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A small chuckle for you today!  “When Bananas Go Bad” color (Click for clearer view) I have to blame my Fiance for this silly thought, as we joked around about bananas going bad; then I jump right in and make it real by creating the characters! I scanned it right from my sketchbook and didn’t clean it up as I did below in the black and white.  “When Bananas Go Bad” I think I prefer the black and white at this point, I think my colors got too muddy in the color. What do you think?  Watercolor study of a white Aster in October. Do you remember when I took that walk in November, hunting for acorn caps? Well I wrote about a little White Aster I came across, alone in the field. Here is what I wrote in that post: “And one little Aster in the middle of the ‘Maze’, an overgrown field with paths I cut years ago. The white Aster looked up at me with it’s tiny little face, and asked if winter was coming soon? I told it to prepare and go to sleep before the snow falls. It was sad but missed it’s friends, as they had all gone, so it nodded it’s head and drooped a little in it’s tiny stem.”  “Sad Aster go to sleep, before the snow falls cold and deep.” At the time I saw it, I just saw a white Aster and thought about it alone there, but I didn’t give it feelings and talk to it. That was my creative mind putting my feelings onto a tiny flower and as soon as I wrote that paragraph a new character was born! Yes, as soon as I wrote that post I wrote a poem called “Sad Aster” and then I did some sketches.  “Your friends are gone, the field is empty, I’m quite pleased with the little poem and now will work on illustrating it, creating more of a character.  “..before the snow falls cold and deep.” I just thought it’d be interesting to share with you how one walk in nature, when combined with my emotions and thoughts, will sometimes evolve (in my mind) into something other people can relate to.  “Little Aster cold and white, I wish I could share the whole poem but I guess I should wait until it can be published properly.  Worried little Aster While I’m warm in my house, I hope she’s sleeping soundly out there under the foot of snow we got this weekend! 😉 Well for now I have to put “Sad Aster” aside while I catch up on some mice illustrations I started, it never ends….so much to do! I’ve also created some small needle felted animals in wool with wire armatures so they are pose-able, and continue to do small experiments with wet felting. One of these days I’ll open an Etsy shop so I can sell them, but for now I must concentrate on my illustrations! PS. Don’t worry, it’s a happy ending for Sad Aster! 😉
(I wrote this in November. Sorry it’s a bit late, but I thought you’d still enjoy the pictures of my walk!) A hunting we will go, a hunting we will go…high ho the dairy oh….a hunting we will go! When you need something for a project and you can’t buy it at the local store, it’s great to know you have it right in your own backyard! I want to make some felted acorns, have you seen any of these? Oh they are so cool; I love the texture and colors of the wool and the real acorn cap is just perfect. On my property there is a place I call “Oak Lane” because all along it there are huge, ancient oak trees growing and I watch over them the best I can. Well I set out for a short walk, only taking my camera and a plastic bag and glad that I put on my Wellies or barn boots because ‘AY CARUMBA’ it was wet!  Just what I was looking for, Bracket Fungus and Moss! I also had it in mind to collect reference pictures for my illustration projects. I found some excellent bracket fungus and moss for “Miss Mouse’s House”. I made up a sketch (in the new, big studio sketch book!) of her house and I can’t believe when I was walking, I found JUST the thing! I hope to share Miss Mouse with you when I get more sketches done. What was supposed to be a short walk turned (as usual) into a long ramble, taking pictures every few steps. Seriously, every few steps…”oh look at that color!” “Oh…look how the trees reflect in the water”….glad no one came with me, I was able to wander slowly, drinking it all in and taking lots of pictures for future reference. When you walk slow and pause often, you also can take notice of so many things around you.  Reflections in the water, along Pasture Lane as I walked. When I made it to Oak Lane, I picked up a small stick with a forked tip and used it for shuffling the wet leaves away. We’re not talking about oak trees in a yard with neatly trimmed grass! No…it was wild and absolutely covered with leaves, and how beautiful. But any caps I did find were mostly covered with mud, so into the bag they went to be studied later.  