HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Journal - Wishing everyone a most prosperous, creative, health-filled, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Persimmons

Journal - A couple of the persimmons I love ...

Camellia

Journal - Camellias - My camellia shrubs are almost behind our home so I often miss their blooming. Not this time though ..!

Oranges - Splash and Splatter

Journal - Splash and Splatter Oranges - 'Tis the season for a lot of Vitamin C ....

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

WISHING EVERYONE A JOYOUS

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!

Ornaments - Splash and Splatter

Journal - Splash and Splatter Ornaments ...

HAPPY WINTER SOLSTICE

Journal - HAPPY WINTER SOLSTICE - Another Splash and Splatter

Journal - Tea and Scones at Gabriella's Bakery with Katie

Journal - Tea and Scones at Gabriella's Bakery with Katie

Berries in the Snow - Splash and Splatter

Journal - My demo of Splash and Spatter ... Berries in the Snow

Journal - Winter Gift- Snow

Journal - #Sketchwithme - The Gift - Snow

Snow is a rarity where I live, so when it does come - to me, it comes as a gift. Oh, not for the cold, the traffic problems, the closed businesses -- but for the hush it brings to the area - that quietness that engenders a 'coziness" that rain never does. Snow brings its own indoor warmth, a relaxing, an "I don't have to do anything" kind of thing (at least to me), that rain and sun rarely do. It brings a white innocence to the landscape, marking each footprint a mystery, birds on the bird feeder a welcome excitement, and that cup of tea, coffee or hot chocolate a delicious luxury.

Journal - Winter Poppies

Journal - Winter Poppies - a splash and splatter from my imagination ...

Pinecone

Journal - Pinecone - A sure sign of winter ...

Journal - Poinsettia

Journal - A quick sketch of the poinsettia my storage company generously gave us ...

Katy

Journal - While at Panera Bread sketching, Katy sat across from the group sketching US ... I turned the tables and attempted to sketch HER! LOL But I do wish Panera would offer gluten free options. I had to bring my own GF cookies to go with my Panera tea.

Journal - Salad

Journal - Lunch - On the last sketch meet up of the Cape Fear Sketchers, Maria challenged us to paint our lunches ...so we all took photos and went home to paint.

I had a salad and sweet potato fries -- here is my salad ...

Journal - Sweet Potato Fries

Journal - Lunch - On the last sketch meet up of the Cape Fear Sketchers, Maria challenged us to paint our lunches ...so we all took photos and went home to paint.

I had a salad and sweet potato fries -- here are my fries ...

Journal Still Life - Floral

Journal - #Urbansketcherscapefear sketchers. Today's work at our paint-out at the New Hanover Library...

Journal - Mailbox and Doll

Journal - #Urbansketcherscapefear sketchers. Today's work at our paint-out at the New Hanover Library...

Journal - Grateful - Time with My Children and Nature

Journal - Gratitude - Time with my children and nature - This is from a bouquet on my dear daughter's table ... I'm so grateful too for nature - flowers, trees, butterflies, sunshine, and the joy and peace nature brings ....

Grateful - Coffee

Journal - Deeply grateful for the BIG things - family, friends, home, five senses, love, freedom; and too, for the LITTLE things that make life so sweet -- Like a timer on my coffee maker and that first cup of coffee in the quiet breaking of the dawn.

Journal - HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

A Walk in the Snow

Journal -- It's overcast and rainy today .. When the days get so dreary, despite how warm it may be, my imagination turns to snow ... I sketched this from my imagination (no snow in the near future here at the coast ... LOL)

Hay Bales

Journal - Hay bales -- I recently took a trip back to Oxford - got to see some colored leaves, my beloved barns -- but the hay bales were all out of the fields. I miss them -- so found a photo I took long ago and painted what I couldn't find while back to my old hometown ...

Journal - Urban Sketchers - Cape Fear Sketchers - New Hanover Arboretum

Journal - Sketching with the Urban Sketchers - Cape Fear Sketchers - in cool weather and overcast (sometimes sunny) skies at New Hanover Arboretum ... I sat outside the Children's Garden and loved their cheerful displays ...

Journal - Urban Sketchers - Cape Fear Sketchers - New Hanover Arboretum

Journal - Sketching with the Urban Sketchers - Cape Fear Sketchers - in cool weather and overcast (sometimes sunny) skies at New Hanover Arboretum ... I sat outside the Children's Garden and loved their cheerful displays ...

