Feathers

I took my sketchbook to McGolrick Park in Greenpoint, a few blocks from my place. I had fun sketching feathers.

Perfume Bottles

I've been sketching a lot of perfume bottles. My inclination to draw them reminds me of my favorite thing to draw when I was in kindergarten through first or second grade. Hold on to your hats....I used to love to draw clowns. In fact, because I was always drawing little clown figures, all the adults in my life assumed that I loved clowns and started buying me clown figurines and dolls. This is the confession that really freaks out people: not only did I draw clowns all the time, but I also had a quite extensive clown collection. While I do understand the public's great fear of clowns, I've never found them frightening. The exception being that clown from Poltergeist, but I felt better after stomping on my clown that looked like him.

Fog

I love driving east toward downtown on the Cleveland Memorial Shoreway (Route 2, or the Shoreway to locals). It is elevated and curves through the city offering really interesting views of old buildings and the lakefront. I love the cloudless and fog filled days.

The Country

My parents no longer live in the country. I think I'm going to miss the walks along their tar and chip roads. They had a white barn on their township road that a nice Amish family rented. They kept an emu, sheep, and cats on the property. Sometimes the white silo and barn were difficult to capture on a sunny day, but other times the white stood out against a cloudless sky. Adjacent to the barn is a Belgian horse farm. The property overlooked a valley, always guaranteeing beautiful sunsets, picturesque fog, and pools of lightening bugs in early summer.

New, Old Watercolor

Eugenia--Watercolor

While decorating my bedroom, I channeled an eclectic art deco vibe, rich with jewel tones and vintage magazine cover prints. I wanted my bedroom to be timeless, like a snapshot from any point in the 20th or 21st centuries, as if the occupant brings back tokens from her frequent travels. I tried to integrate original work that had a golden, rich tone to evoke the visual and cultural richness of a different era; I wanted something that appeared as though it could have been picked up at a flea market along the way. I toyed with a few different watercolors, but in the end I settled on this watercolor illustration. I like to pretend it is a portrait done on the fly in the 1920's by a young artist, looking to catch the eye of a  potential benefactor who wore a long string of jade beads.

First Snow

Like most artists, I am inspired by the elements. Changes in season, light, temperature, or even a gusty wind move me. Yesterday we saw the first snowfall of the season. It was light, and at first I was the only one of my friends who spotted the tiny flakes. The flurries grew stronger, but we never even saw a dusting. These are photos from last winter. I took them all on my iPhone while on walks around Lakewood, Ohio.

My Apartment

I have a large bay window in my Tudor style apartment. I selected my apartment because of the window's"wow factor." I'd been looking for a place with a faux fireplace because of all the vignettes you can create with the mantle. But the large bay window facing the front door is a statement itself. I knew I'd made the right decision the first time someone walked in and said "Wow!" I sometimes find myself inspired by the way the afternoon light slinks through the blinds or white sheers I use as drapes.