#simplegrace

The simple grace of a tiny palette on a long  road trip

Each year, for as long as I can remember, I've chosen a word to define my goals or mindset for the new year. This year the word is grace. It's something I've been thinking about for awhile and intend to make it a continuing focal point in 2018. It has many definitions and should make for a year of interesting discoveries!

Grace(as defined by Merriam-Webster)

1 a: unmerited divine assistance given humans for their regeneration or
        sanctification

b: a virtue coming from God

c: a state of sanctification enjoyed through divine assistance

2 a: approval, favor stayed in his good graces

b: archaic: mercy, pardon

c: a special favor: privilege

each in his place, by right, not grace, shall rule his heritage —Rudyard Kipling

d: disposition to or an act or instance of kindness, courtesy, or clemency

e: a temporary exemption: reprieve

3 a: a charming or attractive trait or characteristic Among disagreeable qualities
        he possessed the saving grace of humor.

b: a pleasing appearance or effect: charm

all the grace of youth —John Buchan

c: ease and suppleness of movement or bearing

danced with such grace

4 used as a title of address or reference for a duke, a duchess, or an archbishop

5 a short prayer at a meal asking a blessing or giving thanks

6 Graces plural: three sister goddesses in Greek mythology who are the givers of
        charm and beauty

7 a musical trill, turn, or appoggiatura

8 a: sense of propriety or right

had the grace not to run for elective office —Calvin Trillin

        b: the quality or state of being considerate or thoughtful accepted his advice
        with grace

and Grace(as defined by me)
1      unexpected moments and insights that make us draw breath and smile 
        #simplegrace

Museum Sketching

In the Catholic church,  today is the Feast of the Presentation in the Temple. It reminded me of this quick sketch I did of one of my favorite paintings at LUMA (Loyola University Museum of Art), Simeon and the Christ Child by Thomas de Keyser, a 17th Century, Dutch painter. This is a sketch where I was concentrating on the facial expressions, but the colors in this painting are deep and rich. Sketching in the galleries at LUMA is encouraged on Tuesdays when admission is free!

Do Blue and Yellow Always Equal Green?

This Christmas I received a Pocket Palette. I've finally gotten around to filling it! Though the palette will fit a maximum of fourteen pans, I decided to use only twelve.That leaves room for one square pan that I can use for mixing. 

There are so many beautiful colors to choose from when designing a new palette it's hard to whittle the choices down to twelve. Hard to choose, but I had fun playing with the paint to see what combinations would give the colors that pleased my eye. 

I fell in love with Daniel Smith's Cobalt Teal but wondered if I could make it work in Chicago's light. Experimenting with it and Ultramarine, Verdifer Blue, and Quin Gold, I discovered, yes it can!  One of the things I love about watercolor is watching the colors run together with a little push from my brush (either end) and the water. This was a fun and surprising exercise. I share my squiggles and splotches experiments here.

This is how I decided to fill the palette:

• Quin Gold
• Yellow Ochre
• Quin Scarlet
• Burnt Sienna
• Verdifer Blue
• Cobalt Teal
• Sap
• Olive
• Mauve
• Opera 
• Buff Titanium
• Ultramarine

                              …at least for now!

Seven Simple Pleasures

I was tapped to join the FaceBook challenge to post one of my paintings/sketches every day for seven days and post them to my FB page. My challenge is complete. I thought I'd share the posts here, too.

I chose little paintings and sketches that focus on the little things that bring joy to my daily life. #simplegrace.

Day 1

Light and shadow play

Day 2

StreetWise vendor taking pride in his job

Day 3

 Loyola University Museum of Art (LUMA), Elephant Automaton Clock in the Baroque gallery.

Day 4

Fish knife, such lovely tiny details

Day 5

A touch of color to brighten a gray day in Chicago

Day 6

Car sketch that brings fall color to another gray-Chicago day

Day 7

Little truffles to spice up another gray day!