Oak Island - Fruit

Journal - Another damp, gloomy day on the beach -- so several of us painted a still life of our fruit ...

Dreary Day - Oak Island, NC

Journal - One of the days on the beach was particularly dreary - we still took a walk, collected seashells, and worked on puzzles ---

Sunrise - Oak Island, NC

Journal - Spend a fabulous week with my friends from Raleigh at a beach front house on Oak Island. We painted, walked, ate, did puzzles, and simply enjoyed our time together. Here is one of the sunrises we witnessed ...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Journal - Sketched at my daughter's table.

Fall Harvest

Bethel Baptist Church

Journal - An overcast day filled with chores - I've wanted to sketch this church since I ride my bike in their parking lot, but when the sun shines, there is no shade to sit beneath. But yesterday, with the sun hidden, I was finally able to get in a sketch..

The Shed

Journal - Sketching my neighbors shed and plants from my window...

Hospice Gardens Waterfalls

Painted with the Cape Fear Sketchers.  Hospice Gardens were absolutely beautiful - so serene, quiet, peaceful.  Added to that, a great group to sketch with and a fabulous fall day.

Hospice Gardens Bridge - Wilmington, NC

Sketched with the Cape Fear Sketchers.  A glorious day and wonderful group to sketch with.  Gardens so serene and peaceful.

Another Southport House

Sketching this house from the parking lot across the street.

Pumpkins at the Garden Center

LOVED all the pumpkin displays at our garden center.  Wonderfully fall-feeling.

Ft. Fisher

Another sketch with the Cape Fear Sketchers at Ft. Fisher the day before Hurricane Michael. Cloudy, cool and windy.

Fort Fisher

Sketching with the Cape Fear Skechers at Ft. Fisher the day before Hurricane Michael.

Indoshine Gardens

Journal - A while back a friend and I stopped at Indochine Restaurant and took some photos and sketched a bit ... Fabulous Gardens ...!

By Franklin Square Park, Southport, NC

Journal - So good to get a bit of normalcy in our routines. Sketched in Southport with Katie, Elizabeth and Chris. Sat by Franklin Square Park and sketched the house across from the corner. Piles of debris still line the streets, detours everywhere, sinkholes with barricades, and more. But slowly things are returning to normal - there are ways around the streets, trees still have leaves on most of them, and sketching with friends reminds us that things are being repaired. We chatted about those far less fortunate, where donations can still be made, and reminded one another that this recovery is still going on. ...

Savannah GA City Hall Dome

Journal - Another sketch from our evacuation time in Savannah - City Hall dome ...

Morel House, Savannah, GA

Journal - Sketching in Savannah with my fellow evacuee, Gwen - The Morel House ...

Richmond HIlls, Georgia

Journal - Life is slowly getting back to normal after Hurricane Florence. There's still a lot of destruction, families displaced, homes still flooded ... Art often can help with relieving the stress and worries, and focus, for a while, on something more pleasant.

While evacuated, I spent some time with my daughter and her family, and then a few days in Savannah Georgia. There I met up with fellow evacuee and friend, Gwen. We spent a good part of one day sketching Savannah. On another day, my husband and I visited Richmond Hills - The Henry Ford Museum and JF Gregory Park for a 3 mile old rice canal walk. Here's the sketch from the day in Richmond Hills - some sketched on site, most afterwards. I may eventually add color to this page - but the sketching was a lot of fun and relieved a lot of anxiety.

We are home, safe, sound and doing well ... Grateful to have been spared the worst of Florence.

Golden Grapes

Golden Grapes -- already the grapes are ripening ..

Greenfield Park, Wilmington, NC

Journal - Cape Fear Sketchers - Enjoyed sketching at Greenfield Park today -- The sun was in and out all day - clouds made it comfortable sketching ...

Cleaning

Journal - What do you paint when you're stumped? Your day!

View from my Porch

Journal - Sketched today from the shade of my porch ...

Another Southport House

Journal - Another Southport House. After lunch my friend Gwen and I sat and sketched another house in Southport. We found some shade, but by the time we sketched the complex ins and outs of the front of the home, the temps had reached over 90 degrees and we were very hot. So, this was sketched on site, inked and painted at home.