Andalucia and Beyond

Off on another adventure. This time to Spain and Morocco. We'll be visiting the cities that comprise Al Andalucia (Madrid, Seville, Cordoba, Granada, along with Gibraltar, Fez, Marrakesh, and Casablanca.)  Leaving May 1 returning May 15, 2015. Not sure I'll get to post to this blog until I return but check back to see what adventures we'll have. 

Another Visit to China in My Memory

I'm taking another Imaginary Trip to a past VaCa with Laure Ferlita. I think this is the third time that I've taken this class and relived and sketched trips to the Alps, particularly Chamonix FR, a Bohemian adventure through Prague and Budapest and this trip I trying to capture some of my trip to China.  I will be leaving soon for Spain and Morocco and certainly hope that I will actually sketch on location instead of waiting until I get home and sketching from photographs that I've taken.

Happy April 1

It's finally beginning to look a little like spring around West Michigan.  Warmer weather and a tulip bulbs peeking their heads above the snow that is still on the ground.  Our temps should clime to the upper 50s today and the sun is shining.  

Bear and I are slowly getting ready for out trip to Spain and Morocco in a month. When my mind and body is still "cold" and there's a bit of snow on the ground it's hard to decide what to pack.  It will be fun to get out the spring clothes, trying them on...hoping the still fit from late year...or maybe a bit looser.  Bear has his own wardrobe so we'll hove to short that out

Birthday Celebration

Spent the evening with dear friends and they had a small birthday celebration for me. Wonderful time with a red velvet birthday cupcake too boot. I created this little thank you card for them.

My Timeout Chair

I'll bet you can tell where I want to be. I'm sure that much of the U.S. is very tired of winter about now. I do enjoy winter sports and love snow, but I'm getting very grumpy and tired of winter. My friend and I were braving the 1 degree temperature with a wind chill of -10 degrees and snow shoeing Sunday. We remarked to each other that "This really isn't much fun any more." Here in Michigan it'll be another 2 months at least before we begin to see the signs of spring.  We have actually had snow on Memorial Day. 

(update) I guess my snow shoeing and running days are done for the season as I broke my toe yesterday. I'm fine just difficult to walk.  But it has gotten me back in the pool after a 6month haiteus. 

Bear and I are leaving tomorrow for a couple of days going Little River Casino. (Manistee MI) As you know, I like to play the slot machines and it's a good little get away. One of my good friends, Kristi, is treating me for my birthday. Would like to be traveling to a warmer climate, but at least I get to stay I a hotel with a pool and restaurants.

I've green busy working on the e-book illustrations . I think it's coming along pretty well. Just a few more sketches to go and I think I'll be finished. This has been pretty exciting. It'll be fun to see my name in print as 'illustrator'.  I'll post some of the sketches and the book when it's finished.

A Few More Remembrances from the Beach

A few more sketches from my wonderful trip Winter Interrupted 

We've had a lot of snow in the past few days and I've been painting in the mornings and snowshoeing in the afternoons.  It's so wonderful to have warm things to paint. Hoping we get to the beach again in a few weeks.  Bear is staying warm and playing with his mini beach ball but is longing for the beach too.

Extending the Glow

 Three of my sketches that I did while recently enjoying a sketching holiday to St Pete Beach, FL.  Eight women, who love to sketch, met together to sketch, eat and have fun.  Our instructor, Laure Ferlita, teaches on line watercolor journaling classes and she put this trip together for us. We have all been friends on FB for several years and this was an opportunity to meet face to face. Sketching was fun; food and drink delicious and no words to describe the bonding and friendships that happened.

It  was a great opportunity to get out of cold, snowy Michigan for a few days and travel to the warmth of the sand, surf  and sun. I've fantasied about taking a painting trip for years and finally I got to do just that and at the beach...my favorite place to be.

We stayed at the Trade Winds Resort and it was absolutely perfect. Lots and lots to do. My room overlooked the ocean to the west. Sunset every evening. We sketched at John's Pass Village, Clearwater Marine Aquarium, and the Sunken Gardens and of course the beach.  Ate great food and had lively conversations.

If you are interested in sketching with watercolor you really should check out Laure's classes- Imaginary Trips and join us in the fun.

Bear was just as happy to get out of Michigan as I was. Didn't find a t shirt for him however but Laure did include a 'bear' size beach ball that kept him entertained.

Ciao everyone. Have a good day.
Please leave a comment below if you would like. I'd love to hear from you.

