It was a beautiful sunny day when I painted at the first annual garden party at the historic David Bradford House in Washington, PA. People strolled through the gardens, listening to live guitar music and nibbling on tasty hors d’oeuvres. I set up on the lawn where I had a perfect view of the old well and the purple irises that had just begun to bloom.
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| 9-1/4″ x 7″, ink & watercolor, Canson 140 lb. watercolor sketchbook |
I was there to demonstrate how I paint with watercolor, but I’d been a tiny bit concerned that I’d feel self-conscious when people stopped to watch me paint. The whole experience turned out to be a great deal of fun, though. I felt so happy, sitting outside on a pretty spring afternoon, doing what I love to do. It was the most relaxing few hours I’d had in a long time. And I met a lot of interesting people, too. It’s good to stretch myself sometimes and get outside my comfort zone.
I just finished up my spring classes last week, and at the last session of my sketchbook journaling class, the students asked me to do a demo, so I picked some clematis from our yard and did this quick sketch…
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| 5-1/2″ c 9-1/2″, ink & watercolor, Stillman and Birn Alpha series sketchbook |
And since I’m heading off to teach in Maine in a little over a week, I thought I’d share with you a few of the sketches I did the last time I was there. Some were completed on site and others were drawn in ink while I was there, then finished up with watercolor here in my studio. It’s a process that works well for me, enabling me to see a lot and get in plenty of sketching time while I’m visiting a place, then reliving the good times later when I paint from photos I took on location.
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| Jordan Pond, Acadia National Park, Maine, 8-1/2″ x 6″, ink & watercolor, Strathmore 140 lb. watercolor sketchbook |
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| Thuya Gardens, Northeast Harbor, Maine, 8-1/2″ x 6″, ink & watercolor, Strathmore 140 lb. watercolor sketchbook |
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| Somesville, Maine, 8-1/2″ x 6″, ink & watercolor, Strathmore 140 lb. watercolor sketchbook |
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| Northeast Harbor, Maine, 8-1/2″ x 6″, ink & watercolor, Strathmore 140 lb. watercolor sketchbook |
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| Owls Head harbor, Maine, 8-1/2″ x 6″, ink & watercolor, Strathmore 140 lb. watercolor sketchbook |
This is really getting me in the mood for Maine – it can’t come soon enough!
3 Comments
First of all congrats on your beautiful new grandchild!
Lovely recent sketches and I enjoyed seeing the ones of Maine especially the ones done up in the Acadia area since I've been up there so many times. Thanks for sharing.
Oh how these make me long to go back to Maine and MDI!! Beautifully done!
Oh how these make me long to go back to Maine and MDI!!! Beautifully done!