Watercolor Postcards

YET ANOTHER...

2011-12-05T12:31:00.001-09:00

Another painting of the view from my studio window. I started this one on Monday at about noon, and a little bit of sun was peeking through the clouds just above the trees. When I painted in the trees a couple of days later, I covered up the sun. Today, our 1 and a half feet of snow is just about gone after lots of rain and wind.

watercolor, about 5"x7"

I'm suppose to go to Juneau for a few days on the ferry. It couldn't land at the dock because of the SW wind. Hopefully they wait out the storm which already is waning.

THE COTTONWOOD

2011-11-16T09:54:00.001-09:00

gouache 4"x4"

This old cottonwood has been seen on this blog before. It's outside my studio window. There are some large spruce behind it that I left out.

I am giving away a small painting on my other blog to celebrate my 100th post there, so if you are interested, go over there by clicking here.

LAST MONTH AT THE BEACH

2011-11-06T15:44:00.002-09:00

This is most likely my last plein air painting for the year, done on one of our rare nice days in October ( the 12th). It was quite cold.

On the 28th, I did this and the next one from the car. It was raining off and on, the sky changing faster than I could paint it...

and the sun coming out for a while. I took a walk to the river and there was a gorgeous rainbow over town. I'm glad I took advantage of a rare day with some sun.

CARS AND WILDERNESS

2011-10-14T10:29:00.000-08:00

I went to Juneau on the ferry on the 3rd and drove a friends truck on for him. It was a long wait and I sketched this..... with watersoluble ink which I did some watercolor washes over when I got home.

I cleaned up my desk-top and found this little watercolor and some other scans. This was painted in August when Van, Judy and I went up bay for a few days on our last trip on the Apex.... Van is retiring after fishing on her for over 30 years. Judy and I paddled the kayak through a passage between the two islands (the darker trees) that opened up on the high tide.

JOHN'S BATH HOUSE

2011-10-03T10:50:00.000-08:00

JOHN'S BATH HOUSE 4" X 5 1/2" watercolor

John, a dear friend passed away last week in California and about 20 friends gather at his cabin to remember him on Sunday. I set on his deck and painted this, remembering enjoying his company while we painted together.

It was a gloriously beautiful fall day. A blue heron landed in a tree next to the cabin and watched over us for most of the gathering.

FAIRWEATHER MOUNTAINS

2011-09-26T08:54:00.000-08:00

watercolor 4" x 14"

Yesterday at the mouth of the Salmon River. This is the first time I've gotten outside to paint in ages and it felt great. The mountains were brilliant.

SOME NEW LITTLE GOUACHES

2011-08-25T16:48:00.000-08:00

Good grief! I've sure haven't kept my resolve to keep posting here everyday. Well, time to try again, and here are a few little gouaches that I've done this month. These are using some under-painting technique I learned in a workshop in Ireland this summer with a wonderful artist and teacher, Nina Weiss.

They are all pretty small, 4 x 6 inches or so. All were done from my studio window

They are in the order that I did them, I like this last one best, after I started using a larger brush.

2011-02-06T21:17:00.001-09:00

FEBRUARY 6, 2011

Did I say I was going to put a little painting here every day this year? Well, if I did, I must have been kidding. Time for the post New Years modification of resolve.

In addition to my painting in the studio, I painted these shells that I picked up on a walk at Bartlett Cove a couple of weeks ago. I intended to do one shell a day, but only got these 5 done this week. And that is the way it is.

2011-01-31T14:00:00.000-09:00

Sunday JANUARY 30, 2011

I took a pot of bulbs out of my cold room on the 13th and painted them then. These are some of them today.

2011-01-31T13:56:00.002-09:00

JANUARY 29, 2011

I used a small flat oil brush for most of this and did the trees quite quickly... I usually labor over them. It was painted with gouache.

2011-01-31T13:51:00.000-09:00

JANUARY 28, 2011

Today, a study for a painting I hope to do.... I also did some drawings with a rowboat in the foreground.

2011-01-31T13:47:00.000-09:00

JANUARY 27, 2011

I was so into starting a large watercolor painting as well as an oil painting that I completely forgot about painting anything else. So here is another page from the journal of my trip to Italy in 2005.

2011-01-26T16:25:00.000-09:00

WENDESDAY, JANUARY 26, 2010

Another page of studies today from a a couple of photo.. taken from an airplane... just as we lift up from the Juneau airport on our way home. I started an oil painting and will start a watercolor from these.

2011-01-26T16:16:00.000-09:00

TUESDAY, JANUARY 25, 2011

It was actually warm and dry enough for a while to stand outside for a few minutes and sketch. I brought the kinickinick inside to paint.

2011-01-26T16:10:00.000-09:00

MONDAY, JANUARY 24, 2011

A page of studies for a larger painting.... I still don't have a composition I'm satisfied with. This is from an old slide of Muir Glacier, probably taken in the 80's. I doubt that it can even be seen from this spot now as it has been receding.

2011-01-23T17:23:00.000-09:00

Sunday, January 23, 2011

I did this one yesterday along with 2 others. It is from an old slide.

2011-01-23T17:18:00.000-09:00

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Two little studies for today. These are from an old slide that I took from a boat trip in Glacier Bay in the 80's. I'm pretty sure I did a larger painting from the slide years ago. I was thinking to try one using oils.

