Sloe Berries

The sloe bushes at the bottom of the field are absolutely laden with berries this year. The first time I walked past I thought I must take a bag and collect some before someone else does! But the next day I had a closer look and they're nowhere near ripe enough to pick yet so I just picked a small branch so I could draw them. It's said the best time to pick the sloes is just after the first frost so I'll be lurking with my carrier bag in the wee small hours one day soon.

From the Fields

I collected a couple of bits & pieces from the field where I walked Rosie today. This one looks like an Oak Apple but I'm sure it isn't because it's too late in the year. The leaf is certainly oak-like but the acorns are growing now so this can't be oak.

This one is definitely a meadow thistle - so delicate and pretty. Both sketched on Khadi paper which loves water and is quite happy to be stitched into which I may decide to do. I'll post the results here if I do.

A whole mess o' bowls

A lot of messy bowls for the Sketchbook Challenge. Ink, watercolour and Zig art pens.

Desk, study and irish wolfhound

This is one of my trays of art stuff. I'm very overdue for a tidy up! My little study room (I daren't call it a studio - it would make me feel as if I was pretending to be an artist) is difficult to navigate with a huge Irish Wolfhound lying behind my chair. I get pinned up against the desk unable to move anywhere :-)

Oil & Vinegar

This is sherry vinegar, not rice wine vinegar as my notes say. But either are great vinegars to use in dressings. The rice wine vinegar is a little softer than red or white wine vinegars and the sherry vinegar packs a bit of a punch but nothing like balsamic.

La Mer

My husband reckons this looks like a croissant! I have a tiny, sneaky little feeling he may be right :-)

STARTED SKETCHING AGAIN

I've picked up my sketchbook again with a promise to myself to try to keep it up for a bit. Good tip to start with if you can't think of any inspiration - paint your tools!

iPad drawing

Having fun on my iPad using SketchClub app.

roll on 16th july

I broke my wrist at the beginning of June. Didn't realize it was a break; thought it was just sprained so carried on the best I could. When the swelling didn't go down I was nagged into going to the doctor who arranged an x-ray and I've been in plaster ever since! SO frustrating! I can't do half the things I want to do. I was just starting on a sampler tapestry weaving but can't work the fingers of my hand well enough to carry on with it. Still - only 12 days to go now!

I did manage to do a quick pen, ink & wash sketch of a rather good bottle of Shiraz before opening it. It's history now...

Sketching

It's so long since I posted anything and, despite there being no need to blog regularly, I still feel guilty. I've been working on a sketching course and this is one of my studies.

Baubles and Beads

This is my necklace tree. Actually, it's a mug tree but I use it for my necklaces.

To be honest with you it's not really red - it's cream. I painted it cream originally and then put in the messy background and the tree looked a bit overwhelmed, so I changed the colour to red. That was a disaster so I frantically wetted the paint and blotted it out so now it's a rather horrendous looking mixture.

I think this is a good lesson for me to know when to stop fiddling.

I put in the date at the top with my new Lamy Joy calligraphy pen. It has three sizes of nibs - 11, 1.5 and 1.9 and this is the latter. I ordered a converter with it so I could use any ink in it rather than just cartridges and I filled it with Noodler's grey which is supposed to be one of their bleed-proof inks but isn't really.

I'm thinking of experimenting with lettering a bit. I've seen a few people doing this and it can be great fun. But first I'm going to have a go at putting a background onto paper using acrylic paint and a brayer (aka a lino roller). I watched an interesting YouTube video recently which showed techniques such as winding rubber bands or bubble wrap or anything with texture around the roller. It looked fun! And messy ...

Kitchen Stuff

These are my lovely, colourful silicone kitchen spatulas and spoons. They live in my chicken pot which is my favourite utensil pot. I wonder what they're going to cook tonight!

EDM 278 - P is for...

This is my drawing for EDM 278 - draw something beginning with your first name. So this is my can of polish. I really wish I hadn't chosen this because my least favourite colours are brown and yellow and it just won't go with my blog design. So I guess I'll have to post something new soon!

I've got one eye on the football as I write this post - England v. Slovenia, the last of our opening group matches. Football really isn't my thing, except at World Cup time and I'm completely connected. Especially because at last our side are playing like the professionals they really should be. So far it's 1-0 to England...

