Thursday 29 November 2012

I'll Be Home for Christmas...

"Peas have snow and mistletoe, and presents on the tree"

(watercolour, approx. 7x4")

    When you hear the same Christmas songs over and over again, year after year, you have ample opportunity to listen to them and have fun with the lyrics!  Everyone knows the pictures the original song lyrics paint but when you take these lyrics that everyone knows and paint a new picture with them it makes the song interesting again!

    A few years ago these peas showed up in a design I used for a dinner party invite:

"Peas come for dinner"

(watercolour, approx, 5x3")


Cath-

Friday 23 November 2012

Passing it on...

    Our youngest was given an assignment by her school teacher to write a paragraph about Hereditary Traits and/or Character Traits that have been passed on to her.  She came home not knowing what to write about because writing about inheriting straight brown hair from your mom does not make much of a paragraph!  I looked at her and said, "Did you know that you are a 4th generation artist?"  She asked me what I meant and I went on to tell about how her great-grandfather was a oil/acrylic/watercolour painter and woodcarver (as well as other things), her PaPa has been a oil painter and a sign painter as well as a woodcarver along with other creative pursuits, her mom is a watercolour/acrylic painter and illustrator, and that she too is a watercolour/acrylic painter and constant doodler and sketcher!  That's four generations of creativity and to add to that her PaPa married a very talented lady ("MomMom") who was a pastel artist and now paints regularly in acrylics! 
   
    Well, if only you could have seen her as she sat up a little straighter - you could tell how special she felt as she realized that an ability to draw and paint came from so far back in her family line and is now residing in her!!  God has definitely blessed her!
   
    All that to say that some of the best times she and I share with this common ability is challenging each other to draw random ideas just for fun!  She will sit down with her sketchbook and ask, "Mom, what should draw?"  I always try to come up with something silly to inspire her sense of humour first, encouraging the wheels to begin turning as she pictures the scene in her mind...
   
    Recently I suggested she draw a raccoon jumping into a pile of leaves - really leaping - right into a BIG pile of leaves.  It's one of her favourite activities so I thought she could have fun with it... her hold up was that she didn't know how to draw a raccoon but I encouraged her to try her best and think about how they have a big round body, striped tail and black mask... I love what she came up with!  I especially love the raccoon squealing, "Weeeeeeee!" in mid-air!!
 "Raccoon Leaping Into Leaf Pile"
(graphite and watermarker)


I couldn't resist trying to capture that same kind of fun and spirit!  Here's my sketchbook version:

 "Raccoons Leaping in Leaves"
(graphite)

    Hopefully I pass on other important character traits to my children as God blesses me with time and ability.  I hope you are all inspired to nuture lovely things you see in your children and encourage them to be proud of the talents and abilities God has blessed them with!!

    ♥ Cath- 

Wednesday 21 November 2012

Sketchbook Sneek-a-Peek

"Study of 'micromys minutus' - Harvest Mouse"
(pencil, sketchbook)

    I love drawing mice...  I guess it's because they are so small and innocent looking - l'il shiny black eyes, long whiskers and little cup-shaped ears... After discovering a photo and small article about the Harvest Mouse (micromys minutus) in a British Edition of Country Living magazine I was inspired to fill a sketchbook page with this tiny critter.... Harvest mice are only about an inch high and build tiny round, tennis ball-sized nests in the talls grasses of the English countryside... they only eat seeds from the grasses and grains near where they live...
    
    ♥ Cath-  

Monday 19 November 2012

Fa La La La La La La La La!





"Deck the Halls..."
(watercolour, holiday card design)

    When this idea struck I simply couldn't resist! I love collies (and dogs in general) and everytime I look at this design it just makes me smile! 

    ♥ Cath-   


Wednesday 14 November 2012

Kittens and Mittens and Yarn, Oh My!


"Kittens and Mittens and Yarn, Oh My!"
(watercolour, approx. 7"x9")

 After working on the minute details of the Mouse in the Mitten ("Cozy and Bright") I needed to work on
something simple and silly so I developed a simplified kitten shape and then did a bit o' research to study different colouring and patterns commonly found on cats...
   
    The original idea for this design was three rows of kittens wearing mittens but when I sat down to draw them I was inspired to take the design in a different direction seeing as only three of the kittens showed up with mittens.  As for the others kittens intended for the design, I found a few were still working hard at knitting and some were still just preparing their yarn and one very silly l'il brown kitten got so caught up in the whole project he still is not completely untangled!  
   
    This design will be available as a simple holiday card and/or a cute Winter greeting card...

    ♥ Cath-