I hope they bring a smile to your face and encourage you to see the simple graces and joy in the everyday.

See!

Each year I choose a word that sums up an attitude or encourages an action that I'd like to emphasize in my life. I've been doing this since I was in college. Some past words are grace, simplify, joy, draw, do, color, feed, marvel, savor, and intention. Do you notice a theme running through these words? I do. It's basically, a reminder to slow down and appreciate where I am. It's even more important today than those many years ago when I began with this tradition.

In today's multitasking world we seem to always be rushing from one thing to another often missing simple graces and daily little pleasures that are all around for us to see and savor. This year's word is "See."

It reminds me of a quote by one of my favorite poets.

"For how many years did I wander slowly through the forest. What wonder and glory I would have missed had I ever been in a hurry!"
  Mary Oliver (Leaves and Blossoms Along the Way)

Wishing us all a year of appreciating simple graces and ordinary miracles. 
#simplegrace

Talk about Happy Holidays!

Christmas Floral #simple grace

This has been quite a holiday season for us!  We've had family house guests that included five grandchildren, chaos, and lots of fun. Yesterday,  I found a chance to do a quick sketch just for fun. It was like a little vacation. It was drawing breath away from the holiday hub bub. Ahhhh.

Adding to that, I've been busy working on the Urban Sketcher's 8th Annual Symposium that will be here in Chicago in July 2017, plus other USk surprises! Remarque Design had a flurry of end of the year commissions and business to add to a successful year. So much to be thankful for as 2016 ends and 2017 begins.

Happy New Year!

"Live each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit." Henry David Thoreau

What to Do on a Cold Chicago Day

Garfield Park Conservatory, Chicago

Sunday USk Chicago met at the Garfield Park Conservatory for our regular sketch crawl. It was a cold day but the Desert Room was the perfect place to warm up. I was really taken by the textures and colors. What a delightful place to spend a cold afternoon! 

It's been a busy time! Urban Sketchers 8th Annual Symposium will be held in Chicago in July 2017. Admin for USk Chicago have been helping the international committee with the planning. There is so much that goes on behind the scenes to bring a successful symposium to fruition! I'm honored to lend a helping hand, but it does cut into blogging time. I'll try to do better.

Chicago's Chagall Oasis

Chase Plaza, Chicago

It was a beautiful day in Chicago today. I sat in Chase Plaza with a couple of other Chicago Urban Sketchers and was taken by the color and texture of the garden. It almost over powered the Chagall mural. You can see a hint of it here, peaking out among the trees. The plaza is a beautiful oasis in a bustling city.

Of course, I can't sketch the city without a few quick reminders of the endless cast of characters that add so much to the city's story.

You CAN Teach an Old Dog New Tricks!

Morning light in the alley

There's always something new to learn! I spent Saturday in Chicago's Ravenswood neighborhood at the workshop "FEARLESS Sketching in Pen, Ink and Watercolor with Adriana Gasparich."  What a fun day! The workshop was held in Ingrid Albrecht's studio in Ravenswood.

As an artist, no matter how much experince I have or how much I know (or think I know) there's always more to learn. That certainly was the case last Saturday. Thank you Adriana and Ingrid for an inspiring, friendly and encouraging day!

I'm a big pencil fan. I love the feel of it on the paper and the expressive lines you can draw with it. It was great to challenge myself and just jump right in with ink. These sketches were done with a black Sharpie in a Stillman & Birn Zeta Series sketchbook. The watercolor was my usual "out and about" palette you see in the blog header.

It was typical Chicago fall day, warm in the sun and chilly in the shade. The changing light was fantastic.

Afternoon light

Meet, Sketch, and Share with Urban Sketchers

Ping Tom Memorial Park

WOW, I can't believe I have been away from this blog for so long! This is a sketch from Sunday's sketch meet with Urban Sketchers Chicago. It was such a beautiful and fun day! We were happy to welcome lots of new faces to the group!

