Every Cloud's Silver Lining

Heading to San Francisco – Rain delay at O'Hare

Heading home to Chicago – Delayed departure in San Francisco

Another delay in Phoenix!

Recently, I spent a week in San Francisco. Let's call it a "working vacation".  My six month old grandson had surgery (all is well!).  I went to help with caring for his twin and five year old brother. Needless to say there was no time to sketch while on duty but the weather delays to and from SF gave me time for a quick sketch or two.

USk Chicago Sketch Seminar 2014

What a wonderful and exhausting weekend! Urban Sketchers Chicago held it's first sketching seminar June 7-8. Our home base was at the historic Palette and Chisel Academy of Fine Arts.

The first morning before heading out to our sketching destinations

Wes Douglas and I taught the first workshop Saturday morning.  "A Crash Course in Urban Sketching" was class to get the beginners started on the Urban Sketching adventure both in theory and practice.  We hope the participants had as great a time as we did!

Wes Douglas and Barbara Weeks

Focus and simplify

Urban Sketching on the "Miracle Mile" in Chicago

A big thank you to Andrew Banks and Wes for the photos!

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

Urban Sketchers-Chicago met outside Wrigley Field today. The Cubs played the Brewers so the crowd was large and loud! Our group was small but productive. I always love how we all gather to sketch the in the same area but what catches our attention and how we interpret the scene is so different! All winners - even the Cubs!

Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun…

When my granddaughter was in preschool she taught me a song  Mr. Sun. Yesterday, I  sang that song to myself while I sat in the park and sketched soaking up that golden sun. It's been a long, long winter but it may be safe to say spring has arrived in Chicago! Thank you, Sophie, for teaching me the song and for wanting to play in the park yesterday!

Go Fly a Kite!

Seriously, go fly a kite! What great fun! We went to the Chicago's annual Kids and Kites Festival at Montrose Harbor. It was a perfect day for kite flying!  There was an area reserved for professional kite flyers (who knew that was a career option?). They were flying HUGE kites using trucks! Incredible! A picnic, sun, kite flying, family and sketching– perfect!

This was my first outing with the Midori Travelers Notebook sketching insert. The paper isn't wonderful for watercolor but will work well with pencil and Sharpie pens. I'll probably make an insert that has watercolor paper from S&B.

I do like the Midori TN setup- everything in one place, calendar, journal and sketchbook. Each section is a separate insert that can be replaced as needed.  

An Historic Day in the Catholic Church

Pope Francis

Pope Benedict XVI

St. John Paul II

To mark this special day in the history of the Catholic Church I'm posting some sketches from the past.

Saints John XXIII and John Paul II, pray for us.

The sketches are different media and completed in very different time frames - just like the men the portray.

#9, #9, #9 One Watercolor (Um Every Two Weeks?) a Day

Maybe it's a cop-out but I've decided to just enjoy the process of the exercises in One Watercolor a Day and not make myself crazy. So I'm on #9.  I took a walk to Washington Square Park on this gray, 28° spring-day. Pigeons provided just about the only color but it was beautiful and iridescent and I'm smiling as I write this.