Paper and Threads

I sketch and paint anywhere, and rarely use space in my very small, very crowded textile studio.  My goal this year was do at least one sketch every day and to explore watercolor washes with pen and ink.  Most frequently, I don't have time to think about the sketch-of-the-day until in the evening after work and then I want to spend time in our library with my husband.  So this half of the couch is my current workspace.  I work in journals that are no bigger than 6 x 9 inches; use both a travel set of watercolor paints and a palette with dried tube watercolor paints, Pigma micron and Zig Millenium pens, and Niji waterbrushes.   I intended to sketch more of the couch, bookcases, leather footrest and chair, but ran out of space due to poor planning.      

Posted by Shirley at 10:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

When I first read the EDM chalenge, at 5:30 in the morning, I thought that it said traffic light.  So I grabbed my camera when I left for work and took a photo of the traffic light on my corner.  I didn't want to get run over as I stood in the intersection sketching and decided a photo would have to be used.  After I sketched and painted it, I realized that Karen's email said "streetlight".   Since the streetlight is the single pole that holds everything, I sketched it too.  The height has been shortened to make the composition more compact.  There are endless varieties of street lights in my neighborhood (one light or two) and traffic lights (single and fixed to the pole or double and triple and suspended over the intersection on a long arm that is attached to the street lamp pole).  Since this is such a walking city, I also included the Walk - Don't Walk signs that are on the street lamp pole.

Wednesday night I was in mid-town Manhattan and noticed that they have much nicer lights on their poles.  Before this challenge, I never realized that there were regional differences in street lights on the main streets in the City!

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When this challenge was announced, I sketched an ear in pencil because I lacked the skills to paint it in watercolor.  Then I decided to take photos of each of my grandchildren and practice.  The ear on the left is Robbies and it was painted in a Super Aquabee.  The two on the right were painted in a Moleskine watercolor journal.  It is definitely easier to scan the Moleskine.  I used alizarin crimson, winsor lemon, burnt umber and Payne's gray. 

Posted by Shirley at 7:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

EDM Challenge #80: Part 2

Although being with my whole family makes me happiest (see part 1 below), my Bernina 1030 sewing machine is also a source of enormous happiness.  I have had a sewing machine for 50 years - sometimes a rented one (poor student days) and sometimes a very inexpensive one.  The above Bernina was purchased in 1989 and as I told my husband, it cost almost as much as our first car - a new VW bug purchased in 1967!  I don't use the sewing machine for days at a time, but when I need to have it serviced I feel very lost.  The months leading up to Christmas are busiest - but I also set aside one week during the cold weather in February and call it "creative week."  I try to arrange my schedule so it is the week before President's Day so I have an extra long weekend before I need to go back to work.  I love immersing myself in projects all day, every day, for 8-10 days and each year have done something different - including making lots of baby clothes for our first grandchild who was due 4 months later, dying silk for a wedding chuppah and making the 6' by 6' pieced top that was then quilted, cutting out fabric pieces for group wedding quilts, and planning and making baby quilts.  Two year's ago I designed a machine quilted whole cloth quilt with cotton velveteen on one side and 100% pima cotton on the other.  I made 5 of these already for immediate family members and still have more to be made.  These quilts precipitated the last emergency service visit - velvet lint buildup that paralyzed the feed dogs!   

Posted by Shirley at 3:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

This week I've been trying to think about EDM challenge #80 - what makes me happy?  I'm thrilled when I am with all of our adult children, their spouses, and our growing group of grandchildren.  We take care of our youngest grandchild Robbie on Friday and last Friday I posted a sketch from the Central Park Boat Pond Cafe - done while he sat with us for an hour.  Our London-based grandchildren then spent the weekend with us (an absolute joy for my husband and I) and Saturday morning we watched the penguins and seals being fed and the Widelife theater play at the Central Park Zoo.  I did these sketches very quickly in the Petting Zoo area - the first two are the large sculptures along the pathway and the 3rd sketch was the perky little LIVE llama that seemed to be saying "I'm the cutest - sketch me!"  And then stayed still for 2 minutes for me!

There was lots of discussion about Moleskines this week among the EDM messages.  I HATE the format for the watercolor journal, but I do like the paper and I love how it scans.  I finally became comfortable with using more than one journal at a time and next will try an RKB Fat Pad with Fabriano 5 watercolor paper that I bought in London.  However, this is risky because they don't appear to have a US distributor.

Posted by Shirley at 7:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)