Y is for Yin and Yang

Yin and Yang. Y is that?

Using the alphabet as my structure for this Art Everyday for a Month Challenge blog has proven to be a good way for me to stimulate my creativity.

Within the alphabet limitations I not only need to create art, but each piece needs to fit into my self-imposed structure. Everyday I need to brainstorm possibilities for the letter of the day - and each day something comes to mind. Now, after three years of doing this, the end of the alphabet has not gotten any easier (still no clue what Z will be about tomorrow). So, I am sure you are wondering Y this is about yin and yang.

The image on the page is actually a drawing of a group of tropical flowers - first drawn right side up, then flipped and drawn again so that the images not only cross, but fit together symmetrically to create a new abstract pattern - yin and yang. Once the pattern was in place, I decided to ignore the floral roots and just play with the shapes to see what appears. This was another chance to experiment with Inktense pencils, and add a few lines and details in markers. I like it. do You?

This is 9x12 on watercolor paper.

R is for Rose

Wild Rose

I have been thinking about creating a new series of paintings - or continuing to work on the one I have already begun with the hope of having enough related work to create a show.

I've also been thinking about, and teaching about Georgia O'Keeffe.

When I look at my drawings and paintings, and at my photography, and when I think of what comes easiest to my hands, and what looks best on my canvases,  it is clear that I am once again headed in the direction of flowers.

This renewed urge to start something new, coupled with the Georgia focus has resulted in time spent poring over my floral photos, as well as past paintings. Looking at my digital pix, I began to enlarge the images seeking detail, depth, patterns and ideas. Look what I found in a simple (incredibly fragrant) wild rose that grows in my front yard. By enlarging the image, I found a whole world (a universe?) - so today, R day, is about the redolent red rose.

L is for Lovely Lavender

Lavender Clematis

Last summer I was asked to design an art class for our local clematis test gardens. Lucky me.

To prepare, I spent hours in among the flowers, looking, analyzing and taking photographs.

Clematis grow on vines in lush clusters of blooms set on dark leaves.  They come in a rainbow of colors and sizes, from darkest purple to creamiest white. I took hundreds of photos. Then I spent many more hours learning how to draw them.

Today, a rainy and dreary day, I felt the need for some floral loveliness, and turned to my photos for cheer. Spending time among my floral photos was like returning to the summer garden. With so many choices, it was the beautiful lavender of these flowers, the soft red of their centers and the way they are set against that greens from light to dark that grabbed my attention and said, play with me in Photoshop. So I did. It brightened my day. I hope it does yours as well.

Can the Tiger Change its Spots?

This drawing is from a photo I took years ago in my sister-in-law's truly exquisite garden. Sue's garden is filled with lilies in colors as bright and vibrant as the sun. I was especially drawn (!) to this one (a tiger lily?) because of the dots and curves that add such pizazz.

It took a long time to figure out how to draw this flower. The very things that make it so beautiful also presented me with real drawing challenges, and real pleasure (those curves! those dangling parts with big shoes!) I will probably want to try this again sometime, to see how I can improve on this version.

This is done in color pencil on heavy drawing paper (very old, from a stash of papers I saved long ago).

Inspired by Sunshine

I will be teaching some art workshops this summer - drawing and painting classes in the garden, so I 've been feeling the need to polish my flower drawing skills. To do this, I have been drawing flowers in color pencil and charcoal. But yesterday, my gift to myself arrived, a set of 48 Conte Pastel Pencils.

When I was a child my FAVORITE gift was a box of 48 crayolas. That brand new box, filled with these fantastic colors (sepia, goldenrod, prussian blue, magenta, burnt sienna) was irresistible. I don't even remember what I drew or colored. I do remember the delight and possibility of those pristine, fragrant crayons in my hand.)

Anyway, I like new colors, and I especially like my new pastel set. It is gorgeous and the thick pencils feel great in my hand. Combine the sunshine, my practice drawing daisies, and my new colors, and you get this sketch. It is on drawing paper and I think it is very cheery.

