More Sketching

Another sketch, same subject.  Although I guess this is really a work in progress - as we all are.  I keep telling myself that learning to draw is a skill that is learned with practice.  I do tend to get frustrated that what is in my mind and what comes out on the page do not match.   Comments? Advice? 

More joy

If you look really closely, there is a small red ornament in the middle of this tree.

Ice and Snow

January 29, 2010
Yesterday morning the rain turned to sleet and eventually to snow. Luckily the wind was not as bad as it was during the last snow on Christmas eve. This one however, was primarily ice initially so that when the snow started, it was on top of the ice. Today it is just a light snow. When I went outside my door to take a few photos, the snow made a distinct crunching sound of the ice underneath. It is not worth it to me to venture more than a few steps to take photos. I am definitely not trying to dig my car out from under the blanket of snow and ice. The news crews are showing downed power lines across the interstate. Luckily, I received a phone call and did not have to go to work the last two days. There are many people without power, so I am grateful that I still have power, at least for the time being.
One of the photos is from yesterday, a composite showing snow in front of my door, in order to show the change over two hours.
I have been trying to learn new things in photoshop. I have an older version, so I have to work around some of the instructions that are given online. It took me forever, but I was finally able to make an overlay. I set my camera on a slow speed in order to attempt to capture some of the snowflakes as they were falling. Then I put the overlay I had made (thanks to the instruction video on karenika's blog), and added a sentiment.
Thanks for looking.
Off to enjoy more of the gift of today.

More Watercolor

Merry Christmas and the Blizzard of 2009

The weathermen had predicted we would get 3 to 8 inches on Christmas Eve. As it turned out, it had rained during the night before, then about 7 am, it turned to sleet. I made it in to work, then a little after 8 am, they told us all to go home. I had not had a snow day since I was a kid in school. The roads were noticably worse on the drive home. The wind was blowing so hard that the sleet was biting when it hit your face. It turned to snow before 9 am and the blowing snow continued all day. It was blowing so hard, there was very little visability, even looking out the window. I braved getting out my front door once in the afternoon to take pictures, particularly one of the snow drifting up against my front door. (I tried to take a photo later in the afternoon through my window, but the camera focused on my screens.)
All events for the day were canceled, the governor declared a state of emergency for the entire state. All the interstates were closed. I am grateful that we did not lose power. On the news, they said that so many people had gotten stuck in their cars that the roads looked like parking lots, and many cars and trucks had slid off the roads. The last I heard, they had 12 inches of snow at Will Rogers Airport, and this was a record snow fall for Oklahoma.
I am grateful for Our LORD and Savior, who came to earth as a babe so that I could have the free gift of salvation.
I am grateful for the snow day. It gave me more time to spend with my son who is here visiting from St. Louis. And I baked some of his favorite Christmas baked goods.

Handmade Christmas Ornaments

This weekend I took a class at My Heart's Fancy in OKC and made these Christmas ornaments. There is alot of detail on each ornament that you really can't appreciate from a photograph. I am pleased with the way they turned out. The large Santa one didn't photograph well as I took it at the shop with my iphone and the lighting wasn't right. I don't have it available any more to photograph again.

Deeper Still

I had the opportunity to go the the Deeper Still Conference this weekend at the Cox Center in Oklahoma City. It was so wonderful. I met a friend and her husband at the Spaghetti Warehouse for dinner and then we walked over to the Cox Center. Kay Arthur taught Friday night and then Priscilla Shirer and Beth Moore taught on Saturday. Saturday after the morning session, Kay Arthur had her photo taken with the Precepts Leaders. There were so many of us that the photographer divided us into two groups. Travis Cottrell and the worship team had us on our feet the whole time. Kay, Beth and Priscilla did a question and answer session on Saturday that was hiliarious. And I ran into old friends and got to reminiscence a little.

Happy Thanksgiving

I am grateful for so many things this Thanksgiving. My son drove in from St. Louis to visit his family. Thanksgiving is always more poignant when one has family and friends. Life is good.

