Are you ready for a getaway? Let’s escape to the island of Korcula in the Adriatic Sea, a place I visited last fall that seems like a dream now. Those days spent painting old stone buildings and aquamarine seas were among the happiest I can remember, and, over the past few months, I’ve been reliving […]
Category: Sketchbooks
A May Calendar of Flowers
Springtime is a season of optimism and hope, a testimony to the fact that nothing lasts forever, including winter (and pandemics). 9″ x 12″, ink & watercolor in an American Journey Journaling Sketchbook with 140 lb. hot-press paper Every May, when the roadsides here in Pennsylvania are painted with the colors of wild phlox and buttercups, a […]
A Walk in the Woods
In mid-April my husband and I got out of the house one morning and headed for Mason-Dixon Historical Park in West Virginia, just a half hour from our home. We wandered through forests carpeted with wild violets and walked along the shores of Dunkard Creek where huge sycamore trees show off their mottled grey and […]
Safe at Home
Every day, I remind myself…. Blue-grey Staedtler Fineliner pen, colored pencils, watercolor, & washi tape in a 3.5″ x 5.5″ Moleskine Japanese Album journal When I’m resenting the constraints on my life right now and longing for a return to normalcy, I try my best to focus on the ways in which this enforced isolation […]
Pandemic Days: Comfort Food, Walking, and a Few Tears
I’ve filled twenty pages in my little COVID-19 sheltering-in-place journal over the past five weeks, and I think I’ll probably have time to fill the entire sketchbook before things get back to normal. Here are some of the sketches I’ve been working on… All sketches were done in a 3.5″ x 5.5″ Moleskine Japanese Album […]
Guest Artist: Karen Colson, & “The Lost Continent of Quarantine” Sketch
My friend Karen Colson from Carlsbad, California, has been sheltering in place for the past month, like the rest of us, and documenting her experiences on the pages of her sketchbook journal. I first met Karen during my Tuscany workshop in 2016, and she’s one of my favorite artists. I love her style and color […]
Our New Normal
I mentioned in my last post that I had started a pandemic journal to document this weird and wild coronavirus roller coaster we’re on. The overriding theme that seems to be emerging as I complete one page after another in this quarantine sketchbook is change and the way our lives today differ from what’s normal. […]
Everyday Pandemic Days
Sketchbook journaling is all about capturing our everyday lives in visual form, so I’ve decided to start a pandemic journal to chronicle the strange times we’re living in. Here are the pages I’ve been working on the past few days… Ink & watercolor in a 3-1/2″ x 5-1/2″ Moleskine Japanese Album journal In my pandemic […]
Catching Up
Hi, Friends – Oh, my, how the world has changed since I last checked in here back in early January! I’m spending most of my time at home these days, just like the rest of you, and with this lull in my usually busy schedule, I’ve been doing lots of painting and working on some […]
California Road Trip – Part 3: 17-Mile Drive
One of the prettiest stretches of coastline that I saw during my recent trip to California was 17-Mile Drive in Monterey. This scenic road meanders around the Monterey peninsula, offering spectacular views of rocky beaches, crashing waves, and abundant wildlife. Ink & watercolor in a 5″ x 6-1/2″ Khadi hardbound sketchbook with rough textured 140 […]
