2019 Christmas Fair Coloring-In Poster

I haven't had much opportunity to draw or paint lately, as I've started a new business which is taking up all of my time! It has been so wonderful to devote a couple of hours today to quickly sketch out a promo poster for this school's fundraising committee. This year I've drawn a wreath, the Santa is the one I drew two years ago for them.

The idea is to hand it out to the kids, and they color it in themselves. There is a prize for the best one, I can't wait to see what they do with it!

Sketch of Lucci

This is a sketch that I did over my latest vacation while my son Lucci took a nap. I just particularly like this one as I think I caught a good likeness of him.

Stationary illustration

This job was done for a couple moving house who had ties to Canada. They requested Canadian geese flying through the air on postcard size cream card-stock. This they wanted to be able to add into an envelope with a letter or send on it's own in the post. The font was required to be Erica's handwriting.

2017 Summer Fair Poster

Another coloring-in poster for the students at Westbourne Primary School. The kids have a challenge to color it in themselves and win a prize.

Coloring-In Poster for School Summer Fair

I was asked to create a poster that the kids at Westbourne Primary School could color in and hang up in their windows to promote their summer fair this year.
They are going to have a contest for best coloring. I can't wait to see what the kids do!

Dryads In The Haze Of Morning- New Drawing

This is a drawing I worked on over the Summer which comes from a series that I've been working on for some time depicting spirits of the elements. I've got two large paintings titled Flamenco and Splash which represent fire and water. This is a preliminary study for a large painting to represent earth. I'm not quite satisfied with it yet, it still needs some work, but I'm pleased enough with it to want to share it. I've also got it in mind to build another series with this style of detailed pen and ink depicting literary and myth subjects.

Moody Moments from My Visual Diary

Here's some of the more personal images over the past couple of months from My Visual Diary project. Self-portraits of various kinds, dealing with some of my darker moments. The assignment: no more than 30 minutes, with no photo reference, only my memory of the day as my guide.

August 17, 2013 Walking on Eggshells

August 20, 2013 Job Interview

September 3, 2013 Strung Out

September 30, 2013 Falling

October 9, 2013 Drawing

Images of Summer from My Visual Diary Project

July 15, 2013 Moths

Well, the Summer has slipped away and I thought I would share some of my favorite pieces from My Visual Diary project that I began on July 1st of this year. The assignment: no more than 30 minutes, with no photo reference, only my memory of the day as my guide.

July 17, 2013 Fireflies

July 19, 2013 Hornets, Wasps, and Bees Everywhere

July 20, 2013 Ashes

July 25, 2013 Hugging Mom

August 5, 2013 First Time Underwater!

August 11, 2013 Our Sandcastle

August 14, 2013 Blackberries Everywhere

August 15, 2013 My Little Friend

My Visual Diary Days 3-12

July 3, 2013   Stars

Well I've managed to get through the first week and a half doing my visual diary. Already it has been really enlightening for me. I've set myself the task of no more than 30 minutes on a piece. I've been able to stay within an hour which is much better than past attempts at this!

July 4, 2013 Roald Dahl Museum

By far the most challenging aspect has been the self-imposed rule of using no photo reference for this project. The images are memories of the day, and therefore I must use only my memory as a guide. This has led to some interesting things! People only vaguely resemble who they are meant to be. This was most especially a struggle for me when I was remembering my grandmother who passed away this week. I wanted to capture her when she was younger, with long hair. I loved her hair. Even the magpies, which at the time I studied closely, were difficult to remember which parts of them were black and which were white.

I realize how far I am from being truly observant of my day.

July 5, 2013  Seagulls in Bath

July 6, 2013  Strawberry Picking

July 7, 2013  Bayswater Road Market?

July 8, 2013  Planting Lavender

July 9, 2013  A Working Printer!

July 10, 2013  Goodbye Grandma

July 11, 2013  Plum Wine

July 12, 2013  Five Magpies Sitting in a Row

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.

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!

Red Dress series write-up!

It's getting close, East Bay Open Studios starts this weekend!

At my open studios I'll be selling some of the paintings and drawings from my series titled "The Red Dress". The series was inspired by my dress hanging in my bedroom for so long up on the candelabra. I kept looking at it, thinking, it has a story hanging there. I wanted viewers to be intrigued to stop and wonder what occasion it was worn for, who the woman was who wore it and whether it was about to be worn, or had already served its purpose. The series is a group of studies, all done with the intention of exploring ways of conveying this sense of mystery.

My good friend and fashion guru, Nerissa Pacio, is a freelance fashion writer who has this great blog: Nerissa's Notebook with fashion tips and goings on in the San Francisco Bay Area. Nerissa has included a write-up about my series and the open studios in her blog. Check it out: http://nerissasnotebook.com/2010/06/02/red-dress-as-art-at-east-bay-open-studios/

I used the Red Dress project as an opportunity to explore different combinations of drawing and painting mediums, often used together as well as on their own. I played with capturing the light at various times of the day, and settled eventually into evening lighting to heighten the sense of mystery I was going for.

Nerissa asked me, "Why a red dress?" Well, the red dress is iconic. It has a totally different message than the little black dress. Unlike the black dress that every woman has in her closet, not every woman has a little red dress. A woman who wears a red dress is not afraid to be noticed, in fact, the boldness of the color speaks to the personality of the woman in it. She is confident, sexy and alluring, and knows it.

Hollywood has helped to create this image, for sure. The bombshell walking down the street that captures the eye is more often than not in red. So, I think, interest in who might be wearing the red dress is built in from societal expectations and long established fantasies created around the icon. The series just wouldn't have the same appeal if it were the blue dress or the brown dress. Also, visually, red is such a striking color that it gives more opportunity for playing around as an artist.