On my drawing table and Peaches!

I'm getting new art ready for next weekend at:

http://www.garrisonartcenter.org/#!annual-fine-crafts-fair/cxlq

It's a lovely fair and if you are nearby you should stop in for a beautiful view of the Hudson and West Point.

New hummingbirds.

Kitty Yin Yang.

Peaches and Nectarines are in season now and it was a lovely few hours picking and visiting with a dear friend.

Enjoy your weekend!

On My Drawing Table - Author Portrait, Jane Austen

As an artist one of the scariest things for me is a white sheet of paper. Or getting to a certain point in a drawing or painting about half-way and it can either come out the way you imagined or need to start over. Especially when working with ink on bristol board.

First a careful pencil sketch, being mindful not to press too hard or erase too often.

I got this far on this one, but didn't like the eyes or the way the ruffles on the cap was looking.

 So I re-inked and made some changes, started to pencil in the framing around her and for me another fear: the great fear of lettering. Now at one time, BC (before personal computers) I worked at a nursery/garden center and my job was to make signs for the entire store. I worked with huge markers and heavy illustration board. The amount of signage varied from week to week and season to season but at the least I made 25 signs a day. All nicely calligraphic with little illustrations added here and there. It's been awhile since then.

Out came the ink, the pens and brushes. I played around for a bit and then dove in.

 

Not perfect, but I'm happy with the way it looks with the portrait.

 

Tomorrow I will erase the pencil lines and scan her in. I want to print this on some dictionary pages.

Look for her in my Etsy shop soon.

Weekend.....

Why does the weekend scoot by so quickly?

Saturday was a lovely day, my husband and I went to an Estate Sale

and a Yard Sale in the lovely little town of Millerton, NY. If you
are a tea drinker, Millerton is home to Harney and Sons Tea Company.
They have a delightful tasting room, gift shop and cafe.

 I scored some great stuff...Haeger Pottery and some beautifully
tarnished silverplate.

After a delicious lunch we traveled a few back roads...

The clouds were gorgeous and sweeping views of the rolling hills

 are really not captured in this photo.

Quaker Hill Road in Pawling, NY is a beautiful sun dappled drive.

I bought a lovely Rhododendron to plant.

Sunday was a rainy day and I spent it at my drawing table working on
my latest project: coloring pages. You can find the digital downloads on my Etsy shop:

http://www.digiliodesigns.etsy.com

Foxes in the Forest is my latest one.

Enjoy your week!

Peonies!

Peonies are my favorite flower. I love this pink and white one.

This one is an heirloom from a transplanted bush from a local botanical garden that closed.

I love the late afternoon sunlight and the delicate scent of these.

Setting up for a still life...

and celebrating a special birthday for a special someone with my favorite men!

A Week of Flowers

My week started off with beautiful Mother's Day Flowers from my son. I wish he was able to come home but we had a nice phone chat.

My lilac bush that was planted two years ago had a few blooms and a gorgeous visitor this week.

The Mid Atlantic White Violet made it's appearance.

As did the Yellow Clover flower.

And ended with this lovely niece going to her senior prom.

A very Happy Mother's Day to all!

Bitsy Owls

I finished up this little guy on Friday, it was a special request to do a smaller owl.

He stands at 5 1/2" tall. 

 His buddy Blue.