Art Every Day: Z is for Zen

Day 26

Today's image of a lotus is drawn from a favorite photo, and also a reminder to focus on the light at the heart of things. This drawing is in color pencil on vellum.

Art Every Day: W is for Winter

Day 23

Winter has arrived with an 'Arctic Blast' to our usually temperate region. The frost and some snow are truly on the pumpkin, and some tiny pears that never developed on the tree. I love the way one is still growing upwards (they do that till the grow heavy enough to turn downwards.)

For me, winter is always the time of wishing for warmer weather. The yellow in these pears brings a little sunshine to the coldest day.

This is a combo of Mother Nature, digital photography and Photoshop.

Art Every Day: U is for Umbrellas

Day 21

Umbrellas have absolutely nothing to do with this post, but I needed something to call it. I had a lot of ideas - like up and I'd paint clouds, or upside down (I like that idea) or ultramarine blue and paint gorgeous Nepalese poppies. But this is what appeared today - I don't know what kind of flowers they are, only they are small and I drew them big, on black paper with pastels.

There we go, U is for Upsizing.

Art Every Day: P is for Poppies

Yesterday was the birthday of Georgia O'Keefe. An image of one of her paintings of giant red poppies was posted with information about her art and her life on Facebook.

I love poppies, but I have always been too intimidated by the intensity of color and the detail to try to paint one. However, I have a file filled with poppy pictures I've taken, and one favorite that I keep on my walls to enjoy every day. So, in honor of one a great artist, I was inspired to give this a try.

I drew with color pencil on vellum, and then brought it into Photoshop and saturated the image so that the colors and the details popped beyond what I saw on the page. I love the results! I hope you do too.

Art Every Day: N is for Nature

Day 13

Yesterday was our anniversary, and just like on the day we were married, it was a sunny afternoon. It is never a good idea to ignore the light in November; who can say when it will be back again, so the plan was to head outdoors.

Earlier in the week I heard a report of the impressive crop of mushrooms growing in the forest. We decided to go hunting. My husband envisioning sauteed delights, the dog, and me with my camera. We drove west toward the coast, and drove to the top of a high hill in the state park. Tomorrow I will show you the sky. Today, I drew a mushroom on the forest floor.

This is pastel pencil and pastel on Canson Mi Tiente.

By the way, though the picking was poor, the hike was a pleasure, and a stand along the road sold us a bounty of chanterelles. Dinner was delicious.

Art Every Day: K is for Kids and Creativity

Day 11
Today's image is a botanical drawing of a potato plant- the final assignment in the fun class I am just completing. It is a botanical drawing - so has no shadows. It looks a little flat to me. None the less, it was fun to draw. I used graphite and color pencil.

Now onto the K. I have kids on my mind. I am just back from a teacher meeting with a handful of interesting and challenging new lessons to present. The classes I teach are part of an after school program funded by parents. This means that only kids who can afford the classes, get to participate. Yet, every kid I encounter tells me they love to do art, and that they wish they could do more of it in school.

Today, the arts are a luxury that many of Oregon's financially strapped schools can't seem to afford. Art advocates (I am certainly one) believe that the price for eliminating the arts from our schools will exact a price we don't want to have to pay.

Arts help students think creatively, not only express ideas, but shape them too. They offer opportunities for success in a variety of learning styles, and prepare kids for the world of work beyond school. And, most of all, kids like art. For many, the arts are what keep them coming to school day after day.

To learn more about the value of arts education, check out this video about the importance of creativity and the value of arts in school from Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) Art Beat at School.

By the way, Oregon Art Beat at School is another fantastic resource for art education, ideas and resources. It includes lesson plans sorted by grade, subject and content standards, and are based on individual videos aired on the TV program and available for streaming online (and in your classroom).

In the interest of full disclosure, I am one of the writers for the site, and I highly recommend it.

