San Miguel de Allende Urban Sketchers - second outing

 These two sketches were done in a little park out of the main area in San Miguel de Allende. There were about a dozen sketchers that arrived and sketched a wide variety of buildings, plant life, the street scene and each other. It was my second weekly outing with the group. San Miguel de Allende Urban Sketchers are a very generous and inclusive group, I had a wonderful afternoon.

Judy had a little sketch book she had made up with water colour paper and a front and back cover.  Colleen and I hustled over after and bought and folded water colour paper then went to another little store and picked out plastic covers and binding. Now I have 2 little books to take sketching. The sketch book I have used so far is just with regular sketching paper so I can't use to much water or blend my colours. I will continue in this book until it is finished but look forward to my new creative purchase!

More holiday sketches in San Miguel de Allende

On November 11 I sat on a park bench sketching and thinking about what November 11 means to me...the pictures, documentaries and movies about the real people that have and are fighting in wars. Every family has been touched by war. I used water colour pencils and ink in this one.

These two sketches above were done after a hike through a small Mexican village. The goats were in a brick barn and were extending their necks to get a good look at us as we went by. One fellow hiker made a "baaa" sound and the goats all answered back. The second sketch is of a plant that was growing on the power lines and on trees all over the place. They looked like Christmas ornaments to me but by the shear numbers of them they must be very invasive.

We saw these two types of cactus after hiking around the "de un jardin botanico" called El Charco del Ingenio on the outskirts of San Miguel de Allende. The gardens and multiple paths were beautiful as was the view of the city below.

Sketch book holiday

This sketch is of a poster in the front room of the house we are renting in San Miguel de Allende of the botanical gardens we are planning to go to.

I did this sketch from a photo after a day of hiking near San Miguel with a group that meets and hikes weekly.

Sketch from a Mexican magazine advertisement

Urban Sketchers of San Miguel de Allende

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 I had the wonderful experience of joining the Urban Sketchers of San Miguel de Allende for an afternoon of sketching on November 8, 2016. Colleen met me there and we sketched from the Azotea roof top terrace restaurant. There was a wonderful group of about 15 artists all sketching and painting the views, the restaurant/bar and each other, what ever struck their fancy. I was so happy to be included for this week's event and look forward to next week. These are the two sketches I did on regular sketch paper. I wish I had done it on water colour paper so I could have enjoyed some of the paint effects but was more than happy with the afternoon. Many thanks to the wonderful group of Urban Sketches for being so inclusive and welcoming!

Sketching people is not something I usually do because they always move. Jane was so absorbed in her own sketching that she ended up being a great model without knowing it.

Holiday sketches 2

These sketches were done while sitting and looking down below off the deck, from the front room into the kitchen and of flowers found around town (idea wise, not visually). I am trying to do a sketch a day (or zentangle) while we are on holidays. This sketch book is just regular paper so I can't mix, blend or bleed out my water colours on the paper. The coloured areas feel more like a colouring book than actually painting. The bottom two were done while Brian was reading aloud 3 more chapters of the children's book "How Hammershod Got His Name" that he wrote.

Travelling with a sketch book

We are on a holiday and instead of filling my suitcase with oil paints, palette, easel etc. I decided I would just take two sketch books, water colour paper, water colour paint and pencils and a couple sketching pens. I really enjoyed passing the time doing designs (zentangle) on the flight tray and while waiting in the airports and bus terminal. My plan was to do one page per day on my holiday. Below are some of the pages on the flights and first couple of days of travelling.

Old Timer

The reference photo for this painting was taken by Doug Swinton. He has a whole box of photos that he lets students use. I loved the contrast of dark and light as well as the vertical boards on the barn. One of the ways Doug explains what he is teaching is to paint right on the photograph (light colour on barn front etc.). It was Doug's suggestion to paint the barn boards with thicker paint pushing the brush down. He also helped me with the edging of my trees.

"Old Timer"

11" x 14" Oil on board

# 20129016  $150 unframed

Calgary Sketch Club October 2016 Juried Show

I had so much fun at this show last weekend, even had some surprise visitors. These 3 paintings were juried into the show and the large one on the right sold as a Christmas present. It was so nice to meet the Mom and Daughter and know it was going to a wonderful home as a gift from a loving Mom.

Memories Of The Moment - first solo show

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               I am so excited that I am having my first solo show in the Armstrong Spallumcheen Museum and Art Gallery. My work is in the "Freeze" gallery and Return To The Source is in the gallery beside mine. Carolyn and I drove to the opening reception and were surprised by my sister Shannon (from Kelowna) and her friend Bernie. The show has 25 of my plein air paintings (outdoors, painted on location) and runs until November 5. If you are in the area please stop by, the gallery is open 10a.m. until 4p.m. Some of my location photos are below.

Alberta Culture Days

I enjoyed an extended morning/early afternoon at the Leighton Centre outside of Calgary. It was Alberta Culture Days and I had a chance to learn about leather tooling & painting, pottery and made a felting lady bug!

I set my easel up in front of the Leighton Centre to enjoy painting a very small part of a very large view. They had painting demo's going on inside the Leighton Centre and I enjoyed hearing the sounds of talking without hearing actual words. One of the demo/activies was put on by Isabel Porto (Perceptual Drawing on a clear skin put on the windows). People looked out the window and drew what they could see by basically tracing the outline. It was very cool to try, watch and look at when done. The fun part for me is when I went inside, I could see myself drawn by a number of people at different heights. You can see me painting in my blue coat.

Photos courtesy of Isabel Porto (thanks!), drawings courtesy of a lot of people enjoying themselves at the Leighton Centre, Alberta Culture Days.

Leighton View, Alberta Culture Days

10" x 8" plein air

#20104016