Nov30Art

Bye Bye November, long day today.  Flute lesson tonight went well learned some new notes.  Today starting at 9am and finishing around 4:30 the ARS technicians, got our new A/C heating unit installed.  He did demonstrate the heater, by setting the temp to 85 to get it to turn on,  right now the A/C in running... warm days still around for a little while.

Nov29Art

Breakfast at the Goose Creek American Legion, then over to the starting line for the Abate Toy Run today.  Over 500 bikes and $9,000 raised for the Salvation Army today.  Couldn't ask for better weather, it was just gorgeous today.

Nov28Art

We went to Yemassee SC for lunch today, with the Charleston Hog group.  Great ride thru lots of backroads to a great little place for lunch.  We cut the ride short on the way home, because we had dinner plans with family.  Tomorrow another Toys for Tots ride... 

Nov27Art

Today was a quiet day, did a little shopping for a few toys, for the next Toys for Tots ride on Sunday.  Got a few items from the grocery store, and joined hockey friends Laura and David for Italian Food at La Fontana a favorite place for Italian food here.  Got the paper work finalized for our new heater/AC unit... very expensive over $10,000 sigh, hopefully, this will be our last unit like this to purchase.

Nov26Art

I feel like I spent the day in the kitchen all day, cooking, cleaning, more cooking and of course eating, then putting up left overs.  I'm thankful to be alive and able to put a nice meal on the table.  Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving today and everyday, counting my blessings.

Nov25Art

Quick trip to the grocery store to pick up a couple of things, store closing at 6pm, and the place was packed, I don't believe I've ever seen so many people there.  Most of them like us, only picking up a couple of items so even though the line was long it moved quickly.  Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving tomorrow.

Nov24Art

Well the A/C-heater unit gave up the ghost, not worth the money to get it going again, so we need to buy a new whole house unit.  We find out tomorrow how much this is going to cost and when they'll be able to install it.  Another cold night ahead for us...

Nov23Art

I'm afraid the cold snap tonight will be the end of my roses and hibiscus for this year anyway... the heater was needed today, but sadly refused to come on, repair man to be here tomorrow... sigh.  Going to be a cold night tonight, inside and out.

Nov22Art

Ron and I were married on Charleston Harbor by our good friend Wanda Usher on this day twelve years ago.  Today we celebrated by attending a Toys for Tots ride, crossing over the Cooper River Bridge we had a view of where we took our vows.  Happy memories, happy days ahead with the love of my life.  

Nov21Art

Dinner and a movie tonight, we went to see the new James Bond movie.  I really enjoyed the movie, and Ron stayed awake for most of it.  He has a problem with falling asleep in theaters, comfy seats, and a slow passage and he'll be snoring through the love scenes.

Nov20Art

Negative space drawing, after watching the Danny Gregory video this morning.  I used my tiger model to capture the negative spaces.  Actually turned out better than I would have thought.

Nov19Art

Hard rain this morning woke me up, then this song rattled around in my head all day long.  Found a close up photo on the internet of a water drop, so had to give drawing it a go.

Nov18Art

My driving glasses are brown, I think I need new ones.  My working on the computer glasses are blue, they work great.  I'm so glad I got them, they are bi-focals so I can read and they are adjusted to about 2 feet in front of my face (which is where my monitor sits).  I pretty much wear the blue ones all the time, except when I drive.  My computer glasses work great at the grocery store too, as I'm about 2 feet away from the shelves or I pick up an item to read the label.

Nov17Art

Exploring using these new watercolors, love the transparency of them. Found this quote a while back and thought it was time to use it on a page.

Nov16Art

A continuous line drawing of my little couch shell on my desk, I draw it badly from time to time.  Some day I'll figure out how to represent it's shape and color, but in the mean time I enjoy looking at it, smelling it, and drawing it.

Nov15Art

#Vive la France!  I hope the French know that the American people stand with them while they deal with this horror.  France has been a good and loyal friend to us even from the very founding of our country.  Politics and politicians change but the hearts of the people of France and America are steadfast and true.

A Peerless Watercolor Palette - How to

How I made a Peerless watercolor palette.

I cut a piece of watercolor paper and folded it in half.  I cut a piece of Yupo paper and used Washi tape to stick it in the fold.  This yupo will serve as a mixing palette and keep the colors from blending across the page.  

I used a circle punch to create the circles (but you could cut squares or small strips).  I used a water brush beside each circle to demo what the color looks like.

