To say this has been a momentous year would be an understatement. We have celebrated the marriages of two of our children, my brother, and my niece; we have mourned the loss of three dear people; welcomed our latest great-grandchild; and celebrated the 100th birthday of my mum. Oh yeah – we also bought a Teardrop trailer and celebrated a year with my Hearing Dog. But even before all of this abundant LIFE I have been wanting to put down the book arts for awhile. All of the empty journals I have made were calling me out for not filling them up. So I’ve decided to take a sabbatical year from books and explore the world of drawing (Urban Sketching in particular) with watercolor, pen and ink.

In 2010, on a whim, I decided to take in the first annual Urban Sketcher’s Symposium in Portland even though I had very little drawing experience. The three days of hands-on instruction was daunting. I had a lot to learn! I have since followed the blogs of many of the USK’s artists without drawing myself and this Fall I knew it was time to dive in – eight years later. I particularly liked the blog of the Australian artist, Liz Steel. She was an architect and her left-brain approach appealed to my mathematical training. I signed up for her online Watercolor drawing class in September and have really enjoyed it. She stresses watercolors painted quickly on site rather than watercolors painted in a studio. Every day I have another revelation and have been happy with the improvement I’ve seen in my work.

For the last two months of travels I have worked with a this small travel kit. I love the A4 Moleskin watercolor journal (purchased at the Arcata Art Center in Arcata CA); the paper handles the watercolor so well it is just a joy to let the paints flow and do their thing. My Lamy Safari pen with black Noodlers Ink is my pen of choice. The watercolor kit is a Windsor Newton filled with Daniel Smith watercolors from Liz’s palette recommendations. The watercolor brush is a #5 DaVinci I bought in Hanoi. The spray bottle is used for moistening the dried watercolor and the tip over-resistant water is all I need to complete a drawing.

So, with that I am happily working my way through the great online videos and instructions. More posts to follow. More things to share. Let’s see where this goes.

I have been feeling a need to put down the book arts for awhile – a kind of sabbatical so that I can be open to other things. I want to have more time for printmaking (more on that later) but for now my artistic self is being fed by the artwork in the really creative and adventurous city of Moab, Utah. We are staying in a small apartment three doors down from our daughter, visiting grandchildren, and great grandchildren. The apartment itself is a small funky art gallery.

I found an art instructor, Karen Chatham, who gives art lessons in her studio so my great grandkids, granddaughter, and granddaughter-in-law headed over for two hours of play with alcohol inks. We had a great time and once we got started you could hear a pin drop – a sure sign of the ability of art to transport us to another place. Alcohol ink is great for beginners because you can correct what you have done or even start over. It is also unpredictable (also a nice thing) and immediate.

I have Yupo paper and alcohol inks and home and they are the schedule for a play day!