Poker

A small get together with friends to play cards found me thankful I had my sketchbook on hand. I like cards. Gin Rummy is my game, but tonight it was poker night. Poker with all kinds of wild cards and fast paced games. I stood back and just watched the games ensue because I just couldn't keep up with what was going on and I honestly couldn't stop staring at everyone's faces as they played. I was most fascinated by how intense everyone's face became once the game started. Faces tell a lot about a person, most esp when they are playing cards.

These were the best sketches from the night. They aren't fantastic mainly because I felt uncomfortable with my tools. Sketchbook was too small and my one and only pencil barely had a point to it. Of course my sharpener was MIA. So, I worked with what I had and until I had no more point left. I'm dying to do do full color sketches on the spot. I'm not sure how I'm going to go about that discretely in a public setting but I'm urning to do that next.

Madness I Couldn't Escape

...you are madness.

Popular madness...

I'm not one for it, but when an eight year old looks at you and asks innocently why his elf never showed up after Thanksgiving like everyone else's you have to take pause and get on board the "Madness Train."

Of course, trying to board this train when all the madness tickets are sold out is difficult. Enter the antique and flea market filled with lovely finds from day's gone by. Naturally, I arrived a half an hour too late to pick up just one of the little "Elf on the Shelves" they actually did still have cause some ONE person came in and bought ALL of them from the entire store. Damn, bad timing.

But, this worked to my advantage as all the way tucked in the back of the store a very nice vendor had a "knee hugging elf" as he called it. He pulled the little creature out and I immediately became very well pleased. Not only would he do, but he was my son's favorite color....blue. What pleased me even more was he was an "Occupied in Japan" piece which, no doubt, had history. He looked worn and old, but nothing a little cleaning up, felt, hot glue, and sparkles couldn't handle.


Faded with a head popping off.
It's not dust...its faded.
Rubbing alcohol cleaned
him up just nice.
Couldn't think of anything
better to cover up faded felt but with some dry brushed pigments.

Dry brushing color. It was
an exact match!

Luckily I had some
felt in the studio too!
Ahh, a nice solution to
cover up that popping head.
Sparkles!
Hush now elf...you're getting' sparkles!
Our "Elf on a Shelf" ready for
the first day of work.
Honestly, I think he could use
more sparkles!

"Rest"
Graphite, Watercolor and Acrylic on Drawing Paper.

A Beautiful Find

An old bench snagged
at a local thrift shop had
a wealth of potential.
A little holiday shopping found me excited with this wonderful find! At a local thrift store I spied a worn out old ugly bench with so much potential that I didn't even hesitate to snag it and take it home with me! Within a few hours, and a little bit of work, I had myself a brand new bench for my kitchen.

I documented it because its so much fun to watch old pieces come back to new life.

The seat portion
unscrewed easily.


I felt black would go
best with what I was envisioning.


What goes perfect with black?
French Country Twall seating.

Black Friday

The start of an original canvas
painting ornament.
Approx. 2" x 2"
Black Friday found me finishing up some hand made original creations for sale at the Mercantile at The Lands at Hillside Farms. I'm so very pleased to tell you all that some of my work will be featured in their Mercantile store and I made a ton of stuff which caters specifically for them. I have loved going there just to sketch the animals and have enjoyed their fresh ice cream ("Chicken Scratch" is my personal favorite...they are sadly out of it this weekend.) and I can now bring my farm creations to the public and share them. I just got a sneak peek at the new pig "Otis" that lives there on the farm and I'm in love!!! He's absolutely charming and I can't wait to have some time to paint him or sketch him.

Today however, was about Christmas ornaments and I documented the process on one. Just a simple "Hillside" themed piece which was a lot of fun to paint. Enjoy your shopping adventures out there everyone.












Original painting ornaments
being offered for sale at Hillside this Christmas.

"Rain"
Graphite, Acrylic and Watercolor on Drawing Paper.

Even At Church....

Even during mass the need to sketch/draw never goes away. Some Sundays I can hold it at bay and keep my sketchbook in my bag, but other days, like today, doing that is nearly impossible. The urge to draw too great and I have to just draw.

These were a few sketches stolen during mass this morning. My favorite is the last one. I caught the pianist while he was singing a solo. His entire face changed when he sang. He looked so happy singing alone with the piano. It was at that moment he became a subject to sketch.