NOT a Florida Flower!

It's interesting how we connect with old friends.  I recently was able to reconnect with a friend, Deb Tisch, from grade/high school.  She is a photographer who SHOULD be selling her work!!!  Her love is in every snap of the shutter.  I'm lucky to have a little digital PhD camera (push here, dummy) that I can get something out to show you all!

This is definitely NOT a "Florida" flower!  It's a wild geranium, geranium maculatum, and is found in the woods around her midwestern home in the Spring.  It's sometimes called an "old maid's nightcap"!  Deb sent me lots of photos to choose from and I loved the veins in this one.  You can see her photos and read her poetry and sentiments (lovely ones, by the way!) here: Learning As I Go.

Now, "2-D artists" (as I hesitantly call myself) often take some artistic license with things, in fact most of us do.  So my wild geranium is a little different.  However the captivating part, the veins in the petals, are there.  This is what I really wanted to capture...

This was drawn in the pointillism method using brown ink.  I also added a little dark purple ink for the petal veins.  Then, of course, washed with watercolor.  This one will not go up for sale in my Etsy shop (here), but will be framed and sent off to Deb!
Enjoy and let us know what you think of our "not Florida flower"!

WIP (Work In Progress): Bearded Iris

I thought you might find it interesting to see a work before it's been completed and how I get it from blank paper to finished product.  I start out making sketches of things from pictures or from nature.  Sometimes I make several sketches before I'm satisfied.  Then I make a rough, dark line drawing and put in on a light box to lightly transfer the outline to my paper in pencil.  Then I begin with ink.  As with this picture of a "Bearded Iris" I sometimes just can't wait until I'm completely done with the ink to at least begin to add some color!  Added a little color inspires me to finish, especially when a drawing is so detailed.  This one has a long way to go yet, but here's the "preview trailer"...

This is a pretty good sized drawing.  The image is about 8"x10" on 11"x14" paper.  It's being done in black ink on 100% rag, acid-free drawing paper.  I use good ole' Prismacolor™ colored pencils.  They are so versatile and the ones I bought years ago match the ones manufactured now so the colors are still consistent and true.  I sometimes use the Verithin™ that are a bit harder, but the color range isn't as broad.
I hope you'll stick around and wait for the final, completed work!  It still has a long way to go...

Plum Crazy!

One of my husband's favorite fruits is plums.  I'm not too "plum crazy" for them, but now, plum honey - well, that's a different thing altogether!  It is delicious!  Plums, like peaches and apples, really don't grow well in here on the Florida west central Gulf coast area.  There is likely some good plums grown in Georgia, along with their "to-die-for" peaches.
I did however, enjoy drawing this pair of luscious plums along with that little miracle-worker honey bee:

That little bee sure looks busy!  This drawing was completed in brown ink using the pointillism method and then washed with layers of translucent watercolors.  I think if you are "plum crazy" over plums you would like this little slice of nature.
If you are interested in purchasing any of my work, you can find them here in my ETSY shop.  Browse to your heart's content and enjoy!

Summer Berries!

Strawberries and summer just seem to go together.  We can't wait until the strawberries from Plant City are in the local stores, then it's strawberry shortcake every day!  Florida had an unusually cool winter this year with some below-freezing nights and we kept tabs on how the strawberry crops and orange groves held up.  Surprisingly little damage was done and the farmers say that cool winters make the berries sweeter!
Here are my sweet, sweet Florida strawberries:

I took some artistic liberties and drew berries and blossoms on the same plant at the same time!  Mother Nature probably would not allow that in the quantity you see here, but I've seen an occasional late blossom on a plant with fully ripened berries - just means there's more coming for later!
This is an original drawing created in delicate brown ink lines with washes of watercolor.  The seeds were accented with a little black ink.  Love strawberries like we do, those pesky little seeds do get stuck in our teeth!
Isn't this like much of life?  It's often sweet and juicy, but it sometimes has little annoyances that stick ya!
I know you are just going to rush out to get strawberries now and make strawberry shortcake for dinner tonight!  My grandmother had a recipe for shortcake that is the best I've ever had.  I think it came from her mother.  It's like a sweet biscuit that almost crumbles when you cut it.  The original was made with lard, of course and we make it with vegetable shortening and a little butter for flavor.  It is a thick dough that is pressed into a 9x9 baking dish and sprinkled with sugar.  Yumm-O!

A Bit of Old Florida

Several years ago I was at a retreat at a place called DaySpring. The retreat center is located on a small lake deep in the woods of Old Florida. This beautiful ancient Live Oak tree stood as a magnificent remnant of what must have been a glorious past. It is gnarled and twisted with signs of having stood the test of time. The Spanish Moss had about taken over and only a few leaves were sprouting that cool, early Spring. The center has worked hard to maintain the wildness of the acreage. It really isn't far from civilization, but it is certainly "God's country."
I only had a few minutes during a break and quickly sketched the intricacies of this lovely old soul on a sheet of my notebook paper (lines and all!) and came back to it recently to create this rendition:

Can you imagine what this tree might be able to tell us if it could talk? Some of these lovely old oaks have been here for hundreds of years. They grow slowly and this was a giant. Just think - it might have been here when the Seminole tribe was formed! Florida is a lovely place to live and these beauties are everywhere. There is a legend about the Spanish Moss that goes something like this...

"A Spanish soldier fell in love at first sight with an Indian Chief's favorite daughter. Though the Chief forbade the couple to see each other, the Spaniard was too lovestruck to stop meeting the maiden in secret. The father found them out and ordered his braves to tie the Spaniard high up in the top of an ancient oak tree.
The Spaniard had only to disavow his love to be freed, but he steadfastly refused. Guards were posted to keep anyone - the Chief's daughter especially - from giving food or water to the poor Spaniard. The Spaniard grew weaker and weaker, and still he would not renounce his love for the beautiful maiden.
Near the end, the Chief tried to persuade him once more to stay away from his daughter. The Spaniard answered that not only would he refuse to disavow his love, but that his love would continue to grow even after his death. When at last the Spaniard died, the Chief kept the body in the tree as a warning to discourage any other would-be suitors.
Before long, the Indians began to notice that the Spaniard's beard continued to grow. The Indian maiden refused to ever take a husband unless the Spaniard's beard died and vanished from the tree. As the years went by, the beard only grew stronger and longer, covering trees far from the Indian maiden's village. Legend says that when the Spanish Moss is gone, the Spaniard's love will have finally died with it."

We still have loads of Spanish Moss all over Florida! The Spaniard's love is forever strong. Ah, to be young and loved in such a way! I hope you enjoy my stunning old tree!

Welcome to InkSpots & Water Washes!

For years I have dabbled in painting and drawing of many kinds - from "doodles" and "curdlewabbles" as a child to painting on porcelain to pen and ink, colored pencil, watercolor, tempera, oil, graphite, etc.
My favorite media however, is fine, detailed pen in mostly the pointillism method with washes of watercolor or layers of colored pencil.
One of my favorite drawings is of a lovely baby giraffe born to a proud mamma at the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa a few years ago. When his picture appeared in a Sunday newspaper, I was immediately captivated.
Here is my rendition in brown pen with layers of colored pencil on archival quality cream stock. The overall size is 9x12:

He is such a delightful, gentle creature. Giraffes are so graceful and peaceful. I do hear from their keepers that they can be rather stubborn, however most keepers would rather work with them than most other of the "kept" creatures at the zoo.
It's hard sometimes to see them cooped up in a cage. They should be roaming the Serengeti and munching on the tops of acacia trees! I must believe that we are preserving nature to one day bring it back to its natural state. I envision a world where we live in harmony with each other and with all God's creatures.