JANUARY 21, 2011

2011-01-23T17:12:00.000-09:00

This is done from a photo I took in October last year, the late afternoon sun shining on the trees. I painted with gouache and I am considering doing it in oil

JANUARY 20, 2011

2011-01-20T21:49:00.000-09:00

Another little painting from my studio windowIt was good to see some color in the sky after a few days of snow.

JANUARY 19, 2011

2011-01-20T21:41:00.001-09:00

These have been sitting in my window in a bottle for years. I wanted something to fill up a page in a sketch book that I'd painted with black gesso.

JANUARY 18, 2011

2011-01-19T14:12:00.000-09:00

On Tuesdays this winter, I have been sitting the desk at the library in the afternoon. This is my view from the desk. The trees outside the window confused the drawing so I made it dark outside.

JANUARY 17, 2011

2011-01-18T10:42:00.000-09:00

One of the bulbs in the pot I took out of the cold room last week. Its grown a bit and gotten a lot greener. I don't know whether it is a narcissus or a daffodil.

JANUARY 16, 2011

2011-01-18T10:33:00.000-09:00

Sunday and another postcard from the past... this from a journal I kept on a trip to Italy in 2006.

JANUARY 15, 2011

2011-01-15T23:25:00.000-09:00

I put together a new palette of gouache paints yesterday and played around with them today, testing some mixes and painted this from a photo taken in the high pass between Haines and Whitehorse.

JANUARY 14, 2011

2011-01-14T22:47:00.001-09:00

Outside my window again, today about 3 pm. As you see, the snow is gone. It has been clear and bitterly cold outside. I'm lucky to have such a beautiful site out my studio window.This one is done on a cream colored watercolor paper. I used a little gouache on the spruce.

JANUARY 13, 2011

2011-01-14T21:34:00.001-09:00

I brought these out of the cold room this morning. They seemed to be getting greener as I painted them.

JANUARY 12, 2011

2011-01-14T21:08:00.001-09:00

This is the other woodcut I've been working on for over a week and finished today. I'll write more about it on my other blog.

JANUARY 11,2011

2011-01-14T20:29:00.000-09:00

About 3 pm these days the light in the trees out my window is fascinating. I've painted the view many times, never very satisfactorily. Here's another attempt, this time with gouache on a brown paper.

JANUARY 10, 2011

2011-01-11T16:53:00.003-09:00

I've spent the last 2 days printing about 75 Year of the Rabbit woodblock prints. They are done with watercolor, so I'm going to let this be my posting for today. These are for a Baren Forum exchange. This is the 10th year I've participated in the exchange. This year I've done them on time and have enough to send to friends as well as the other participants.

JANUARY 9, 2011

2011-01-11T16:20:00.001-09:00

Yahoo! I"m off to a good start here as I've succeeded in painting a little something every day for 9 days. As I've got lots and lots of little paintings from years before I started this blog I'm going to take a day off once a week and put one of these old ones. This one's from 1996.

JANUARY 8, 2011

2011-01-11T16:03:00.002-09:00

JANUARY 7, 2011

2011-01-11T16:01:00.000-09:00

JANUARY 6, 2011

2011-01-11T15:54:00.003-09:00

JANUARY 5, 2011

2011-01-11T15:51:00.003-09:00

The nuts along with oranges and lemons came in the mail... a nice surprise from out neighbors visiting California.

JANUARY 4, 2011

2011-01-04T12:36:00.000-09:00

Working at the library this afternoon. I did the sketch with my fountain pen with water soluble ink and painted with water to make the ink run.

JANUARY 3, 2011

2011-01-03T12:32:00.000-09:00

I painted this very quickly, couldn't find my hair dryer so things flowed together. I am planning a woodcut after it.

JANUARY 2, 2011

2011-01-02T12:28:00.000-09:00

This is one of several watercolor palettes I use. I have way too many colors on this one.

1/1/11

2011-01-01T08:46:00.000-09:00

Happy New Year! I'm starting 2011 off with a resolve to put a little painting here everyday. So here's the first one.

A SKETCH FROM 1999

2010-12-02T23:20:00.002-09:00

I've been going through some old sketch books and since I'm not doing much sketching these days, I decided to put some older ones here. This was done in May of 1999 in Weird Bay in Glacier Bay on a kayak camping trip. We had to dig out space in the snow to put our tent above the tide line.

DON'S FIELD

2010-10-23T14:25:00.002-08:00

I dug this little painting out a few days ago; it took a while to find it.

Written on the bottom: "With JoAnn and John on edge of Don's field of lupine June 29, 1999-a day of sunshine and showers"

watercolor 3 1/2 x 5

I sent this to John who is undergoing chemo in California now . I hope it brings back good memories of that beautiful day as it does to me

CHANTERELLES

2010-10-13T22:22:00.002-08:00

watercolor about 3.5x2.5 inches

MORE FALL COLOR

2010-09-30T14:10:00.004-08:00

4x6 watercolor

Aimee's guest house. We lived in this little cottage our first winter here while we built our house. Its has been greatly improved since then. I did this the week before last before the rain started.

4x6 watercolor

A view outside my new studio window on Monday.... last month Van replaced the old window which had gotten foggy between the thermal panes.

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A WEEK OF WATERCOLOR POSTCARDS

2010-09-25T10:52:00.004-08:00

Last week with unusually beautiful sunny weather for this time of year, and after a long time passing where I've hardly touched a paint brush, I went out walking in the neighborhood with my painting kit and did these. They are all 4x6 inches watercolors.

