Blue Goose, Blue Goose, Snow Goose

I love using unusual papers. This is a handmade paper that was given to me because I gave the papermaker pieces if mica. She put the mica into her paper pulp and made beautiful flecked sheets of paper. Unfortunately in the reproduction you can not see the mica flecks that glitter when they catch the light. It is very unique paper and I only have a few sheets of it. This drawing was done using the same birds that I had already sketched. I mainly used a very soft graphite pencil for the black and added the white and orange with soft pastels. Again, this paper was a challenge to work on. It is unsized and I had to work very lightly and gently. Sometimes the mica flakes would fall off if I worked over an area too much.

Tree Study

I love working in pen and ink almost as much as I love painting. I am starting a group of paintings today that use watercolor with pen and ink. This drawing is unusual in that I am working with pen and ink on unsized Japanese paper. It was very tricky to get a good drawing. I had to use a light touch because the paper absorbed the ink so quickly. Also, the soft paper fiber would get caught in the pen nib. I did have a few blobs, but I was able to hide them. I like the color of the sepia ink on the textured Japanese paper.

Mixed Bouquet

Here is another little bouquet of flowers. It is that time of year when we are thinking about things changing and blooming. My garden so far only has weeds, but some of my perennial plants are coming back. I am anxious to go out and buy more plants for the garden.

Blue Still Life

This is the time of year for daffodils and tulips. This little bouquet was sitting on my dining room table and I loved the way the sun highlighted the edges of the flowers.

Snow Goose Study II

I love sketching birds. They are so complicated, but I love drawing the way the feathers overlap and the interesting shapes of their bills and feet. The Denver Museum of Nature and Science has such amazing displays. These birds are somehow suspended to look like they are flying, but it is impossible to see the wires holding them up. I have only drawn these birds, but I want to paint them. They are so graceful.

Canada Goose Study

I was sketching at the Denver Zoo this week and was amazed at how the zoo has been taken over by Canada Geese. They were everywhere. They are nesting on top of the rock habitats for the Dall Sheep and the Bighorn Sheep. They have taken over all of the plant islands in the walkways. I started to sit down on a bench and found them tucked under the bench. A little boy was all excited. "Look, Miss, an egg!" Yes, lying right in the middle of the walkway was a large goose egg. When I set up my stool and started working, geese came running towards me honking like crazy. It turned out that it wasn't me they were after. Something else had made them angry. I was relieved because I have been attacked by a goose. So instead of drawing and painting the "exotic" animals, I had to sketch the geese.

Looking West

What an amazing day. The clouds rolled in late in the day and it was dark and threatening. When I look west from my house, I see the Front Range Mountains. The sun sets behind them so they get very hazy and dark against the setting sun sky. Sometimes the colors are amazing. Sometimes the treeless hills in the front catch the sunlight and the mountains are dark. It is always dramatic and awesome.

Iris Collage

An artist is always trying to figure out creative ways to do things. My problem with watercolors is what to do with the watercolors that didn't work. So, here is one solution: make a collage. This collage has elements from three failed paintings. Other solutions are to cover the painting with gesso and start over. Or, my favorite solution is to put the painting in the bathtub and then wash it. There is a ghost image, but over all the painting can be reworked to make it better.

Old Moose

I am hoping to paint more animals. Here is an old moose to go with my old hippo. This is a charcoal drawing of a moose.. have used this study in a painting, but the painting didn't work. I may try doing just a moose portrait and then try to place him into a setting for a more formal painting. We'll see how it works out. Why is this all so hard???

Old Hippo

Well, I was drawing at the Denver Zoo last week and did a quick sketch of a sleeping hippopotamus. I came home and painted this color study. What fun! This hippo is old, 52 years old, and has fathered 27 hippos. Luckily he slept just long enough for me to get a great sketch.

Snow Goose Study

As much as I love painting, I also love to draw. Many years ago, I decided that it would be great to be a bird illustrator. I took a workshop in bird anatomy and heard the instructor tell us that birds are the most difficult animals to draw and paint. Boy, was that encouraging! Because of their anatomy and they have feathers instead of fur, they have very few points where there bones appear at the surface. Bones are reference points for drawing human and animal anatomy. Plus, birds move their feathers around and can make themselves look totally different by how they puff up or slick down their feathers. Some birds change their feather patterns and colors from one season to another so this adds another variable. Here I am, many years later, attempting to draw and paint birds. Wish me luck!

Hollyhocks

Well, I was out working in the garden today for the first time this spring. It was not hot, but definitely warm enough to weed and start looking at which plants made it through the winter and which ones didn't. This is an old painting of hollyhocks. I loved growing them back east and am hoping to put some in here in Colorado. I can't wait to start filling in empty spaces in our huge back yard. I love the xeric plants that we have put in and am amazed by how many things grow out here even though the deer come and hang out in our yard.

From Chautauqua Park

This image is from Chautauqua Park looking towards the Flatirons. The time of day is evening when the mountains turn blue because the sun is getting closer to them. I love painting this little sketches. They challenge me because I have to work quickly and I learn so much about value and color.

April Snow - NCAR

Well, just when we thought that spring had come, we had another three to five inches. Lyle and I went up to NCAR, the National Center for Atmospheric Research, to paint and take pictures. It was too cold to paint outside. My paints were freezing and becoming very stiff. Also, my hands were freezing. I did a quick sketch and then came home and painted this from my sketch and photos.

