Digby driftwood

This gorgeous piece, about six feet tall, was in the Historic Gardens in Digby, Nova Scotia.

Something I would have drawn if there'd been drawing time on this "keep moving" part of the trip.

Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia

The view from the deck off our B&B room. The Cove and the ocean beyond the lighthouse. Fabulous place.

Lismore lamb

In Nova Scotia I enticed the group to visit the Lismore Sheep Farm.

They had lambs born in March and May (this guy is May), gorgeous yarns, and the lovely birch needles that John Crawford makes. It was a delight to talk with him.

And I now have smooooth new dpns and the new swing needles. Very cool.

quick knit

I've just broken a personal speed record. I made these with yarn bought on our trip to Nova Scotia (Debbie Bliss cashmerino, on sale). Done in the same month I bought the yarn! Miracles happen.

My own design: 44 stitches around on size 4 dpns. K1 P1 ribbing broken by 3 rows of knit. The ribbing bands increase by one row each (13/14/15) as they approach the hand. I decreased the wrist-area band by 4 stitches, then increased 4 for the hand band, and put a simple slit in for the thumb hole.

It was 96 degrees here on Tuesday, 51 degrees this morning. Cool enough for modeling briefly!

farm bell

This once rang on my grandmother's Kansas farm. We installed it on my deck in the mid-1980s.

It had absolutely no rust when we got it, though it was nearly 100 years old then. The acid rain of New England has left a strong coating of red-brown corrosion with tiny pits.

Fountain pen and blue pastel in the journal.

Layered experiment

This started as a collage, then turned into a random mess.

I trimmed off the boring edge areas, most of the glued fabric, and found an animal by the yellow lake. That may be a sunset or forest fire or a volcanic burst in the distance.

Mixed media on 300# w/c paper.

a blue cocoon?

Back to playing with color and line.

I like putting down random strokes, adding, looking, then stopping when I can't see any more to be done.

The process is the reward; the product is the map of where I was.

Tech pen and w/c on thin Bristol paper.

Subtle and slow

Gray rock in gray pencil on gray paper means a slow tonal study and building up the graphite.

I have the same problem I do with drawing cat markings and shadowed fur. Hard to blend the subtle actual coloring with the shadow tones. It's a study in patience, mostly.

6H, 2H, HB, 2B pencil on Robert Bateman sketchbook paper.

Five faces plus a bird

Random doodling and playing with combinations of 4 M. Graham paints, on Super Aquabee paper.

Most daylight of the year

Summer colors, summer air, summer playing! Enjoy every minute before the cold dark returns.

Tech pen and w/c in a w/c Moleskine.

phone doodle

I never know what will come out when I doodle as I chat on the phone.

This one has a piggish face. Pen on envelope.

McIntyre's chair

In Baddeck we stayed 4 nights in a shiny new 3-bedroom house with porches and decks overlooking Bras D'Or lake. This is one of the swivel wicker chairs.

Tech pen and w/c on Super Aquabee deluxe.

Home again

Back from a great trip to Nova Scotia, 11 days circling the province with 2 longtime friends, and we all came back happy and quite satisfied.

This abstract indicates the cool weather, the blue seas, the sunny times, and the swirl of a slightly scary adventure--6 hours stranded on a remote back road with a rental car breakdown. No food, little water, cell phones dying, dark and chill moving in, and no word about the call for a tow truck sent 1 hour into the stranding.

Then he showed up with a replacement car. We drove through the foggy night for 2+ hours to get water and food, and all were totally relieved we didn't need to make an episode for "I Shouldn't Be Alive"!

The rest of the trip was super!

Going north

Tomorrow we're off to Nova Scotia to join up with friends from Kansas for a touring vacation. Art supplies, knitting projects, and cameras are packed for days of relaxation, laughter and exploration.

I'll be in Lucy Neatby country (for those who don't know, she's a super knitter/designer/teacher). Ironically, tomorrow she starts her tour of New England! She'll be an hour from my NH town on the same day I arrive in her hometown, Halifax.

Back with drawings in a couple weeks.

all right feet

Sitting on the deck, drawing the obvious. In the journal, which has very faint lines.















Another shoe focus: drawing from memory is the best way to verify that I know the subject. And a way to doodle when I have a bit of paper while waiting for the next event.

Ink and w/c on Aquabee hemp paper.

scaling

Every time I post a drawing, it's been scaled to a websize jpeg. If only all scaling to size were so easy.

Soluble pencil on Aquabee hemp paper.

yet another foot

I love barefoot weather! We get so little of it in NH.

Gel pen and w/c on Acquarius II.

the other one looks just like this

Tech pen and w/c on a new paper--Aquabee's Hemp drawing paper. It's recycled paper and 25% hemp.

Takes light washes very nicely.