May I say that I am a very effective drawing teacher? I’m 55, so I can say whatever I want. However, I think this assessment of my ability to help people learn to draw is accurate, not boasting. I’ve been teaching drawing lessons for 21 years, and my students are FABULOUS. They are fabulous people, […]
Inching Along
Progress? I’ve been drawing, so something must have grown here. The gate! I did the gate! With all those intangibles and texture, I needed to try something that had a definite shape and edges. I set up the drawing and stepped back. It needed a sense of a path beyond the gate, so I scribbled […]
Fourth of July in Wilsonia
You’d think that when writing of the Fourth of July in Wilsonia that I’d show a cabin with a flag. Instead, it is the sweet little cabin on a meadow without a flag. Why? Because it will be included in Wilsonia’s silent auction on Saturday, July 4. She-Who-Runs-The-Silent-Auction thought this would have the most appeal, so […]
Drawing Lessons
For about 21 years I have been teaching drawing lessons. This sounds formal. The more accurate description to my way of thinking is simply that I show people how I draw and thus guide them to do their own pencil drawing. It is one of the most satisfying and rewarding (more than just financial) parts […]
S L O W
This project is difficult and slow, oh so v e r y s l o w. I often tell my drawing students, “You can be fast or you can be good. I get to be both.” Not this time. I am S L O W. Or perhaps it is the claybord that is slow. Or […]
On the Drawing Board
Drawing board? Drawing table? Drafting table? The piece of furniture where I draw pictures using my pencils. Now that we have that figured out, let’s have a look: Say what? Is that a typo? “Claybord”? A customer found 2 antique frames at an estate sale. She loves my pencil work and asked me to do […]
Unfinished Paintings, Finished Drawing
These paintings have been waiting for attention for weeks, or perhaps months. It is true that what comes easily is usually more fun. I find painting to be work. It is satisfying, but laborious and more often than not, it is difficult. In troubling times, I gravitate back toward that which brings me pleasure and […]
11 Items in My Portfolio Life
“Portfolio life” is a term I found in Jeff Goins’ The Art of Work. Collage of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks in 4 Seasons, pencil and colored pencil, private collection Portfolio life doesn’t mean being a jack of all trades, or being the master of one, or being ADHD. It means your work life is full […]
What’s A Central California Artist to Do? part 2
Beach Birds, pencil, size forgotten, sold If you are a Central California artist, you may occasionally have times when: taking inventory is boring; ordering packaging supplies for notecards that aren’t moving very quickly feels like a waste of money, planning for paintings when one’s current body of work is collecting dust feels futile, writing blog posts is difficult […]
Same County, Different Bridge
In February, I told you of my drawing of the Clover Creek Bridge up in Sequoia National Park and a man who saw it and contacted me. (That post will open in another window if you click here.) The man, named Todd, had googled “pencil drawing of a cabin” and found my site. On my site […]