Actually a rooster, but he’s kind of funky from some perspectives.

My friend, Jo Castillo, sketches in ink. Only in ink. Way too much pressure. So irrevocable. I will generally draw in pencil until I get it like I want it, then draw it in ink. But I thought, what the heck, and attempted to capture this little guy (about 2 1/2 inches high) in ink. Ever fearless.

Art Cards

Cards are on sale for $2.00 or 5 for $9, and because it’s my last sale of the year (plus I’m cleaning out my studio), many paintings and prints will be at extreme sale prices too!!

Our show will be up for a month at the Old Bakery and Emporium at 1006 Congress, just south of the Capitol in Austin.

Hope you can come to see the exhibit and all the other great items!

I’m always grateful for honest advice from artist friends, as they can often see things I can’t about a work in progress, and it also helps me learn new things to apply to future work.
Jo Castillo and Ruth Meaders – both gave me some good advice on helping to make this a better painting – to keep the focus on the egret and keep the viewer’s eye from sliding off to the right or left of the painting, they suggested I make the water darker at the sides, and to vary the line of the bank. I like it much better now.  Jo and I often trade suggestions and over the years, we have (I hope!) learned to help each other in an honest but tactful way.  Thanks, friends!

And the very complex, intricate, convoluted answer I came up with – because it’s fun. It’s fun to create, it’s fun to use your imagination, it’s fun to play with color and application, it’s fun to see a piece evolve minute by minute, day by day. But we all need input from others and a dry spell in sales can give cause for a lot of self-examination. And too much focus on oneself.

Over the years, we’ve all known people who brought to mind the phrase “enough about me, what do you think about me?” So to guard against too much “me”, it’s necessary at times to get away from your own little self and see what is going on in the world – or at least in your part of it.

Yesterday, I was able to attend several art events exhibiting work by artist friends. One was the Real Gallery, part of the East Austin Studio Tour, which has an impressive number of artists and locations, and a wonderful variety of work. Another event was at a friend’s house, where we enjoyed inspiring music and a beautiful display of her art and technique. And lastly, a visit to another house where the art was created from wood – lovely work and design.

So it was nice, for a change, to not feel the pressure to sell my work – that’s why God made the space between walls and sofas – and to spend time enjoying and appreciating the fruits of other’s creativity.

I think it is a fantastic and amazing library where I can instantly – and usually for free – find the answer to any question that pops into my little pea brain.  Who played JR’s dad in the television series Dallas – both actors?  What is the best way to ship pastel paintings?  Where can I find a list of prime numbers?  How can I color my hair back to grey?  Is there a Quantum Physics for Dummies book? (YES!)  Do I give my dog oatmeal after he ate an entire chicken off the counter top?  (Yes, among other options, and you get to watch over do-do for the next few days)

Absolutely anything you need to know is there.  Someone else has had the same question, problem, or curiosity at some point, and other kind people have helped them to figure out the answer.  Yep, I’m a Pollyanna and I don’t care.

One of the things that tickles me the most is when I see that someone from the Isle of Man or Prudenville, Michigan has visited my blog.  I was lucky enough to visit the Isle of Skye, and Holyhead Wales, and Agana Guam, and I’ve lived a lot of places because my father was in the service. So I love seeing that someone in Romania has checked out my blog.  I hope that I have helped someone get started in learning to draw or to use pastels.   Send me a comment, and I’ll check out your site!

Some of the visitors from yesterday – courtesy of Statcounter.com (a free service) show the city, state, and country of each visitor.  Not your name nor anything else, just the search terms and the city location ~
Isle Of Man / Moscow, Moscow City, Russian Federation / Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam / Madras, Tamil Nadu, India / Sioux Falls, South Dakota / Austin, Texas / Coronado, California / Saint Paul, Minnesota / Cambridge, Ontario, Canada / Windsor, Ontario, Canada / San Diego, California / Prudenville, Michigan / New York/ Altoona, Pennsylvania / Oakville, Ontario, Canada / Grand Rapids, Michigan ( I used to live there! - And in Ada, Lansing and Kalkaska) / Collierville, Tennessee / Radford, Virginia / Washington, Durham, United Kingdom / Blandford Forum, Dorset, United Kingdom / Memphis, Tennessee / Los Angeles, California / Plasencia, Extremadura, Spain / Leicester, United Kingdom / Banbridge, United Kingdom / Albuquerque, New Mexico (Hi, Jo!) / Roslindale, Massachusetts

How cool is that?

So Hello and Kanys t’ou? to Manx! (”the people born on the Isle of Skye are known as ‘Manx’ and are classified as British (as opposed to English” – www.isleofman.com) and bienvenidos a mi blog to Plasencia Spain too.

Here is one I found today –

Andrea Joseph’s sketchblog

Wonderful, wonderful sketches.

And I found Andrea through

Rose Welty

who also loves to paint, draw and figured out how to combine her blog, website and newsletter!

www.mikeetie.com

It will be well worth your time to visit and see his great landscapes.