the last golden day

The last golden day of 2015?
Early November, the trees had almost but not quite finished their autumn fireworks, gold and pink and orange were still in fluorescent glow.
My best friend and I packed a picnic and drove south of Chicagoland to Starved Rock State Park along the wide Illinois River. We hiked the bluffs, gazed out at the green river from the many view points, and chuffed merrily through the pillows and piles of fallen leaves on the trails.

salsa and interesting hair sketch

Take me out to dinner and I will probably want to sketch you or the interesting people around us.

GoodNight and Christmas full moon

merrier

“If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.”

~ J.R.R. Tolkien

draw and don't waste time

Draw, Antonio, draw – draw and don't waste time!- Michelangelo

I drew this in my sketchbook early one morning in Colorado a day or so after my mother's death. I was looking out the upstairs bedroom window of my sister's house, enjoying her mountain view and noticed the prettiest white horse alone in the pasture.

 

My sketchbooks are full to bursting with all the memories of these past months. Since I stopped posting, I have been on a number of trips, Colorado, Washington D.C, (The National Gallery!) Colorado again, New Orleans, Chicago, and to top it all...Italy. Yes! I traveled to Rome and Florence this past summer to see all the art I could possibly absorb in two weeks.  I will be posting the contents of three different sketchbooks in the next weeks. It might be kind of a travelog, enjoy the memories with me.

Draw, Antonio, draw – draw and don't waste time!
- Michelangelo

trace

Art is, after all, only a trace — like a footprint which shows that one has walked bravely and in great happiness.
- Robert Henri

From my sketchbook this past summer, a memory, a trace.

the moment

Here we are, trapped in the amber of the moment. There is no why.

Kurt Vonnegut

My sketch blog is back! To anyone who might be following my little blog out there, it has been a long hiatus this year. Late spring and early summer my mother became very weak and signs were clear that she was not going to be with us for much longer. I made many trips to Colorado treasuring those last sweet  days with her. She passed peacefully mid-summer and the family gathered for a gentle quiet funeral. It has taken me months to recover from these events.

Meanwhile, my own children were keeping me very busy. My two daughters each gave birth this spring, just two weeks apart. A new baby boy and a new baby girl joined our clan. I was present for both births to my great joy and (of course)! have been grandma-babysitter whenever. All of these events plus my part-time teaching job have crowded my days. And I do not like being busy. I like most of all to sit alone dreaming. It is a dilemma. A good dilemma to have but still tears me in different directions. I imagine all artists have this struggle to one extent or another. Dreaming alone, making art versus doing for others what needs to be done.

winter solstice

Shortest day of the year and longest night of the year, and it looks like the night already started.

season of Advent

And now for a presentation of art that is more appropriate to the season. Tomorrow is the last Sunday of Advent. And Christmas is just 5 days away!
This art is by one of my 1st grade students.

joy and woe

It is right it should be so 
Man was made for Joy and Woe 
And when this we rightly know 
Thro the World we safely go 
Joy and Woe are woven fine 
A Clothing for the soul divine 
Under every grief and pine 
Runs a joy with silken twine 

William Blake (from Auguries of Innocence)