The limitless possibilities of the Holiday House

After Dinner Bouquets

With my goal of three pages a day, I am ready to begin p 213 today.  I have made 22 drawings so far; that gives you an idea of how many pages I remove and glue together to make my altered sketchbooks.

My daily schedule has been packed so it has been usual to have one or two drawings to make after dinner. As I am in love with night light, this has been a welcome constraint.  Katy has leant me her head torch and the quality of light changes with this.  I have experimented in low lit places.  Light is thrown on objects differently as above (After Dinner Bouquets) and below, (Molly's Birthday Bouquets).

Before Dinner Structures

Sometimes, sandwiching a drawing between events means the light fades before I have finished…

Buddha and Birdbath

I carry objects to new places to create new worlds that are familiar but which don't actually exist.

Green Garden with Pink

Light Through Tree 8pm

Molly's Birthday Bouquets

Nightlight Over Trees

Petunias on Porch

Sunflower and Shade

Fog and Foam

I have three altered sketchbooks with me in Maine.  Holiday House is what I am focussing on but if I go beyond the curtilage of the barn and the house I get out my Maine Landscape book.  At Preble Beach the fog rolled across the view.  I am itching to complete the last four pages of 'Bouquets' while here in bouquet heaven.

The images in Holiday House are 15 x 10.5 cm while Fog and Foam is 15 x 14.5 and sits on a bigger page.

6:30 Am Barn Door

What I noticed yesterday as I made four drawings (in between working at the fair and celebrating Katy and Jim's twentieth anniversary) was how different it feels to draw the bright summer sunlight and the flat light of the fog rolling in. The satisfaction of creating the feeling of light versus the joy of the colour and shape are really at the heart of why I like to draw and doing both at the same time, outside in a little book is a thrilling conundrum.

Astilbe and Path

Millstone Planter

I tend to avoid the complexity of abundant flowers when I choose a space to draw, but in this case those flowers define the space and finding a way to suggest the way they make me feel seems urgent. 

Red Barn and Boat

Uncle Chuck's Garden Now

No doubt as I commit myself to page after page, there will be some weaker drawings but I hope that even those will pin down what makes this holiday house what it is.

Squirrel and Bird

Holiday House

Pillows and Box Garden

While still in my studio in England, I created a new altered sketchbook. It's a beautiful thick book entitled 'Holiday House'. I tried putting beeswax on the cover and shined it up and I think it looks splendid! I am in the process of filling this new altered sketchbook from cover to cover.  My goal is to complete it while here.  There are about 30 remaining pages to draw on. 

My mornings begin by preparing the pages, I have already gessoed the pages once; I tape the edges and choose a background acrylic ink to blend with the pastel ground. I use a hairdryer to dry it quickly and find my space.

The barn is dark (even in daylight) so I needed to drag a light over to see the colours I was using as I looked out the window. In the garden I have used an umbrella to avoid glare on the pages and at night I used a head torch. The light faded fast and it was hard to find the edges … the mosquitoes were out too!

I would love to use this book as a way to find a residency somewhere. Can you think of a beautiful place where I could spend a week or two finding and recording what makes it special and memorable?

Morning Octagon

Nightlight from Apple Tree

Cypress Box and Hostas

Ferns and Fence

Jan Looking Garden