Interesting and delicate pod or gall I found under the leaves. Another neat thing I found, this thing that looks like some kind of a gall? It was on the ground under the leaves and I’m guessing it was on the tree or a small plant before because it had a stem. There’s a hole so whatever grew up inside it came out. It is paper thin and very interesting, so I put it in my bag, hoping it wouldn’t get squished. (see note at end of post)  Can you see anything in all these leaves? The best find of all was when I noticed something move in the leaves, a tiny, tiny movement but I saw it. Then I just stopped and watched, and waited…then saw it again and really had to watch it not to loose it in the leaves again, a tiny Wood Frog!  A beautiful and tiny Wood Frog! Not very big and exciting you say? NO it IS! How many years have I walked on my land and do you think I see them all the time? NO, I hear them but don’t see them. So I snapped as many photos of this frog, that seriously was only as big as my thumbnail, as I could. Then when I was satisfied I had gotten enough, I used my stick to carefully move a blade of grass that was blocking my view of him.  Nice side view showing his mask. It’s totally ok that it made him hop onto new leaves, I got even better pictures of him! You have to be patient and yes, it gave me a very stiff neck, all that looking down and crouching.  Here’s a top view of him, you can see the patterns on his back that help him blend in. I think because it was so cold he was moving slower than normal, a great time to get photos of frogs. Then I heard another Wood Frog across the lane calling and I thought, maybe that’s his mate or in ‘children’s book land’ his friend? It’s wandering through the woods alone when you can let your imagination have play too, and it’s good for you!  This was an unusual fungus I saw more than once, it looked liked someone squished raisins on the branch! On the way back then it started to rain, then it hailed on my head! It was ok, the clouds were magnificent and the the cold breezes blowing, making my cheeks glow, it was wonderful to be there at that moment and really take it in.  Such beauty in a much overlooked wildflower, Chicory. I found two Chicory plants with beautiful blue blossoms on them still, hanging on to any sun they can get now. And one little Aster in the middle of the ‘Maze’, an overgrown field with paths I cut years ago. The white Aster looked up at me with it’s tiny little face, and asked if winter was coming soon? I told it to prepare and go to sleep before the snow falls. It was sad but missed it’s friends, as they had all gone, so it nodded it’s head and drooped a little in it’s tiny stem. Though I see interesting and beautiful things, walking alone on my land, I’m sometimes like the little Aster. It focuses my thoughts as I walk in quiet and when I see the beauty I want to turn to my sweetheart to share it with him, and he’s not there. And the discoveries I make I want to share with my Dad…and then I miss him again and again, not being able to talk to him. I’m sure many of you know what I mean, but instead of focusing on who isn’t there, I try to share my experiences with those I can.  The wild rose hips and their leaves were just beautiful, magical colors! I can show Gary pictures and talk to him on Skype until we can walk together. And my dad, I thank him for encouraging my love of nature and my creative endeavors as I quietly promise to follow through on my children’s stories. And to all of you, so glad you stop by to read my ramblings and see what I’m up to! Have you gotten outside to take a slow walk lately? Noticing the change of seasons?  Maple leaf I made by wet felting wool. I made this leaf out of wool by wet felting it, isn’t it cool? I can keep it forever and it won’t lose it’s color. Here’s a picture with two leaves I made.  Two Maple leaves I made into felt from wool. Now here are those felted acorns I made! Aren’t they cool?  Colorful wool needle felted acorns, caps from two different oak trees. I have since added pretty beads to the strings and made them into ornaments. * My online friend Ed has kindly sent me a link to a page about the mysterious empty gall I found. It’s from an Oak Apple Gall Wasp, please read about it here, it’s fascinating! And here’s a page all about galls and the ‘critters’ that form them. Thanks Ed!  “You’ve got garlic breath!” Just a little silliness! When I was cooking dinner yesterday this funny thought came to me, so I sketched it down.  Thumbnail sketches for “Garlic Breath”. These are some thumbnail sketches I did first; I could have made the ‘receiving’ clove of garlic do other body poses. Just my odd sense of humor, well it made me chuckle at least!  Pen and Ink studies of garlic. And to top it off, studies of real garlic cloves. It was fun to end my silly cartooning with a real study, good practice. Hope I made you smile today! 🙂
