the best places to experience autumn. That's something I learned many years ago, as a newcomer to the south. I grew up in the mid-west, where there are basically two seasons, summer and winter. Autumn and spring happen so fast there that if they don't occur on a weekend, you've missed it. However, in the south, spring and autumn are long, slow seasons. I have come to really enjoy these less hurried shifts from season to season, and the changes of color and light that each new season brings.

right now

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 "right now" staying focused on the present, mindful and in the moment, an image from the week, 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.

Softly Morning

Softly Morning

watercolor on cold press

7.5 x 9.5 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

 

This is a watercolor that I completed a few weeks ago but neglected to post. The scene is from the marshes at Edisto Island in the spring.  While on our trip last weekend I snapped more photos of the marshes, some while on a walk, and some from out the window of our moving the car. These are not great photos, in fact some are pretty terrible. What they do give me is an arrangement of land, water and sky, a starting point from which to create a painting. When doing this painting I felt that I got a little hung up on the details, losing some of the freshness. But in the end I suppose it all worked out okay.

sketchbook Tuesday :: lovely long weekend

The Professor had a long weekend off for fall break, which also happened to be Kiddo's birthday. And the weather was gorgeous. So we went to our favorite, Edisto Beach.

Each day I painted the little slice of ocean that I could see from our rental cottage, which was situated across the street from the ocean-front houses. It was a fun way to document the changes in light and colors of the water and sky, all from the dining table looking out across the way. I fully intended to fill the facing pages with our beach finds of shells and feathers, but with such pretty days and a birthday to celebrate I only managed to begin one page. The others may still happen. I haven't unpacked our beach bag yet, where our treasures were stowed for the trip home.

 We were fortunate to have gloriously sunny days, although our third day was extremely windy. Notice how I never managed a straight horizon in these sketches. Each one was done with watercolor only, no drawing first. And oh yeah, I took another million photos of the surf. Should keep me busy drawing for a while.

right now

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

 "right now" staying focused on the present, mindful and in the moment, an image from the week, 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.

pumpkin patch

Pumpkin Patch

ink and watercolor wash on cold pressed paper

5.5 x 7.5 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

 

Yep. It's pumpkin week here at BlueBird Hill. This is a scene inspired by our visit to the BOOger Hollar Pumpkin Patch last weekend. It was late afternoon, the light was magical, and the pumpkins all lined up and waiting for their new homes seemed to glow.  This is where I purchased the gourds used in my sketch, while Kiddo selected a large pumpkin to grace our front porch. I also got a bunch of Indian corn for our front door. And yes, that really is the name of the pumpkin patch.

sketchbook Tuesday :: gourds

We stopped by the "You Pick Pumpkins" field last Friday and I purchased these small gourds for our seasonal decoration. The shapes and colors were too pretty to resist. These were sketched with watercolor only in my handmade sketchbook.

right now

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

 "right now" staying focused on the present, mindful and in the moment, an image from the week, 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 :: hydrangea

Along with the changing season, my hydrangea blossoms are changing from their brilliant blue to subtle pinks and greens. I clipped a few of the blossoms and brought them indoors to dry. I love their beautiful, understated color.