Getting My Feet Wet

My husband and I have just bought our first house and this week I've been working on setting up my art studio in our new home!
Whenever there's been a break in art-making for me, I find I need to do a quick painting to get back into the swing of things. I painted this piece on December 3rd from a photo I took this summer on the Isle of Wight at the beach.

 Sandown Beachscape I, watercolor and ink on paper 8 1/4" (21cm) x 12" (30.5cm)

At the Barre/ At the Sketchbook

Yesterday I went to the art store on Kensington High Street and browsed through a book called The Art of Urban Sketching. I found it inspiring enough that I had to buy yet another sketch book and pen so that I could get back to doing daily sketches again! I must have over 30 sketchbooks, most of which are in storage at the moment, but this one has a soft cover and is small enough for me to carry around in my bag. Sketching daily has been an ever-present, yet continually elusive, goal of mine. Somehow when I find the time to make art, I'm far more eager to start painting than get out the sketchbook. Especially lately when the moments I get are so few and far between.

Yet the sketching is essential. It is the daily stretch and flex of the muscles, the work-out, the practice, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!!!! that helps to refine one's skill-set. Also, when you're working in a sketchbook, the emphasis can be on exploration and experimentation instead of creating finished work to sell. This is the opportunity to explore new techniques and play with different mediums. To break down one's own personal boundaries and barriers in the mind that make you do the same thing over and over. To find the way to make it work for you.

Having been a professional ballet dancer, I'm very familiar with the discipline required to go to the barre every day and repeat the same exercises (for 20 years!) continuing to refine my movements. Well, the sketchbook is no different than the barre. The question is, being a stay-at-home Mom as my profession of the moment, can I engage the discipline required to sketch daily with a toddler demanding my attention constantly? Surely, there must be a way!

This new sketchbook will most likely be filled with moments such as it's first entry. After all, Liam is my most favorite subject matter at present. I'm hooked, line and sinker, on my baby boy!

Portrait of Liam at 14 months

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Work in progress:
I started this piece on the Isle of Wight while Liam was sleeping about a month ago. When he wakes up from his nap he's always drowsy and stayed still long enough for me to capture his (still in dreamland) expression.  I'm planning on adding watercolor when I can get to it.

Blue Tit Landing

Well, I'm on a roll! Over the Easter holiday my parents-in-law babysat and I had the chance to paint down on the Isle of Wight while visiting them. They have several bird feeders that attract a lot of the lovely little songbirds in the area, including blue tits. The weather warmed up a couple of weeks before and the plants are starting to sprout their leaves and bud blossoms. Spring is becoming my favorite season. After the dull greys and browns of winter, seeing a little color is so wonderful!

Big Baby Cheeks

My son, Liam, turned one year old 12 days ago and I thought that I would put up this sketch that I did of him while he was sleeping 4 months ago to honor his birthday!

I am chagrined to admit that I haven't drawn him recently. Without childcare, I'm finding it very challenging to find the time to draw and paint. I would like to do a series, though, of him as he grows. Perhaps a sketch of him asleep every few months to see how he is growing. He already looks different than he did when he was 8 months old.

I wish I could draw him while he's awake, but he likes to take the pencil out of my hand. I think I'll try to do some really quick life sketches while he is distracted playing and see what happens. They'll have to be 30 second drawings. I'll post the results, good or bad!