Rainy Day

It's a rainy day here in Piedmont South Carolina.
My husband tells me that it is cold outside as well...
I wouldn't personally know since I haven't stepped outside the house today.
I've been inside, in the studio.
Busy as a bee.
Working on wayyy too many things at once.
Here is a sampling... Doodling, working out the kinks on a new technique for a collaborative project and another book cover.
Oh, two books.
I am working on a black/white and a touch of red book.
And "The Green Fan (Girl from Toledo, Spain) (Robert Henri 1912) book.
Jeesh - that's not the name of the book,
just the painting (printed on fabric) that I put on the cover.



It's one of my favorite paintings.
It is on display at Gibbs Art Museum in one of my favorite cities - Charleston SC.
The museum owns the painting so it's on permanent display there.
It is just breath taking.
So if you're planning a visit to historic Charleston,
head over to the Gibbs.
You won't regret it.

Charleston Harbor

My husband and I went on a long weekend camping trip with family members.
We took our trusty (and trust worthy) sea kayak -
as we were headed to Charleston, SC.
I'm not going to add a lot of verbiage...
just photos and to tell you where we went.
On Saturday, we kayaked out of Shem Creek.
There is a boat ramp around the corner from Coastal Expeditions.
We went over to Crab Bank - it opened up on Friday Oct. 15.
We found TONS of fossilized shark teeth!
We love to look for sharks' teeth.
On Sunday, we put our kayak in at Wapoo Cut Landing, near the Ashley River Bridge (Folly Road Drawbridge).
We kayaked around the Battery.
Which was just awesome!
It looked different from the water side...
As you go past the Battery, this is what comes into view (not quite as close).

The Cooper River Bridge.
Such a beautiful bridge, especially at night.

We went over to the USS Yorktown.

And then across to Shutes Island (Castle Pickney).

We found this sign (after we got out onto the island), tossed into the shrubs.

If you're interested in the history of the island (pre-civil war) follow the link.

Interesting stuff.

A shot of the crumbling fort with a fantastic little tree on top.

The island is slowly being reclaimed by nature.

It is beautiful.

A beach shot of the crumbling fort being circled by birds (mostly pelicans).


This was an interesting sight!

I followed it as it went around the island.

The ship, the fort and the beach.

No pirates...;-)

It was a very long kayak trip -

NOT for beginners or the faint of heart.

We were in the water, paddling for about 7 hours.

All I can say is

"Look at those biceps!"

Visual Poetry

I have been taking more time with photography here lately.
Really trying to think about the what, the how, the why of what I see in my view finder.
And the "what am I going to do with it when I take it" of a photograph.
I own Adobe Photoshop Elements 7. And that's about all I could say about it.
I didn't know what to do with it...
but I have a remedy to that...
Visual Poetry.
Susan Tuttle.
Below are a couple of things that I did on PSE 7 with Susan's help
(she holds me hand...I hear her voice whispering to me, telling me what to do).
The first is a side street in Charleston SC. I've managed to make it all vintage & retro (even though I liked the regular shot as well).
The second was a shot of me that my handsome hubby took -
I actually know how to round corners now!

When I meet online friends in person, several have said things like
"Wow. I thought you would have been taller than that."
or
"Wow. Just lookin' at your picture online, I thought you were a lot taller than that."
or
"Wow. You're short."
I just want to let everyone know that I'm just right for my height...
I am 5'1".
That's not short - that's petite.
That's
Just.
Right.

Beauty

On the trip home from Charleston, we were surprised with this beautiful sunset.
I took the pictures from inside the car - so they may be a bit blurry.
Notice the tie cord from the kayak in the first one.




What beautiful colors!
Seems that I have seen a watercolor painting
of a Santa Fe sky using the same colors...

This next photo was taken in one of the oldest cemeteries in Charleston. There is a monument standing in the graveyard from the 17th century.
I have more pics but was amused by the carving on this one.
Wonder who was the model for this wide eyed woman?

Enjoy your day.

It's raining softly here at my house.

My paints, fabrics, papers and sewing machine are busy on a special project.

One that I can't tell you about right now - but a Big surprise (and honor).

