England: Cross Keys Pub

Another page from my journal of my imaginary trip to England - I had a great time. 

EDiM10 My hand

Its faint .... but its there. Yes, that's my left hand - bent fingers and all. This was an interesting exercise and I amazed myself in finishing it in under 10 minutes. 

EDiM12 Dinnertime!!

Its unusually cold here this year and we even getting some rain. As I drove home from work I noticed the dark clouds rolling in ...and decided that it felt like soup weather. So I fixed up a pot of homemade tomato soup with spinach. Not bad for a quick dinner after work! 


P.S. My EDiM (Everyday Matters assignments done Every Day in May (well sort of)) posts are going to be out of order as I get an opportunity to attempt them. 

EDiM13 My cell phone and .....

My cell phone and old fashioned letters have vital communication links for me. They are especially priceless with my two sons who have flown out of our nest.  I'm glad to have multiple ways to reach them when our spare minutes line up -- a cell phone call, text message, email or online chatting, or real letter in the mail!! While I make use of all of these methods of communication, the best by far is a chat in person and a big HUG!! 


P.S. My EDiM (Everyday Matters assignments done Every Day in May (well sort of)) posts are going to be out of order as I get an opportunity to attempt them. 
   EDIM13 = Draw a telephone

EDiM11 Sunglasses

I will say that this EDM challenge is a good discipline to find something to draw each day.  I surprised myself in freehand drawing these sunglasses.  Perfect - no way ... but much better than I would have drawn a year ago!! Its true - practice, practice, practice!!!

EDiM5 Bed in the Cozy Corner at Mom's

The EDM5 challenge is to draw a bed. The first bed that came to mind is the day bed at my mom's. Its a comfy bed in a cozy little room making for a special get-away retreat. When I decided to sketch this bed I didn't have a photo reference - but I thought of a secret way to get a photo reference. My sister-in-law Amor came to my rescue by taking a photo and sending me the digital image. I think Mom will be surprised! 

EDiM4 Draw a cup or mug

This is my 'comfort mug' - my everyday mug for my morning coffee.


P.S. My EDiM (Everyday Matters assignments done Every Day in May (well sort of)) posts are going to be out of order as I get an opportunity to attempt them. 

EDiM7 Draw a bottle from the Kitchen

I couldn't stop with just one. I chose 2 of my favorite bottles from the kitchen - Vanilla and Balsamic Vinegar. What a combination!! 


P.S. My EDiM (Everyday Matters assignments done Every Day in May (well sort of)) posts are going to be out of order as I get an opportunity to attempt them. 

EDiM8 Draw a piece of Jewelry

I decided to draw my 'comfort jewelry' -- what I go for day after day - a set of 3 simple, silver cuff bracelets. My very first silver cuff bracelet was given to me by my Grammy years ago when I was a little girl. It was a souvenir from her visit to the Grand Canyon. I still have that small bracelet in my jewelry box and I cherish it. That bracelet got me started on my fondness for these simple pieces of silver jewelry.


This sketch is the 3 bracelets that I wear on most days. The two bracelets on the right were purchased in Williamsburg a few years ago as my souvenirs from a family vacation. The bracelet on the left is a new one that I recently ordered with my own words. I'm very fond of 'quotes' and I'm always scribbling them on scraps of napkins or pieces of paper. But every now and then I ask myself why I don't have the confidence to use my own words more.... instead of always looking for someone else's words. When an opportunity came up to order a bracelet with any words I wanted -- I decided to go with my own words:  
  Find the joy in your life....


These words are a message to myself - an instruction to take the initiative to try to find the bright spots each day.   


P.S. You may notice that I like to do many things in 3's -- because I'm the mom of 3 great sons.

EDiM3 One of my Art Bags

I have quite a few bags for all different reasons. Several are used for my art supplies. This is one of my "fun" art bags. I purchased it at a Farmer's Market in Morro Bay a couple of years ago. It is made from a pair of recycled jeans for a small girl. Its even got some pink flowers on it and small ruffles - definitely "girly". This bag is certainly different for me being the mother of 3 boys! The bag looked so cute hanging on the rack, but with no daughter to buy one for - at first I looked walked on by. But it sure got my eye and I kept thinking about it - it was hard to ignore. Before long the wheels in my mind were turning and I went back to the denim bag booth. All of a sudden I had an aha moment and thought it would be perfect for some travel art supplies! Bingo! Sold! 

