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.

church notes and sketches . . .

. . . and a visit from our missionary and good friend, Penny Dugan, founder of New Jerusalem Missions. She loves pink --- hence the pink drink container. Someone once told her that he saw an angel going with her as she worked in Africa . . . and that the angel was pink! BTW, scriptwriters in California are currently putting together plans for a movie about Penny.

Her bag confused me as it sat on the floor behind someone else's leg. Seemed to have too many handles --- afterwards, Penny showed me that there are actually 5 handles!, two of which she keeps tucked away in those large side pockets.

Jayna's birthday bear

In a hurry to sketch this before posting it to Texas, I grabbed a pen with red-black ink. I knew it would bleed some . . . but didn't think how it would turn a pale gold bear into a pinkish one. Oops!

Finished just in time to post it UPS to Jayna, along with a birthday gift for her brother Josiah. Their birthdays are this Monday and Tuesday. Hard to believe it's been 3 years since I spent a few months as "granny nanny" to both of them when Josiah was born! That's when I was sewing a bear for their cousin Mikala's 7th birthday. Jayna watched me, wanting one herself, so I promised her a bear when she turned 7.

These fully jointed bears are of imported mohair with antique shoe button eyes, like I used to make and sell in the 1980s. A sketch of this one in-process can be seen in my blog post of 16 January.

a weighty matter

I arrived for my physical therapy appointment earlier than Dane was ready for me, so I began sketching the weights hanging on the wall. Then finished them later at home.

This time, the therapy is to strengthen my back, not for leg pain. A second opinion found that a facet cyst in my spine was the cause of the leg pain. Injection treatments seem to have solved the problem, but my doctor wants me to have some therapy just to get stronger.

Following the appointment, I bought a box of "Cuties" oranges. When I took one to eat, there was a wee sticker on it . . . so I stuck it to the page.

distraction

I've neglected my sketchbook of late . . . . too many other things requiring attention.

The end of the year means closing out books for our church, where I am treasurer / secretary, and preparing tax forms and giving receipts. I've been keeping our records on a Quicken program that is long out-of-date --- time to update to a new version and set up the categories again, tweaking small changes here and there.

My printer has been troublesome as well, being at least 10 years old. I bought a new one, capable of wireless printing, but haven't had time to set it up yet.

Two grandchildren have birthdays at the end of January; one of them will turn 7 and I make a hand-made mohair teddy bear for each one of them upon turning 7 (I used to be a teddy bear artist), one with antique shoebutton eyes that is more of a collectable friend than a toy, though they are very sturdy for play also.

Other life-distractions: doctor's appointments, re-potting plants in dire need, knitting clothes for the above bear . . . . so why in the world did I start reading The Outlander book series?

one final bit of Christmas

Opening gifts and a new gift to myself --- I used a Christmas bonus check to buy an empty 16-half pan palette and altered it to hold full pans also. I could not afford Winsor & Newton's version, but found the same palette for sale empty at Kremer's (oddly, it's no longer on their web site).

Mikala and Jayna were laughing at Kristen not having any gifts in the above sketch --- but later, she received hers . . . in a box too big for Jayna to lift.

I still may make a few changes to the pans in this palette --- like a whole pan of perylene maroon and a half-pan of potter's pink. And maybe eliminate either cobalt blue dark or ultramarine, to make room for a whole pan of dark blue indigo.

Perylene maroon, dark blue indigo, and Monte Amiata natural sienna make the loveliest muted primary set!