Reflect

Illustration Friday "reflect"

Goodbye 2013, Hello 2014!

Best wishes to all my friends and family as you reflect upon the year gone by, and the new year approaching. (cozy cat optional)

xo

"Prints of the Year" Show

These are the two pieces that I am entering in the 2014 "Prints of the Year" exhibit, curated by Parker Potter, at the Robert Lincoln Levy Gallery in Portsmouth NH. The show runs from January 2--January 31.

Both prints are reduction block prints made from soft-cut blocks, hand-printed using Akua inks.
The sunflower print has 6 layers and the birch trees print has 4 but is printed on black paper.

Here are the beginning stages of the sunflower print. Fortunately I was able to take pictures of gorgeous  sunflowers on my walks around town last summer.

The birches print was made last spring for a "print exchange" that I participated in through "The Sketchbook Project".

The Opening Reception is on Friday January 3 from 5--8 pm. If the weather cooperates, I'll be there!

Only 2 shopping days left...

Illustration Friday "Spirit"

I'm a little behind schedule with this week's IF post! This was last week's theme, but it was an incredibly busy week at work due to deadlines for the Scholastic Art Awards Program, overall pre-Christmas craziness (thankfully high school students are not quite as excited as elementary school kids), the college daughter home for winter break with all her stuff, and cruddy weather that made for some hazardous driving and nasty commuting.

I'm so happy to be on Holiday break until the second of January. After a really lovely Christmas Sunday service, and some Christmas brunch grocery shopping, I plunked down on the couch, and read the Sunday papers from cover to cover. What a treat!

Illustration Friday "pattern"

This week's IF theme, "pattern" inspired me to do a somewhat accurate rendering of my Grant family tartan design. We're expecting a snowstorm here Saturday night, so hoping for a White Christmas this year!

Last night I joined up with a group of local art teachers for a fun evening of "sip and paint".  The concept of everyone painting the same picture is sort of against the philosophy of what we encourage in our classes, but we had a great time interpreting the theme in our own styles.

(I'm the one in the back row, third from the left)

Happy Anniversary!

                   Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!!

"shadow"

Illustration Friday "Shadow"

There have been a lot of cold and windy days recently. Today is milder but the heavy rains have been coming down since last night. Fortunately, Turkey Day is expected to be bright and sunny tomorrow with temperatures in the 30's F.

It's nice to have my girls home for a bit, while we celebrate Thanksgiving with the extended families!
Best Wishes for a happy day!

"Tail" Illustration Friday

Illustration Friday (pony)"tails"

I wasn't one of those little girls who drew horses all the time, so I'm hoping my rendering of a horse's behind is somewhat accurate.

Raw and rainy here today. Kind of drab now that the autumn leaves have browned up and fallen off many of the trees. I'm looking forward to a field trip this week to the MFA, and having a tour of the John Singer Sergeant watercolor exhibit. It is supposed to be sunny but cold in the 30's.

I've been working on a sunflower print for a while, and am finally getting closer to the end. I'll post some images of the process in my next post.