Spring is Here in the Northwest

Signs of early Spring greet me on my daily walks. Heather, snow drops and primroses bloom first. The forsythia, crocuses, daphne, and pussy willows follow. Now, the daffodils, camellias and early rhododendrons show their blossoms.

Flowers are my favorite thing to sketch and watercolor. I love the organic forms, colors, lines and diversity of shapes.

Check out Jane LaFazio's tutorials on how to use flower sketches in your artwork. Her blog is full of inspirational ideas.

Spring Bouquet by Raymond A. Foss

An earthen vase
held a bouquet
simple crocuses
at the street corner
in the downtown
of the city, around
the corner, down the block
on the way to school
a bit of color
shining through
the urban tableau
reminding us of beauty
amidst the clutter
of daily life

Japanese Garden Treasures

We sketched in the Japanese Garden last week. The summer garden's layers of green create a quiet, peaceful place.
A few hostas and hydrangeas bloomed adding a little contrast and color. I overheard one visitor say the verdant greens and mosses do not exist where he lives. I often take this beauty for granted.
In 2012, the Garden celebrates The Year of the Healing Garden. The leaflet had this wonderful quote by Hoichi Kurisu, Portland Japanese Garden Director, 1968- 1973-

"Strolling through a pine forest, viewing rock formations, and cascading waterfalls, pausing to ponder the quiet surface of the lake and shoreline- little by little we are encouraged to lay aside the chaos of a troubled world and gently nurture the capacity within to hear a more harmonious, universal rhythm. We exchange burden, boredom and despair for renewal, inspiration and hope. Or from the joy we already feel, we discover an even greater capacity for good. This is the tremendous power of the Japanese garden."

Sketching at the County Fair

Last week, we sketched at the Clackamas County Fair. We visited all of the animals; watched young children receive ribbons for their hens, cows and goats; and ate corn dogs and berry pie a la mode. Yum! I like the sign by the pies, "pie fixes everything".

I channeled some Roz Stendahl-energy to draw chickens that won't stand still. Her blog posts show her great ability to sketch animals. She also shares lots of tips on what papers, paints and pens she uses.

County fairs represent a bit of Americana, fun for all ages and a place to remember farm life and the varieties of rabbits, chickens, goats and cows that we have- a rural experience for an urbanite. Going to the fair is one of my favorite summer activities. It reminds me of my childhood experiences on my grandparents' farm near Gervais, Oregon. So many children today do not know the origins of their food, how it is grown and raised. I feel so fortunate to have fed the pigs, collect the eggs, pick the tomatoes and milk the cows.

Playing with Techniques to Add Interest to Sketches

Last week, we collaged decorative papers into our sketchbooks, sketched on tracing paper and then glued the sketch to the paper collaged page. The idea for this exercise came from Stephanie Levy. Check out her blog HERE.

We discovered her work in a new collection of artwork by leading collage artists. It's called Masters- Collage published by Lark Crafts. It's a great book for inspiration and to see artwork by forty artist. It's a book you can refer to over and over again always seeing something new each time you read it. I highly recommend it as a valuable addition to any artist's library.


This week, we played with our watercolors- creating textures with stencils, corrugated cardboard, stamps, bubble wrap and brush stokes.


Many of our exercises came from Heather Smith Jones' new book entitled, Water, Paper, Paint: Exploring Creativity with Watercolor and Mixed Media. Check out Heather's website HERE. This is another fun book packed full of lots of ideas and exercises.

Watercolor and Colored Pencil Sketches

This week sketching, we used magazine photo images for inspiration. Laying down the watercolor paints first...
...then adding more detail with watercolor and colored pencils. It's a different look for me to get away from pen and ink drawings filled with watercolor- a softer, looser look. I liked working with the layers of paint and pencil and kept adding layer after layer.
Here are the magazine photos used for inspiration. This exercise makes me want to play more and experiment- be freer.

A Sketchbook Peak

It's been a while since I've posted from my sketchbook. We've sketched at Monticello Antiques all winter and are ready to move outdoors. Above, I drew the grape clusters with both dominant and non-dominant hands.
The orchids are from this week's sketch date with a little watercolor play.

The faces were drawn with dominant and non-dominant hands, too. I really like the freer form of the smaller non-dominant hand sketches. There's a lesson here. Getting away from left brain thinking leads to a looser right brain images.

A Little Holiday Cheer

We sketched at Monticello Antique Marketplace and visited their Old Fashioned Christmas Show. It's fun to see collections from Christmas past. Seeing friends Christmas decorations and collections inspires creativity for the holidays and good cheer.

Last week, we celebrated my mother's 90th birthday. The guest book holds memories of guests and photos from her party. She's healthy, independent and active. I'm so fortunate to have her and enjoy our times together. Her party added holiday cheer to our lives.

I made this book by sewing panels of fabric together, adding a layer of sheer, light turquoise fabric with stitched flowers and my free-motion stitching of flowers on top in red thread. It's bound in a peach-colored satin ribbon with a dragon button from the Button Emporium in downtown Portland. Hope you're enjoying this holiday season.

Pomegranate Sketch

Yesterday, we sketched at Monticello Antiques. When it's cold and raining, we move indoors to draw something we've brought or an interesting antique from the showroom floor. I brought the large pomegranates and Martha came with the small ones from her family's Texan garden. With good friends, conversation and a cup of java, who could ask for anything more.

More Sketches and Photos from Mexico Trip

Two of the many reasons I love Mexico and Mexican culture are its diversity and duality of ancient and new- the traditions, many years of ritual and practice passed down from one generation to the next.