For fun I painted balloons in rainbow colors (from the palette) on the front.  Finally the palette slips into the pocket on my moleskine sketchbook, so all I need is a pen and a waterbrush and I'm ready to journal.

Nov14Art

#PrayforParis, so sorry for everyone in Paris who lost family and friends to the savage monsters last night.  How do you make a deal with grizzly bear that wan't to eat you for dinner?  You can't you have to kill the bear before he kills you.

I got the fourteen pack of Peerless transparent watercolors (from Peerless) and a 15 pack of extra colors.  So today I cut off 2 inch squares, labeled a 20 pocket notebook insert(made for coin collections) and added the squares.  I used a waterbrush to see what they'd look like.  Most of them you can't tell what the color is by looking at the paper they're on.

Nov13Art

#artb4bkfst was actually done after lunch, and as someone who rarely follows directions (is that the creative in me perhaps?) I only did one cup instead of 3, but my cup wasn't empty it was full of scissors, and brushes and palette knives and more.  It was a fun break from a day that's had me running non stop since 4 am... Have to be at class ready to go at 8am, so no late night TV for me tonight.  Lived thru another Friday 13th without incident :-)

Nov12Art

Cool but beautiful day today, not a cloud in the sky.  Long day at work today, have to drive to Columbia tomorrow so time to feed the dogs and go to bed.

Nov11Art

Thank you to all veterans, past and present.  Today was a work day for me and for Ron but that didn't stop me from thinking about the veterans in my family, my Dad as well as his brothers and my brothers all served in the military.  Ron is a retired submarine sailor and my hero every day.
Freedom is not free.

Nov10Art

Drew one of my Ritz Chips as I was eating them tonight, I was going to draw the little pile, but the pile disappeared too quickly.  I bought a bunch of Sharpie Markers and today was the first time I used them in this watercolor Moleskine sketchbook.  I found out with the blue that it bled thru to the back of the page... so did the red..  lesson learned.  These sketchbooks are too expensive to lose a page due to ink bleed thru... so the Sharpie's will not be used again here. 

Nov09Art

Another exercise from Gay Kraeger's Craftsy class, my wave didn't quite turn out as nicely as hers.  Fun to try and old frisket are my excuses for not being up to the challenge here.

Nov08Art

What a difference a day can make, yesterday it was sunny and warm, today's high barely made it to yesterday's low.  Add 15 mile an hour winds, and rain and I was glad I was watching hockey, not outside trying to pass a motorcycle riding test.  It was a very good game, our team is starting to meld into a cohesive unit. 

Nov07Art

Spent the day at the Harley Shop for the chili cookoff,  we didn't win, but we had fun and made some new friends.  Someone felt sorry for us sitting in the sun with no tent, and gave us their tent for the day... now that's an act of kindness if I ever saw one.

Nov06Art

Acorns and Oak leaves today, I was supposed to be in a class tonight from 5:30 till 9 pm... but the instructor didn't show up :-(  The class was cancelled and we'll be doing it next weekend instead, the weather is supposed to be better next weekend, so that's a plus.

Nov05Art

I'm taking another Craftsy class, this one is a Gay Kraeger Illustrated Journaling class.  I've always admired Gay's art, and have her DVD on Journaling.  My wash was too dry for my wave machine to work, so I used a modified tree machine and some white gouache to make the waves.  For a gray, day that a trip to the beach wasn't possible, imaginary waves were fun to try.

Nov04Art

The black bear we got at the Field and Stream store now sits on top of my work monitor used him as a model today.  We went shopping today for the things we were missing for Ron's chili for the chili cooking contest this weekend.  My motorcycle safety class is this weekend too, so we have a busy weekend ahead... hope the weather clears up a little.

Nov03Art

How did lawyers get associated with sharks?  How did the government get so loaded with lawyers?  Today I voted for two people, just two, a mayor and a city council man... looks like neither of the sharks I voted for will be winning, so the current sharks will continue in their current roles.  Sigh.

Nov02Art

This knife usually lives in my car, for when I might need a knife in the car.  It ended up on my desk, because my husband pulled it out on our trip to Atlanta this past weekend, and found a loose screw.  We brought it in the house to tighten the screw, it's been sitting on my desk ever since.  Thought I'd draw it, before it returns to the car.

Nov01Art

I NEEDED that extra hour of sleep this morning, but I sure didn't like it getting dark so early.  The Stingrays won this afternoon 4 to 1 against the Evans Indiana Icemen.  We have a new Goalie, he did great and even got an assist on one of the goals. Branden Komm is his name, I predict a bright future for this young man.