giving art away

three now in Florida with my brother and father

Not all artists do, but I like to give art as gifts to family and special friends.

Since we planned to see all of my family (mother, father, brother, sisters, and all of the kids) on this trip, I brought artwork gifts for them. Nine of my paintings now have new homes, from California to Florida, New Jersey to Chicago.

with my sister and her husband in New Jersey

now in Chicago with my other sister

now in Chicago

Unfortunately, I didn't get photos of all of the paintings in their new locations. But I am thrilled to be the giver of these special gifts.

I remember reading about Alexander Calder fashioning wire hanger portraits of his host and hostess at dinner parties. I can't find that reference (help me out if you can) today but I remember looking at a lot of Calder wire sculpture portraits and figures at the National Gallery of Art earlier this month. What a gift! What a man! See more of his wire portraits here.

Alexander Calder at the National Gallery of Art

Alexander Calder at the National Gallery of Art

known by heart

Winter travel allows me to see forests with their bones showing. Several feet of dried leaves carpet the ground around them, revealing the secrets of their luxuriant growth in Spring and hinting of their their glory in the fall.

But in Winter, I see their nearness and their spaces. I see their strength and admire their solidity. No matter if the trees are in Louisiana, North Carolina, Virginia, Indiana, Kansas, or back home in Washington. I know them.

Eva Cassidy ... "I Know You By Heart." Exactly.

Matisse at the Philadelphia Museum of Art

Mademoiselle Yvonne Landsberg, 1914, Henri Matisse

Young woman, or budding flower? It's hard to tell. And it doesn't matter, does it?

Van Gogh exhibit at Philadelphia Museum of Art

East Entrance, Philadelphia Museum of Art

Seeing art museums along the way has been one of the best parts of this trip. When I was at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, so was the amazing Van Gogh Up Close Exhibit! Many of the paintings were from PMA's own collection, but there were just as many from several other international museum collections.

I felt my eyes well with tears as I looked again and again at van Gogh's work. None of the dark "Potato Eaters," this exhibit was filled with light and light and angst and wonder, hope and despair. You can buy the book if you don't think you'll make it to Philly before the show ends May 6. Click here for information.

Portrait of Camille Roulin, 1889, Van Gogh, Philadelphia Museum of Art

I have discovered a wonderful website devoted to Van Gogh. Click here to see "The Vincent van Gogh Gallery."

abstracting the landscape

Chaim Soutine at the National Gallery of Art

Soutine, "Portrait of a Young Man", National Gallery of Art

Russian born Impressionist painter Chaim Soutine always gets my attention in a museum. I enjoy his generous and playful application of paint, bright color, and masterful physical brushwork. It felt like a double treat to not only see one of his paintings, but to see a portrait done OF him by contemporary Italian painter, Amedeo Modigliani.

Modigliani, "Portrait of Soutine" National Gallery of Art

The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. is a treasure. What a thrill to see masterworks there!

Here's more of Soutine. 

journalism

Sometimes I use the sketchbook to "journal" about the activities of the day. I enjoy this, too.

observation leads to assignment

I was standing up on the parapet, trying to catch an ocean breeze (and avoid some of the biting green flies) when I did this quick sketch of the park ranger down below. We were at the Castillo de San Marcos National Park in St. Augustine, FL. 

Looking down on this figure presented me with all kinds of challenges, like the way the top of the foot shows in the buckled shoe, and where the shoulders met the neck (which I mostly couldn't see). My biggest challenge was figuring out how to shape the face. My brain kept getting in the way to insist that a face is an oval, but my eyes whispered that from this angle it was different. Look. Pay attention. Draw what you see. IGNORE THE BIG BOSSY BRAIN!

Overall, I was pleased with this drawing. It got many things right. 

But, as I observed it (and other sketches in my sketchbook) more, I realized that I was doing a lot of scribbling and my lines were often tentative and over-corrected. 

OBSERVATION: tentative, scribbling lines, a lazy look to many of my drawings.

From that observation, it was easy to come up with a little assignment for myself. I determined to draw several heads with very simple, certain lines. That meant looking more and drawing with a confident hand. And for me, that meant separating the BIG BOSSY BRAIN from the ever-curious and observant eyes and let my eyes direct my hand.

This is what I came up with.

I never really know what will happen in my sketchbook, ... but sometimes I absolutely love it!

create a project for yourself

Before we set out for our trips, I always give myself a sketching goal. This trip my goal is to sketch one or more pages of sketches every day. I use a 9" x 9" Aquabee Super Sketch book, with 90# paper, it takes ink and watercolor like a dream, with very little warping.

You can see that I have finished more than half of the pages of this sketchbook so far!

A trip is a natural organizing theme for a sketchbook, but you don't have to travel to create a great sketching project for yourself. Read this post by the inspiring Roz Stendahl on the importance of daily projects! I have been a long-time follower of her blog, "Roz Wound Up" and hope that you will check it out!

So, if not travel, what other subjects might make for a good theme for a sketchbook project?

Draw a piece of fruit every day before you eat it.

Draw faces of people you know.

Draw faces of people you don't know.

Draw your shoes.

Draw the contents of a drawer or closet.

Draw a bush or shrub in your yard.

And then, DO IT! Every day. Just a little. Day by day, you'll find  your ideas evolving and developing. You'll innovate, express, experiment. And bit by bit you'll find that you have created something wonderful!

conch

On the menu at Kaya Island Eats, in the Florida Keys, Conch Steak! Florida is a wild place!