We sketched one morning in the desert botanical garden el Charco del Ingenio. The Four Winds Plaza, a ritual and scenic space, was inspired by Tolteca-Chichimeca indigenous beliefs. The outer circles indicate the four cardinal directions in their classic colors- Flora (agave) yellow East; Fauna (coyote) red West; Earth (hill) black North; Water (spring) blue South. The inner circle represents the Sun at the moment it is covered by the Moon. It's a testimony to the 1991 solar eclipse, the astronomical date of the founding of the garden. In 2005, the Dalai Lama proclaimed this place's energy a movement toward a new consciousness for peace.

We spent another afternoon at a newly opened toy museum called La Esquina. It's one woman's collection of over 1000 popular Mexican toys. I enjoyed the carnival toys and dolls.

We visited Atotonilco and the Sanctuary of Jesus Nazareno of Atotonilco. In 2008, this church was designated a Cultural World Heritage by UNESCO. It's on the 100 world monuments watch list. The state of Gaunajuato received funds to restore the interior frescoes. The paintings represent the syncretism of Catholic iconography mixed with native religious beliefs.
Visits to three artists' studios made for another highlight of our trip. Anando McLauchlin showed us his office, new studio, house of many colors, and garden - a work of nine years.
He creates assemblage pieces, jewelry and incredible interior and exterior designs. Anado referred us to two other local artists. Leigh Hyams paints and colorful floral acrylics. She's written a book entitled How Painting Holds Me on the Earth. Edward Swift creates wonderful paper mâché figures that look like stone. He showed us his process and said that Clyde Connell is one of his muses. He uses her paper mâché techniques. It's so inspiring to see how other artists work and what influences their art. Mexico has left its imprint on each of these artists' work.

Bill LeVasseur showed us his collection of 500 Mexican ceremonial and performance masks housed in his museum called The Other Face of Mexico. The masks represent 62 different indigenous groups in Mexico with their own language, culture, food, customs and rituals.
We watched a video that showed the dramas and dances with performers wearing the masks. All of these experiences reinforced my awe of Mexico with its diversity and traditions.

Creative Muse At Work

My creative muse is back. Yeah!!!! It seems like I always leave the preparations for our Portland Art Collective December Show to the last minute. It's much better to be organized and have a plan. I've taken my sketches over several years and used them to make buttons and magnets.

These little 3x4½ inches notebooks, I covered with copies of my sketches. They fit great in handbags for keeping lists or jotting down information for future reference (something I have to do to remember my thoughts).

It's fun to take what you've already created and mix it up. Let past artwork inspire new work. My art friends inspire me and help my creative muse stir. Jo Reimer uses her photos, handmade papers and other artwork to create her collages. Liesel Lund, takes photographs to inspire her watercolors. Robin Olsen stitches her fabric dots and creates many different things with them. What gets your creative muse working?

Two Sketches Outside St. Honoré Boulangerie

Tuesday, we sketched outside St. Honoré Boulangerie in Lake Oswego. The morning never warmed up. We sat with our hands wrapped around coffee cups, talking and sketching a little. Lake View Village and the town of Lake Oswego offer wonderful sidewalk gardens, flowered pots, downtown art, a variety of restaurants and shops.
It's hard to see the weather change to rain and darker days. I really appreciated our summer in July and August. These flowers bring a little bit of sunshine into my life today.

it's beginning to feel like fall

Today feels like fall- the first rain in two months. The days get shorter, neighborhood children prepare for the first day of school next week and I notice subtle changes in the garden- the colors soften, spider webs spread between plants and leaves start to dry out.

This morning, we sketched at McMenamins Edgefield. The sunflowers were bent over heavy with their fruit. Blackbirds kept coming back to eat more seeds.
Dahlias graced the paths of the herb garden,
Birdhouses added character.
Here's my interpretation of the blue birdhouse in the above photo-
It's hard to see summer go but I do like the sense of new beginning that fall brings.

Luscher Farm Sketches

We sketched at Luscher Farm this week. The community garden provides 185 gardeners with plots to grow their own vegetables and flowers. This Saturday, the Grow Gather Dinner supports new sustainability projects for schools with local chefs preparing fresh produce from the gardens.
Lots of green tomatoes grow on vines but few are turning red. It may be mid-September before they ripen.

I discovered a patch of sweet peas growing under tall sunflowers and sat in the shade to sketch them enjoying their fragrance in the gentle breeze.
Scarecrows line the garden edges.
It's a wonderful spot to enjoy the fruits of summer.

From Waterlilies to Metal Sculpture

I'd much prefer to sketch flowers. This waterlily at Hughes Water Gardens started turning from white to pink as we sat and sketched in the greenhouse. The subtle color changes happened very slowly. The gardener said that by the end of the day this waterlily would be all pink.

Victorian lily pads float in the greenhouse pond with tall lotus plants in the background.

The lotus blossom and seed pod always fascinate me with their grand size and shape.

Other waterlily species share the pond with their bright flowers and dark leaves.


This week, we went to Lake Oswego to sketch street art. My inclination is to draw the flowers in this beautiful bed.

Robin discovered this metal sculpture entitled "Totem" by Travis Pond from Steel Pond Studios in Portland. It's made of 100% recycled metal motorcycles and guns. Gas tanks become bodies and various metal parts formed the arms and legs of the totem creatures.

Here's the bottom creature- a frog? I'm not sure. I felt like I was drawing an outer-space being.