View across the Salmon River from the Smokehouse porch,

another view from the Smokehouse porch,

the Salmon River bridge... I had drawn this in pencil in 2006, forgotten and found in a pile of paper. It took me a while to find the spot where I sat then in the grass and brush last week to paint,

the cottonwoods are so beautiful this time of year. These are next to our neighbor Don's house,

and so are these.

Down at the beach, not in the neighborhood.

Its more like normal now with a steady light rain, but I'm determined to keep doing doing these little paintings regularly and post them here again. So, I'm hereby reviving this blog.... again.

TIME TO HAVE JUST ONE BLOG

2010-02-10T23:02:00.005-09:00

.... and its not this one. I'm going to abandon this blog again. I started this one in 2006 when I was painting postcards almost daily. These were usually done from life, almost always in less than an hour. When I stopped doing the daily paintings, or maybe I was still trying to do them, I started my other blog, Carole Baker Journal to show my other art work. Though I'm painting almost every day now, I'm not regularly doing the postcards. Lately, I've randomly put the small things in gouache that I've been doing either here or on the other blog and it just doesn't make sense to continue to do so, so this will be the last one here, at least for now.

.... just a small tree I did last month in gouache on a cream colored paper.

So, come on over to my other blog to see what's new. And thank you to all who have visited here and an even more thanks to those who have left a message.

BEACH TREES WITH GOUACHE

2010-02-03T21:07:00.006-09:00

Beach Trees gouache 4x6"

I'm still plugging away with the gouache painting. This one is from a photo I took last month at the beach. I struggled with the foreground but loved painting the trees. I'm still having trouble judging the change in value when the paint dries.

DON'S HOUSE

2010-01-30T20:39:00.006-09:00

The sunshine didn't last much longer. It has snowed and has mostly been raining for the last few days. I've been continuing on with gouache paintings. Here is one I did a while back.

gouache on mat board 3.5x5 "

I took a walk in late afternoon fog and took a photo of my nearest wintertime neighbor's house and painted this next morning. Kind of reminds me of one of those Kincaid guy's painting.

SUNSHINE!

2010-01-24T17:25:00.007-09:00

gouache 3x5 1/2"

Friday was the sunniest day I can remember in a long time. And the first time I've painted outside the house this year. I drove down to the beach at about 2 and painted this from the car ....the Beartrack Mountains. I took a long walk on the beach and took lots of pictures of trees and the sky as the sun set and disappeared behind Chichikof Island at about 4 in a blaze of color.

Some years in the past I've been able to paint outside in January.... not this year. Maybe its just that I'm more susceptible to the cold (age can do that) but for the last month, just getting to the car has required walking on ice, and except for the paved one, most roads and paths have been sheets of ice.

With the days getting longer (about 8 hours now) I'm vowing to get out more. The snow is gone in a lot of places and hopefully we it won't get really, really cold.

Hard to believe how fast time flies. In a little over a month, we will be heading for Florida.

TWO LITTLE GOUACHE PAINTINGS

2010-01-20T22:03:00.005-09:00

I needed to do something in color yesterday. Working on the monochromatic gouache studies has been getting monotonous.... just like the monochromatic landscape outside lately. I did these 2 little paintings from photos. Both were done on a manila colored paper.

This is Shelikof beach of Kruzof Island.... I did a larger watercolor of this last year but the bottom half of that painting got cropped.... I didn't nail the water coming in on the beach here either.

This is from a photo I took in Glacier Bay in October when Van and I were up there fishing. I think near the mouth of Geike. I'm not happy with the rocks.

SOME TREES

2010-01-16T21:38:00.004-09:00

I've done several monochromatic gouache paintings in the last couple of weeks as I follow the 2010 Gouache Corner Challenge Thread on Wet Canvas. This is one I did today.

These are some trees I see from my window..... there are some behind them on the right that I left off. We had over a foot of snow this week and now its raining and there's starting to be some bare ground out there.

DOW AND TAO

2010-01-14T22:44:00.004-09:00

I haven't quite gotten rid of this cold. Maybe it's flu. I've been painting everyday though, mostly working on gouache with great help from a Wet Canvas challenge here.

Another tea cup with my favorite tea. I've been studying this book, by Arthur Dow, in particular the part about Notan.

TEA AND BOOKS AND W,X,Y AND Z

2010-01-03T19:36:00.004-09:00

Nursing this cold for the last few days. I've finished 3 books since Christmas (The 13th Tale was the best), written often in my green journal, and drank many cups of tea. I should have included my laptop here too. Feeling better today, but not great. Tomorrow, I'm spending in the studio regardless of how I feel.

Goofy looking ellipse.

And here's the rest of the alphabet:

A START FOR 2010 AND T, U, and V

2010-01-02T19:38:00.007-09:00

For the last few weeks in the overwhelming month of December, I was contemplating whether or not to keep on with this blog. Though I've done some sketching last month, I've hardly put a thing here (though the scanner not working was a good excuse for a while.) I had just about decided to give it a break and not make any sort of resolve to try to paint every day this year. Having 2 blogs and trying to put something here every day in addition to getting other art done and on a blog, and, not to forget, my non-artist life.....life takes energy and time and I become stressed when I don't do what I've committed myself to do.

For the last few days, nursing a feverish cold, I've gone back and forth on the matter, writing and deleting these last few days. Tomorrow is Sunday, another day of renewal, so its time to stop the anguishing and decide and put it down in writing:

I will draw or paint every day for the rest of 2010. And the small watercolor sketches will be posted here.

and I'll get more larger work done this year... and delve more into some other media... and get more serious with my gallery next summer.... and its way past time that I have a show in Juneau so I will make an effort to arrange one.