Speaking of Urban Sketchers, here's some fabulous news. Urban Sketchers Chicago is excited that we were chosen to host the 2017 Urban Sketchers 8th Annual Symposium! We're happy to be working with the international team to make it possible. Right now we're busy seraching for a location to accommodate over 450 sketchers from all over the world to meet, sketch, and share! I'll keep you posted!

Can You Keep a Secret?

Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool, Chicago

The Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool is one of the best-kept secrets in Chicago. Our Monday sketch group makes sure to go there at least once a summer to sketch.  Peaceful, quiet, (well, except for the birds, frogs, and breeze through the trees) and uncrowded, it's definitely the pause that refreshes. I was thinking about that as I was drawing. It seems no matter how tired or crabby I am if I stop to sketch a little my smile comes back!

I couldn't resist a quick sketch of the heron that briefly came into view!

July is #WorldwideWatercolorMonth!

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070216

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July is #WorldwideWatercolorMonth, as proposed by Doodlewash. In that spirit and in hopes of reenergizing my daily practice, I'm going to try to do one small (4x4 in) watercolor a day. The sources will vary, some from life, some from photos, and some from my imagination. I'm usually not good at following through with this kind of thing. I'm like a magpie, (Ooo good idea, Oh look at that idea, Wow, that's inspiring, etc.)  so wish me luck! 

Dream or Nightmare?

Bahá'í House of Worship, Wilmette IL

Wow, I can't believe it's been almost a month since I've posted here! It's been a crazy busy time. There are some good things coming. I'll keep you posted!

I did manage to catch my breath last Sunday with the Chicago Urban Sketchers, at the Bahá'í Temple. The sun was shining and the hospitality was warm so I hardly noticed how chilly the air was. The building is beautiful, covered in intricate designs that look like stone calligraphy. The details are an exercise in drawing negative space. I kept changing my mind between "This is a dream," and "This is a nightmare." I decided to go for the dream rather than the reality.

The Great Outdoors…At Last!

At long last, a gorgeous spring day in Chicago! And what a great way to spend it, sketching outdoors at the Art Institute of Chicago! What first caught my attention when I walked into the park was how the trees were bare but the grass and ivy were green.

Happy Earth Day!

i thank You God for most this amazing

day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees

and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything

which is natural which is infinite which is yes

- e.e. cummings

Pick Your Battles

One would think that after all these years I would pay attention to the paper! I took this sketchbook on a recent sketch outing and fought the paper with watercolors the entire time! The Lincoln Park Conservatory stick-on covers a spot where the paper won.

Actually, the paper (Hahnemüehle) has a beautiful hand and I look forward to working on it with pencil and markers. 

Surprise!

Pods like these fall all around our neighborhood. The other day I picked up these two. My intention was to practice painting subtle dark values. I accidently step on one. Whoa! What a surprise! It's incredible how something can appear so plain on the outside and, on the inside, be so colorful and bright. I think people are often the same way.

Little Things Do Brighten My Day

I was in Home Depot the yesterday and this tiny cyclamen made me smile. It brightened a very gray Chicago day. Obviously, I had to bring it home! I thought I'd share it with you.

This is a quick watercolor done in a Stillman & Birn Beta Series book. Usually, I do a preliminary sketch in pencil or marker, but, on a whim, I painted directly, without a preliminary sketch. 

If Winter Comes Can Spring Be Far Behind?

Well, in Chicago it can be W A Y behind!  This is a sketch of Washington Square Park. It looks more like autumn. Note: I didn't sketch it while the snow was falling.

Donuts and Drawing = a Good Afternoon

It was a little chilly and damp today, so our Monday group met indoors. I gave a brief demonstration on seeing values and we had a great discussion. Then we sketched, chatted and ate (guess what). It was a fun afternoon. This was done in my Stillman and Birn Beta Series sketchbook, one of my favorites.