Flamingo

For many years I have wanted to draw and paint birds. I love watching birds and have tried to draw them. They are so complicated, but I have sketched them from life, bird skins, photos, and mounted specimens in museums. This flamingo was painted from a photo, but I also have sketched flamingos from life. I am submitting this painting and another to the annual Birds in Art exhibition.

Spring Runoff

It was so warm today that it truly felt like spring. Although, they are predicting snow tomorrow. Such is the weather in Colorado. They are fearful that this year we will have a major spring runoff because of all the snow in the mountains. This means that when it gets warm, and if it gets warm quickly, we will have lots of water coming into our creeks. This little creek is in Eldorado Canyon about 6 miles south of where I live.

Paperwhites - The End

This is the third and final part of this painting. When I painted it, I was so fascinated by the bulbs, the roots, and the shapes that the leaves formed. I have wanted to also paint the flowers, but that will have to wait for another year. Daffodils are blooming here, but the time for forcing bulbs is a winter activity.

Paperwhites - The Story Continues

Here is part two of the Paperwhites painting. I love working with pen and ink and watercolor. I usually use a sepia colored ink and have preferred the Pelikan sepia ink for years. However, it is hardly available anymore. Plus they have changed the recipe of the ink. It used to be waterproof, but no more. I like to do the drawings first and then color them with watercolor. Part 3 tomorrow!

Paperwhites - Page 1

This is a three part blog. This is only part of a painting that I did. I have done so many artist's books over the years that I wanted to incorporate the page concept of a book into a painting. These paperwhite bulbs seemed perfect for that idea. This painting also uses text. I like working with pen and ink because it not only gives a different dimension to the watercolor, but also because I can use it to add a caption to the image.

Three Sandhill Cranes

This is another sketch done at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Sandhill Cranes are so special. I remember the first time that I ever saw one. It was at dusk in a horse pasture in Maryland in the suburbs northwest of Washington, DC. At first I heard the odd crxx, crxx sound that the crane makes and then I saw this prehistoric head appear up out of a ditch. It was almost dark and I felt as if I were back in dinosaur times. The crane then marched out of the ditch so that I could see all of him. As the sun set he began flying around the pasture. Cranes do not usually migrate through Maryland. This one was lost. Maybe that made the whole experience with the bird more mystical. I've never forgotten this first encounter and I have taken every opportunity since to seek out these birds. They are magical.

White-tailed Deer

This is a sight that I don't see very often in Colorado. I see Mule Deer in our neighborhood. White-tailed deer are not as common. I saw them pretty often in my Takoma Park, Maryland, neighborhood and friends of mine in D.C. had deer trails going through their yard.

Sandhill Cranes Passing Through

The Sandhill Cranes are migrating through our area. I haven't seen them, but I have seen White Pelicans (yes pelicans in Colorado) and American Avocets. There are also a lot of ducks. Here is a sketch of a crane at Bosque del Apache. Sometime we want to visit Monte Vista wildlife refuge. Cranes migrate through the San Luis Valley in March. We went skiing instead this year. Maybe next year we will go see them.

Mist and Mountains

Amazingly, they are predicting snow again tonight. The clouds were moving into the mountains as the sun was setting. We get these amazing ground fogs and misty, wispy clouds that form around the mountains. They move too fast for me to paint, so I just watch them.

Moose Cow

Well, it was another day drawing at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. I had a terrible time drawing at fox. They are so hard to capture, something about their structure. I had a similar problem with coyote, but was able to get some decent drawings. I did however get an ok sketch of this moose cow. I will try fox again next week. Maybe I will be able to draw the fox next week.

Tulips: Spring is Coming

This is an older painting. The last two days have been so beautiful that I have had little time to paint. I have been out hiking and enjoying the warm weather. This painting was sold as soon as I finished it. A neighbor of mine bought it and luckily I was able to get a photo of it. Tulips are starting to bloom here, mainly the early ones. Next fall I will plant tulips and crocus in my garden so that I can paint them in the spring.

Coot Lake in the Fall

Creating these small paintings has been such an important experience for me. I was told that painting 100 small paintings were an important way to learn. I also have wanted for so long to paint many of the photos that I have taken over the years. There never seems to be enough time to paint these as large paintings, but it is so satisfying to finally paint them even though they are just small sketches. I am also learning about color and composition.

Sprague Lake–Rocky Mountain National Park

Not too far from Boulder is Rocky Mountain National Park. Sprague Lake is in the park and has spectacular views of the mountains. This painting is of a fall scene, not a spring scene. I need to get out this spring and paint, paint, paint!

Spring Storm

The mountains have were surrounded by clouds today. The rocks rose out of the clouds and were lit by the sun. It was supposed to snow today, but the we only saw a few flakes. I think that we are starting to see more signs of spring.

Sand Storm at Monument Valley

When we tried to go to Monument Valley, there was a sand storm. We saw the stone formations at muted and soft, so different from all the spectacular photos that I was familiar with. I tried to capture that feeling in this painting. We didn't go into Monument Valley because of the sand storm. We only saw it like this from the road.

April First—First Daffodils

April 1st, the snow has melted, at least until later this week when more is predicted, and here are some of the first daffodils. My other flowers are all wilted and frozen! Today was chilly and cold, but sunny with a blue sky. Eighteen inches of snow fell in the mountains. Daffodils are here, but the ski season is not over yet.