So, maybe there won't be as much here. I hope to be be putting more art on the other blog this year.... guess I never should have named this one "Watercolor Postcards" because that limits what I can put here. I hope my few followers will look at both blogs.

Notice I said "rest of 2010." On January 1st I hardly felt like getting out of bed.

But today the fever is gone, I'm feeling better, and got the last 2 oranges and painted them here.

And here are T, U, and V of Alyssa's alphabet book.

PQR and S

2010-01-01T18:51:00.002-09:00

MN and O

2009-12-31T14:49:00.005-09:00

JK and L

2009-12-30T22:47:00.002-09:00

GH and I

2009-12-29T16:05:00.004-09:00

DE and F

2009-12-24T10:18:00.005-09:00

The scanner is working, but I'm not... I've been playing with my granddaughter Alyssa who is visiting through Christmas and keeping me happily busy. I will continue with the ABC's I did for her a few years ago until the holidays are over.

ABC's

2009-12-19T16:33:00.004-09:00

I'm having trouble with my scanner. The same thing happened before, but darned if I can remember how I fixed it.... have spent too much time already. I have an old scanner that I may have to drag out but for now found some things in my photos to put on here.

Quite a few years ago, in one of those times when I just wasn't motivated to paint anything, I decided to do a little ABC book, doing one letter each day.... This was long before my granddaughter was born 8 years ago. I think I'd gotten to E. Anyway, when she was a couple of years old, I returned to the project and finished it. Most of the paintings have special meaning for her. I made her a copy and will some day sew the originals into a book which will be hers....the letters are on double pages front and back.

So for lack of anything newly scanned to put here, I'll put the pages here a few at a time.

YET ANOTHER VIEW OUT MY WINDOW

2009-12-13T16:15:00.003-09:00

As I come to the end of the year, my resolve to paint my little watercolors has almost disappears. I've been spending much of the few daylight hours in the studio and not getting out to walk much.... and wouldn't be stopping to paint if I was with temperatures in the 20s. Feeling a bit guilty and did another little painting out the window a couple of days ago.

This is smaller than most of my postcards... 2 x 3 1/2 inches and I started with a layer of gouache, with light blue at the top and some red at the bottom which doesn't show up in the scan.

INK DRAWING

2009-12-10T10:01:00.003-09:00

Having used just about every throw away drawing pen and thrown away lots of expensive technical pens, and cursed them many times for not writing or for leaking, I decided to splurge and buy a good fountain pen. I got a Sailor 1911 while in California and love it. I've been doing a good bit of sketching with it, but I only have non waterproof ink and haven't been painting what I've drawn until yesterday.... just so I'd have something to put here.

Here it is.... another view from my window. I first drew the scene and then just used water to bleed the ink and put some more lines in after it dried.

I've been looking at Noodler Ink to order, which from what I've read is waterproof when it reacts with the cellulose in paper and will not harm the pen.

I finally finished a commissioned painting that I've been working on (mostly avoiding) for months. You can see it by clicking HERE

POSTCARDS FOR ABIGAIL

2009-12-01T16:24:00.006-09:00

A writer friend Abigail, called today. She had been inspired to write a poem after seeing one of my older postcards that I had displayed in my gallery. Most of them are not for sale as I consider them my journal, and she had asked to have a copy of it and another one that spoke to her. I said I'd scan it and send to her. And since the scans are right on my desk top and I haven't had a paintbrush in my hand today since I'm getting ready to go to Juneau for a couple of days, I'm putting them here. They were done in January 2006, before I started blogging.

This is pretty much how its been looking off and on since I got home from California, though its been raining more often.

My note on back: "1-9-06 I walked at the duck pond and these 7 swans were there. sketched in the cold and painted when I got home." It must have been warmer than usual, because the pond is usually frozen in January.

SUNFLOWER ON A DREARY DAY

2009-11-29T18:57:00.003-09:00

Stormy and wet outside today. This was drawn and painted quickly from a photo taken in Florida, using my new fountain pen and trying out some new gouache colors on a background made from saran wrap over a watercolor wash.

INERTIA

2009-11-28T14:45:00.007-09:00

Since coming home, I've been in the studio everyday trying to get something started. I've taken 100s of photos in the last few months, mostly as possible paintings and for the past few days have been going through them, cropping and stitching and drawing little thumb nails trying to find the perfect composition and one that inspires me here and now. There's that distance from being outside painting or using my camera, immersed in my surroundings, to now being in the studio with just an image to copy. I'm missing that exhilarating feeling of being outside painting..... the weather is now making that just too difficult for wimps like me. It has always seemed more honest to paint from life, and I've always felt a little guilty using photos..... so here I go again, agonizing on what to paint and hearing myself making all kind of excuses not to start something.

This is usually the time of year I set up a large still life or finish one that I had started in the summer with a vase of flowers... not a flower in the house and very little fruit, though I've been looking hard at my houseplants. Last year when I hit this wall, I did some of the DSFDF painting challenges.... there was something about another persons photo that made me approach the painting differently; maybe just the challenge and novelty got me going. Well, its really just comes down to putting some paint on the big white paper, and I will...... from past experience, once I get started, I'll be on a roll.

I have done a few little studies from the photos. This is one of them and most likely the one that I will go farther with....this is just part of a panoramic view.

MY TRAVEL JOURNAL

2009-11-26T12:40:00.005-09:00

First excuses, excuses... I had every intention of putting some of my pictures on here while traveling, but forgot the USB connector thing to my camera. And since coming home, same old, same old, just too busy.

