tiny bit of crepe myrtle

Our crepe myrtle is constantly sending up small suckers during the growing season. Bill gave me this pruned off bit, saying it wasn’t the red roses he used to bring me but it’s pretty. I placed it in a small honey jar and it continued to bloom for days.

Before the barn-house we now live in, every house we bought had red roses growing in our yard or in a neighbor’s yard spilling over our fence. But here, the climate seems a bit too hot and humid to grow roses so we planted the red crepe myrtle instead.

I drew this with a Wren pen from Tom’s Studio, filled with a deep teal ink sample that came with it — forgetting that it isn’t waterproof. So color was added with Neocolor II crayons.

domino cactus

The above sketch is how our small domino cactus looked on Saturday and the next photo shows how it looked the following day. Blooms are so exuberant but only last one day. I simplified the sketch by leaving out the small garden rocks and the shells imbedded on the pot. The last photo is of a sketch I did of the same plant earlier this year, with the beginning of a couple of blooms. Flowers repeat sporadically from spring to autumn.

prickly pear bloom

Our prickly pear cacti are slowly putting on a show this year. Most years, we might see only one or two flowers. I used watercolor, gouache, and a touch of colored pencil in this sketch, which turned out duller than planned.

bluebonnet time

On Thursday I got together with a good friend but we spent more time catching up with each other than sketching. She happens to live surrounded by the most beautiful of Texas wildflowers but I only sketched a couple of them while we chatted; the rest, I drew from photos later at home, including some fun decorative bits from her new kitchen.

The second photo shows only a small portion of their land of wildflowers.

peach blossoms

A couple of weeks ago I snapped photos of trees in our front pasture while out with our corgi, Butters. But I didn’t get around to sketching from one until today. This is the baby peach tree’s blossoms; I was too late to get shots of the apple trees.

Nameless

We receive a monthly periodical from Texas Co-op Power full of interesting photos and articles of the area’s history. November’s issue included the photo that I painted this page from; the composition really caught my eye. 

The story is about a ghost town northwest of Austin called Nameless. In 1880 the growing community applied for a federal post office under the name of Fairview but the name was rejected because it was already in use. So were the five subsequent applications. After six rejections, the frustrated townsfolk replied “Let the post office be nameless and be damned!” The “name” was accepted.

I used watercolor, gouache, and a bit of colored pencil on this. Not sure I’m quite happy with the finished piece but it’s all a learning process.

✳️ UPDATE! Further reading about Nameless shows a complication in sketching from a photo a place where I’ve never actually been (the photo showed this area in shadow). The building in the distance in the sketch is actually a dog run structure, two rooms under the same roof with a breezeway between. Built in 1876 as a homestead to one of Nameless’ founding families, it was rediscovered in 2023 when the original site was being cleared for a subdivision. It has been relocated across the street to where Nameless’ restored schoolhouse stands.

remembering violets

Bill once gave me a beautiful African violet plant which was very special to me. But when we moved from San Diego to Bremerton, then on to Portland, I had to fly (being 8 months pregnant at the time) — our things were moved up by friends. The plant probably would not have survived so I gave it to a neighbor.

This is another drawing exercise from a library book, “Pen & Ink Techniques” by Frank Lohan. I chose to add a bit of purple watercolor. Ink lines were drawn with a Kaweco Liliput fountain pen filled with Noodler’s green El Lawrence ink.

wild sunflowers

With all that’s been going on with us in the past few weeks, our bird feeders have been sadly neglected — I found this rogue sunflower growing underneath one of the feeders.

So far, I have only used Neocolor II watercolor crayons in this small nature journal I made (Ink lines are done with a Pentel Pocketbrush pen). Today, I tried regular watercolor to see how a more watery color looks on the toned paper.

recent sketches

Early one morning a couple of weeks ago, I took my corgi outside and found these gorgeous white blooms. Last year, the turban-shaped cactus only put out a few babies. I took a photo of the blooms . . . and the next day they were gone.

The tiny sketch of apple blossoms was also done from a photo; apples have since developed. This week I was trimming back the purple basil to dry some for next winter; two leaves fell off so I sketched them “live”. I didn’t get around to painting them right away . . . and our sneaky cat, Scottie Dubh, must have eaten them! So the color is from memory.

red rocket

Although our crepe myrtle tree has been blooming steadily all month, it hasn’t been as full of color as previous years. Our newly planted lantana shrubs are also suffering. This year has just been too wet! These plants thrive in hot, dry summers.

We had an old fashioned pink crepe myrtle in Kansas. But years ago while visiting Houston, I saw this deep red flowering variety planted along Eldridge Parkway — and knew I would one day plant one of my own.

(Oddly, one or two white flowers have popped up on the tree this year, hidden among the red.)

a gouache rose

Gouache looks so bright when painted on Kraft paper, though it is really too lightweight for wet media. I grabbed this small sketchbook from Traveler’s Company off the shelf just to give my new gouache palette a try. Because paint ripples the paper a bit, I plan on sketching on one side only and use the other for text. (That rippled bit on the left side is a sketch of my palette on the previous page). The paper will be great for black & white ink sketches.

