September Print of the Month

This is the piece that I have chosen for September's Print of the Month. It is from my colored pencil drawing titled Edisto Dune. I'm thinking of all my coastal friends and family today as they ride out hurricane Earl and hoping they all stay safe and dry. Prints and greeting cards of this piece are available from ImageKind.

Let's party!

It's my Blogiversary! Blog Birthday! Well, it's been three years, anyway, since I started this blog. Three fun and rewarding years. I have met so many kind folks and made countless new friends over these past three years. Now it's time for a celebration!  Pictured above are the Print of the Month greeting cards from the past four months, May, June, July and now August. Leave a comment here, on this post, before midnight (Eastern Daylight Time) on Tuesday, August 10, and one name will be randomly selected to receive this set of four greeting cards featuring my art works. Thanks for coming to the party!

Some things I missed

While summer is moving right along I seem to be lagging behind a bit. Probably because of the heat. But even with that we have been experiencing some truly gorgeous days and our usual cool nights. The season seems to have slowed my pace though. That's all right with me.

Above is a watercolor sketch in my summer sketch journal - my new journal which I forgot to show you earlier. Again, it's handmade with antique white Canson Edition paper. I used up the remaining paper from my stash, adjusting the format to 5.5 x 7 inches to get the most out of what I had left. The resulting journal is a little less rectangular than my previous 5 x 8 inch journals, and I am liking this format better. It also has more signatures. This makes it thicker with more pages to fill. Like my previous journals I included signatures in the front and back with plain copy paper for scribbling notes and calendar pages in the front. Plus a pocket in the back for business cards and  a few watercolor postcards. And yep, I put the bookmark in upside-down. I don't want to talk about that. It still works fine. I'm okay with it. Really I am.

Moving right along, here is what I have been using lately for my sketching kit. The small tin I found at Cheap Joe's, which I filled with paints from the Professor's stash. I added my raw umber watercolor stick because he didn't have that color and I do like using it sometimes. When we were in Ohio last month, I found the plastic box at the super market in the school supplies aisle. For a 99 cent investment it holds a water brush, a few pencils and a couple of pens, a handi-wipe cloth and a baggie with a pencil sharpener, and either this travel tin of watercolors or my tin of watercolor sticks. I like that this set up is so compact. I find that I will sketch more often if I don't have to drag out a lot of stuff just to get started.

Like these strawberries I sketched while I was fixing dinner the other evening.

I am also devoting a lot of time this summer to reading and studying. I took advantage of a couple of special offers at North Light Books and Dover Publications recently to stock up on books. Can you tell I am still obsessed with trees?

I also neglected to mention my Print of the Month for July. Perhaps you noticed it anyway over there on the side bar. It is from an original colored pencil painting on pastel board, titled Reeds.You can see a little slide show of how I drew this piece here. Fine art prints and cards from this image are available through Imagekind.

Sketchbook Tuesday and June Print of the Month!

We just love our local farmers' market. Not a lot of produce this time of year, yet still plenty to see with all the herbs, flowers and crafts. And it is wonderful to see the familiar faces of the vendors after our long winter months. One of our favorite growers had the most gorgeous spinach last Saturday. And it was delicious.

Continuing my obsession with trees in watercolor, I sat on our deck and tried to paint one of the trees in our wooded back yard. It is very difficult to determine where one tree ends and another begins in this setting. I did get lost in the branches but it was an enjoyable exercise anyway. And our foxgloves are blooming! Our flower garden backs up to the woods on the eastern side of our yard. So all of the flower blossoms tend to point west, toward the daily march of sunshine across the cleared area of our yard.

And finally, here is my pick for June's Print of the Month. It is from my original colored pencil piece, Wave I, available as note cards and fine art prints from Imagekind. Happy June everyone!

May Print of the Month

Happy May! This is the image I chose for the Print of the Month for May. Fine art prints and greeting cards from my original colored pencil drawing of a rose blossom are available from Imagekind. Just in time for Mother's Day.

April print of the Month and Give-away - No Foolin'!

 My graphite drawing, Zen Stones, is the image I chose to feature for April's Print of the Month. Prints and cards of this drawing are available from Imagekind.

And here are the featured prints as greeting cards from the first four months of this year. I am enjoying these printed greeting cards so much that I have decided to give this first set of four away to one lucky winner. To be entered into the contest all you have to do is leave a comment here, on this post, by midnight (EST) Tuesday, April 6th. I will then have a very unscientific, low tech, drawing from all the names in a hat and announce the winner here on Wednesday April 7, or maybe on Thursday April 8. You will just have to check back to find out who that lucky winner is. Sorry I can't be more definite about my blogging schedule, but if next week is as lovely as it was here today, I will be spending as much time as possible out doors. Happy April!