Grandma's china . . . sketched for Liz

Grandma didn't have many nice things as she raised her family, took care of her aging mother-in-law, then took on my mom, brother, and me after my parents' divorce.

Later in life, Grandpa bought her this set of china. I've had it for several years and never used it --- I prefer Fiestaware. But our 2nd granddaughter LOVES frilly, dainty, girly stuff --- I'm sending the set to Texas for her to save for when she grows up.

Being a REAL tea cup and saucer, not the mugs I usually drink tea from, I decided to draw this one in the same fashion that Liz / Borromini Bear has been doing lately -- I used a water-soluble pencil for light guidelines and then straight watercolor.

New art journal

A bit slow at getting started though . . . . I've had a bit of "artist's block" lately. Started several sketches but didn't finish them right away. I've spent more time reading or looking out at the snow. We received 21" in the last week!

Anyway, this is the inside cover of the journal I just began, with my favorite palettes and brushes.

last journal pages

Lots of people know I begin each of my artist's journals with some kind of illustration of my palette. Lately, I have used the last page as a place to collect memorable quotes or thoughts. These are usually gathered over a period of time, so they are generally scattered in a hap-hazard fashion.

Lo's cane

One of our church members, Lo (short for Lola), walks with a cane -- she has circulation problems in her legs and feet due to diabetes. As it was leaning against a wall at church, I thought how lovely the wood grain is! Looks sort of like sycamore but we aren't sure -- Bill thinks it may have been made from a root rather than a branch.

gotta love a good plaid

I did NOT need another bag and had not planned on buying one . . . but I have such a love for plaid! This flannel and leather bag, as well as the plaid cap (in muted grays and purples), were found on clearance sale last week.

I was experimenting with ways to illustrate plaid in this journal spread. The bag's colors are muted, so I tried simple layering of colors. The pale yellowish lines in the sett were drawn first with a colored pencil, which I though would act as a resist -- it did not work so I redrew the lines on top.

Then with the cap, I wondered if I could capture the feel of plaid using just ink lines.