Sunday was our 52nd wedding anniversary and Bill gave me a dozen of the deepest, darkest red roses! So I chose one of them for this quick sketch.

I haven’t decided whether to remove the plastic cover from the sketchbook (I know, it’s technically a notebook — but I sketch more than note-taking). It might get in the way of drawing, but it does provide handy pockets to tuck receipts, etc. into.

a bit of lantana

Today we drove to south of Tomball to buy new lantana plants, which the hummingbirds and butterflies love. Afterwards, we ate at Goodson’s Cafe — their pot roast is wonderful! (and so is the pie 😋)

On some of the walls are art items for sale. I liked how this Texas star seemed to be made of old car tags — then Bill looked at the small price tag hanging from it: “Made in China”. 😳 

Anniversary flowers

 

Bill surprised me with these gorgeous roses and lilies a couple of weeks before our actual wedding anniversary. Every house we ever owned (before the barn we live in now) has had red roses growing there — or in a neighboring yard where they spilled over our fence! Now we grow prickly pear cactus but have no roses so he bought these for me. Lovely Sweetheart of mine!

Anyway, now to the rest of the story . . . or at least the highlights. I was severely dehydrated following a dangerous bacterial infection, so we headed to the ER where my blood pressure dropped to low levels. Apparently chemo was working some against the cancer but was too aggressive for my body to handle. 

The infection is gone but I’m as weak as a kitten, unable to even walk with a walker now. So I was transferred to this rehab care home in west Houston to heal from the chemo and, relearn how to stand and walk, and regain strength.

Most of the staff is fabulously caring and I have physical therapy regularly — I have a hard time believing how easy these “simple” actions such as walking, sitting in a chair, etc. used to be! I stood on my own feet for a few minutes today in PT — a big deal for me at the moment!

After regaining strength, we will reassess with my oncology team to try some new attack against the tumor. One way or other, we will beat this thing with God’s help!

cactus bloom!

Last year we planted prickly pear cactus in front of our barn-house and the plants have thrived through the cool winter and wetter-than-average spring. Sometimes a pad would break off — Bill just popped it into the soil somewhere else and it took off growing as well!

Bill took a photo of this, our very first bloom, a couple of weeks ago just before it fully opened. Last Wednesday I drew it from the photo while I was waiting for my chemo infusion — the last straight lines I was able to draw for a while as the chemo causes my hands to shake for about a week!

a lime tree blossom

Yesterday our daughter Kristen brought me a snipped bloom from the lime tree growing in a large pot on their front porch. I was lying down resting at the moment, so I laid it on the bedside table . . . only to open my eyes a few moments later just  in time to see our silly cat, Scottie, trying to eat it! It was rescued and I sketched it today. 🐈‍⬛

one wee rose

While shopping in Tomball, I saw this tiny rose growing on a shrub near where we had parked our truck — so I pinched it to sketch later! 🤭 The actual colors were more pink but I painted it with my earthy granulating palette instead. The actual rose is smaller than the sketch, the bloom being only 3/4 of an inch.

playing with weeds

Actually, this bit of plant matter is not a weed — it’s a bit of very overgrown, out-of-control lantana that has reverted to the wild, growing on the edge of the pavement at our front door. I was sitting inside watching TV with Bill when I just began drawing whatever was in my line of vision. (I tend to listen to programs more than visually watching them as I draw or crochet or play a game on my iPad).

the last cactus bloom

This sketch is from a photo of the last bloom on our prickly pear cactus last month. Buds were a deep rose when they began before opening up to a brilliant icy yellow. Then as they began to wilt they once again showed a rosy tinge around the edges.

Never having been around these plants before, we are now wondering when (or if) we can expect the fruit to show up.

a very teeny moth

On the flagstone path near the swimming pool, I found a very tiny, very dead moth. So tiny that I almost missed seeing him altogether. I pinched a bloom off the nearby lantana to lay next to him to get some perspective on how truly small he was. The head of one lantana cluster is just over 1” across, making the moth maybe 1/2”.

I was also testing Gansai paints in my journal. I like the bright pop of warm colors against the cool grey toned paper. I may have to use Gansai more often! Because my normal selection of watercolors run to a more cool, subdued color range, maybe a warm beige toned paper would be a better choice for me in the future. Contrasts are a good thing!

The quote on the left side is from artist Favian Ee. I read it last December and it has stayed in my mind — so I looked it up and wrote it down. The main line that caught my attention is “. . . much of life can only be understood in retrospect, but it must be lived forward in faith . . .”

cactus bloom

We were wondering what color of bloom the many prickly pear cacti on the farm would flower . . . or if they would flower at all. Last autumn small buds appeared but they just dropped off.

Now they are covered with buds again, and bright lemon-yellow flowers open up, one at a time.

Though we were married in Arizona and visited the Mesa area many times in the past, I was never able to see the desert in full bloom. My mother-in-law often told me about it; I’m sorry to have missed it.