Category Archives: Sketchbooks

Cafe Wisdom: When The Loft is Between Inspirations…

Posted on May 22, 2019 by

After a thoroughly enjoyable eight-day trip to England, I have been back in the States for six days and am having trouble adjusting. My English friend and I had busy schedules each day, and full of fresh enthusiasm, I posted … Continue reading →

Posted in Cafe Wisdom, Sketchbooks, Views from Aloft, Watercolor | 5 Comments

Prepare for Lift-Off!

Posted on May 1, 2019 by

I had a poster when I was in high school that read, “A bird can soar because he takes himself lightly.” That is spiritually true of course, but for the past few weeks I have been adapting it to read, … Continue reading →

Posted in Art-Making, Sketchbooks, Travel, Watercolor | 6 Comments

Learning Another Sort of Shorthand

Posted on March 31, 2019 by

Google the word ‘shorthand’ and go to the Wikipedia page. There you will see a series of symbols that made perfect sense to my mother as well as thousands of secretarial workers in the mid-20th century. As a child I … Continue reading →

Posted in Pen and Ink, Sketchbooks, Storytelling, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Cafe Wisdom: Who Inspires You?

Posted on March 24, 2019 by

Ah, the best laid plans, even if written with care and a calligraphy pen in a leather-bound journal, are sometimes no match for distractions no bigger than a bug. Sunday afternoon blog posts every single week? Good idea, great intentions, … Continue reading →

Posted in Cafe Wisdom, Life Insights, Sketchbooks, Watercolor | 4 Comments

[Hand] Dancing in the Dark

Posted on March 2, 2019 by

We’ve all done it. Woken up in the middle of the night with a brilliant idea, grabbed the pencil on the bedside table and that scrap of paper, and scribbled down a word or two before they slip away. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Art-Making, Pen and Ink, Sketchbooks, Uncategorized, Urban Sketching | 3 Comments

Falling in Love Again

Posted on February 18, 2019 by

The next logical step after “not giving up” is “falling in love again.” With life itself. This morning I decided, much to my surprise, to call my local art school and sign up to teach another series of sketchbook classes. I … Continue reading →

Posted in Pen and Ink, Sketchbooks, Urban Sketching | 8 Comments

Paper…where to start?

Posted on May 8, 2018 by

So where to start? I mean that literally. Where do you plan to use your sketchbook? If you plan to draw and paint just at home, where you have a big drafting table, large display of art supplies, and a … Continue reading →

Posted in Art-Making, Sketchbooks, Uncategorized | 3 Comments