My New Sketchbook! (please click pictures for clearer view)  I had fun decorating the cover of my new sketchbook! Sometimes you just need a new sketchbook. A fresh start along a new path. Something that allows you to jot down all your creative ideas, no matter how small. I’ve put so much of my art career on hold this past year because of preparing to move to England. Lately (as you may know) I’ve been exploring the art of felt making and silk painting and that ties in here too! I wanted a sketchbook that I could draw ideas in and tape things in like a scrap book. So I created this big sketchbook that is meant to stay in the studio, not venture outside for hikes.  I surrounded myself with color pencils and just had fun! A sketchbook to an artist is like a living thing; we tell it our inner thoughts and ideas, inspirations, by drawing, writing and painting in it. It becomes the very closest, best friend you’ve ever had! Sometimes we share what’s on the pages freely, enjoying the reaction and feedback from those we share it with. But it’s also nice to have a sketchbook that is just for you, that you decide how much of it you’ll share. Most of my sketchbooks the past few years, have been very public; nature sketches done while walking here in New York or in England. I LOVE sharing them! When I was in England it was enjoyable to let interested strangers look through my pages, finding out what they liked best, hearing their comments about places I painted that they recognized. But my new sketchbook I’m ‘allowing’ myself to share only what I want, PHEW! It’s funny the feeling of freedom you get just making that decision as a teacher and one who loves sharing their work.  The first page in my sketchbook, totally geared towards felting and silk painting. This is the first page in my sketchbook; you can see it’s all geared towards felting and silk painting. Instead of worrying about this new love distracting me from my illustration and painting, I embraced it because I saw it as good practice while my mind is occupied with other things. I taped some watercolor studies in later used the space around for more notes and ideas.  Working on the letter “S”. I drew the letters free-form on the cover (which by the way is a piece of colored mat board), later realizing that I should have made them fatter. So I added onto them and it still worked alright. I had fun making the letters look like shiny ribbons. Ok, what I love about my new sketchbook is the size! I used full sheets of 9 x 12″ papers from various sketchpads. I put bristol board, watercolor papers, card stock and plain drawing paper for an assortment and labeled each in tiny letters along the edge. This way I can continue to test and evaluate what paper I like best. I’m used to working in sketchbooks half this size for drawing and painting in the field.  My sketch in progress, for a new poem, “Red Dragonflies”. The very best thing I’ve found use for on these big pages, is that I can jot down a new poem and then right next to it do sketches of my ideas for illustrating it! I was in the garden in September and enjoyed watching two red dragonflies, landing on the leaves, sunning, glittering. When I went in the house I started writing a poem about them and did four stanzas. The next day I added two more and then at the end of the month I tied it up with two more! But the best thing is I sketched an idea of an illustration right next to it, while looking at photos I took of the dragonflies. As I have time I’m adding a bit of watercolor and working on the little sketch. I also put notes around sketches for ideas of what to put in the painting, like colors and subjects, as below.  An idea I had for a funny illustration, while walking around my backyard. One day while walking around my yard I noticed the little paths that go into the tall grasses along the edges of my yard. I always look at these and imagine the critters who walk on them and think they’re great subjects for my stories. Well there’s a stray black cat that hangs around my yard sometimes and after seeing the paths and thinking of the cat, I drew this funny little sketch! The cat is waiting in the shadows…but he doesn’t look mean, is he going to eat them? Or is he a friend? The one mouse beckons to the other, “C’mon”….as you wonder what will happen. The little wren at the top looks on. So there is the evolution of my new sketchbook! Lots going into it and I’ll try to post more soon! Please leave comments below, I love reading them and responding!  