Hand Picked

Hand picked from my garden and hand painted into my A6 Hahnemuhle travel journal as my last spread to complete it's pages.
It's been a fun journal to work in but I've gone a little larger with my next choice; an A5 D&S Hahnemuhle containing 80 natural white pages of 140lb cartridge paper.

Choices

I found refuge from the rain in Choices Cafe over the weekend, a wonderful little place in Ramsey that serves a variety of fresh coffee and the most beautiful homemade cakes.

I'm in the process of replacing all my old videos with DVD's and recently ordered 'Stepmom' that arrived Saturday morning.

Now when I sketched this spread I hadn't intended there to be a link but for me there is...The thing I love most about 'Stepmom' is the positive message it carries and the reminder that we all have choices through every step of our lives...They may not always be the options we want but they are choices none-the-less.

Joey and Chandler

Our beautiful ducks; Joey and Chandler, have grown so much and, until now, I haven't managed to sketch them at all! So, I took a few moments in the garden trying to capture them in my sketchbook.
They roam freely around the land now, making full use of my bird bath, the small pond in the back of the garden and my flower beds for cool cover...Hmmm!
The squashed flowers are a small sacrifice...I love having them here, hearing their quacks and watching their character form daily...They are a real pleasure.

They are not super models though....They do not stop moving!!! This creates a real challenge which made both spreads here such fun to create.
I'm sure you'll be seeing more of these new additions to our family appearing in my sketchbook.

In The Sunshine

Art class in my garden followed by lunch in a pub garden...It doesn't get much better than that!

Missing Cygnets

Last time Harry and I walked along the Nene river in Benwick we came across a swan and her cygnets, five of them...such a lovely sight. The next morning after dropping Harry at school I popped by the river and to my delight there they were again. This continued two mornings in a row.
On the third I found a swan and no cygnets. I hoped it was a different swan and 'our' swan and her babies were ok. When I collected Harry from school that day we made our journey home along the river and much further up than our usual haunt...there they were, all five of them, happily swimming along weith their Mum.

Monday Trio

I was determined to be more productive than I have recently on Monday and I kicked the day off by making strawberry & cream cupcakes then journalling them.



I decided to get my watercolour pencils out and 'play'. The rose in the front garden has been stunning this year and proved a great subject for my playtime from the sunlounger in the garden.



Another quickie just to 'do something'!!!

It worked!

My carefree sketches of the day have revived my sketching enthusiasm and my lethargic attitude seems to have been kicked into touch.

Lazing In The Garden

I used watercolour pencils for this spread, a couple of quick poppy studies while lazing about in the garden.
Our ducks, Joe and Chandler, have found our pond and splashed around in it all day...They are adorable!

They have got so big since my last photo upload. I took some pics and will get around to sharing them soon, promise!

Art On The Move

I sketched this scene of a neighbouring farm while walking...rather fast I might add!!!

It was quite a challenge to sketch while on the move let alone while trying to catch my breath from jogging. The result is pretty poor in skill but I was so chuffed to have created something during my run.

Daylock Marine

On Friday Jane, a student and good friend of mine, spent the day together. We browsed a rather poor exhibition in Chatteris library before moving on to Huntingdon where we grabbed a cuppa in the Daylock Marine. We stayed a while chatting and sketching before moving up the river bank to Hertford Marina where we indulged in a spot of lunch.
A wonderfully relaxing day, spent in great company.

Cherries

My first of the season, on offer from the local supermarket.

Sporting Eggs

A couple more spreads from my daily journal.
The pheasant eggs taste superb, like a chicken egg only the look much prettier with their duck egg blue shells.

Waiting For The Kids

Sketched while waiting for Harry to come out of school.

Bills, Bills, Bills

I arrived a few minutes early at the bank, so made use of my time parked in the layby by sketching the scene before me....making the whole process of paying my bills a little more bearable.
Art is such a tonic!

Flyover

The flyover at March sketched from the side of Tesco car park.

School Fair

The final spread in my journal on Thursday was sketched at the local school fair, a few figures captured while enjoying the fun.

The spread below, complete with a portrait of me, was created by college student Francesca Moore...Love it, thanks Francesca!

Kings Motors

This is the 2nd of my three spreads completed on Thursday of last week. I was determined to get some sketching done, so when the car window misbehaved I took it straight into the garage and took my Mum's car into town instead.

After The Rain

I did three quick spreads in my journal throughout the day on Thursday, this was the first after dropping Harry at school in the morning.

Zesty

Lazy Sunday Afternoon

View Over A Sandwich

Grabbed a sandwich at the Old Bakery Cafe in Chatteris and managed a quick sketch of Grounds Estate Agents opposite while I munched.