Harraseeket Inn

Next stop, Harraseeket Inn, Freeport Maine. Lovely Inn that is actually HUGE with a center courtyard full of stone walls and flower gardens where weddings are often held. Our second floor room overlooks this courtyard garden and in early morning I sketched from the window, which was open with a cool morning breeze.

It is quite chilly for August and we actually contemplated using the wood fireplace in our room.

Again, I am less than thrilled with the result of transfering these photos to post but alas it is 'something.

artline pen, note.book.journal and watercolor

Greetings from Maine

It seems like forever since I posted to my blog - as we travel up the coast of Maine I sketch but my laptop Refuses to let me enter my own Blog?? Techno magic can be so frustrating some times. Now, as we near the end of our vacation I decide to try loading pictures of my journal onto my laptop where I can crop, re-size, calibrate etc with my digital Image Pro program, then send them to my hubby's laptop (he brings to stay in touch with work) then open them, save them and enter my blog and Finally - POST --- so here it is, hopefully worth the wait and the trouble. I, However feel triumphant!! Our first stop on day one of our vacation is in Kittery Maine, at our favorite "Bob's Clam Hut" for fabulous "lobstah" rolls and clams, and scallops with fries of course and malt vinegar! YUM

Ok, not the brightest post I have up-loaded (it figures something would be lost in transition) but with practice maybe the next one will be more representative of the actual page.

NoteBook journal, ink and watercolor (and maybe a little melted butter ;-)

EDM #131 spray bottle

The simple challenges can turn out with the most interest, although my spray bottle is rather flat. It has been a busy week as I prepare (at work and home) to leave for two weeks vacation. This quickie is my water color paint wetting spray bottle. A trusty friend for sure shown pretty much actual size. I hoped to give it more sparkle and clarity - like glass even though it is plastic. This is one challenge I should revisit at a later date. Hopefully I will be able to post and stay in touch while on the road, although my laptop does not like Blogspot for some strange reason.

EDM #130 School Supplies

I have my own fond memories of my school days, and of course my three grown children - but this year my thoughts go to my grand daughter who heads to kindergarten this fall - which simply cannot be possible!!!

Old Salt

Another journal entry from my last trip to Maine where I had lots of time to sketch (from pictures this time as we were up in the Mountains). In a couple of weeks we will head up the coast of Maine hopscotching small harbor towns to Bar Harbor (bah habbar) where I will spend as many hours as possible lounging in a comfy chair, perched upon the rocky coast , gazing at the ocean while I sip a hot cup of coffee and watch lobster boats scurry about the harbor, checking their traps (coffee because the lobster boats only go out early morning). Ahh that is the life, until the snow and frigid winter arrives anyway ;-) Artline pen and watercolor in journal

Favorites of Maine

More Maine sketches, my favorites (except for the mosquito - horrors) should have included blueberries too (the tiny wild variety are heavenly). (Hum there is a dark shadow running through the bottom half of the page, need to rescan when I get a chance.)

EDM #129 everyday people

My youngest daughter has ridden for most of her life, she was a very strong, skilled rider training her young 'green' horse his 'changes' and dressage frame and gates and even did the Jumpers on him (timed tight turning courses with a variety of complicated jumps with many a blue ribbon) . To offset the expense she mucked stalls and exercised other people's horses every weekend. Picking hooves is a daily chore - very important to clean out rocks, and wet muck from the horse's frog (center soft portion of hoof's underside ) Here she is with Spike (who is actually black with white socks) Like others I cannot depict faces well enough to attempt loved ones . Quick pencil sketch followed by pen in journal.

Maine travels

"On the Road Again" - we have been making the same trek for over 35 years (from home to hubby's hometown) where we have a home at the base of Sunday River Ski Resort. This is the first time I have created a sketch log of the trip north - I used an interior sketch to meet last week's challenge - now here are some of my sketches as we travel the 6 hour route. Ok, I know I have seen others depict their painted tooties propped on the dash and I wanted the same fun page in my journal, and they cooperated with a nice perky pose - so here they are -

All done with pencil, pen and watercolor in a new journal that I am liking very much.

(Holbein Water color and multi-media spiral book with a cloth tie)

Bass Light - Maine Series

Bass Lighthouse is located on Mount Desert Island Maine, a lovely rocky wooded area of the island (there are mountainous parts that resemble a desert, hence the name). Last summer we trekked around this area. I was not sketching then, only photographing. This view has been represented many times in many mediums. Here is my rendition. As I sit in our Maine house last weekend, I decided to do a Maine series.

watercolor in journal

EDM #128 room into room view

Last week was unusually busy and I had no time for my sketching until I got to Maine (long weekend) - Then I had three days with lots of sketching time. I have lots to post but I will start with last week's challenge, 'view from one room into another'. I choose our house in Maine, looking out the front door onto the deck and the ski slopes in the distance. I did it rather quickly as I waited for hubby to finish his packing to leave. It came together quickly and I even had time to add the color. Of course I would have done better to leave it and come back - now I see the slopes look like yellow tree trunks instead of the straw and sketchy foliage they are in summer.