Sketch for a little girl mouse. I thought I’d post a few pictures that have to do with my little creative sidetrack, felting! I found a little local shop that teaches all different techniques in many crafts, but one I’ve always wanted to learn is felt making. I love wool, I love the color and texture of handmade wool felt, I love sculpture, I love sewing. I think all these things are going to come together as I learn, and I can see where it takes me. I’m not leaving my painting behind but this has been a HUGE creative boost lately, when I’m stressed about moving.  Merino + Romney/Corriedale mix wools This is my first stash of wool roving. Look at the colors! The Merino wool on the left is so soft, I love putting my hands in there to pick up the balls.  Needle Felting This piece (above) is first starting with a wet felted rectangle that I made, while trying to imitate the colors in my painting “Moonlight Sentinels”. What I love about the wet felting is you can’t control how it’s going to come out too much, well I can’t too much as a beginner! But I didn’t do too bad hitting the colors and subtle changes in my background. Next is “needle felting” the tree and crows on using blacks etc. and adding the moon and stars. I did this much in one sitting but haven’t been back to finish it!  Binder with felt square experiments. I don’t feel I have time to dive into big projects right now, so as a beginner felter I’m creating lots of these little squares of felt and keeping notes. It’s a great way to be creative and experimental without wasting materials. I staple or pin them onto stiff card stock and put the notes underneath.  Wet Felting Experiment This is one of my first squares where I ran out to the garden, grabbed the well worn piece of cheesecloth off my broccoli plant and brought it inside. I shook it off, cut some small squares and then put wool roving on front and back. I added some non-wool yarns to experiment with how they would felt and I love the results! This is technically “nuno” felting, sandwiching a fabric between the layers of wool roving or attaching the wool to fabric by felting. You can see the white edges of the cheesecloth showing in my squares above.  My sister and I spread the fleece out on a tarp, it was huge! Then I went to a “Fiber Group” meeting in East Aurora NY, what a great bunch of ladies I met! All of them loved sewing, knitting, felting, dyeing etc…just anything to do with fiber. They were forewarned that I was coming as a new ‘felter’ and would they please bring some examples of what they did. How kind! They did, and one woman had a huge black garbage bag that contained one very dirty, raw Cotswold fleece. She said she had another (very smelly) fleece at home and her husband really wanted her to do something with it, so she gave it to me for free! There it is above, my sister Betty helped me spread it out so we could decide what the heck to do with it.  Washing a raw Cotswold fleece, it was filthy! So I get to learn about cleaning fleece now, see above picture. We looked up some info online and I tried cleaning one chunk of fleece. Wow how dirty it was! The next time I washed some of the fleece I did it outside, then I could just dump the water out. But I learned doing too much in the container at once isn’t good, it didn’t wash as well.  Cotswold fleece- top- unbrushed, middle- brushed lock, bottom felted square. Above you can see some of the Cotswold fiber…and the square I made using just Cotswold. It is soooo cool! It has a look of lace but I think it would be too scratchy to wear next to the skin, like for a scarf. Anyone have experience with this wool?  Square #10 – Cotswold + Romney Corriedale wools. In the square above I put Cotswold fiber on the outside layers, with Romney Corriedale mixed wool in the middle. I tried laying locks on to see if they would stay; pretty cool huh?  I just LOVE this edge! I love this, the waviness of the Cotswold fleece just had to pop at the edge. Some of these loops popped up in the felt fabric too. (see below) I would love a scarf looking like this, but just not sure how it would feel yet. (scratchy? itchy?)  Test #11- Cotswold + Romney Corriedale + Merino, love the waviness. The picture above shows the whole piece, showing the side I put the Romney Corriedale mix on. You can see it’s a very hairy piece of wool! I love it!  