blueberries and strawberries and raspberries, oh my!

I bought these at the farmer’s market last weekend.

I painted them. Then I ate them. Yum!

it starts as a few patches of color...

…then I ink in a butterfly shape with black.

After that, I keep layering in watercolor to “find” the flowers.

The perfect activity if you need some rest and relaxation.

I had a good long weekend…despite hurting my back doing yard work. Ugh.

a peek in my sketchbook

Winding down the week…and getting ready for a nice 3-day weekend!

This week:

• I hopped on the Pinterest train…omg…it’s addicting
• My “baby” turned 29!! I can’t believe it
• The weather turned hot again…ugh
• Daisies are blooming and lots and lots of daylilies, too
• I’ve been eating too much vanilla ice cream covered in strawberries…so good
• Tomorrow there will be more blueberries at the farmer’s market…I’m going early to buy more

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

juicy strawberries

Dear Strawberry,

I have loved seeing you again this year. You are so yummy. You are delicious topped with whipped cream. Or in jell-o. Or served up with vanilla yogurt. Mmmmmmm.

I know that it’s almost time for you to go away. I will miss you. I know I will see you next year…but that is so far away.

Oh, I know I can find you at the grocery store most of the year. But that is just some poor imitation of the real, sweet, delicious YOU that I love!

So until next year…I will enjoy every single juicy moment with you.

xoxo

grapes

Just grapes. And no ink outlines!! It was really, really, really hard to NOT ink this in.

Sometimes, a painting just doesn’t look right to me unless it has ink.

I think it’s because of my early art influences…color books and Walt Disney cartoons. They both have dark outlines on everything!

fruit salad

Food is one of my favorite things to draw, so I’m having fun with this month’s fruits and vegetables theme.

I bought lots of fruit this weekend to make a fruit salad. If I keep it on hand and ready-to-eat, I tend to go with a healthy choice.

Anyway, here are some drawings before they went into the bowl.

patterns

Last week, I wrote about a book I had found and it got me started noticing all the patterns around me.

I see patterns in nature, my clothes, the rug in my office, my bluetooth, packaging, junk mail…it’s everywhere!

Care to share the patterns you see around you?

five-spice oranges

Another “sketch” for May’s fruits and vegetables theme. This is what my grandson refers to as “cutting and gluing.” I just used paper I had on hand, and a little bit of ink to enhance it.

I love this recipe. It’s very tasty and very low-fat. I got it from this cookbook…which is absolutely full of wonderful recipes. Trust me!

You just slice the oranges (into rounds not chunks…although I guess you could. It’s your orange!) Arrange them on a plate. I add the spices to the honey and microwave for 10-15 seconds…just enough to thin the honey a little bit. Then drizzle the honey over the oranges. Top the oranges with crystalized ginger. Delish!!

full house

Apples on pears. Doodles from my sketchbook.

farmer's market

The farmer’s market in our town opened for the season a few weeks ago. This is a drawing of some of my purchases this week.

There were delicious.

This month’s theme at Sketchbook Challenge is Fruits and Vegetables…feel free to join in!

patterns

Last weekend, I went to a used bookstore and found a real treasure. It is a book called Romanesque Art and is full of wonderful black and white photos.

I make some sketches of sections that really caught my eye. I love the detail in the architecture, the fluid style in the artwork, but my favorite was all the little details. The patterns in the stone and carvings are so amazing!

This got me to noticing patterns in everything around me. I mean everything!!

strawberry season

I love, love, love strawberry season!! We grow them in our garden. To keep the squirrels, birds and rabbits out, we keep the plants covered with a net.

Those critters are notorious for eating a bite or two from each strawberry!

I have made strawberry pie, jell-o with strawberries and just plain strawberries! So good!

weekend plans

• Make one more trip to the garden center for more annuals. Plant them
• Draw and paint flowers that have already bloomed…hollyhocks, daylilies, daisies are just begging to be painted
• Go to farmer’s market for fruit and veggies
• Draw and paint my purchases. Fruits and veggies are the theme for May at Sketchbook Challenge
• Have a margarita and/or chocolate cake to celebrate my birthday on Saturday
• Draw and paint a margarita and/or chocolate cake. Are you starting to see a pattern here?

Hope your weekend is wonderful!

somebody loved

I created this little accordion book. I didn’t do it all at once. It was sort of something I worked on over time. It took months to find just the right images.

First take a listen to the song “Somebody Loved” by The Weepies, if you’re not familiar with it. I think the song is amazing. (If this link doesn’t work for you, there are a couple of versions out on YouTube you can search for.)

I typed up the lyrics and then set about finding the imagery. There were a couple of images that I either had trouble finding or if I did find something, it was too large, small or just looked wrong on the page.

In those instances, I made my own painting or drawing.

I love making mini books…whether it’s collage or photos or drawings…they’re just out of the ordinary and fun!