taking a break from sewing . . .

I've been spending my free time laying out, cutting, and basting together a vintage-style teddy bear -- not much sketching going on. But today I gave my hand muscles a break long enough to do a quick sketch. This pile of bits will be a small bear styled like early Steiff bears.

In the teddy bear craze of the 1980s, before companies like Boyd's Bears flooded the market with their mass-produced products, I was a teddy bear artist, designing jointed antique-style bears sewn of German mohair with authentic antique shoe button eyes; I sold them under the name of "Victoria's Waifs". Now as each of our grandchildren turn 7 years old, I use my leftover mohair to make them a bear of their own.

for the sake of free shipping

I was ordering vitamins and supplements from Amazon and was just "that much" under the total amount required for free shipping . . . . so I bought this small black bag. Holds an amazing amount of sketching tools, easy to access, and even a regular-size sketchbook will fit in the main pocket.

I tried painting the "black" using lunar blue but even after spritzing the pan a few minutes before using, the color would not pick up or mix easily. It's been in the full-size plastic pan for several years (over half gone now) --- maybe it's too old? It's a PrimaTek paint from Daniel Smith.

a few little sketches

When taking down a few notes at church, I distractedly draw what's in my line of vision . . . which much of the time is my own foot.

Or sometimes it's Macy in the row in front of me.

Yesterday it was my foot again, in a boot granddaughter Mikala gave me. 

added to my little collection

Okay, I'll admit it. Sometimes I buy a gift for myself, "just because". I was replacing a few tubes of watercolor I was out of (Cheap Joe's carries Daniel Smith!) when I saw this little stainless steel palette. So I got one. It came with a #2 sable brush; I added my travel rigger brush from Rosemary & Co.

lantana & our clouded yellow invasion

Our lantana is still blooming in spite of a recent frost . . . and it is still visited regularly by clouded yellow butterflies. In fact, this year has seen huge swarms of them --- When first seen, they appear to be small leaves drifting down from nearby trees but then they land on flowers and hold so still they make what was a shrub of red flowers change to yellow.

odd rocks

Over the past few days I've been sketching a rock or two each evening. These are some of the more unusual ones picked up during our walks. The one in the lower right corner reminds me of a fossil but it's simply rock carved out by erosion. The red bits are red jasper; not sure of the other minerals. I had our youngest grandsons believing that the one in the lower left corner was a petrified dinosaur egg!

I painted these with a mixture of Daniel Smith and QOR watercolors, which are made with a different type of binder. I was curious as to whether they would "play nice" together --- they seem to work fine together.

and yet another one . . .

On our recent trip to Fredericksburg, I purchased a tiny mint tin because it reminded me of a friend and co-worker who portrayed Rosie the Riveter in historic presentations. Teresa's aunt had actually been a riveter during World War II, and much of the material was based on her memories. And now the tin has been turned into a wee paint box. I tested my color choices on this page.

A silicon mini ice cube tray from Amazon was cut up to fit the tin with 9 spaces for tube paint to be squeezed into. While I was at it, I cut another to fit the Texas mint tin I purchased when we were planning to move to Texas. Formerly it held 6 half-pans of paint; now it can hold 12 colors plus a bit of a natural sponge.

The bare minimum of tools to take along with me . . . one of these tiny tins, a fountain pen, a waterbrush, and my journal.

some really good BBQ . . . and a very large hot sauce

On our way from Pflugerville to Houston last Saturday, we stopped in Elgin for lunch. Southside Market must be really proud of their own original hot sauce, judging by the size of the bottle. Taller than the standard roll of paper towels! We didn't try any though; the brisket was amazing on its own!

at long last, autumn

As much as I love living among the oaks, pine, and cedar in these wooded hills, every autumn I miss the colorful maple leaves we knew in our Kansas neighborhood. Recently the small ornamental trees in our yard __I think they are Mexican plum trees__ have begun to change colors. Not quite as colorful as our Autumn Blaze maple, but I love the reds!

church sketching

A bit of sketching and verses from last night . . . and one of my favorite songs we sang. The fountain pen in my bag had brown ink, which does not show up as well as black on this red paper.