My first Nuno scarf! This shows how long it is. This week I thought I was going to have a stressful melt down on Tuesday, I just felt so uptight and unsettled. I arranged to go to Creative Essence the next day for a Nuno felting lesson and already ‘felt’ better. This is my first nuno felted scarf, it used silk chiffon as a base and you felt the wool to it. The chiffon was painted a light blue color first. You can’t see how light and airy the scarf is here, but it is!  This shows the pointy ends and how the length is perfect for one wrap around. I tried to show the neat pointy ends, which I later trimmed a bit to round them off. There is also sparkles of Angelina fibers in the wool that I don’t think you can see. Not a great photo, I’ll have to get a better one to show off the great colors! So there is some of the fiber fun I’ve been having lately; a little at a time. The great thing about all this is I needed a sketchbook to start putting ideas in and my new “Studio Sketch Book” has been born! I’m very excited about it because it’s given me some more freedom to be creative with my MANY ideas and projects! I’ll post about that next time! If any of my readers out there are into fiber art then please leave a comment about what you do! So, I know….maybe you’re wondering to yourself, where did that artist Mary go? Has she been painting up a storm or out walking so much and sketching nature that she’s no time to write on her blog? Did she move and not tell us? Well…no. Neither are true, not yet at least! Just a quick hello to those who do follow my blog and like to see what I’m up to. I don’t usually post too much personal stuff here, I figure people come here to read about nature and drawing etc. but what I’m working on definitely will be interesting, once I get there! I’m working on getting my house ready to sell, and going through about 30 years of memories as I sell stuff, pack and donate things.  Where I first started stuffing bins as I packed, a walk in closet. This is a picture of where I first started stuffing bins, a big walk in closet. And below is a picture of my gallery, full of packed boxes…it’s even fuller now!  Boxes of packed paintings and art supplies You can see all the paintings on the left waiting to be packed, now they’re done!  My “to do” board. This is my “to do” board, an idea my friend Judy gave me. We’re both visual people and when you’re getting sick of lists of chores to do this makes it more interesting. I wrote things I needed to do on 1/2 pieces of post it notes, then thumb-tacked them to the board-most important things at the top. I let some things just sort of float in areas and liked feeling in control of it. As I complete one I put a big yellow X through it with the highlighter and move it to the bottom. Yeah, I could’ve thrown it out, but the visual person in me wanted to see them stacking up and completed at the bottom. It reminds you that you accomplished something! I think this would be great for kids! Next I will be applying for a Fiance Visa so I can then move to England to be with my sweetheart whom I haven’t seen in a year and eight months! It’s AWFUL!  Gesso Heart But once I finally get there it’ll be lots of nature walks, nature sketches and paintings as I did when I traveled there before. And I can finally settle down to working on my children’s books and go on wonderful walks with Gary, just live a normal life! Yay! Our time together has been limited by government rules and regulations, coming and going to other countries is pretty strict! It’s a long story but I’m keeping the faith that somehow it’ll come out a happy ending for us and this girl will be in England soon! We have a vicar who’ll marry us in just the place we want, that’s a positive! I’m designing and sewing my wedding dress, but need to finish that too! I really want to share a picture of it so far but I can’t! Gary might see it here and that would spoil the surprise after all. 