mary oliver poem

A Mary Oliver poem, illustrated. (I used [1992] The Macmilian Visual Dictionary as the image resource.)
color pencil in moleskine sketchbook

Cold Sweet Watermelon

Color pencil and ink on my moleskine sketchbook.

Crepe Myrtle

Flowers from the crepe myrtle tree, in my back yard. It's too hot to go out there and paint, so I brought some flowers in. The little pink petticoat blossoms, burst out of the berries like a group of innocent can-can dancers.
watercolor moleskine

staring into the swimming pool

I swam laps today, for 30 minutes. Afterwards, I tried to channel David Hockney, and painted the colors of the swimming pool. It felt good, to sit by the pool, in my wet bathing suit and actually feel cool. It was 94 today.
The potted plant , on the right, has grown 4 feet in a month! It spent its first two years in the sun, and now is thriving in the shade. I know how it feels.
watercolor moleskine

lodgepole pine

Another pine tree from my morning walk.

Judy Collins, from her book Singing Lessons "I learned, again and again, the lesson of creativity: the painting I make today, the drawing I do today, the poem I do today, is meant to save my life today."

It's still HOT

The image on the left, is drawn from a photo of my husb and his best friend, on the golf course. The rest, just late evening doodles. It was 102 today!
watercolor moleskine

It's 107 outside!

Historical (hysterical) record-breaking heat in San Diego. It was 112 in Escondido and Poway yesterday, and 109 here in my community. Thank goodness for air conditioning (and the many other things I'm grateful for...) and Mary Oliver's poetry.

watercolor moleskine

Painting the living room wall

I was tired when I did this at the end of the day (our bookcase doesn't tilt that that in real life.) Tired because I painted a wall in our living room a lovely shade of 'sunwashed clay.'
watercolor moleskine

a random selection from my day

A felt ball, from my collection, my husb's orchid plants (nary a blossom to be seen) and the San Diego Padres logo (we went to the game today).
watercolor moleskine

My sweet kitties

BeBop, 1-1/2 years old, (on the right) was easier to draw, cuz he slept longer. Cool Baby, 10 years old, (on the left) changed positions part way through. And she's harder to paint, cuz she's black and white.
watercolor moleskine

Ponderosa Pine

Inspired by our recent trip to Idyllwild, I decided to learn the trees on my walk. Especially the pines, cedars and firs. THIS is a Ponderosa Pine.
watercolor moleskine

tierra y fuego tiles

Andy and I visited Tierra y Fuego yesterday. A tile store near the Mexican border. They've got great stuff, but I especially like the Santa Barbara tiles.

Buy me on Amazon!

Just realized that Amazon.com is selling the books that feature my art quilts. I'm a featured artist in "Material Visions: A Gallery of Miniature Art Quilts" (published in 2004). I also have my work in "Fabric Art Gallery" (published 2005) and the latest "Beginners Guide to Art Quilts" (just published) will be soon!

Sewing Stuff

I teach Art Quilts, and the new 6 week session starts saturday. I' m getting the syllabus and materials ready. Among other things, we'll be making (small) timtex houses. Stay tuned!
watercolor moleskine

Art Quilts

I created this little quilt in Lesley Riley's class, using her FAMOUS transfer methods. The palm trees are images from my watercolor sketchbook.

Another, small art quilt, created in Lesley Riley's class. It was a two day workshop in Idyllwild, called "Fabric Collage." This is about 9x12" and all hand sewn. The flowers are from a painting in my watercolor moleskine.

Me & Lesley Riley

Me and Lesley! She's as nice as she is talented.

Moleskine in Idyllwild!

Early morning, on the porch of our little rented cabin. My sketching stuff. This photo was also featured on Moleskinerie! Thanks Armand.

Idyllwild

Husb and I spent the weekend in Idyllwild. I took a weekend workshop. We had a wonderful time! We rented a small cabin, and sketched every morning and evening. Here's the room, and the view from the room.
watercolor moleskine

Moonlight Chronicles...

Looking at Dan Price's moonlight chronicles inspired me to do this of my living room. He's an inspiration.
watercolor moleskine

TRUMPET Vine on Independence Day

I pass this lovely flowering vine every day on my walk. The colors are brilliant. Didn't have my sketchbook at the parade (3 year old baton twirlers, real estate agents, and war veterans) or at the fireworks (a lovely man dressed as a civil war soldier), so this is my 4th of July painting.
watercolor moleskine.

Cool Baby and buttons

Supervising the button selection for the "Ralph's Letters Project."

Spanish Village

San Diego SketchCrawlers first official sketch crawl. Spent a lovely Sunday in Balboa Park, with fellow artists. I drew the scene, below, like Irina encouraged me in class this week. ("Why go on a trip, and sketch the flowers," she said, "you can do that at home." Why sketch a tree at the Parthenon?) Still challenged by perspective...

#8. Ralph's Letters

I'm playing with the layout of the letters, on my dining room table. I think I'll sew them on to a larger backing of organza, that I patterned by laying it on a rusty old screen. I've been working on these dozen or so letters (and envelopes) for nearly 3 months. It's been an amazing process. And it's been so cool to reconnect with Ralph, through email.