watercolors – Dear Liza

Ruthie’s Leaves

Dear Liza,

My buddy Ruthie Inman has been busy starting up a new art gallery in Peoria, Illinois, called Artful Journey, so we haven’t had our online class in a while.

So when we got together last week, we had a wonderful catch -up as well as an art project together. Ruthie had asked us to collect, trace, and cut out some lovely leaves to start.

Then we traced the shapes, overlapping them a bit. Ruthie directed us to decide which leaves would be the top layer, and watercolor them a light yellow.

To show the other layers of leaves, we gradually got darker as we went.

I wasn’t totally happy with my brush strokes, since I was using the wrong brush. In the months since we’ve done any watercolor, I have misplaced my soft brushes! Still, I pushed through.

Once it was done and dry, I realized I needed some stronger colors and more delicate lines… and maybe some nice hard outlines. Fortunately, that is always an option. But first, lunch!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Completed Travel Journal

Dear Liza,

Now that I’m back home in Portland, I can sit down and do the finishing touches on my Danish travel journal.

I had fun drawing, painting, and inking scenes from our trip. I know photographs are more accurate, but I like being able to give my own take on things.

There are lots of flowers, of course. Denmark in summer is glorious with wild flowers!

There are maps, too, like this one of our three day road trip around the Southern Archipelago.

And this one, of the ferry service in and out of Svenborg, copied from a board by the ferry landing. There are also drawings of the wonderful play area by the Egeskov Castle. I love my bouncing stick people!

The sewing project for Liza that was on my mind and in my hands found its way into the journal.

And you can tell I am getting braver with my drawing when I make an attempt at Liza. I certainly don’t want to botch the picture. But a photo from Elbaek Skov inspired me.

I can’t yet do justice to the beauty of the place or the girl, but I can stretch my limits and get better.

And that closes the book, so to speak, on my Denmark travel journal. Where will I go next? Stay tuned!

Love,

Grandma Judy

2023 Garden Journal

Dear Liza,

Well, a new year in the garden means a new garden journal.

This year, I am using a calendar book that Auntie Bridgett had laying around. After making my journal from scratch two years running, it was time for something new.

I painted the front with acrylics and have decorated the inside with acrylic color scraping (with an old credit card) and writing, using yellow, blue, sea foam green, and some metallic silver. And watercolor.

And a little collage for fun.

I wrote the first page on March 15, knowing it was too early, too cold and too wet to plant. Besides, we were heading out for our big vacation.

Two weeks later, when we returned from cold, dry, windy Denmark, we found cold, wet and windy Portland waiting for us. The dark blue page is hard to read, but really showed my mood. The cartoon is from a Dutch magazine, and asks if it is STILL raining, or raining AGAIN.

On April 20, my Spring Fever could wait no longer. I pulled out the wagon, bundled up, and slogged through some real rain to Portland Nursery.

I’ve decided to keep the receipts from things I buy for the garden, so I can see how much my “free” veggies are costing me.

And fittingly enough, Saturday was Earth Day! So after we chatted, I put the red oak leaf lettuces and dahlias in the ground.

Here’s the reality and my watercolor interpretation of the lettuce bed.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Time with Kes

Dear Liza,

Every now and then, I get to spend some quality time with your cousin Kestrel. She is ten years old and very clever. She likes animals and art and is very good at drawing.

Last week we got to make some art and care for her cats and snake, Sir Isaac Snooten. I haven’t fed a snake in a long time and was a little squeamish about handling the frozen mouse, but Kes had a steady hand and we got the job done.

The art we made took several days, and is still not finished. Kes found a large sheet of watercolor paper and sketched an ocean scene… eels and oysters below the water, sunset sky above. Together, we laid layers of purples and pink watercolors down, then sprinkled salt over the whole thing. We let it dry overnight.

The next time we got together, it was time for the water. Layers of purple and teal gave depth to the ocean, and Kes collaged tissue paper at the horizon for the setting sun. We cut small wave shapes from paint samples to glue down as the surface of the water, and that’s where the piece stands now, about half done.

I can’t wait to see what happens next!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Garden Journal Update

Dear Liza,

Last year, my friend Ruth Inman taught me how to make art journals from scratch, out of boxes and glue and scraps. She was so enthusiastic and clear in her directions, and the the supplies so cheap, I couldn’t NOT do it.

So I made one. A saltine cracker box, some art papers from Auntie Bridgett, and voila, a journal. I decided to use it to write (and maybe even paint) about our new garden plot.

And I have been working in it ever since. Some days I just write what’s happening, but I usually will go back and add some water color, to make it prettier. It also lets me show the weather and plants better.

And I have really enjoyed it. Since the Journal is not for anyone but me, I am not intimidated about not being perfect. I work in pencil from my photos of the things in the garden, Watercolor, then ink with a waterproof Micron pen.

As it turns out, this is going to be an accurate record of my garden! It will be useful next year, when I am deciding what to plant and where to put it. It will remind me of the little details that are easily forgotten. And I will get to enjoy my pictures, as well!

I am happy to be Art-ing, gardening, and eating.

Love,

Grandma Judy

New in the Garden (and the Journal)

Dear Liza,

Things keep coming up in our community garden plot. The zucchini sprouts have secondary leaves now, and I’ll need to move them apart a bit so they can have room to spread out.

I’ve moved some parsley that was in our sunny window into the plot, so we could use that window as a nursery for re-starts of pumpkins and cucumbers, the seed of which have apparently died in the ground.

My painting of the Parsley in its mobile home….

Our house faces north, and we only have the one really bright window. New tomato starts have shot up there! I’ve started calling it “la fenetre magique”, which means magic window. When the tomatoes are a few inches tall, I’ll put them out in the plot, too.