😉 Yikes….so much to do besides ripping out shelves, whacking weeds, scrubbing everything, hiring painters, roofers, handymen…sigh, oh it does get overwhelming! But I’ve still kept up my writing of children’s poems as the creative streaks hit me. I wrote a really good little poem that immediately became a song called “The Three Spotted Bananas”; anyone I sing it to smiles and now I’m trying to find time to sketch bananas! Caught up in the middle of all this moving business, to not create art is a depressing thing. But I found a little shop right here in my town called Creative Essence, where you can take short classes to learn how to make high end crafts. It’s jammed full of wonderful, colorful, fun, handmade crafts for sale, all created by artisans or the owners. For those who know me, I’m a sewing fanatic besides paintress and one thing I’ve always wanted to learn was felt-making! I ADORE wool, I love buying it, touching it, wearing it…and the idea of creating something colorful and three dimensional with it always fascinated me. So I took a few classes and it was the perfect creative splash I needed! My first needle felt project (unfinished), using my painting “Moonlight Sentinels”. I also took one class on silk painting, another thing I want to explore.  My first silk painted scarf, I call it “The Wind in the Willows”, because it reminds me of a sketch I did while hiking once. I have decided to share my felt and silk journey here on my blog and create a spot for it in my Gallery. I figure, my life is filled with a love of all these things, and this will be my place to share it with you. Anything I make always is inspired by nature and color so it will be interesting. It will include my move to England and the adventure will continue there! Once I get a few things made (could take awhile!) I’ll put them in my long empty ‘Etsy’ shop. So please stick with me on my blog and check back when you can, I will share some of my experiences here and tag it under “Moving to England” or “Felting” or “Silk Painting”…. What a process! But life must move on, and so must I. I’m so unbelievably happy when with Gary, so that’s where I must be.  Springtime Daffodils With Spring making it’s appearance I thought it a good time to remember the beautiful poem by William Wordsworth, one of England’s most famous and loved poets. He wrote this poem inspired by a walk on April 15 by Lake Ullswater, in the Lake District, the shores of which even today are full of Daffodils “fluttering and dancing”. His sister Dorothy accompanied him, which I imagine happened a lot as they lived together, even after he married Mary Hutchinson. His sister seems to have had a talent too, as she wrote in her “Grasmere Journal” there by the lake on April 15, 1802, “the rest tossed and reeled and danced and seemed as if they verily laughed with the wind that blew upon them over the lake”. I copied the entire text from Wikipedia of what she wrote and include it below, after her brother’s poem. I include it because I think it’s so beautiful and insightful and we know it inspired her brother a full two years later in 1804, to write his famous poem. Now I love hearing about someone using their journal like that, just as I would have done! And though they experienced this beautiful scene 211 years ago, we can still relate to it today, which is what makes it timeless. “The Daffodils” or “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” by William Wordsworth I wander’d lonely as a cloud Continuous as the stars that shine The waves beside them danced; but they For oft, when on my couch I lie To read more about William Wordsworth visit this page we created about him on the “Old School Tours” website. Below click on the beautiful painting of Lake Ullswater by J. M. W. Turner to see it enlarged.  J. M. W. Turner – Ullswater from Gobarrow Park It’s just ‘that beautiful’, but I especially like the dreamy way Turner captures the landscape.  “Fluttering and dancing in the breeze” And here’s the copied text of what his sister Dorothy wrote: “When we were in the woods beyond Gowbarrow park we saw a few daffodils close to the water side, we fancied that the lake had floated the seed ashore & that the little colony had so sprung up — But as we went along there were more & yet more & at last under the boughs of the trees, we saw that there was a long belt of them along the shore, about the breadth of a country turnpike road. I never saw daffodils so beautiful they grew among the mossy stones about & about them, some rested their heads upon these stones as on a pillow for weariness & the rest tossed and reeled and danced & seemed as if they verily laughed with the wind that blew upon them over the Lake, they looked so gay ever dancing ever changing. This wind blew directly over the lake to them. There was here & there a little knot & a few stragglers a few yards higher up but they were so few as not to disturb the simplicity & unity & life of that one busy highway — We rested again & again. The Bays were stormy & we heard the waves at different distances & in the middle of the water like the Sea.” —Dorothy Wordsworth, The Grasmere Journal Thursday, 15 April 1802 Now