Ice Palaces and Cold

Our weather has been brutally cold the last few days.  Wind chills in the negative single digits with howling winds. 40 mph! We have had over a foot of snow with lots of drifting.  This Polar Vortex (as the weather people call it) is moving all across the US and deep into the southern parts of the country.

While out snowshoeing I came across this cottage near the lake. Something about it reminded me of the ice palace at Varykino in the movie Dr Zhivago. (1965) Although if you check out the link, the ice palace has much more ice than this little cottage.  I discovered that the creation of the ice palace was done in frozen beeswax and chipped marble and was filmed in Spain.

I don't mind winter in Michigan if we have snow. Not quite as much as we had last winter, however. Snow on the ground seems to brighten up the day quite a bit even if the sun isn't shining.  The grey, dreary days really do get me down...rainy days and Monday's as the say.

Pinch Hitter Course

I've been taking flight lessons, well landing lessons really, for the past month.  I am leaning to land an aircraft in case of an emergency.  Since my husband and I travel quite a bit in our

Our plane landing

Beachcraft Debonair
and he's the professional pilot, we thought it would be a good idea for me to get familiar with the workings of our aircraft and be able to land it in case of an emergency if he were incapacitated. Who knew there was a course for learning to land a plane safely during an emergency?

Grumman Tiger first lesson ready to taxi.

Well to "land" one has to learn to "take off" first.  Taking off is much preferable to landing for me but one has to land to get back on Terra firma, hopefully with the plane in tack and one can walk away.  My very first lesson the instructor has me 'take off'.  It was amazing and very scary.

The plane I was learning in (a Grumman Tiger) was one with dual controls...like the cars student drivers use. I had flown our plan for a few minutes a couple of times but this was a whole new ball game...pun intended.

After 7 hours of flying time I passed my course as well as the AOPA's (aircraft owners' and pilots' association) written course.  My instructor says I can call myself  "an inexperienced pilot".  I won't go on to get a license but it is nice to know what the plane will and won't do...takes away a lot of the anxiety.

Love learning new things especially at age 66.

Another try at reflections on water

Pretty pleased with the way this turned out. I only spent 30 minutes on the entire page. I might do a little more pen work on the trees and the reflection and darken the water behind the bird a bit. But OK!

Another art assignment finished...well sort of

The latest assignment for my sketching class was to create a cover/title page for our sketchbook from a previous trip. The suit case is the size that can be carried on board..for now at least. It originally belonged to my mother and when she passed away I took it over. I have now had it for over 20 years and decided to use fabric paints to write some of the cities an countries that I have visited rolling it along in tow.  It's been on almost every trip I have taken and is pretty easy to identify on the luggage carousel  in the event I have to check it.

I realized that I had the wrong dates on my title page so had to get out the trusty White Sharpie poster pen to correct them. I also added some of the blue around the edges of the suitcase and backpack to tie the page together a bit.

Signs of spring???Maybe????

Tiny shoots of spring

Darby and Woody

It's beginning  to warm up a bit around here. In fact it is supposed to get up to 60 degrees today. The snow is still hanging on but I can see a bit of spring green out and about. The boys are so happy to finally be able to get out and dig around in the ground checking for those winter smells that

have been left behind.

First & Second Assignments Finished

 I'm working on some sketches from my trip last fall to Central Europe, including Austria, Czech Republic and Hungary

The first sketch is a Journal Highlight Page. I took a lot of 'artist license' with it as it is a composite of the photos below.

In another class we are learning how to paint water. The second sketch is more about the glass with water than the flowers.

Another Beginning

It's been almost a year since I've been here.  My where has the time gone? I don't know why I don't keep up with this. I like writing but I just seem to let other things (like life) get in my way.

 I am excited and motivated because I'm taking another art class (Imaginary Trips) with Laure Ferlita.  This trip is to a "past vacation". I actually took this in class May 2013 and loved it; so I thought I'd take it again and 'sketch' my trip to Europe that I took in September 2013.

Laure also has a beautiful blog , Painted Thoughts, She did a wonderful post on 'The Messy Desks of Creatives'. She ask those of us who read her blog to send pictures of our creative spaces, aka Messy Desks, and these are two that I sent her.  My space is about 4x4 space in the corner of our living room and I do enjoy it, but would love to have a real studio.

In the picture to the right is a silhouette of me when I was in second grade. My teacher had a silhouette artist come to our class. She cut the silhouettes of each student free hand, then we made them into a card for Mother's Day.  I had no idea that my mother had kept this and found it among her things after she died. What a special treasure.

De plane, De plane!