I made this little journal especially for this trip, and it worked very well..... I have something on almost every page and will fill up the spaces with some photos or tickets or something.... and it is small enough to put in my purse... 6 x 4 1/2 inches.

I used magnet strips for the wrap around closure and made a little pocket (copied from a moleskine) attached the back cover.

I painted these 2 pages while visiting my friend Louise in Eastern Washington. She has an orchard of organic Boscs, and pears are always a fixture in her home.

And vases of flowers are always around too.

In Californina, from the Berkeley Rose Garden where I watched the sun go down over San Francisco Bay and quickly painted one evening.

and another visited to the Rose Garden one morning, stopped by rain and a wet walk back to Cedar St.

And this at the UC Berkeley Botanical Garden.... by far the most beautiful garden I've ever visited. I'm a bit reluctant to put this painting here as I was in a hurry and it doesn't have the depth it should have, but it was such a beautiful place to be and the colors are kind of right.... I was up on a hill above the path and Asian garden. I'll be putting some photos on my other blog.

I did a few other little paintings and drawings, but its time to move on and get in the present. Hope everyone in the USA is having a great Thanksgiving Day.

BLOGGING ON THE TRAIN

2009-11-14T14:58:00.004-09:00

I'm loving my little Sierra Wireless AT&T Connection while down here in the lower 48. Here I am on the train in Oregon, plugged into 120 Volts and surfing with 3G all the way, except for a while in a tunnel. Wish it would work this well at home.... only 2G there. I left Seattle this morning and will be in Davis California tomorrow morning at 6:50 if we're on time.

In Seattle, I visited friends, went to see the art at The Best of the Northwest fall art show at the Seattle Center, ate some delicious meals and walked miles (the most enjoyable around Green Lake).

I've done one little drawing today of the clock tower while stopped at Portland, but kind of hard to put it on here now, so I found a page done while on a train in Manitoba in 2006 which looks somewhat like what I've seen today:

TRAVELING

2009-11-10T20:52:00.004-09:00

Once again I haven't been painting much... getting ready to leave before my trip and now into my little vacation. I flew to Juneau on Friday, spent the weekend with Lee and Alyssa. Got some things done in Juneau on Friday and good times with Alyssa and Lee. I flew to Eastern Washington yesterday where I am visiting my friend Louise in the Yakima valley amongst pear and apple orchards.

2 years ago, I visited here and did some little paintings..... one I did of Louise's orchard of organic bosc pears is here. I'm here a week or so later this year and the leaves and much of the color are gone and its a lot cooler. I've done a few little paintings inside but will have to take some photos of them later.

I took some pears when I left in 2007 and painted these after I got home:

The blue back ground is the technique with stamping that I had just learned in the workshop with Anne Bagby.

I'll be off to Seattle tomorrow for a few days then leaving on Amtrak for California on Saturday.

A PAINTING FROM A PHOTO

2009-10-30T21:18:00.003-08:00

I took the photo I used for this about a month ago from my kayak. From the kayak, I painted the same view which you can see here. I'm not sure I captured what I wanted to.... the fireweed seedheads were what caught my eye, in contrast to the trees and beach grass below.... probably should darken up the area just under the seedheads. I've always have trouble painting grass. I used masking fluid for this one. I'm going to try painting this again with gouache

GOODE RIVER

2009-10-29T23:15:00.005-08:00

My outside painting around here is probably about over for this year. Snow is coming lower down the mountains.... it's below 1000 ft now and won't be long until its here a sea level. I took advantage of a rare sunny afternoon and walked to Goode River, visited with Artemis and Lori and it was warm enough to sit in the sun and paint...

for about a half hour anyway. This is the Goode River which is really just a creek. Long shadows just before the sun disappeared.

VIEW FROM THE COUCH

2009-10-28T10:23:00.003-08:00

This is one view from where I sit most every evening usually facing towards the TV set. I drew this one evening a few weeks ago, while probably paying more attention to the TV than the drawing from the looks of it now. I put some watercolor washes on it yesterday..... forgot it was drawn with that darn bleeding ink.

FORGOT TO POST

2009-10-27T09:24:00.004-08:00

I really thought I had posted this. I've been working most days in the studio and boggling my mind with making 3 sets of airplane reservations. I did finally do a long post on my other blog about my woodblock print.... I'd better get over than and make sure I actually posted it.

On Thursday night Mark, Kelly, Aimee and I got together at the Fireweed Gallery and with Kim as our model, Mark sculpted and the rest of us sketched.

This is one of 3 watercolor sketches I did. We plan to get together at least every other week. Hopefully more folks will come.

WOODCUT FINISHED

2009-10-20T17:42:00.003-08:00

Here it is finally... my 9 x 3 inch woodcut. I'll be doing a post about it on my other blog soon.

It was good to get the woodchips out of the studio and get my paints out again and get out in the sunshine on my bike for a while. I stopped at Kim's and enjoyed her view and painted this while visiting. While I was inside all week printing, things turned brown.

FOUR LITTLE PAINTINGS

2009-10-15T21:08:00.005-08:00

Van and I are back from a short and unproductive fishing trip (salmon trolling). It was the first time I'd been up bay in a couple of years and the first time this time of year in many years. We didn't get up to the glaciers, but awesome scenery none the less. Lots of sea lions, humpbacks and orcas, a brown bear on the beach where we anchored the second night. Thick fog on the third day.