isn’t that beautiful? It sets the scene in a real way for the famous poem her brother was inspired to write. And we know the date he was inspired, even though he wrote the poem two years later, because Dorothy had entered it in her journal on April 15, 1802! Sometimes I look back at my journals and read the dates, comparing how the weather is ‘this’ year as to then. I noticed that last year on Easter Sunday I was out sketching frog eggs and thinking of renewel of the earth. This year the frogs are calling like mad but no eggs yet! Today I’m headed out for an ‘explore’, we’ll see if we can find some. The point is, even if you just jot down some notes about the weather, how your plants are growing, or the birds you see, you can look back and remember. You’ll be surprised at how fresh it will stay in your mind especially if you draw or paint things, because you take time to really study and absorb the scene. Enjoy today folks, happy spring!  “A jocund company” All photographs (c) Mary McAndrew ps. Sorry I don’t have drawings of my daffodils, but I have been doing sketches of fuzzy buds and will post those next! It’s been weeks since I’ve been out in the field sketching, and now that I’ve been out I feel renewed! I guess that’s how we should feel in Spring. I put on my Wellies or “Mud Boots” grabbed my sketch kit and camera and set out. Come with me and I’ll show you my walk with sketches and photos! (Please click on pictures to view clearer.)  Dried grasses in “Pasture Lane” on the way to the pond. The first lane I walk in follows the pasture so it’s always been called “Pasture Lane”. No animals in the pasture now but still lots of wild things to look at. This lane has lots of nice dried rushes and sedges in it; I love this color, especially with the blue sky. It won’t be long I’ll be spotting all kinds of Nursery Web Spiders and underwater little nymphs and creatures.  Natural arch of branches on Long Lane This is on “Long Lane”, looking towards “Aspen Hall” and it’s a natural archway of branches that’s been forming the past few years. I keep breaking branches when I go under it to keep it a bit under control! I’ve done sketches and paintings of it before, and not too long ago photographed it covered with snow! But as I was standing here I decided to go up “Memory Lane” to my left. This leads me to “Oak Lane”, one of my favorites, where I thought I’d check things out.  Woodpecker hole in dead tree by “Memory Lane”. Just at this intersection the woods are quite wet and I always see dead trees with lots of woodpecker holes. This one looks like it’s been freshly pecked at.  One of the ancient oaks in “Oak Lane”, standing tall and strong. I ended up in “Oak Lane” my favorite place on my property where the oaks are huge and tall, standing for many many generations. I made a little place to sit right up next to the tree at it’s base, by spreading my trusty garbage bag out, first checking for pokey sticks and bits. There I sat, ate a snack and enjoyed the peace, then did a small sketch of the grapevines growing about me. Hmm…funny but that seems sort of rhymy to me…lets see: “Here I Sit” Before I sat down Upon leafy ground I gave the spot a good scour Where I’d while away the hour. There were pokey sticks And hard little bits I had to clear before I sat, So I could sit and have my snack. Well, now here I sit With favorite sketchkit Having a think and a good look, At what will go in my sketchbook. by Mary McAndrewWell that was fun! I just made that up!  Here’s the start of my “Grapevine” sketch I put my sketchbook on my knees and decided to draw the big grapevine branch hanging near me…that’s it by my leg.  My watercolor palette, I just love the colors! There’s a close up of my watercolor palette I take when I go afield, it’s getting pretty stained now and I’ll have to look for a new one. Some of my colors I have in temporary little plastic containers, just to see if I want to add them to the kit.  