Sketching again at last!

Yes - I've started sketching again. And how I've enjoyed it! We're not talking great skill here but the only way to get that is to keep at it. Apparently!

This is a sketch of a couple of the pots on my patio. The large one is a lily which is almost ready to flower now but nowhere near that when I sketched it. The smaller one is a patio rose which is also now almost in flower. It's done with Letraset Trio markers which I loved using but they bleed so badly in my sketching book that I've stopped using them for now. If only someone made a bound sketching pad in bleed-proof board. If anyone knows of one please let me know.

This was a sprig of lovely, delicate little orange flowers that a neighbour brought in to show me. I can't remember what she said it was but it was definitely worth sketching. The little trumpet shaped flowers are so pretty.

This is my latest sketch, of a half-eaten bunch of grapes. They were very good! Both this and the flower above are ink and watercolours.

Cells and Shells

My lovely new cell phone. It's a Nokia E71. Of course, the real thing isn't all wobbly looking like this. It's bright and shiny (neither of which I know how to sketch!) and has white keys and I've hung my little red heart charm onto it. Aahhh! I think I should have sketched the instruction manual along with it because I've spent more time pouring over that than I have using the phone so far. It's SO much easier to text with proper keys - well I think so anyway. I won't say what else it does but suffice it to say it doesn't make the tea... yet...


This painting of my dish of shells was for EDM 207 - Draw a Shell. I think I should have done just that, rather than try to draw a whole bunch of shells! One day I may find my style. In fact, one day I may find out how to sketch :-)

But since I totally enjoy doing it I don't think it really matters what the final sketch looks like and I'm working on the theory that the more I sketch the better it'll get. Mind you, looking back over my sketch book I'm not too sure of that!! Still, gotta keep at it. Going on holiday to Spain later this week and will make sure I keep my sketchbook with me all the time and practice, practice, practice.

My Word for 2009

After reading Christine Kane's blog on a Resolution Revolution I decided that it was silly to, yet again, make the same old resolutions that are forgotten within days. So I thought long and hard about choosing a single word to keep by me for 2009 and finally decided on "Connect".

This is to remind me to connect with:

• My friends and colleagues - making sure I both listen to, and hear, what they say
• My spiritual core - making sure to regularly stop, be quiet, breathe and try to connect with my inner self
• My environment - studying it, watching how I interact with it, taking care of it
• My world - resolving to try and shop locally whenever possible, recycle everything I can and reduce my carbon footprint

But above all, it's to remind me that everything I do impacts on all of the above - we all interconnect with each other and our environments.

Holly

Last sketch for 2008. Thought it should be more colourful so sketched on top of a watercolour wash with Rotring Rapidograph .25 and painted with liquid acrylics. Decided not to write over the top of this one except for the date.

Storage jars

I was finding my PITT artists pen was giving much too thick a line for this type of sketching, even using the fine tip, so this time I used a Rotring technical drawing pen with a 0.25 nib. I think it's going to be much more useful and have ordered a 0.13 nib for an even finer line. The ink flow can be a little tricky until it gets going properly but you can't beat these types of pen for really fine drawing.

It's such a beautiful day outside - deep frost and bright blue sky - so I'm going to take Misty (Irish Wolfhound) out for another walk. Don't think I'll try any plein air drawing though - fingers would be frozen stiff within seconds!

Olive Oil and Lemon

Yes - more food related scribblings. Must stop this and find some other subjects. Maybe a self-portrait - oooh, scary! Or a portrait of my Irish Wolfhound - she'll never stay still long enough. Actually, I'm rubbish at people and animals so may try these out off-blog.

Coffee and Jam

This is THE MOST IMPORTANT piece of equipment in my house. I can't do without my coffee and am really fussy about how it's made. Instant coffee is a complete no no. Filter coffee is so so (OK at work). Cafetiere is good if it's just been made and the coffee is a really great one.

But above all those is coffee made with my bean-to-cup machine. I've listed some of the coffees I love and am always open to suggestions for others (as long as they're good, strong coffee).


And this is my favourite jam. What could be better than a warm croissant spread with apricot jam with a great cup of coffee? Complete heaven!