I painted these the first night. Most of the cottonwood were brown or had lost their leaves already but there were a few bright patches. I painted these while we were anchored in North Sandy Cove.

...and painted the same ones again.

I painted this while trolling..... we were heading towards Geike Inlet.

And this while trolling.... not sure where we were.

I worked on my block print while on the trip... carved my key block. I've been working pretty steadily on it since coming home and seem to have blinders for any other image making.

GOING FISHING

2009-10-09T22:12:00.001-08:00

Van and I will be going up bay to fish for a few days.... Van does the fishing; I go along for the ride. I'm taking my paints and just got Wally Lamb's newest book from the library. I'll also be working on a block print for a Baren exchange.

This is one of several "plans" for it I've done... still undecided about the background. I posted a painting a few posts back that I'm working from. The paper size for the print is required to be 3x9 inches. I usually have these exchange prints done way before the deadline (Nov. 1 for this one), but I've been having a hard time coming up with something I wanted to do in this size.

MORE FALL COLOR

2009-10-06T21:27:00.003-08:00

Wind blew a lot of leaves off the cottonwoods yesterday, but still bit of color, including beautiful blue in the sky.
I set on the river near the bridge and painted the river and bridge, but not much good about it what I did.... I cropped this little bit which is only about 3x3 inches.

POPPY FROM THE PAST

2009-10-05T20:35:00.004-08:00

A busy afternoon in the studio today with rain and wind outside. I found this painting over the weekend while cleaning out some drawers, painted from a photo of a poppy in my garden some years ago.

TERMINATION DUST

2009-10-04T17:04:00.004-08:00

When the clouds lifted earlier this week, there was new snow on Excursion Ridge and beyond. Its mostly gone from the ridge now, but the mountains on the other side of X-Inlet are almost covered.

Van left on the high tide for Juneau this afternoon. I walked down to the beach from the boat harbor after dropping him off and painted this. Some clouds covered the ridge while I was painting so lost the tree pattern. The cottonwoods have turned to a rich gold now since the freeze on Tuesday.

DON'S LILIES

2009-10-02T23:41:00.002-08:00

Van and I drove out to our friend Don's cabin on Monday and Don gave me some dahlias and a bunch of Asiatic Lilies that he had grown.... they would have frozen the next day, so needed to be picked. The lilie are quite spectacular on my kitchen table and the smell is positively wonderful.

I started a larger painting of them today, but first did this little one

THE KITTEN

2009-09-29T15:26:00.003-08:00

First frost last night, beautiful day today. I've been away from home the last couple of years this time of year, and am realizing how much I've missed the fall here..... at least on the glorious days like today. I'm still dragging from my cold, but managed to walk with Van to the boat harbor. I stayed behind after he did some work on the boat and painted.

This old troller has seen better days; it hasn't been in the water in years. The blue on it is a tattered tarp.

UP THE RIVER

2009-09-27T14:57:00.004-08:00

Its pretty hard to make myself go for a walk lately with roaming bears (we had 2 in the yard on Friday) and moose, fear of hunter's bullets, rain and wind..... mostly rain. And this cold (the coughing kind) still hasn't gone away but I took a short walk up the river this afternoon. I've been wanting to try colored pencils, thinking I could do something faster with them than with waiting for watercolor to dry.... I couldn't. I spent 20 minutes trying and turned my paper over and started a watercolor. It didn't go much better.

At least the values are right after a lot of reworking at home. It was a pleasant time there, but I was alert for any sounds behind me. And must remember to wear gloves the next time I go out.

LITTLE PANSIES

2009-09-25T22:30:00.003-08:00

I've had a cold all week and haven't done much since Monday but sleep, read, and watch TV. Feeling better today and went over to the Gustavus Inn and picked a bunch of flowers.... some poppies, sweet peas, a dahlia, and these little pansies.

INSPIRED BY GEORGIA

2009-09-21T21:40:00.005-08:00

On Saturday night, I watched a movie about Georgia O'Keefe. I've read a lot about her-- a biography or 2, have been a fan of her flower paintings for a long time and have seen a few for real, but for the first time I became aware of how large some of the paintings are..... in particular one of the red poppy paintings which are my favorites.

The white flowers that were shown in the movie really caught my eye which inspired me on Sunday to paint these petunias from my sun-room. I added the background today.

ANOTHER "LOOSE" PAINTING

2009-09-19T16:44:00.004-08:00

Another day without rain and I put the kayak in the river at the boat harbor an hour before a 19 foot tide and paddled up the river. I got as far as the log near Page's cabin. Its such a pleasant paddle, really easy going with the tide both ways. Several people fishing, some in waders and some on the banks; lots of birds. I met Chris and Julie in their kayaks on my way back down.

I was reluctant to put yesterday's painting on the blog.... when I do them so fast, they never look like what I want...... without time for washes to dry, things just run together and I lose the color and shape of things. Well here's another one done too fast.

This is what I painted in a very few minutes... I wanted to at least get the colors right and kind of did, but failed on the values.

VISITS WITH FRIENDS

2009-09-18T10:50:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, Thursday, another mostly rainy day, but I got out for a bike ride to Kim's and enjoyed and painted her view toward the mouth of the river.... high tide.

Today, no rain! I rode my bike to the PO and to Lois', had a nice visit and some delicious tea and painted the trees out her window.

NASTURTIUMS

2009-09-15T17:41:00.006-08:00

Definitely an inside day..... haven't been outside at all except to do my twice daily slug patrol in the garden. Moose hunting season opened today and this being the only city in the state to allow hunting in the city limits, I choose to stay inside. And its raining again too.

