In the flurry of activity surrounding all the good things happening these days, I found myself drawn to the Gardens here in town. There were so many reasons why I should NOT go spend a morning to draw...piled laundry, dirty house, art "business" stuff to do, etc. But I knew I needed this. To sit … Continue reading A Drawing Morning
Category: Story behind the art
A Desk Saga–Part Four
And so I embrace this life desk of mine, this full, rich, cluttery, diverse, busy-bordering-on-insane, explosive, colorful life desk! And yet...there remains a desire to arrange, sort it all out, organize or actually...maybe re-boot, re-start, toss it out and begin again. Don't we all get to this place with our life desk from time to … Continue reading A Desk Saga–Part Four
A Desk Saga–Part Three
Part Three Dear Jen, It pains me to see how stressed you are over this desk. And I'm a bit worried about you: It appears as if you're hearing voices emanating from the inanimate objects on the top of this desk. They are telling you things that just aren't true. Try to keep from attaching … Continue reading A Desk Saga–Part Three
A Desk Saga–Part Two
Part Two Dear God, What does it meeaaannn???? This desk of mine!? Does it mean that I'm a sluggard who never clears off her desk? Does it mean that I am so scatter brained I can't keep up with one thing and another? Does it mean that I have so many things going on in … Continue reading A Desk Saga–Part Two
A Desk Saga–in 4 Parts
Part One A friend who came to visit yesterday asked...'ummm...is this the umm...same cleaned up desk you posted on Instagram just a couple of weeks ago? < Meep.> Yes. Unfortunately. I have this ongoing tussle with the surface of my desk. Many moons ago, my husband refinished this old teacher's desk which looked nearly black … Continue reading A Desk Saga–in 4 Parts
Negative Painting
At the school where I teach art part-time, I am asked to begin each year with a lesson on Nature Study in Dry-Brush Watercolor. This approach to painting a nature study piece is one of the foundations of the Charlotte Mason approach to education that my school so beautifully exemplifies throughout the K-8 curriculum. … Continue reading Negative Painting
A Story in Paint
Or perhaps this could be titled, Jen's Wonky Palette! Well, one of you asked a simple question: What specific watercolors do you use to paint with? I thought this would be a simple thing to answer. But it actually got me to reminiscing as I painted this wonky drawing of my palette. This is both … Continue reading A Story in Paint
Morning Glory Vine
On my walk this morning, I passed by the garden at the top of Silver Dapple Lane. It is in a state of decline, winding down from the summer's producing. A few tomatoes hang onto skeleton-like plants, a bean or two or three hide under browning leaves, and an unpicked watermelon sits ripe amid the … Continue reading Morning Glory Vine
Lemme Tell Ya A Story…
(to the tune of the Beverly Hillbillies) *** Lemme tell ya a story 'bout a man named Randy A small town pastor whose life was pretty dandy, He told his congregation if they learnt the Apostle's Creed... Then they could throw a pie in his face...strawberry please! ***** For real. This has happened once before … Continue reading Lemme Tell Ya A Story…
Poppie Love
You'll be seeing more Poppy paintings cuz I'm in luuvvv...the poppies this spring at the Ciener Botanical Gardens were droolingly gorgeous! I had just gotten out of the hospital and when I felt up to driving, it was one of the first places I took myself...to see what was blooming there. I was in no … Continue reading Poppie Love