Still Playing with Angel Sketches

 And I think this one needs some color.  What do you think?

My 5 Minute Sketches

 I do a 5 minute sketch every morning and recently they have been angels.  I like the loose style of the women Sue Kemintz does and a recent blog post suggested copying a style you like at least 6 times or until you make it your own.  I'm not copying exactly but starting as she does with a line -- horizontal (arms) or vertical (body) and go from there.  I'll have to do a lot more than 6 but I've got a good start. Here are mornings 3 thru 6.

 

I have a couple ideas that may make a difference.  A few more mornings may help.

Time to Start Christmas Decorating

 So today was spent doing just that.  First the two trees, one that is the big tree the gifts go under, the other is a smaller tree that stands on our landing.  Then the Santas came out -- well two Santas and a Sinterklaas.  We have several more but these are my three favorites. One made of a discarded Pendelton shirt of my husband's, this one even has a patch on his back that Ed's mother did for him.

Another is from one of my dad's discarded sweaters.

And the third one, Sinterklaas because my spouse is Dutch,

I don't know how much more decorating will get done before we celebrate with our son and grandson next weekend but we are ready enough just in case.

Giving Thanks

 We did that yesterday with Ed's family and we got this lovely floral arrangement for our kitchen table from his brother.

A bonus, the best part is always getting together with family.  I'm sorry we weren't able to join my side as well but living on opposite sides of the state makes it difficult.  Maybe Christmas.  I'm grateful that we are still able to travel to see everyone.

And speaking of Christmas -- that's on my list for next week. I start bringing Christmas into the house the week after Thanksgiving, a little bit at a time so it's all ready for the day.  The Christmas season is my favorite time of the year.  I love seeing all the decorations, both mine and those of friends, neighbors and in the shops.  And we have snow which makes it perfect.

I hope you all had a good Thanksgiving.

The Gallery Uptown is Ready for Holiday Shoppers

 The official kick off to the Holiday Season is this Friday.  I'll be there, hope you can join me for 

 

There will be lots of holiday decorations and many gift items to choose from.

Small Works

Today I delivered 5 small pieces to the Holland Arts Council for its Holiday Art Show: Small Works.  These are a couple of the pieces that will be part of the show. Each is 4"x4".

Shifting Tides

   

Silent Measure

The show runs from November 13 to December 20. There will be an opening reception on November 14 from 5:30 to 7 PM.  I'm planning to be there.  If you're in the area I hope you can too.

Steal Like An Artist

It's a lesson in Louise Fletcher's Find Your Joy 2025 workshop.  She asked us to select two favorites, figure out what it is about their work that we love and rather than copy what they do, steal that bit that you love and use it in your piece.  I have several favorites but settled on 3 for this lesson.  This is the painting,

My 3 for this exercise -- Karen Stamper, Alice Sheridan and Elwira Pioro.  Karen because I can see the influence of boats in her work and if you know me you know I love boats; Alice Sheridan and Elwira Pioro both have very textured calm areas in their work and Elwira adds a bit of line work to her calm backgrounds.

This is one that is done in my sketchbook/art journal because I was not going to make a good painting, just play.  Turned out not too bad I think.  What do you think?