I have been thinking about doing a woodcut of nasturtiums for a Baren exchange and have something like this composition in mind.... will have to do a lot less detail which is always a challenge fpr me.

A GORGEOUS DAY

2009-09-14T18:24:00.003-08:00

I work for a couple or 3 hours most Mondays at the local second hand store, The Community Chest. It was raining as I rode my bike there this morning, but by 12:30 when I left, the sun was out for the first time in a while. The sky was beautiful and thankfully, I had my paint kit and went up north of the bridge to the river edge.

This was one of the two little paintings I did. I got the sky right on both of them, but the trees a different matter.... this was the best of the two.

I spent the afternoon in the garden. I harvested my potatoes and some cabbages... the largest was 25 pounds.

FROM THE SMOKEHOUSE

2009-09-13T15:36:00.003-08:00

Still raining much of the time and getting a bit cooler... it's 48 degrees now at 3 pm. The last few days have been windy too... the wind stopped today though. I went on the Smokehouse balcony on Friday and got a start on 2 little paintings. Quite often I'll start a second one while waiting for the first one to dry before going back into it. The southeast wind came right onto where I was sitting and I didn't finish. But I walked over today about noon and finished both of them... no wind, no rain.

I started this one by first drawing with pencil on CP Arches and the drawing is more like the actual view than the second one which I didn't draw first.

I'm not sure what this paper is.... smoother and I like it for these small paintings. The color seems to lie on top of the paper and is brighter. On neither of these did I get the strip of water of Icy Passage to show as light as it appeared next to everything else. Its the values again.

ANOTHER RAINY DAY

2009-09-10T17:17:00.007-08:00

It was a rainy and windy day. All afternoon I wanted to go for a walk. Now, after 5, with a glass of wine, up stairs on the computer.... no rain. I actually see blue sky above the fast moving clouds and know I should really go out for a while. But I'm so comfortable and I'll use the excuse that a bear walked through the yard today.

I'm loving the time of year. There is a relaxation of the activity of the summer.... friends who run a B&B stopped by today... the first time all summer they felt free to relax and visit. Another friend I talked to today took the day off and was reading a book. To me the storm outside is really rather invigorating to my senses. As everyone else is slowing down, I seem to find this a most productive time of year in the studio. I worked several hours on the commissioned piece I'd been avoiding for several weeks.... one inch at a time, and it is starting to look like what I have in mind.

This is from my studio window. The thermal-pane window from where I sit and paint has fogged up in the the last year and I haven't done much painting from it, and moved to the other one.... pretty much the same view. Some new color in the cottonwood and willow.

I don't have to feel guilty anymore for not going outside.... it's raining again.

THREE NEW POSTCARDS

2009-09-08T13:42:00.001-08:00

Transition time: Van coming home for the fall and winter. He lives on his boat all summer and is here at home all winter. This has been our life for 38 years. A few of those years, I have spent some time on the boat, but for the most part I am home. Van being home, the fishing season (whether good or bad) over, the garden harvesting, the winter supplies in, the fish smoking, the fall color, and the tourist's departure all make for my favorite time of the year. And for the first time in months, I am anxious to get to the studio in the morning. It's about time.

VIOLA ON SUNDAY

I planned to paint in gouache on a black ground, but while looking for paper, I found some smooth paper that I think is Yupo and did this little painting of a viola. I gave it to Aimee at her birthday party Sunday night.

ZUCCHINI ON MONDAY (LABOR DAY)

A zucchini to go with the flower I did on Friday. I've had a bumper crop,the plants covered much of the time with my visquine a-frame. I splattered masking fluid for the spots on this before painting the dark.

GALLERY TODAY

I started this in June, worked on it some when the fireweed were blooming and finally finished today.... had planned to put on a brochure than never got done. I'll have it for next year.

ZUCCHINI FLOWER

2009-09-05T19:57:00.004-08:00

The trip to town went well.... good weather both ways and while we were there. We got our winter supplies and visited Lee and Alyssa and came back sooner than planned.... I thought I'd have to fly home on Thursday to be home on Friday, but we were able come back on the boat on Thursday. I slept most of the way into Juneau and part of the way back and didn't do a bit of painting.

Yesterday, Friday, I helped lead a group of Elderhostel visitors on a walk on the Nagoonberry trail... or rather helped bring up the rear. It was a fun walk and I was able to answer most of the questions about the flora and a little more. I started a sketch while waiting for the group to come, but didn't have time to paint it.... maybe I"ll finish it and post another day. It was overcast and rained later in the day.

But today has been sunny and I spent much of the day in the garden.

Part of the time was spent painting this. Occasionally I'll try painting without drawing in pencil first. Maybe I'd get good at it some day if I did it more.

HEADING OUT OF TOWN FOR A FEW DAYS

2009-08-31T23:37:00.004-08:00

I didn't have time to paint anything today. Have been getting ready to go to Juneau for a few days. We'll be going on the boat, a 7 hour ride, and and if it's not too rough I hope to do some painting on the way.

I sketched this on my walk Sunday and painted it after I got home. Its looking across the river near Sue and Lil's.

I'll be back here the end of the week.

OLD BOATS

2009-08-30T23:31:00.000-08:00

It stopped raining this afternoon. I walked to the boat harbor at about 4:00 and set on our dock and did this of 2 old derelict boats in the slough. The one on the right is an east coast lobster boat that a local crab fisherman hauled from the east coast years ago and fished for years from. I can't remember where the other one came from.

