REMINDER: Use the Sketchbook in My Pocket

Another week nearly gone by and I haven't kept up with my plan for a sketch a day or a painting a week. I always keep a tiny sketchbook in my purse, a decent fine line marker and simple watercolor palette. On a recent trip to Brooklyn to visit my daughter, I reminded myself that the hardest part of making art is getting started, and a thumbnail can be a wonderful thing. This little sketch was done in a coffee shop. It took all of five minutes and is a wonderful souvenier of my trip, of time spent with family and the beautiful sunny day. The snow is nearly gone in Brooklyn. I came home and used the computer to add a little color.

Getting into the Winter Blues

My original plan was to post a painting a week, or a drawing each week, and provide myself and other artists with ideas on locations for plein air painting. I thought it would be handy to review my blog and see where I've been, what I've done, and share ideas for upcoming art activities. All this blogging, facebookking, digital imagery making, etc. takes time. So, I abandoned my blog and enjoyed my summer and fall, and happily traveled, sketched and painted. The long gray winter days of late are giving me the opportunity to look back on this year, and catch up with my original plan.

Winter 2011. . . WOW! New England has had it's share of snow. During a regular winter, I went out with my artist friends and painted. We painted cornstalks breaking through the crusty snow, fir trees and deciduous trees tinged with lovely rusty red buds, ochre bushes veiled with vines dangling red berries, long cobalt blue shadows against the warm white areas of glistening snow, or the jewel-toned winter birds enjoying a feast at our home feeders. (I have enjoyed the birds this year and the squirrels. Just yesterday, while traveling along what is now a one-lane road, several wild turkeys jumped the snowbank into the road in front of me. I was both happy to see them and happy I had not hit one!) But, the snowfall this winter has been a bit much and my artist friends and I have been out only a few times. I'm estimating 50" of snow on the ground at this writing, and two more snowstorms predicted. We're shoveling instead of painting.

This morning it is gray and snow-sleeting again. My husband is raking the snow off the roof, and I probably will start the process of moving things from the basement that may be damaged when a thaw finally arrives. During days off, we've enjoyed snowshoeing as a alternate to shoveling. The scenery around us during those adventures has been beautiful, quiet, and refreshing in its coldness. I've had thoughts of bringing my painting gear in an abbreviated form, but last week I stepped off the snowpack and went thigh deep into a no-longer fluffy area. The snowshoes work great, but I can see myself struggling with my easel and struggling with dropped items. Eventually, the snow will pack down and I will be able to take off the snowshoes, put up and easel and paint.

The sketchbook I keep in the car does not have as many wintertime sketches this year, as the roads are narrow and it's difficult to find a place to pull off . . . even for a moment. But, I am sketching. And, I went to a parking lot at the Henderson Cultural Center at Hunt Hill Farm (http://www.hunthillfarmtrust.org). I painted for a full hour before I was too cold to continue!