I put a few sunflower seeds into the plot, as well, fitting them in between the currently tomato-less tomato cages. I’m keeping them wet and hoping for the best.

Enjoy your spring!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Hopeful Collage

Dear Liza,

I have been having so much fun experimenting with mixed media! Putting watercolors, other paints, and collage together to tell about a feeling, or a day, just makes so much sense to me.

This piece is from Easter weekend. When I was out walking, I thought about how all springs are new beginnings. But THIS spring, with vaccines making us safer, we are being released from Covid captivity in addition to our cold winter isolation. This spring feels especially free-ing.

I collected some bits from my collage box, including candy wrappers and the little paper sleeve that was wrapped around my ice cream cone from the new Dairy Hill Creamery, down on Hawthorne.

I knew I wanted the ‘sad’ side on the left and the ‘happy’ side on the right, so I put some watercolors down for a first layer.

To show more clearly what made the sad side so sad, I stenciled and collaged some Covid-looking circles, and even spelled ‘Covid’ out in letters. Moving on from the sad, I laid down an ice cream cone wrapper bridge over a river made from a chocolate-wrapper bit of tinfoil.

I needed a happy side to be bright, so I stenciled a sun in a variety of yellows. The city is cut from an on-sale art paper from Collage art supplies. The bird was on a birthday card. The ‘JOY’ balloons are also from the ice cream wrapper.

To finish it off, I outlined the balloons and letters, and gave some detail to the sun. And to remember that this happened on Easter, I put some pretty eggs by the bridge.

Giving it a critical look, I realize that I made the water under the bridge wrong. But overall, I am pleased with the piece. It captures how I was feeling and incorporates bits of the day. I hope you have fun doing art this week!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Still Growing, Part 2

Dear Liza,

Last summer, a few months after the Covid shutdown, I started painting with an online group organized by Ruth Inman. It made sense that we should start painting with flowers…. who doesn’t like flowers?

My skills weren’t very good, and I was scared of making mistakes, but being with an old friend put me at ease. The tremor in my hand got in the way a bit, but I’d just power through, realizing that the wiggly lines could be just part of the picture. Flowers don’t have straight lines, anyway.

As the year passed, Ruth would give us challenges to use different materials, like candy wrappers or other recycled papers. These let me realize that ART didn’t have to mean making a perfect painting every time. The making, the process, was the main thing. If other people liked it when you were done, that was a bonus. But it was not the main goal.

Realizing that, I got more confident. I also came to understand that different media work in different ways. Watercolors always show through, so planning is crucial. Acrylics are more forgiving and will cover up mistakes. Collage needs a careful hand but is amazingly freeing. And all of these can be used in the same piece, if you like!

This is my new favorite, a remembering of a drive along the Willamette. As I sat on a bench looking at Mt. Hood far away across the river, I planned out how I would construct it. Watercolors for the sky and ground, THEN the distant mountain (out of a bit of Kleenex box), THEN the flowers/ trees in front of it, then the river and dogs. I found the note in the sky folded up in our picnic table, and wanted to include it.

I built up from the background to the foreground, and was pleased with how it turned out. The snow on the mountain is a tiny bit of Posca marker.

I’ve learned a lot this year. Mostly, I learned that I am still learning, which is a good thing.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Lefties and Landscapes

Dear Liza,

As I have gotten more into drawing and painting this past year, I have realized that there has been a whole long list in my head of “things I can’t do”. I’ll bet most people have this sort of list, and it makes decisions for them even when they don’t realize it

“I can’t write an essay every single day!” I wailed to myself, thinking about starting this blog in 2017. I have proven myself wrong 943 times so far.

“I can’t draw with my left hand,” I have said since…. well, since I could draw at all. Recently, with practice and an adjustment of expectations, I have proven myself wrong again.

And now, I am tackling “I can’t do landscapes.” I am watching YouTube videos, finding the artists who go slowly enough for me, like Alan Owen, a Scotsman who is lovely to listen to. I am staring at landscape photos and watercolors, looking for the magic so I can reproduce it. And I am practicing. A lot.
With very mixed results.

In “All That Jazz”, choreographer Joe Gideon tells one of troupe, “I don’t know if I can make you a great dancer. I don’t even know if I can make you a good dancer. But if you keep trying and don’t give up, I know I can make you a better dancer.”

And better is all I’m looking for right now.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Layers and Layers (Part 2)

Dear Liza,

The other day I decided to see just how loosely I could start a picture. The only decision I made was ‘blue’ and ‘circles’.

I swished these down and and left them to dry. An hour later when I came back, they looked pale and flat. I gave them some darker swooshes, and, while they were damp, some splatters of plain water.

Seeing that my scheme was working, I headed to the kitchen and collected my circular implements of art…. a shot glass, a tiny bowl, a bit of Tupperware…. and a tube of chapstick.

Once the paper was completely dry, I started tracing circles in dark blue water color pencil. I wanted to lay down colors in layers, so no black. Yet.

The tracing needs a steady hand, and I did a lot of drawing, stopping, and staring. I wanted it to be interesting but not chaotic, balanced but not symmetrical. I wasn’t trying to make planets, or wheels, or anything, really. Just interesting and pleasing to my eye.

I added a few more circles, the. realized it needed contrast, so some pink and fuchsia came out of the pencil box.

It was going in a good direction. But it was still too pale. Now was the time to get the black out. Auntie Bridgett gave me a size 005 micron pen, and I used it for details.

I think I am almost there…. some more black and maybe some white to pop out a bit, maybe.

I love art! After thirty years of classroom teaching and having to be absolutely sure about everything, it is nice to say “ I don’t know how that’s going to turn out” and be okay with it.

Love,

Grandma Judy