I'll tell you soon.

In the mean time, do these things.

1. Try to find inspiration in everyday things.

2. Draw (or sketch) daily.

3. Document your passion.

You will be pleased with the results and it will humor your children 40 years from now.

Weekend Art

My husband and I went to Charleston this weekend for a little camping and kayaking.
On the drive down, I pulled out my sketchbook and a book that I had carried with me.
I love to thumb through source books or other illustrated books
for pictures or illustrations that catch my eye. Then I sketch them out in my journal or sketch book - it's a warm up of sorts to drawing what's around me. Even though I draw a lot, I still require some warm up exercises most days to "get in the groove" of things or to just keep my drawing skills up to date.
While at the camp site, I had the occasion to pull out my trusty compact watercolors to add a little color to the pages.


We kayaked in the Charleston Harbor - out to Crab Banks.
We found some awesome shark teeth! One was over an inch tall - that gave me a moments pause when the waves hit three foot and our kayak was bouncing around...
I suddenly recalled the serrations on that big ole tooth...
and had to frantically push away the fright bubbling up in my chest.
We did some of what my husband called "kayak surfing" as we rode that wave in.
It was a lot of fun (at that point) and we will definitely go back for more of that.
I hope that your weekend was filled with a lot of love for what you were doing -
and who you were doing it with.
Mine sure was.

Charleston, Harbor Kayaking, Museums and Wyanne

Well, I've been a busy girl here lately!

My husband and I went to Charleston SC for a long weekend.

He had to do a little work but that was quickly taken care of...On to the fun stuff!

We went kayaking with Joe on Shem Creek, then out in the Charleston Harbor.

We had a good look at this island but couldn't go out on it because of nesting activity. It opens back up on Oct. 15 and I'd love to go back and look for sharks teeth and such.

We saw a manatee! It looked like a big hairy brown face peeking out of the water!

That was so cool...hearing the "whoosh" of water and air as he (?) came to the surface,

then seeing that comical hairy face peeking up...
gotta love kayaking in this water!

We had just started to head back towards the dock when a shrimp boat came in...

birds circling the boat, diving and screaming at each other...

we followed it, hoping to see a dolphin...

but no sighting in the harbor.

As we rounded the harbor, heading in to Shem Creek

we were greeted with a couple of other folks in kayaks, holding position near the docked shrimp boat.

"Dolphin!"

"Look, it's a dolphin!"

And there it was...appearing to be rather young...

or small anyway...

jumping and rolling up and down in the water...

feeding off of the shrimp boats bait...

We wanted to stay and watch but we were renting by the half day...

I highly recommend this tour to anyone that is interested in kayaking and seeing the harbor and its' wildlife in a different way...

a little closer look...

It's well worth the money.

Next time we go to Charleston, we're going to just rent kayaks and decide on our own route.

That way we can stop and spend the amount of time that we want in each place.

It was a lot of fun!

Now...what's next...

Oh, some of you know that I've been taking art classes at a local museum.

We are having a Student Art Show in October...

I've been working on a piece.

I finally completed it!

Yay for me!

I'll try to post pictures after I frame it...

You should come and see it and all the other awesome work of my fellow students.

I noticed that some of the women seem to come to the classes as a type of "Social Painting"...

I may have coined a phrase here...

but they all are wonderful painters (watercolor, acrylic, pastels, etc...)

that come week after week for a bit of encouragement

perhaps a laugh or two (if you're in my class!)

and the fellowship of the group.

You should join us in the next set of classes.

Now, the next topic.

Wyanne.

Have you heard of her?

Seen her awesome work?

I found her on You Tube while looking for videos on mixed media techniques.

What an Awesome Artist!

I love her work...

love the beauty that comes through ...

love, love, love Her Girls...

You should watch some of her videos to see how she creates them...

how they come to life...

There are so many mixed media techniques that she uses that appeal to me.

I want to try them on fabric...

See how I can apply all those great techniques to My Art.

I hope that all of you are excited about creating Art as I am.

The world is full of Everyday Miracles...

Look around you...

open you eyes to the majesty of what's around you.

Allow The Universe to Inspire You.