Using a waterbrush to paint. This is one of my waterbrushes, it’s actually not one of the more expensive ones but it worked great for me today. It has good juicy water-flow and the tip stayed sharp for details. I also wrote words about the grapevine on the page that I’ll type out below: “The grapevine grows greatly reaching upwards with twisted limb. It’s rough bark twisting tightly tense along it’s sinuous length. Great muscle of wooden rope reaching right up to entangle and strangle it’s host. And gentle innocent long trailing tendrils Hang down from above, stirring in the breeze to tease.” by Mary McAndrewAs I wrote the words I let my mind think poetically and freely. I knew later I’d like to write a poem from some of the words I found because I liked the way they sounded together. Here’s the finished sketch below and then the new poem follows:  Grapevine sketch and words done in the field. Here’s my little poem I wrote just now while looking back at the words: “The Grapevine” Grapevine growing greatly Reaching upwards with twisted limb, Rough bark twisting tightly Tense, sinuous and slim. Great muscle of wooden rope Reaching right up to entangle, Clinging to unwilling host As you wind about to strangle. Gentle, innocent tendrils trail Stirring in the breeze. Stronger than you look so frail, Climbing any tree you please. by Mary McAndrew Watercolor started in the field of purpley red bushes. The watercolor above I did half in the field and half at home. On my way back I stood in an field we call “The Maze”, because of all the intertwined paths in it, all cut by me years ago using a tractor and brush hog. It was very difficult to paint the stems while standing there in front of them, tired, cold…but I loved the colors so much and wanted to try and ‘study’ it. When I got back I looked at photos I took using my computer, and did more detail and study. I found myself using Dioxizine Violet mixed with Alizarin Crimson for most of the purpley colors; mixing it with Sepia made a nice shadow color. I had to use a bit of Cadmium Red to brighten up the color here and there. You can see my color notes on the left side there. By the way, I can’t really recall what the name of the bushes are, I think “Red Pannacled…something or other! Sorry, I packed all my field guides up, I’ll see if I can look for them.  The old stick bridge at “Aspen Hall” This is the old stick bridge in “Aspen Hall”, I add to it every spring and summer, tossing on dead branches to go over the ditch. “Aspen Hall” is located along “Long Lane”, so I’ve done a circle and am coming back towards home now.  A very old car frame. This is a very old car frame just sitting by the pasture, it’s been there ages! I think the former owner of the farm told me it was Model T or Model A …wooden spokes! How cool! I’ll leave you with one more picture from my spring walk…  Ahhh…this is the life! I didn’t want you to miss my favorite picture! I love taking pictures of my boots when I go hiking, wherever I am. In my shop I have pictures of my boots in England too! Go here to my shop then scroll down left side column and click “Hiking – Walking + Boots” Hope you enjoyed our ramble! Click on the pictures below to see my photos as note cards, it has a nice ZOOM feature that’s lets you look closely.  “Great Old Oak Tree” glossy note cards
 “The Old Stick Bridge” glossy note cards
 “Old Wheel” glossy note cards
(please click pictures to see larger)  Oak leaves and tracks in the snow, January 9, 2013 The sketches above are from my walk on January 9, 2013. I didn’t need to wear my snowshoes this time and I walked further than before, making it to “Oak Lane” today. It was there in my favorite lane, that I leaned against a tree to sketch the oak leaves on the ground. I also saw interesting little tracks that I can only guess are squirrel? I have grey and red squirrels here, these look a little big for red squirrel but I’m just guessing. The top track is life size at 1″ x 1″.  The Octagon House in Akron, NY I went to Akron NY this weekend to go sketching a bit with my friend Nancy. I want to practice drawing buildings and houses more and Akron has some interesting old ones. This Octagon House was built in the 1840’s by Charles B. Rich for his fourth wife. It’s a museum too and someday I want to go through to see all the Victorian era furniture and decorations. It was a challenge to sketch standing there on the sidewalk opposite, leaning against a stop sign! I sketched it in pencil then put a little watercolor on; at home I used my ink pen to draw over and then painted from the picture I took. It was such a grey dull day but can’t complain about how warm it was.  A building on Main Street in Akron, NY. This is a business on Main St. in Akron I started to sketch from a cold bench across the street. I’ll try to work on it this week to finish it up. I guess it looks like many old businesses do on any Main St. in America. It was popular to have a facade that is really taller than the building itself, kind of like an old western town movie set! I also worked on a little watercolor landscape study from a photograph I took while in Northumberland, England, but want to put a few finishing touches on it. |
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