SKETCHBOOK TUESDAY-DOWNTOWN

Hey Everyone!

It is SKETCHBOOK Tuesday! 

There was a threat of rain in the overcast sky, my dear friend Rhoda and I sat outside under the umbrella along with an older man and woman sitting at a table nearby having coffee watching as people wandered in and out of the bagel shop. 

 The first thing that comes to mind is what a picture-perfect little place it is to sketch with a beautiful bubbling tiered fountain and quaint herringbone brick pattern patio, café tables and market umbrellas, surrounded by lush green flowering bushes and trees.

 Arrrgh! Why didn’t I bring my sketchbook?!?! I was not prepared on Sunday after church for the spur of the moment plan to have a bagel with my friend, oh well, next time, right? I did have a camera phone handy, so  I shot a few photos to help recreate the scene in my sketchbook later. 

Being super shy about sketching in public so honestly speaking, even if the sketchbook were in my purse, I probably would not whip it out anyway.

Really, I keep telling myself that I MUST get over my fear of sketching in public. Anyone else out there that feels this way? Any suggestions would be welcomed. 

Grab some paper and pencil and go SKETCH! 

Have a wonderful day!

Suzy

Somewhere to Sketch-Vacaville, CA

Hi Everyone!

I've recently joined a group of artists at blog called Some Where to Sketch hosted by Lynn Cohen and Ann Hyde.  Each month via Google Earth we are invited to sketch in a location chosen by Lynn or Ann.  During the month of August we have been sketching in Lynn's hometown of Vacaville, CA.


  I sketched and painted 418 Main Street. Of course I took artist license to the original street location.

418 Main Street Vacaville, CA 

Please come and join us!  If you aren't familiar with Google Earth, it is a wonderful FREE program that let's you type in a location and gives a great overview and street level view of any city in the world! It's pretty fab! This is a great way to explore other cities and sketch without leaving home!

Grab your pad and pencil and come out and play sketch us! Join in before the end of the month to sketch in Vacaville!

Happy Sketching! 
Suzy

Linked to: Somewhere to Sketch

New Travel Series "Down Memory Lane".

Hi Everyone!

It’s Travel Thursday again! Who’s ready to come along?  Today we’ll be taking a different path than usual, but don’t worry, I know the way having tripped down this lane often.  Curious as to where we might be going today? The good news is No Passport Needed! We'll be tripping down Memory Lane! 

We're keeping it LOCAL during this mini Travel Series.  Over the next several weeks I'll be walking you though a series of places: The Neighborhood; A Morning in the Park with Friends; My Own Backyard sketches and In The Studio.  

Ok, so let's see what's happening around The Neighborhood! 

Each morning I would get up and don my walking shoes and start down the road from my house, following mostly the same route everyday (creature of habit here).  Upon returning home I would sketch or draw or paint interesting things I saw along the way. 

I passed this gorgeous white picket fence each morning on my walk, the yellow Alamanda blossoms that cascade over the arbor and down the fence take my breath away. It is a lovely sight to see! This particular morning it is hot and humid and the bright golden yellow daisies catch my eye, as well the appropriately named Firecracker bushes exploding with their red-orange colored blooms. 

I hear a rat-ta-tat noise coming from the woodpecker rapping on the metal streetlight and wonder whether the bird realizes 1. that he's tapping on metal and 2. it is waking up the neighborhood at this early hour!  A bit later I'm walking along and spot a giant raccoon, he sees me too and we both freeze! Yikes. And my neighbor has a new pineapple growing on his plant! There's a small sign "please do not pick". 

This morning a little box turtle has crossed the busy street from his pond and is wandering on the black top of a church parking lot.  Poor little fellow seems a bit lost. 

The weather is turning cooler and the neighbors are decorating for fall with pumpkins and scarecrows.  The bushes are producing these luscious berries in deep plum and purple colors, and the turtles are huddling on the fountain in the middle of the pond warming themselves with early morning rays of the sun. 

Please join me each Thursday for a journey back in time through my journals. What do you see on your early morning walks? Do you take time to record these moments and how do you keep these memories? I'd love to know! 

Happy Travels!
Suzy 

NEW TRAVEL JOURNAL PAGES REVEALED!

Hi Everyone!

So this week I'm going to share something with you that I have been promising for awhile: my travel journal pages. The journal pages started as a way to avoid carrying tons of brochures and collected mementos home from vacation. With the cost of flying, baggage weight restrictions and extra cost to check baggage these were definite reasons to pair down extra goodies brought back home. Know what I mean?  This also forced me to cut down on art supplies, narrowing  down to (what I consider) the bare minimum, they fit into a pencil pouch (you can see a list HERE).  I take a journal and glue stuff into it as I go along, tearing images  from the brochures, painting or handwriting the days events onto the pages. I suppose you could relate this to a form of Smash Book if you like, only I was doing this years before that term or product was developed.

I hope you will click on the TRAVEL JOURNAL tab above and check out the first of my journal pages. I'll be sharing some with you weekly on Thursdays (OK, let's give it an official name like TRAVEL THURSDAY). You can check back each week to see what I've posted and I hope you will come often to visit and see where my journal has been. 

Happy Travels and Journaling!
Suzy

Link to: sewmanyways