A page of snippets

 A page with a few snippets glued on was waiting in my sketchbook to be put to use. I used a Derwent Inktense pencil to draw this still-life. When you concentrate on the composition and dimensions you forget about the snippets until you see the end-result :).

It is a nice way to get unexpected results.

Have a good week! We have had some rain finally, which changes nature immediately, so I need to do some gardening work, especially since the apples are falling of the trees.

Open Studio day

Warm Summer days, and I threw the doors wide open of my studio, to welcome visitors. 

Well, only some people stepped from their bicycle, so it was not a busy day. But I did have a good working time, finishing some small art works, making cards, preparing for the fair and jotting down ideas.

Next Open Studio: September 18th.

 

Portrait of a young woman

I made a drawing of a young woman, looking outside the window. A painted background adds surprises, I like that. I have prepared some sketchbook-pages with colour, and when I find an interesting face or pose I draw it. And so my sketchbook fills up.

I have made a series of charcoal portraits in the same way, you can find them in my Etsy-shop. Have a nice week, here in Europe it is going to be another one with hot temperatures...

Hydrangea flowers

 During my Open Studio last Friday I had fun trying to handprint some Hydrangea flowers. I carved the stamps first, and then printed them with acrylic paint. It was messy because of the very small stamps, but also a lot of fun! This time I made the blue purple variety, but I will also try to make the whitepink ones.

This picture shows my practice paper :). I already sold two of the cards, and will be making more for a Castle fair in September.

Hands where I can see them

 We've completed putting up the exhibition with the topic Hands. More than 20 drawings and two paintings made by me are on display. I hope the visitors will enjoy them.

The display is in our local church, open on Saturdays 11-16 pm.

I find it difficult to draw Hands, so in order to get a grip on it and to improve my skills I started making drawings. And along the way you start to notice dimensions, emotions and so on. Interesting and still a bit difficult, so I keep on drawing.

Shoreline

The shores of this lake were right in front of our tent so of course I took several pictures. I like the lines in the landscape and decided to use this picture as a reference for a little drawing with watersoluble crayons. It did not need to be an exact version, so I blended some colours, made some layers, practicing with the crayons.

This week I am busy for an exhibition in a church. With a group we are organising an exhibition around the theme HANDS. All the finishing touches on details take quite some time... so the challenge is now to put all that hard work into an attractive and accessible expo.

Recharged

 We've been away for a holiday in Sweden, and feel recharged. Hiking, touring through the landscape, enjoying different food, trying to learn about the Swedish culture: it all shifts your focus for a while. And hey: no to do-lists! One of our visits was to the small city of Mariestad, a pretty quiet city with a large church and a small old center. The enjoyment is in the small details, for instance this simple beautiful door in one of the streets.

And now we're home and are re-focusing on work, organizing for an exhibition, looking into new regulations for my Etsy-shop and so on... wishing you a good week!