Bert Seabourn at the Edmond Art Association

I was able to watch Bert Seabourn demonstrate his craft
at the Edmond Art Association meeting November 23.
His wife Bonnie was with him and they are quite a team.
They were both very personable and made all of us feel
like old friends. He brought his sketchbook and let us
look through it to our hearts's content. They answered
questions until Sharon Webster had to finally tell us that
we were out of time for the room. Forgive the photo as
it was taken with my iphone.

Happy Thanksgiving

I thought I would share this Thanksgiving card that I made for my mom and dad.

Rose Hips and Hops Wreath

I came across this post from Ali Edwards blog a few weeks ago: http://aliedwards.typepad.com/_a_/page/3/

The wreaths are from Colby Cottage in Oregon. I sent an email to the owner of the shop, and she responded that they would ship the wreaths. So I called and ordered one. Here is it on my front door. I love it.

Autumn

I grew up in Virginia, and I was bemoaning the fact that the trees here do not display the beautiful colors in the fall that they do in Virginia, particulary in the Blue Ridge Mountains. And then, as I was driving in Edmond this afternoon, these trees caught my eye, and I just had to pull over and bask in their glory. I didn't have my camera with me, so I got out my phone and took a few shots. It was just a God-stop thing, bringing me to my knees as I realized the beauty that is all around me when I just slow down enough to stop and look.

Thanks for looking.

Majestic Swan

I was able to get close enough to catch the
reflection of this swan with the little geese
swimming in the background. It was such
a beautiful show that it really warmed
my heart. Enjoy life.

Christmas Angel Tryptich

I met with some good friends this weekend and we made Christmas Angel Tryptichs. I didn't even put up a tree last year, may not put one up this year either. But, I thought it would be nice to make some decorations - hence the Angel Tryptich. I am pleased with the way it turned out. And, it's always fun to create with friends.

Portrait Challenge #2

Sherry (http://pashnada.blogspot.com/) and Ellen are working on a portrait challenge. This is my attempt #2. The problem with trying to draw a portrait, or anything else for that matter, when you are just learning, is that it never looks like the person you are trying to draw. We also tend to be hypercritical of our own attempts. Danny Gregory has said that you should draw, and then write on the page something good about your drawing; the idea is that you can't write anything negative. That would just give you an excuse to give up. In this portrait, I used Faber-Castell drawing pencils in HB, 2B and 6B, Faber-Castell PITT artist pen in both black India ink and Sepia india ink and a variety of Prismacolor colored pencils. In attempt to not be negative, I will note that I think I will probably use the india ink less and more pressure on the pencils to get more value in areas.

Comments? Advice is welcomed.

Birthday Celebration

In celebration of my birthday, a good friend took me to dinner at Charleston's. It was wonderful as usual. And as a surprise, she had them bring a huge brownie with caramel sauce and ice cream on top for us to share for dessert. It's a blessing to have good friends. Then I met another friend at the UCO Jazz Lab and we went to the Chris Botti concert. He and his band put on the best show. My photos during the concert were taken with my iphone. I took the one of me in front of my curtains.

article in Downtown Oklahoma City Magazine

A friend at church brought me this magazine. I had not seen the article, so I was pleasantly surprised. Thanks for looking.

Trying to Learn Watercolor

I have checked a few books out of the local library and checked many artist's blogs, and I am trying to learn to watercolor. This iris is from an iris exhibit that was at the local library. Thanks for looking.

~Bye for now.

sketch a day

This sketch is not recognizable. The person I am attempting to sketch is famous, but it doesn't look like him. I saw him on an awards show and was so impressed with his blue eyes and his smile. He just looked like he was having fun.

work in progress - part 2

Once again, my sketch doesn't look like the person it is supposed to look like. I have tried to follow Sherry's recommendations, but somehow it just doesn't turn out like I want it to. I guess that is why they call it practice, or learning.