ART DATE 12

 This is an actual date!  Hailey joined me and we did some contour drawing and some blind contour drawings.  Then we put some watercolors on the best ones.  It was fun!

This is mine.

This is Hailey's - isn't it great!

SOLO SATURDAY

 I took Darrell to the airport in the morning.  He'll be teaching in Connecticut this week.  I'll be home alone (with the dogs and the cats.)

I spent the morning upstairs putting the latest Joe project together.  I'm not happy with that bar of yellow at the bottom.  I may take it out and replace it with more Xs or I was thinking I might hand sew some embroidered Xs in that space.  What do you think?

After lunch, I was out on the deck, sketching a still life as an assignment for Liz Steele's 'Foundations' workshop I've been doing.  It's a series of pre-recorded videos and instructions that is done at your own pace.

STILL LIFE - Z

 

Well, I did the whole alphabet.  It took a bit longer than I'd planned.  But, it's done.  I'm happy and sad that it's over.

I'm going to take a break from painting.  But...I've ordered some canvases and they will be here in a few days.

STILL LIFE - Z BEGINNING

 I didn't have much time today to paint.  But I did manage to get a little done.  I wanted to get some of the zigzags done and give it a chance to dry a bit.

STILL LIFE - Y

 

In case you were wondering, that is some Yarrow on the Yellow background with Yogurt and Yams.

STILL LIFE - X

 You'd think X would be a really tough one.  It is, but after I looked in the dictionary, I came up with some interesting results:

I'll explain.

Xanthium is a common weed, basically a cockleburr.  I painted from an image of the Canada Cockleburr - Xanthium strumarium var, canadense.

Xanthophyll is a yellow or brown carotenoid plant pigment which causes the autumn colors of leaves.  Cool, huh?!

Xylography is the art of carving on wood.

And, of course, my very useful X-acto knife.

That little yellow leaf is one of several I picked up this morning on my morning walk in Lincoln Park with the dogs.  There's this tree that gets the most spectacularly bright yellow in  the fall.  Here is a picture from a few years ago.

STILL LIFE - W

 

And, yes, I have my own weasel.

STILL LIFE - V

 And now for something completely different:

I couldn't help myself, I had to include the 'virus' in there.

STILL LIFE - U

 

STILL LIFE - T

 

STILL LIFE - S

 It's not done, I still have to put black lines on the yellow 'square' ruler.

STILL LIFE - R

 

STILL LIFE - Q

 

We had a Brave Patch meeting this afternoon.  I worked on my Floating Squares.  I got the top part all sewn together so I could fold it up and work on the bottom.  I just cut out a bunch of squares and stuck them up there.  I left the meeting a little early so I could go out and finish up my Q painting.

STILL LIFE - P

 Lots of Ps:

STILL LIFE - O

 

It was raining hard in the morning with a promise to clear up later.  So, I went upstairs and sewed for a while.  I've got most of the Floating Squares joined into sections.  It was after lunch that I painted under the gazebo again.  The weatherman was right, it did clear up.

STILL LIFE - N

Another rainy and windy day out under the gazebo.  I brought a cushion and blanket out for Jelly to lay on.  She shared the bench with me.  I had a shirt, a flannel shirt and a jacket and my feet still got cold.  But I finished!

STILL LIFE - M

 I didn't finish the M Still Life yesterday.  I was frustrated and had a very sore neck when I quit for the day.  We are expecting a windy rain storm this afternoon, so I finished it before lunch today.  It was raining all night and still raining while I painted under the gazebo.  Jelly was not happy, not knowing how to be close to me yet be warm and dry.  

After lunch, I worked on my Floating Squares.  It was much warmer and drier upstairs in the studio.  

I might have to move my base of operations for the Still Lifes upstairs if this weather keeps up.

STILL LIFE - L

 Here's my Still Life for the letter L:

[I purchased the ceramic Lion during the 1980 International Expo from the Soviet exhibition (made in the U.S.S.R.) held in Vancouver B.C. ]

On our morning walk I dropped off the Cat painted rock in Lincoln Park.

STILL LIFE - J

 Here is my Still Life oil painting for the letter J:

It started raining just before lunch and by the time I got out to my easel under the gazebo it was really coming down.  It was wonderful.  Hopefully, it will clean some of the smoke out of the air.

Before lunch I got the binding finished on the Yuki quilt and I started putting some of the pieces together on the Floating Squares project.

FINALLY FINISHED H PAINTING

 Wow, I think it's been a while since I painted outside.  The air quality has been so bad from the smoke from fires, here and in California and Oregon.  We've been advised to stay inside.  The few times I spent a little time outdoors I'd end up with a sore throat and lungs and a headache.  I've missed painting.

So, here is the H painting I started way back on last Friday, the 11th. I'm not very happy with it.  I just wanted to get it done and move on.