Blue sky

I guess you could call this a negative space practice. again taken from a sketchbook I got recently - fun little light sketch, I am really liking this light carefree approach - I will see where it takes me. Off to Maine for the weekend, hopefully the weather co-operates to get out and do some sketching - plus I have the new challenge to work on -

Summertime flowers

Trying out a lighter style from a travel sketchbook recently purchased - I like the quick free approach and it makes things stand out individually - seems a bit looser to me. this scan is a bit drab I am afraid - but all in all a nice fresh entry, reminiscent of the abundant flowers I see in beds all around town.

Artline Pen and watercolor in journal handbook

EDM 127 Sky

I know an artist could spend their life trying to capture a skyscape with paint - there is NO artist like the one above. This challenge I tried several times and found this painting to be the most dramatic and somewhat realistic. I am working in my journal and certainly should have a larger page and better paper for sure but it is still a fun learning experience

This tree scene is reworked from a lesson with Kate Johnson (on line classes) as the dark trees contrast beautifully with the New England sky. I need to work on some simple cloudy skies and will probably post them later.

Mailbox & skyscape

Another sketch from the 4th of July as I waited for family to arrive. The box is copper and somewhat weathered so it was fun to try and depict that. The bow was my patriotic festive touch and the blackeyed susans are blooming abundantly. This could count as a skyscape too as I tried to work in the tumultuous /threatening sky of the holiday too. Certainly need practice on the sky and the flowers but I am happy with the mailbox. I will work on more skyscapes all week.

EDM #126 Sponge

Lame ! I did not want to post this entry, but I have kept up with the challenges and vowed to post the good, the bad and the ugly, so here it is. My ugly old wash sponge from under the sink used to clean up after the muddy dogs on occasion. I did not spend much time on it as I was busy finishing my NYC sketchcrawl work (see below) and I am excited to do the skyscape for this week's challenge. Sponges are interesting and require more than I gave, perhaps I will revisit this challenge again.

NYC Sketchcrawl

Well I am the last to post my NYC sketches, as my home computer got 'cranky' . Thursday, July 5th, I met fellow EDMers Shirley (from paper and threads) and Casey (from rue Manuel bis) for a sketchcrawl in NYC. After a 'greet and meet' at Shirleys Lovely home we headed to Central Park under sprinkles.

The day decided to co-operated and we skteched first at the pondside cafe in Central Park - I captured a woman working at a nearby table and the shop behind her and then a lovely, very knobby tree. I do not do figures anywhere near as well as Shirley and Casey.

From there we headed to Bethesda Fountain and sketched the Angel. I tried Casey's loose style (scary! but so fun!)

A few steps away we sat at pond's edge (see first photo) and sketched the Pondhouse restaurant where we had lunch reservations too - thanks to Shirely . The park is so lovely and varied. Lunch was excellent with a view of the pond, a gondola and the fountain we had just sketched.

After lunch we headed to the Metrepolitan Museum ofArt and decided on the Roman exhibit - see my Hercules torso and head below - later we moved to an exquisit Chariot which I attempted to capture

The day was fabulous, so much fun for me to get to know and watch these two wonderful artists work, to compare notes and enjoy the day - hopefully there will be many more crawls to come.

Thank you Shirley and Casey!! and I love every single post you two have entered!

Birdbath study

Quick sketch of the birdbath in the front garden. Working on loose/quickness - not great but fun and I am actually letting go of some detail lately.

4th of July

Happy 4th to everyone. Except for apple pie (I am on a diet) there is nothing more symbolic to me than this - my front porch with the American Flag flying freely in the breeze. Hope everyone has a good - safe - celebration and God Bless our troops. Wednesday is a pool party and BBQ in our back yard and Thursday I join Shirley and Casey in NYC for a sketchcrawl - should be so much fun and I hope I can actually sketch something descent to post!

Summer on the Shoreline

It has been a glorious weekend in the northeast US and I am fortunate to live along the shoreline and enjoy the beautiful ocean breeze and all the goodies that come with summer - so I decided to journal about a few of my favorites. I wanted to sketch a lobster too but did not have room - that will come another day:-)