Laurelines

J C Raulston Arboretum illustrations

I can finally show these since the June/July issue of Walter, the magazine of Raleigh, NC, has been published!

 

Here's the horse chestnut image, direct from my files, so you can get an idea of what the *original of these is like:

And there's SO much going on in my studio, all of which will be shared in time! 2013 has been such an important year for me and much of what is important has just... bam! .. appeared without a warning. It's a really good thing I didn't know all that was coming, because I might have, politely but unwisely, declined the upheaval. Upheaval is another word for growth, isn't it?

 

 

* I will also post the originals in my 2013 Gallery, at left.

Artist in the garden

Because I can't show yet the artwork I'm working on right now, I thought I would at least emerge from seeming reclusivity and show you my garden, the way it looks today, May 19, 2013. I made this garden and so it is part of my body of work, wouldn't you agree?

I'm slogging, slogging away in the studio trying to make paintings for my fall show. This process has uncovered a major fault line in my psyche: I hate painting deadlines, especially those involving multiple pieces! I love writing deadlines, though, but this helps me not at all in the current situation. As I've said before, I'm a slow painter. The process is what it is, no matter how I might (and do) wish otherwise. Still. There we are. Out of 15 or so pieces scattered throughout the studio at the moment, I've only liked, and considered finished, 3 thus far. Yikes.

If you have any words of wisdom to share from your own painting process, please send them my way!

 

Soon, though,  I will be able to show some recent illustrations once they've been published.

No time for sketching until I get my big work done.  In between bouts of utter desolation in the studio, I go outside and pick weeds and just take in the colors, textures, and fragrances there. If I have any operative sanity left, I have the garden to thank for it.

 

Happy green season, my northern hemisphere friends!

 

The Wandering Sketcher... c'est moi!

I have never felt as much on the move in my life as I do now. Ironically, I won't be traveling as much this year (though I have a thrilling trip to northern Norway planned for this coming December, about which more later)... the journeys I refer to are interior, surprising, and profound.

Some of the products of my interior travels will be apparent before too long. At least, I hope so, since many of them are a response to my September art show deadline!

Back in the visible world, I  appear on the pages of a couple of magazines, with more such appearances to follow this year.

In the June 2013 issue of Watercolor Artist, I'm included in an article about urban sketching, written by noted artist and writer Cathy Johnson. It's called 'The Pulse of the City; Seven Artists from Around the Globe Share What it Means to Record Life ... .'  Cathy (or Kate, as her artist friends call her) has written 34 books and zillions of articles. She's a national treasure. I'm honored to be one of the seven artists she writes about:

 

I am also a contributing illustrator to a magazine called Walter; Raleigh's Life and Soul, as you may remember from  a recent post here.

Because of my painting obligations, I have not been able to accept all assignments, but a recent one was lots of fun...once I stopped being terrified at the idea of producing a map! Luckily, the map in question was small and could be done in my sketchy, quirky style! I can't wait to do more maps! If ever a subject were tailor-made for me, the wandering artist, this is it.

 

My next assignment for Walter is tailor-made for me in a different way. I'm to make sketchy illustrations of the J C Ralston Arboretum in Raleigh for the magazine's June issue. The Ralston Arboretum is renowned in the horticultural and gardening worlds. I look forward to sitting in those gardens and responding to them in my own way.

Journal as palate/palette cleanser

I use my journal for lots of things, one of which is as a sort of palate cleanser. Before or after a long session in my painting studio, I can grab my Stillman & Birn 8 1/2" x 11" Alpha journal and do a quick, fun drawing... it feels like having a mouthful of sorbet between heavy, rich courses. And it's a palette cleanser, too. My painting palette is heavy on the reds and oranges and dark neutrals right now. My watercolor palette lets me lighten up, in all ways.

 

These daffodils and pussy willows are my first bouquet of the season from our local farmers' market. 

 

 

Here's a Flickr slideshow, just for fun, of many of the quick floral and botanical sketches I've done over the past few years:

Happy spring, whenever it finally comes your way!

Sketching Austin, Texas

I had just two full days and pieces of another two on my visit to my daughter this past week. I fell in love with Austin's houses this trip. I know of no other place that has the number and variety of quirky, colorful, and plain old adorable houses that Austin has. What IS in the water there, because I want some of it!

Unfortunately, I only managed one house sketch, but am dying to go back and (see my daughter, of course) and sketch more of these little jewels. That's what they are.

Austin also has good restaurants aplenty. My new favorite is Olive and June and I thank my daughter for suggesting it for our first night together!

I travel. I sketch. I sketch gardens and the things in them. This trip was no exception. We spent parts of two afternoons at the lovely estate Laguna Gloria.

Entering the Bullock Texas Museum of State History, you see quotations carved in huge scale on the marble walls flanking the entrance to the exhibits, trumpeting the wonderfulness of Texas. This kind of boisterous self love can be endearing, but it’s also a bit off-putting, given the state’s early history of exploitation and destruction of the native people by European settlers. This is true of much, if not all, of the original European settlements in the new world, of course. Still. Note to Texas... and to self, for that matter: healthy doses of humility never go amiss.  

Buy a Laurelines sketch to help Urban Sketchers!

Along with many other Urban Sketchers correspondents, I am participating in a fundraiser for our international organization. I have donated two sketches of Paris and one of Copenhagen. These are fine art prints digitally reproduced on 100 % cotton rag. Here's the link for more information. Check out all of the work offered for sale!