Wednesday, December 31, 2014

roots and plants

Ansel brought me some beautiful light green bok choy from the market this weekend. They were hydroponically grown by a farmer in the city. Each one had a little block of soil at the bottom, filled with tiny roots. "I think if you plant them, you can grow more bok choy," Ansel said. 
"Wow, neat, great idea!" I said, and went on to do other things. 

A little while later I thought of it again. "Maybe I should plant them now," I said, turning around to find them. 
And there they were already, rooting in a glass.




2 others, in a bowl


And a profile of Ansel :)


Wednesday, December 24, 2014

happy xmas eve!

Loads of things to do today, but this little guy showed up on one of my to-do lists:


Good thing, too, because it had been a while!
Happy Christmas Eve to everyone, Happy 3-days-after-Solstice, Happy Wednesday, Happy Last-night-of-Hannukah. 


Tuesday, December 23, 2014

watercolor abstraction

I love doing these abstractions. I love how the water and pigment interact, and how the colors interact with each other. I love watching it happen. I love how the different areas are like different lands, with topography that my eye can wander around in. I love how sometimes there are paths between them. I love discovering different events (shapes, colors, lines), preconceived and un-preconceived.








Monday, December 22, 2014

happy advent

Advent is a time of preparation. Things are coming. They are not yet here; we have to wait.

And yet Advent is also a time of movement. If we only wait for joy, then we may not know how to receive joy when it comes. Perhaps Advent can also be a time of practicing the art, the habit, the skill of receiving, creating, accepting, making space for, cultivating, and propagating joy.


Sunday, December 21, 2014

pears, no partridges (yet)

Here are some earrings I made for a friend...along the fruit-and-vegetable theme...


Monday, December 15, 2014

cellist

Here's my friend Casey and her cello, waiting on stage for a concert to begin. I had fun trying to draw her in different poses, trying to catch her before she moved again...





Finnish fish

Good morning! I figured there was no better time than a Monday morning to introduce you all to a toe-nibbling fish:


He comes courtesy of my friend and colleague Marja, who told me that her sister used to torment her with stories of this creature. Marja drew the front-and-center foot. 

Then, unrelated (or perhaps not?) there's me, up top, dreaming of the ocean...

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

philetta

Happy December!


I've been doing a lot of painting lately, on canvas, not in my sketchbook. This morning though, as the snow fell thickly past my window, I thought it was time to put some color in my sketchbook again, and here on my blog!

These leaves of my baby split-leaf philodendron were right in front of me. I painted them with acrylic gouache, which I love because of how thick and matte it is, and how definite. It was exciting, too, to make some more indefinite marks with such a definite medium.

Monday, December 1, 2014

happy thanksgiving!

I spent Thanksgiving with my boyfriend and his wonderful family. They are the kind of people that say, when you bring over a celery root to put in the stuffing, "Wonderful! But let's draw it first."

So we did.