Paper and Threads

I participated in the Everyday in May Challenge for several years by uploading my daily journal sketch to my blog everyday.  It was a good way for me to combat my inner critic a little - because the quality and my happiness with the sketches varied greatly.  This year I decided not to post daily, but to post more frequently than my usual schedule of twice per week. 

Monday we took our 4 year old grandson to the Empire State Building.  His two siblings have been there and he wanted to go.  This page has a prepainted background and then a collage cut from one of the brochures they passed out there.

Tuesday I made my weekly drive to NJ to visit my 93 year old mother.  She fell in Nov. fracturing both her right hip and shoulder.  It was a beautiful day and we sat outside in the sun next to a gorgeous pink dogwood tree.  The background was prepainted, and the dogwood blossom and lady are collages.  The woman (Lady in the Park by August Macke) is one of the drawings I did at the German Expressionist exhibit during my 2nd visit.

Prepainted backgrounds and collage are part of Roz Stendahl's Strathmore Journal class this month.

Wednesday I took my husband and met friends back at the German Expressionist exhibit at MoMA.  I really love it and enjoy drawing my way from the beginning to the end.  These are two journal pages of drawings done yesterday.

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The Cezanne Cardplayer exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art closed last Sunday.  But before the paintings and drawings were packed up, I made one more trip to the museum to sketch from Cezanne's preliminary sketch of the "Cardplayer in the Blue Smock. "

I enjoyed sketching and painting the Met Cardplayer painting (one of 5 variants that Cezanne painted) over the last few years, This exhibit allowed me to copy the master's preliminary drawings - which was great fun.  Will this end my focus on one painting in the Met collection?

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I was at an annual meeting yesterday afternoon for My Own Book Fund, an organization for which I volunteer.  We meet with 3rd graders in over 40 schools, in all 5 boroughs of New York City, and share our love of reading and books.  We then meet each class at a local Barnes and Noble bookstore and help each child select $50 worth of their "own books."  For many, it is the first time they have been in a bookstore - or owned any books.  I love going to the meeting to hear the annual progress report and plans for expansion for the next year. 

Yesterday we also celebrated the National Book Foundation 2011 Innovation in Reading Prize that was given to Burt Freeman who set up the foundation and the program.  Four organizations were given the award out of nearly 120 applications!

I had lots of time to sketch other volunteers in the audience - and I cut my drawings from the meeting agenda and pasted them on a pre-painted background when I got home.  The first lesson in the free online Strathmore Workshop 3 with Roz Stendahl was all about prepainting backgrounds in sketchbooks and journals.  She used acrylic for most of her samples.   I used watercolor.

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Monday was a day about town with my art buddies.  Gwen Diehn was visiting New York, so we planned several fun sketching venues - and then were told, several times, "no photos and no sketching."  And the current exhibit at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) Museum was even closed.  But we had a great time walking, talking, sketching, eating, drinking coffee, and buying art supplies at the FIT Bookstore.  Here is a composite page I sketched during the day and painted when I got home.

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The Sketchbook Challenge for April is "branching out" and I definitely added another way of sketching in my watercolor journal during this time.   

I went back to the German Expressionism exhibit at MoMA on Monday, and took notes and made some drawings from the Bridge and Blue Rider artists -  while listening to a Gallery Conversation by a MoMA employee.  I usually don't take notes and make small drawings in my watercolor sketchbook, but wanted to remember some of the images from the woodcuts and other prints he was discussing.

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