WILLOW GALL

2009-08-29T21:49:00.005-08:00

Another week of rain and I haven't been feeling very well, but determined to get out for a walk today. With brand new bear spray in my pocket, I headed towards the section line path to the beach, but after sloshing through the ditch which had running water in it and some more rain I decided to just go down to the river past Sue and Lil's cabin. Under the trees, I was able to do a sketch but not paint it before I started getting wet again.

I found this willow with a red gall on my walk and brought it home to paint. I did a more detailed rendering of the leaf with the gall on the right. Of course the sun came out and it was beautiful for about an hour after I got home. But it's been raining ever since.

I was surprised to find quite a few strawberries. I think I'll go back out tomorrow and pick some to bring home....also some nagoonberries.

BACK IN THE STUDIO

2009-08-25T22:10:00.002-08:00

I don't think the rain has let up since Sunday. I didn't even go out in the garden today. This could go on for months.
I spent an enjoyable day in the studio; put the commissioned painting that I've been struggling with for several weeks away.... I need to go back to the scene when the sun is shining before continuing with photos.

I finished a couple of smaller things that I started in June or July (Yahoo!) and pulled out my gouache paints.

I painted this from a photo I took from the wetland trail in Juneau last year..... with gouache on 300# arches that I gessoed black.

BOLETUSES

2009-08-24T21:27:00.001-08:00

I found these boletuses yesterday at the beach. I was planning to have them for lunch, but unfortunately for me, they were wormy.

I painted this in Fabriano paper book, about 7 x 9 inches.

MOUTH OF THE RIVER

2009-08-24T20:57:00.001-08:00

I spent most of the day in the kitchen.... made bread, cookies and fixed up some greens from the garden in a favorite recipe that will keep me in meals for several days. Also watched the rain, until about 3:30 when I noticed it wasn't coming down anymore. Hopped on my bike and went to the beach. The tide was high, about an 18 footer. I walked down to the mouth of the river and looking north and painted this. I always have trouble with foregrounds. I had a little bit of white paint on my palette and kind of got the grass looking right.... only "kinda", the tide was going out and the shoreline kept changing. Love this smooth paper... Schoellershammer.

The sun came out for about a minute intensifying the colors. I found some boletes, not yet found by worms or slugs, which I brought home and will add to my vegetable concoction.

NEMETH'S HOUSE

2009-08-22T22:04:00.002-08:00

Its been raining all week so I haven't been doing any outside sketching, nor walking. But this morning, it wasn't raining for a while and a walked to the boat harbor. Seems like every time I go there the tide is out, which is good because it is quiet.

I drew this standing up, and painted it after I got home. The foreground is beach grass which obscures much of the house. Lots of dead humpback salmon on the beach.

BOOK WITH IRIS

2009-08-19T20:55:00.004-08:00

Back in June, a woman asked me to make a little sketch book as a birthday present for her artist husband. She had seen one of mine and wanted one the same size and requested that I paint an iris on the first page. As with most things, I kept putting off making the book and even longer to paint the iris.... I thought maybe she would change her mind or I could change her mind about me painting in his sketch book. His birthday is tomorrow, and I was finally forced to paint the iris. I usually paint flowers from life, but the irises are all gone now. I found an old sketch.... from 20 years ago.... and copied it.

Here is the book. You can see the little painting inside and the painting I copied on the right.
I used several kinds of paper and the cover is made from an old navigation chart which I waxed. It's a coptic binding. The book is 4 1/2 by 6 1/2 inches.

The copied iris on the left. Both were drawn with pen before painting. I'm noticing now that the right petal looks too small on both of these, more so on the one I did today.

PAINTING POORLY

2009-08-18T20:34:00.004-08:00

I painted this from the window upstairs in my kitchen this morning, and like the paintings I did yesterday and Sunday, don't like it. I didn't even bother to scan the previous two. I'm working on a large painting in my studio (a commissioned piece) and don't like how its going either. Maybe tomorrow will be better.

SATURDAY AFTERNOON

2009-08-15T21:12:00.003-08:00

My usual half hour bike ride to the PO this afternoon got extended to about 2 hours. I felt some need to get a a little more exercise and rode to the lake behind the airport runway. It was quiet and pleasant and only one car came by.... Mary, who I was glad to see and she stopped and chatted. There were a few drops of rain, but not while I was painting. There is still some pink from the fireweed. The golden rods and asters are earlier and more abundant than I can remember ever seeing them before.

A WALK ON THE NEW PATH

2009-08-13T16:06:00.004-08:00

There is a new place to walk in our little town..... the Nagoon Berry Loop, which is on part of the Nature Conservancy protected land. Three AmeriCorp workers have have been working on it all summer and are almost through. Its about 2 and a half miles, near the beach, first through a wooded area and wanders to the trail (now pretty much a road) to the Retoot area. The trail is aptly named. I picked and ate hand fulls of the juicy burgundy berries.

This is the 3rd time I've walked the trail in the last couple of weeks and enjoyed seeing some of the last wild flowers of the year... golden rods, aster, fireweed and the smaller meadow herb, yarrow, and Indian paint brush; and also a few boletes though unfortunately they were pretty wormy.

Since I wasn't walking with friends this time, I took my paints. I waited until I got in site of the water before sitting down and doing this of Pleasant Island and Chichikof Island in the distance. Seems I most often gravitate towards the water to sit and paint...... maybe because its easier?