I'm Still Loving My Angels

"I have refused to live locked in the orderly house of reasons and proofs.  The world I live in and believe in is wider than that. And anyway, what’s wrong with Maybe?

You wouldn’t believe what once or twice I have seen. I’ll just tell you this: only if there are angels in your head will you ever, possibly, see one."

 

 From Felicity by Mary Oliver

I am a believer and a collector so doing these sketches fits I think.  I do a five minute graphite sketch every morning and another quick ink and watercolor in the afternoon.  I started following a workshop by Sue Kemnitz then started working from magazine poses.   Here's one of each, the afternoon angel is from a Land's End models pose.

 

"You might see an angel anytime and anywhere."

Mary Oliver continues ...

"Of course you have to open your eyes to a kind of  second level, but it’s not really hard."  The poem is from The Cottage By The Sea and I love the last stanza:  "I'll just leave you with this.  I don't care how many angels dance on the head of a pin.  It's enough to know that for some people they exist, and that they dance."

Maybe not exactly dancing but certainly having fun. Today's 10 minute angel is based on something Sue Kemnitz did that I wanted to try.  I see I have her left foot wrong but that doesn't bother me.  I'll try this again another time.  I usually start with an energy line but Sue started with her bloomers so I decided to give that a try.  I may have to try this again but not right away.  

My Land's End catalog came and while I'm not buying anything I did go through to look for poses to try.  We shall see what happens.

 

One More Angel

 This pose is based on a photo of my great aunt Juliet, one of my grandmother's siblings.  She was stylish and sketching her was fun.  I also spent an evening sketching heads.  Two pages worth and this is one of them.

I circled the hair I like best.  Do you agree?

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.