French Press Mini Print

Full Disclosure: I have never been a coffee drinker. My beverage of choice has always been tea. However, coffee is a major part of my husband's morning ritual, and his French press always has a place at our breakfast table.

I sketched out his carafe the other morning, and from that drawing traced a slightly cleaner ink rendition on tracing paper. I then traced over the ink drawing with a graphite pencil, and transferred the image onto the rubber carving block.

Pulling test prints throughout the carving process.

The final print

Experimenting with color palettes on the scanned image in Adobe Illustrator 

That about wraps up design #3 in my Breakfast Table Mini Print series. 

I think next I will finally pay homage to my cup of tea.

Pen and Ink Florals

I recently bought a wonderful new fountain brush pen by Kuretake, and have found it's the perfect tool for inking flowers. 

I also picked up a fountain pen converter so I could fill the pen with a nice waterproof india ink and watercolor over my drawings.

I've got a long way to go before I master the brush pen, but I'm pretty pleased with these early experiments!

Thanks for coming by! 

Garden Cat Linocut

From sketch to proof to print. 

Greeting cards available now in my shop!

New Pens and Travel Case.

There is nothing so supremely satisfying as a new pen.

...Except perhaps an awesome travel case filled with a beautifully organized assortment of them. 

Last week, I treated myself to a variety of inexpensive fountain pens from Jetpens.com. The hardest part was waiting for them to arrive. I'm still breaking them in, but I'll be sure to let you know my favorites once I've had a chance to get a feel for how they perform.

In the mean time, you can scroll to the bottom of the page to see a list of some of my favorite tried-and-true travel sketching tools.

But I'm pretty sure my favorite purchase by far is the case itself. I love that there's even a place for my brush pens. Now I'm ready to hit the road with my sketchbooks!

Which is great, considering that next month will be full of travel. I hope to have some fun photos to share!

Thanks for stopping by :-)

Some of my favorite sketching and watercolor materials:

- Sakura Koi Water Brush pens

- Pentel Water Brush pens

- Sakura Micron and Graphic pens

- Prismacolor Premier Brush Tip Marker

- Windsor and Newton Cotman Water Colour Compact Set

- Moleskine Watercolor Notebooks

Drawing and Writing My Way Home.

At home in my notebook.

It's been a while.

The creative impulse, which had felt stifled and sad for many months, seems to be flowing freely once again.

And finally I don't ask what the point is.

It brings me back to my authentic self, my truth, my heart's desire.

And that's good enough for me.

The little things

 I found a pink-petaled mug covered in Siamese kitties at the hospice thrift shop down the street.

It might be my new favorite thing.

Or at least its' currently tied for first with homemade dark chocolate peanut butter cups. 

The cold snap hasn't been good for much, but it's certainly made hanging around indoors easy.

I've been working on some doodle illustrations for a fun new project.

Here's a little sneak peek:

Last night I sat drawing at the kitchen table for hours, wrapped up in an electric blanket.

So I guess winter isn't so bad :)

And in case you're eager to give them a try...

Here's my (highly unscientific) "recipe" for peanut butter cups:

- Unsweetened Baker's Chocolate

- Coconut Oil

- Sugar

- Vanilla Extract

- Salt

- Peanut Butter

- Paper cupcake cups

1. Chop/shave chocolate and place in small sauce pan

2. Add about 1 tablespoon of Coconut oil for every ounce of chocolate.

3. Add about 1.5 tablespoon of sugar per ounce of chocolate. (All I had in my cupboard was sugar in the raw, so I ground it very fine using a mortal and pestle.  Store bought powdered sugar would probably also work, but I can't recommend a dosage so you'd have to just add to taste).

4. Add a pinch of salt.

5. Place pot over low heat and stir until all ingredients have melted.

6. Remove from heat and stir in a teaspoon of vanilla extract.

7. Pour a thin layer of melted chocolate into cupcake cups (it may help to place cups in a cupcake pan if you have one, but I didn't and I managed just fine).

8. Add a dollop of peanut butter to each cup

9. Cover peanut butter with remaining chocolate, and place cups in freezer to cool.

Enjoy!

Home again, home again.

So now I live in a cozy cabin and have a work space with a big desk overlooking beautiful Lake Champlain.

I cannot express how grateful I am to be here.

It's so peaceful.  And there is so much space for creating!  

So I've been playing guitar.  And teaching myself violin.  And cooking and baking and compiling original recipes.  

Then just yesterday, I started playing around with Illustrator and some of my beloved hand drawn doodles.

These two are my favorite so far:

I think they do a pretty good job of expressing how I'm feeling these days :)

In Good Hands

One spring day a few years ago, my dad found a small frog in the pond out back.  I snapped a photo, and set to work recreating it in color pastels.  

I think the experiment was a success.  

arf-arf

Linocut block print of Miss Maddie.

Child's Play

As a little girl, I was very close to my stuffed animal toys.  Each one felt completely alive.  As an adult, I still feel comforted by the companionship of certain fluffy friends.  Perhaps this is why I decided to immortalize a few of these unique characters in colored pencil drawings. 

 I found this little cat while visiting the coastal town of Puerto Escondido in the southern state of Oaxaca, Mexico.  Walking through the city streets, I was immediately drawn to the brightly colored, hand-sewn animals that were strewn atop the Mexican blanket along the side of the road.  The women who sold them had warm smiles.  I was low on pesos that night, but they happily accepted US dollars.

I liked the lime green color of this guy in particular.  Maybe that is a magic scarf he's wearing?
  

This trio of bunnies I came across while at a vendor fair in Bangkok, Thailand.  I loved that they came tucked snugly in a zip-up cloth carrot.  It reminded me of a miniature rabbit hutch my great grandmother Hazel gave to me as a child.  It even came with a tiny food dish, and a little latch door to hold two hand-painted wooden rabbits, each no bigger than a grape.
 

This fella also originated in Thailand, and was given to me as a gift.  At first I thought he was a llama, but the chin scruff could also indicate a billy goat.  I like his shape.

These are the sorts of things that keep my inner 3-year-old happy.

Feathered Friends

I have recently undertaken the task of digitally compiling the many pieces of art I have created over the years.  

Here are some pen and ink favorites from 2009.

Sweet little Bluebird.

Cheeky Bluejay.

This nest is one of my all-time favorite drawings.  So peaceful and safe. 

More art, coming soon!

tikk-tikka-tu

Lately I've been posting some very "youthful" drawings, so for the sake of variety, here is something a bit different:

Just a simple squirrel sketch.

Hey there, little fella.

Whee!

More doodle friends.

Funny how these simple, child-like drawings please me so.

The Tao of Doodling

In both art and life in general, I appreciate simplicity.

One gentle stroke, seemingly effortless - or even accidental - creates life.

When I draw like this, I begin not knowing what image will emerge. 

The line seems to know what it wants to become.

Without trying to control it, I let it flow.  Often I am tickled by the outcome. 

 

This little squirrel might be my favorite.   

I feel like I'm channeling Pablo Picasso.