Category Archives: Sketchbooks

Playing with Watercolor Toys on a Snowy Day

Do you ever feel like playing with your watercolors, exploring all the juicy gorgeous possibilities without having to sketch a scene first? Congratulations, you’ve come to the right place. I have two active sketchbooks with distinctly separate purposes. One I … Continue reading

Posted in Sketchbooks, Watercolor | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Downshifting to autumn tempo

The only thing that beats my love of words and watercolor is having people to share both with. I’m sitting in my favorite cafe, Bean & Bakery in Concord NH, indulging in the most amazing pumpkin raisin muffin I’ve ever … Continue reading

Posted in 2- Bolts: Sketching Tools, Book #2: Double Take, Look at That! book, Musings on Life, Sketchbooks, Sketching tools | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

A Slammed Door and an Unexpected New Confidante

On September 10th, 55 years ago, at 6:30am, the phone rang. It was Dr. Boschenstein calling to tell Mom that my sixty-one-year-old father had a stroke at 5am. My father was dead. It was a bright, sunny Sunday morning, the … Continue reading

Posted in Beauty, Book #2: Double Take, Musings on Life, My Story, Pen & Ink, Seeing and looking, Sketchbooks, Urban Sketching (On-Site Creativity), Watercolor | Tagged , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

The latest finished sketchbook

I just finished a sketchbook that I began back on June 15th, 2019. An educational ending to a long process! The paper in this sketchbook is one of my favorites, the same as what was in the big square sketchbook … Continue reading

Posted in Cartoons, Musings on Life, Pen & Ink, Seeing and looking, Sketchbooks, Tip Jar, Urban Sketching (On-Site Creativity), Watercolor | Tagged , , , | 10 Comments

In praise of weird-shaped containers

Sometimes all you need is a weird-shaped target area to overcome perceived obstacles. Notice I said, “perceived.” Most of time, what’s keeping us from writing, from sketching, from taking up guitar, or even harmonica is the crazy notion that we … Continue reading

Posted in Cartoons, Pen & Ink, Seeing and looking, Sketchbooks, Watercolor | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Another sketchbook completed, and what I learned

I just finished another sketchbook, six months of Sundays, literally. And because I can’t simply leave it at that, I had to go one step further and try to figure out: 1- how to shoot a one-handed video in a … Continue reading

Posted in Pen & Ink, Seeing and looking, Sketchbooks, Urban Sketching (On-Site Creativity), Watercolor, Writing | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

What I’ve been learning

It’s been a busy month since I last wrote: finishing up one course (writing), still in the middle of another (art), loving what I’m learning in both. Writing The course I just finished was offered by Memoir Writing Ink, an … Continue reading

Posted in Pen & Ink, Sketchbooks, Sketching tools, Tip Jar, Urban Sketching (On-Site Creativity), Watercolor | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

How clean are your glasses?

I was prescribed eyeglasses when I was about 10 years old, and for me, wearing glasses is as normal as breathing. My poor mother had three kids who all wore glasses from a young age, and I recall her chiding … Continue reading

Posted in 3- Magic: Art Epiphanies, Musings on Life, Pencil sketching, Sketchbooks, Urban Sketching (On-Site Creativity), Watercolor | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

Goldilock’s Sketching Travel Kit

It has suddenly jumped from almost-too-cold to almost-too-hot to be sketching outdoors, which means there’s no time to waste in fine-tuning my art-supply travel kit. I say “travel,” but in truth for me, “travel” usually means leaving my third-floor loft … Continue reading

Posted in Look at That! book, Look-at-That! Pouches, Pen & Ink, Sketchbooks, Sketching tools, Urban Sketching (On-Site Creativity), Watercolor | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Never plagiarize: copy instead!

According to the dictionary, plagiarism is “the practice of taking someone else’s work or ideas and passing them off as one’s own.” We can all agree that plagiarism is a very bad idea; even if you don’t get caught, you’re … Continue reading

Posted in 3- Magic: Art Epiphanies, Look at That! book, Musings on Life, Pen & Ink, Pencil sketching, Sketchbooks, Sketching tools, Watercolor | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments