Labradoodle Puppy Past and Pooch Present Pet Portraits

Great job on aliteration, huh?! I recently finished a couple of pet portraits of a cute labradoodle for Christmas presents - one of her as a puppy and the second as she looks now. This was a fun commission since I got to do two similar but different portraits. My challenges were her curls and trying to keep her fur looking soft. I did them with my favorite approach of ink and watercolor. I work from client photographs and typically have a two-week turn around time from the scheduled start. See the Pet Portrait Item in my shop for more details.

The December 2018 Newsletter is Here!

The December Newsletter is now available!

Click here to download the PDF.

Holiday Bazaars Begin

I am going to be a vendor at a couple of holiday bazaars this fall. The first one is on Saturday, November 17th at the IEOU Hall, 18701 - 120th Ave NE in Bothell from 10:00 am - 5:00 pm. I will have a variety of notecards and prints including my most recent Portuguese tiles. I will also have my quilted coasters and zippered bags available. Those are always so much fun to play with in person. I love to see people’s reactions to my coasters and how they want to touch and handle them - which is okay! Come out and support local artists and artisans at the My Friends & Me Holiday Bazaar!

Students' work from my Playing with Food in Your Sketchbook Workshop

My 6-week workshop of Playing with Your Food in a Sketchbook with ink and watercolor has begun and it has been so much fun so far! The first week was working with fresh produce and the images are some examples of my students’ work so far. They’ve done some fabulous work and I’m inspired to try drawing some of what they’ve done. This past week’s lesson was about drinks and I’ve given out the assignment to go to a coffeeshop and draw their drink. It’ll be fun to see what they draw.

I will be offering this course again in January 2019. Go to my workshop page and find more information and register there.

Black and White and Painted Versions of Raised Tiles from Porto, Portugal

I finished painted the raised yellow and white tiles I saw in Porto, but I find that I need to work on my grime technique. Because the tiles are raised and have various nooks and crannies and are outside, they get dirty in the crevices. It’s darker than the shadows but not quite like I painted. Who would have thought painting dirt and grime would be a technique to master?!

Artist's Reception at the Redmond Senior Center Gallery

Prints of my work will be up on display at the Redmond Senior Center Gallery until November 30, 2018. There will be an artist’s reception on Monday, October 15. I am looking forward to seeing my work all up and framed! I normally work in sketchbooks so my work doesn’t get so spread out. I have ink and watercolor drawings from my trips to Cuba in 2017 and fall leaves on display. If you can’t make it to the reception, please stop by and take a look.

First days' drawings from Inktober 2018

Inktober is an annual challenge to draw daily with ink for a month. Other media are allowed but there does have to be ink somewhere. You can use prompts that they come up with or follow your own sources of inspiration. This year I’m trying to use their prompts but to also keep within a botanical related theme. So far I’ve done Lilies of the Valley for ‘Poisonous,’ a forsythia leaf because I couldn’t think of something related to ‘Tranquil,’ Brussel sprouts for ‘Roasted,” Water Hemlock for ‘Spell,’ Quince for ‘Gift,’ and Hens and Chicks for “Chicken.’ It’s kind of fun to try to think of something to connect with a particular word.