The engine removed

New prop

New engine w/o all of it's parts and pieces

New engine where it's supposed to be

After a month or so of waiting for a new engine and prop for the plane, it's it finally in/on the plane. It will still take another couple of weeks for all of the hoses and wires to be attached, then test flying and then hopefully it will be fly worthy by mid June.  

Made in Japan

Spent a few hours sketching and painting as today is pretty rainy and cold for June 2 (52 F). It's only going to get in the low 60's if that today. Crazy weather all around the world. Can we say Global Warming?

This little figure belonged to my grandmother. It was sent to her by my father when he was stationed in Japan (1946) just after WWII. You may be familiar with the term Made in Occupied Japan (1945-1952) It was a marking put on 50% of the pieces exported from Japan. This piece doesn't have the term 'Occupied Japan' on it, but I have other pieces that he sent that have (Made in OJ). It is hideously painted but I have always loved it for whatever reason. It's been lost and found many, many times. He reminds me of some of the Beatrix Potter's characters and I named him Winston.

Thank You Veterans-especially mine!

Memorial Day in Michigan brings rain and very cool temperatures. My special hubby didn't like me taking a picture of him so this is all I got...He's a quite man! I want to thank him for his many years of service to our country and the benefits that he has shared with me. I loved the military life and miss it but retirement is wonderful.  I am very fortunate to have him in my life. 

He drove his Corvette in the local parade with a WWII Vet as a passenger...2 vets in a vet.
I hope everyone had a wonderful day and made a special effort to thank and remember those who have served our country and bless those and their families who gave the ultimate sacrifice.

My garden is finally beginning to flourish. It's been a long wait to see blooms and regrowth. The iris are the first in my garden this year. My purple and other colors will open probably tomorrow if we get some sun. 

Lovely Trip to Colon, MI

Back in the water

Humming Bird on her deck

Rose bush that I purchased.
Smells divine

Beautiful sunset sky

Mama and her 5 babies

Just returned from a wonderful week with my friend who lives in Colon, MI, the Magic Capitol of the World. She lives on Long Lake and has the most incredible views of wild life and sunsets. These pictures will definitely go in to my 'stuff to paint' folder. We went into Battle Creek to a nursery to purchase annuals for planting in her flower boxes which we spent two days planting.  They looked very nice.Now I have to work on my own annuals.

Spring Has Finally Sprung!!!!

Spring has finally come to my corner of Michigan.  It's been a very looooong wait but I have to say it was worth it. Our winters are usually lots of fun with snow and cold weather, but as in most regions of the world this has been one weird weather year.

Tulip Time 2013 begins in our town on Saturday with lots of tulips, food, fireworks and 3 parades. It's a crazy time for us residents but loads of tour buses and visitors come.

I have been kind of in a funk and grumpy for about 2 months now and am gratefully coming out of it.  Life is good again and I'm excited to get to those spring/summer activities.

Also Laure Ferlita is starting a new class today and I am very excited to get back to sketching.  Her classes are just the best and the people that I've met are wonderful.

I hope to keep this blog more up to date and post some of my work.

Get out and enjoy your day, wherever it takes you. 

Happy Holidays

A holiday display at the Venetian



Holiday display at the Wynn



UPDATE: I didn't get this posted when it was actually written so here's what's been going on since 11.14 ...which is not very much. Life has slowed to a crawl and I love that even amidst the hustle and bustle of the Season. We don't celebrate with family until January. H and I made our annual trip to Las Vegas and it was great. I do love that city but only for a few days. The diversity and decadence is wonderful. It's particularly a winter fantasy world this time of year.
Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season and that the peace and love that is wished this time of year will carry through all of 2013 and beyond. Our world needs peace.

November 14, 2012
Life has been busy for the past few weeks. Everyone is healthy. H and I have gotten our flu shots and the Boyz have gotten their Kennel cough shots. I finished up another sketching class and miss it terribly. Laure are you listening? Unfortunately I haven't made the time to do a proper sketch in weeks...done a few tangles...because I have been knitting. I am a seasonal knitter. I knit one sweater, usually for myself a year and several scarves and hats. I'll be over this phase in my life about the time we leave for Marathon in the spring and it will be on to other things that are my passion. One of my favorite yarns is Noro. These yarns are produced in Japan and are lovely. I usually have two projects going at one time. I'm currently knitting a sweater/hoodie for me and making a scarf to donate to the local retirement village's craft shop. (sweater is now finished)
Our weather, like a lot of the rest of the country, is unseasonably warm. We have had more sun than we usually have this time of the year, which is OK by me and the Boyz. I have even skipped the gym a couple of times in lieu of walking.