HEALING ART SKETCHBOOK-Day 4 (Back Porch Montage)

Day 4 (Back Port Montage) flowers, Solomon, coffee cup and sketching tools

I see I incorrectly numbered yesterday and Today's sketch by one day.  Guess I need to check the dates more closely.

Anyway, my daily sketching prompt today was a cup.  So I decided to not only sketch my coffee cup but thing surrounding it like my flowers, chocolate lab-Solomon, and sketching pouch with pens inside.

 

After looking at this sketch and a comment my oldest daughter made, I realized Solomon was drawn a little too chunky.  Now his sister, Sheba is really the chunkier of the two.  These are twin brother and sister labs that I rescued 4 years ago.  Solomon is like my shadow following me everywhere.

 

Until Next Time.

Blessings,



HEALING ART SKETCHBOOK -DAY 3 (Knitting basket)

DAY 3: Knitting Basket

Today, I decided to sketch my knitting basket that holds a knitting project I began a few weeks ago. Last summer I bought a few skeins of yarn while I was in Paris as an Art student on a Study Abroad trip.  I didn't buy much because I was so limited in what I could carry on our daily site-seeing excursions.

Only having two skeins made it difficult when it came time to decide what to knit.  Then one day about 3 weeks ago I found this pattern created by a woman on vacation in Paris who was there around the same time and used her Paris find to created this little off the shoulder wrap.

The sketching marker that was supposed to be black, but it came out more brownish. Strange how certain pens react on paper.

 

 

 

Until Next Time.



HEALING ART SKETCHBOOK-Day 2 (Lamps)

Today's sketching prompt taken from Danny Gregory's Every Day Matters.

DAY 2: Lamps

I decided to use three lamps I use in my den area and draw them from different perspectives: looking up, looking down and more eye level.  Also, using a brush tip marker, ball point pen and some colored pencil.  The brush tip markers seem awkward to me so need the practice.

As I was drawing the song lyrics from "Let It Shine," kept popping into my head, "This little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine."

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The little blue country Victorian house accent lamp has been a favorite of mine since I spied it in 1990 at a quaint shop in Old Town Spring, Texas.

 

Until Next Time.

Blessings,

 



 



 

 

 

 

 



The Art of FLOWER POUNDING

As an art student I am always looking for new ways to incorporate a skill or craft to make a mixed media piece.  So this week, Helen Belcher-Education Curator, at the Sam Houston Museum and Learning Center, was gracious enough to teach me all about Plant Pounding.

Helen had shown me some of the pieces she had finished using some of the botanical plant matter off of the Museum grounds and they were wonderful.  I was intrigued by the thought of being able to capture the essence of these plants by pounding the dye out of their petals and leaves.

Helen's 1st assignment,
go collect fresh plant leaves and flowers

 

Now it was time to Pound.

 

Separating the petals and leaves came next.
2" masking tape was added to cover those pieces.

 

The really fun part, Pounding away.
A great way to relieve frustration and
Make some beautiful art.

 

Helen suggested using a clear sheet protector
 to stick the plants onto after they were pounded.
A great reference guide for drawing later.

 

Here it is, our test sample on Muslin.
I love how it looks.



A helpful book about this process.


For more detailed information, here is a wonderful PDF you can download and use as a tutorial.    How to Flower Pound PDF

UR-TURN:  Do you have any favorite ways to preserve or use botanicals for art?  If so, please share.

Until Next Time.

(Crochet) How To - Crochet Tunisian Simple Stitch and Knit Stitch

I walked into my Botany Lecture class and the Math class that meets before us was just finishing.  To my surprise the Teaching Assistant, Justin, was gathering up his personal items, with one of those items catching my attention. 

Personally I do not know very many men that crochet, and boy he could crochet.  He was working on a beautiful baby blanket and those stitches were so uniform and wonderfully done.

As a result, we struck up a nice conversation about knitting vs. crochet.  Personally I have always been drawn more to knitting, I like the way the stitches look.  To me many crochet patterns look too kitschy.

That is why his stitching caught my eye, this particular crochet stitch not only looks like a knitted stitch, it is made in very similar way to a knitted one. 

As soon as I got home, I looked up a instructional video and found this one from the UK.  With a new grandbaby on the way, due in March, I will have to definitely have to get busy and try my hand at learning this crochet stitch.

To help you get started here is a link for:
Tutorials/Tunisian-Stitch-Crochet-Afghan-Patterns

Here is a link to Amazon to buy a set, they are under $6.
Multicolour-Aluminum-TUNISIAN-Crochet-Needles Set

Enjoy.

UR-TURN:  Do you know of any other crochet stitches that look like they are knitted?  If so, please share.  Would love to know about them.

Until Next Time.

Someone Else's Shoes

A few days ago my husband and I made a trip to visit his mother.  While he was attending to her lawn, I decided to peruse the house for something to sketch.

At first I couldn't find anything that caught my eye, so I decided to work on a doodle.  A little later while waiting for my husband to shower and get ready to go out for lunch, I spied it.  There right under my nose, inspiration.   My mother-in-law's shoes.

I began to sketch the pair of Dr. Scholl's with my Sharpie pen,  and started to wonder, what would her shoes tell me about her life if they could talk?

My mother-in-law, intrigued with the fact her shoes were art worthy, started to tell me some of the places her shoes had taken her in 82 years.  Her tales made me realize, until we take time to ask and listen gaining a fresh perspective about a person, we cannot begin to really understand them.

HELPFUL HINTS:  Try to get into the habit of sketching anywhere and anytime.  As my mother-in-law, a non-artist, asked, are you going to draw everything? Yep I hope too, even with my busy schedule.  Well not everything, but I need to carry my sketchbook (shown here) because I realize even mundane everyday things can be interesting to draw.  In fact, I hope to turn this sketch idea into a painting series one day.

UR-TURN:  The last time you sketched something everyday or common, what was it?  And why did it catch your eye? Share the story behind your inspiration.

Until next time.

Many Blessings,

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged."   Matthew 7:1-3

"Matters of the Heart" Art Exhibit

This is an exciting day for my first on campus art exhibit made the school website cover page.  To see the school information click this link.

Today @ Sam - Sam Houston State University


It was quite a lot of work setting up our exhibit this last Monday, Aug 20th.  Much more planning was involved than we first realized.  So thankful for  our WASH studio classes last Spring.  Knowing what height to hang each piece, bow to tag them and discussing with the public what our artwork represents and how we creatively made each piece was all part of the invaluable lessons learned.

Be sure to check back to see photos of the big event.

HELPFUL TIP: Creating new art and setting up your own art exhibit is hard work and you want others to see what you have been up to as an artist.  One website that I just love with a wealth of information is EMPTYEASEL.COM.  It covers so many aspects of being an artist and especially how to become a successful one.

Until next time.
Blessings,
Laurie