Art Every Day: I is for Iris - Goddess of the Rainbow

Day 9
I was introduced to the irresistible beauty of irises by a friend at work many years ago. His entire tiny urban front yard produced a veritable rainbow of exquisite blooms each spring. Every day during the season, he'd bring irises to the office, some for each of the ladies. I was enchanted.

Some blooms huge, some tiny, some fragrant, some flagrantly sensual. I was amazed by the second bloom that appeared after the first wilted. Most of all, it was the colors that attracted me to these flowers. No wonder they are named for the Iris, the Winged Goddess of the Rainbow.

Later, camera in hand, I discovered another aspect of the iris's magnificence - the shapes, the curves, the delicacy. I could go on and on ... but instead of telling you, I will show my version of this goddess flower. This is color pencil on vellum - but I brought the finished image into Photoshop and dropped in the turquoise background (iris in the sky?)

As I worked on this I made another discovery. It took a rainbow of colors to paint this red flower.

Art Every Day: G is for Garden

Day 7
I've mentioned that I love to photograph flowers. I do this where ever I go. Fortunately, in my neighborhood of big yards and burgeoning gardens, I don't have to go far to find something to beautiful.

Though our garden is usually full of vegetables, and our trees hang with fruit (and gorgeous spring blossoms), I often prefer to visit the Master Gardener up the street when seeking inspiration. Monet would have been happy in S's garden.

This drawing is from a photo I took there years ago. I don't know what kind of flower this is, but I love dark flowers, especially, as in this case, when they grow among crowds of white clematis.

I have drawn this flower before, always struggling to get the details out of the lush dark petals. This time I used color pencil on vellum. This seems to me to be a really good combination of paper and media, the vellum does a good job of holding and showing the color and texture I use to apply it.

Art Every Day: D is for Design and Drawing

Check out the new blog design! I hope it makes things easier to see and find.


Redesigning this page should count as my creative art for the day .... but noooo. Today was my botanical drawing class with teacher Jill Jeffers Goodell and I had the chance to spend the morning drawing carrots with pen and ink.

I think it is fair to say that drawing is not my strong suit. I prefer to slop the colors down and see what appears. But, D is also for Discipline and I get so much out of the time I spend focused on carefully drawing, I know I am seeing the results in my paintings.

If drawing a carrot was not enough of a challenge, drawing in pen and ink put it over the top. The reason I LOVE pastel is that it is so forgiving, Make a mistake, make it go away - nobody knows but you.

In pen and ink, my messy tendencies resulted in an ugly stain at the bottom of the page. So - D was also for Determination today. I was determined to post this picture, so, I brought it into Photoshop and figured out a way to edit out the stain. Cool.

Art Every Day 2

It was just a year ago that I discovered the pleasure of painting in pastels. Previously, most of my art has taken digital forms, often graphic design, and lots of craft work. Spending this year learning to paint in pastel, exploring this new and totally delicious medium and struggling with a less than stellar job market has made something absolutely clear to me. The work I want to do must include art ... making art, and teaching art.

So, I feel like I am circling back to my creative beginnings. And, I feel that I am moving forward. This week, while cleaning out my office, (making room for all of my glorious collection of art supplies - some decades old) I discovered several rolls of vellum. This image combines inspiration from my botanical drawing class with an experiment using water color pencils on vellum. In progress.

A New Inspiring Idea: Art Every Day

Its been a while since I felt inspired to write in this blog ... but the Art Every Day Challenge has given me the impetus I need to do something I have wanted to do for a while - put something, anything, on the page everyday.

Taking part in this challenge will (I hope) not only inspire me to be more creative and artistically productive, but also give me the opportunity to discover lots of other artists, learn about what they are doing, and how they do it.

So, this blog is, at least for now, the perfect place to post the images that I create. Since I am currently taking a class on botanical drawing, this first image is from class, a small sketch of a lily, done in oil pastel. I can't wait to see what I am going to post tomorrow.