More Art Journaling and Feathers

I'm trying a different sketchbook for the feathers.  This one was first sketched with a faux quill pen that I made out of one of my feathers.  I got the idea for making the pen from Robyn McClendon.  She did some gelli printing on her feather to fancy it up.  I just used feathers I had in the condition they were currently in which is stiff with paint.  I sometimes use feathers to move paint around on a substrate, they get messy.  I can't find the tutorial or I'd add a link but here are the two I made.  I think you can easily see what I did with a feather, a bit of really good glue and a couple Speedball pen nibs.

And there is the Art Journal, I worked on another spread doing a little each day.  

Why this

                                    

four days later ended up like this

I have no clue but it was kind of fun not knowing where it was going.

I've also continued my walks and it has helped me to focus on things I am grateful for.  One of those is that I live in this place where there are so many different areas to walk along water.  I do love water, it feeds my soul.

The beach

Our Boardwalk along the Grand River

and a couple different areas on Harbor Island

Including a third Harbor Island spot, Linear Park

And a bonus on one of my beach walks, a Pudding Stone

My husband has wanted a Pudding Stone for a very long time but thought he'd never find one.  I'm always looking for stones when I walk the beach and was surprised when I looked down and saw one right by my foot.  It didn't look like this but it was recognizable so I picked it up and took it to Julie Sanford at JSD Design Studio for polishing.  Ed and I have been married for 46 years, 47 this spring, and together for 4 or 5 years before that.  This is the first present I've given him that he truly wanted and was thrilled to get -- a stone I found on the beach.  I know I won't be able to top it so I'm not even going to try.  But if on a beach walk I happen to find another one this one may get a mate.

 

 

It Was A Covid Christmas And A New Year, New Practice

I had intended to spend the week between Christmas and New Years focusing on what was good about 2022 and where I wanted to go in 2023.  Instead I slept.  Covid invaded our home for the holiday.  Fortunately we celebrated with our kids ahead of the actual day so it was just Ed and me, sleeping and reading.  Yesterday was my first day with people but I did get outside for some walks on the beach.

I feel blessed to live in this little town on the shore of Lake Michigan.  I get to drive by this lake every time I'm out running errands. I'm also blessed to have such a wonderful art community to inspire me.

One of the things I'm going to try to do every day is more experimenting in my art journal.  The celebratory piece at the top of this post is one.  I've done something daily and day 2 became a work in process.  I finished it Friday. Obviously the walks on the beach inspired me.

And yesterday, my first day in the company of others, I joined a group of Urban Sketchers,  #UrbanSketchersWestMichigan, held it's first meet up of 2023.  I've followed my friend Joan Tavolott

and her New York Urban Sketchers for years so was thrilled to find a group here in my area.

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We were supposed to sketch the people in the group but my friend Ruth and I got there early, no people yet, so we started working on the view. After doing the view I did a few people sketches.  It's been a long time since I've done people sketching.  Time to do more of it I think.

Looking forward to getting back to sketching with my Tuesday group next week -- and more beach walks in 2023!

Wishing Everyone a Very Happy New Year!