Sketchbook Love

How many sketchbooks do you have?  I have probably  10 completely filled sketchbooks.  Some of my sketches are finished drawings and some are complete doodles and random markings (kind of like what you see in the picture above!)  I love looking through my old sketchbooks and seeing how my style has evolved and see what interested me (and still does in some cases) 5 or 6 years ago.  Sketchbooks give you such a behind the scene look at what is going on in the artist's mind.  If you get a chance check out these sites to see some cool sketchbooks:
sketchbooks.org
sketchbook project
design sponge


Meanwhile, here are some more of my sketchbook pages from over the years:

You might notice that almost all of them are done in mixed media.  I love to experiment with lots of media while sketching.  Collage, watercolor, ink and pencil are my favorite combos!  What are your favorite materials to use in your sketchbook or while doodling? 

New Art: Wave Series

Hello!  How is your Sunday going for you?  Mine is going very well!  I am off for a girl's day  to see Jersey Boys!  The husband is staying home all day with Little I...great bonding time!

I just wanted to share with you a new artwork I have been working on.  It is the first in hopefully a series of 5 or 6 artworks.  I don't know if I am finished with it yet but here it is:

Small detail picture:

They are kind of like cloud waves.  I used acrylic and some painted paper collage elements.  I love the color scheme so far.  I can't wait to do more!

Hope you have a lovely and productive day:)

Creative Ideas to do at the Lake

My parents' cottage is on one of the Lake Erie islands which is notorious for it's rocky beaches.  I have to wear swim shoes when I go swimming!

The cool thing about it though is that it is a prime spot to find beach glass. 
It is so exciting to find these gorgeous pieces of smoothed down glass.  I could search all day long!  Here are some of the pieces I found:

Another creative thing to do at the lake is look for interesting shaped-rocks.  I began to look for heart-shaped rocks and found quite a few!  I have a mini collection now:)

Another thing I collect are feathers:

They actually work well as paintbrushes:

I used a feather to create these interesting brushstrokes in my sketchbook with watercolors.  Kind of reminds me of using a fan brush!




 And lastly, my favorite thing to do is....

Paint on rocks!  Using acrylic paint (very important...don't use anything else or it will come off!) I painted a funny little toad and some designs on some smaller rocks.  So fun:)  What is your favorite thing to do on vacation at the lake?

My Island Adventure

Well I am back!  I have been without an internet connection for 2 weeks!   I was at my parents' cottage on one of the Lake Erie islands.  They just built their cottage last October and it is our first summer there....so relaxing and fun!



Here is the husband and I driving to the ferry boat(you can't reach the island by car...it is a true island!)

Here is the view on the ferry boat

Once we got to the island we saw:

Gorgeous hollyhocks...my new favorite flower!

An awesome roadway with lots of shade.

A charming home off the road (very secluded!)

The old school house with amazing hydrangeas!

Finally we got to my parents' cottage.  It is right on the lake.  The cottage is small and modest but the view is AMAZING!  My parents bought the lot 30 years ago and finally were able to build (college costs and a wedding kind of put the cottage on hold!)  Our lot used to be called "Sunset Park."  This is why:


Our "backyard":

I could live there forever!  It is such a quaint island!  There is only one store and two restaurants.  The entire time I was there I looked for beach glass, rocks shaped like hearts and painted (I will post about that this week!) Little I and I went walking everyday and smiled and waved to everyone because everyone was super friendly. *sigh*  I can't wait to go back!


Anyways I hope everyone is doing well!  How was your 4th of July?  I hope you are all well and enjoying your summer.  I will post more about my little island adventure tomorrow!