P.S. My EDiM (Everyday Matters assignments done Every Day in May (well sort of)) posts are going to be out of order as I get an opportunity to attempt them. 

The Buckingham Palace Guards

I'm just finishing up another wonderful Imaginary Trip with Laure Ferlita to England. I'll be opening my sketchbook to share a few of my journal pages with you .... 

I'm so glad that our adventure began with a visit outside Buckingham Palace so we could capture a view of the Palace Guards. They were quite a sight -- just like I had seen in all of the tour books, and there was a constant stream of visitors outside the Palace gates just trying to catch a glimpse of these popular Palace Guards.

EDM in EDiM 1: Draw a shoe

EDM in EDiM:  While surfing other blogs recently... I found an interesting idea to keep me busy in May on the blog of Liz and Borromini Bear. I learned about a group who have decided to do a drawing a day in May from the "Everyday Matters" (EDM) list. This seemed like a great idea to encourage me to do more sketching. The timing was almost right... as I am just finishing up a fantastic Imaginary Trip to England class, which is the reason that I haven't started this EDM challenge for May until mid-month. But... thinking positive I figure that I can catch up.  So.... this is my first sketch for EDM in EDiM  (Everyday Matters in May).


Now let me tell you a little more about this shoe....  My husband and I recently enjoyed a short get-away to San Luis Obispo, CA where we went to college. Over the weekend, we met up with my roommate Christy and her husband, and a few others for a mini-reunion of sorts.  Right away I noticed a pair of cute pair of honey colored shoes that Christy was wearing. They looked so cheery - the spiral on the side looked sort of like a smile to me. The next morning I took a walk by myself to the downtown area before the shops had opened. When I walked by a shoe store - I just happened to notice a display of those same shoes in different colors (and some were bright!). I just kept looking at them, and thinking about them on my walk back to the hotel. Later in the day, Christy and I managed to get away to go back to the shoe store so I could try the shoes on. First I went for red... but they weren't quite right for me. Next I went for the dark blue - similar to denim or indigo. Ah.... they felt great and seemed like they would be fun to wear. As soon as we left the shoe store we stopped outside for a picture -- looking down at both of our pairs of shoes. I knew when I snapped the picture that I would want to paint it sometime. Then along came this EDM in EDiM challenge #1 to draw a shoe!!  

Happy Mother's Day

I may be a couple of days late .... but the wishes are the same. I wish you all a 

Happy Mother's Day 

- especially to my Mom!

Place de la Concorde

.... another stop on my journey around Paris.... 

Doing something different - Mission San Jose - San Antonio, Texas

Some may be wondering about the recent silence on my blog - I've been busy with my normal life, Imaginary Trip to England class, and some family travel. Most recently I was in Texas for my oldest son's Winging as a Naval Pilot. This was my first visit to Texas and we managed to spend one night and the better part of two days in San Antonio.  


During my travels, when I was checking some of the blogs I follow, I happened to find a post on Urban Sketchers for several sketches of Mission San Jose in San Antonio, Texas by Paul Heaston!! This was both surprising and interesting to me as I am from San Jose, California where we also have a Mission San Jose. Since we were already planning to visit San Antonio I added the mission to my list of things to visit.  


On Sunday afternoon we visited Mission San Jose in San Antonio. Although I didn't have time to do my own sketches with watercolor, I took many photos that I can use as resources in the future. However, during my visit I was able to do a couple of "rubbings" of a brass plate depicting the mission in the Visitor's Center. Mission San Jose is one of several in the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park and the Rangers had supplies to do rubbings. I enjoyed doing the rubbings - it was fun doing something different!! and I look forward to doing some watercolor sketches of it from the photos I took.

The Musee Rodin

I used a couple of photos off of the Musee Rodin website as inspiration. What a fun place it would be to take a stroll through the gardens.

This second image was painted from a very small and long photo. It is one of my favorites because of the different format.