Canals in Venezia

When on the road, it's hard to post to the blog in real time.  

I am already in Civita (where the weather is crisp and clear, cool breeze and hot afternoons, unusually green) and the workshop folks arrive this afternoon!  I am really behind in my posts...of Venice and also Orvieto where Rich and I stayed one night.

Here are more images of Venice.  While there, I had the great pleasure of sketching alongside of the really amazing Urban Sketcher Marc Taro Holmes from Montreal and walking the narrow stone streets also with Marc's wife Laurel who herded us cats!  Marc draws very little and paints a lot, I draw a lot and paint little...was interesting to see.

Midday watching the parade of gondolas,
Bridge of Sighs, Venice

Yet another canal, this one with lovely towers.
Overworked the water with paint,
I'll blame it on the jeg lag :)

"Sketches of Paris" opens March 6

This Thursday is the opening for "Sketches of Paris", an exhibit of over 60 watercolor sketches from my 3 months in France on the Gabriel Prize architecture fellowship. Prints of the sketches will be available for sale...I'm working like crazy to get it all ready!  Hope to see you there~~

"Sketches of Paris"

MITHUN Threshold Gallery

March 6-April 25, 2014

Pier 56, Seattle WA

Opening Reception-- Thursday, March 6, 5-7pm

Sunny Morning at Vaux

I'm in Italy now, with empty sketchbooks to fill, but before moving on, here are two more studies from Vaux le Vicomte.  It was a bright, sunny morning, and because I had the opportunity to stay in a small apartment in the château complex Saturday night, I was literally the FIRST one in the gardens that Sunday morning!

Notre Dame

Yesterday, it started to rain again while I was walking 
to buy watercolor paper near the Pantheon.  So, I 
made a left turn and joined the long lines to enter 
Notre Dame.  Walked around the entire interior, 
then found a spot to sit.  Listened to mass in 
French while drawing.

I did the complete line drawing in the cathedral, 
but it was too dark to paint it there. And since 
today it poured like cats and dogs, I was able 
to stay inside and work on several sketches, 
including this one.  This is such a big Parisian icon,
I felt some pressure to do a good job...

Click on the image to see it better.

Notre Dame. detail. June 12

Woke up in Paris Today (someone pinch me)

As I'm traveling alone, I had to pinch myself.  Groggy from jet-lag, I awoke today to a chilly, wet, gray Paris morning, rather like the Seattle I'm used to.  But the similarity stops there...this is no Seattle!  

Yes, it's finally here...the opportunity of a life time to sketch, paint, draw, study and experience the architecture and urbanity of this amazing city, thanks to the incredible generosity of one George Parker Jr. and the jury who saw fit to award this year's Gabriel Prize to moi. To them, I am profoundly humbled and grateful--grateful to my core--and I hope I can honor this legacy by producing some beautiful work over the next three months.

I also awoke to a state of shock...yes, I've left my husband and two kids back in Seattle for a big chunk of time. Yes, I'll be on my own most of the time in Paris (have you ever wondered what it would be like to sit alone in a romantic Parisian cafe?)  And yes, the pressure is ON to find my artistic self at last, draw and paint non-stop, and produce something worthy of this incredibly, unbelievably rare opportunity. I hope I rise to the challenge.

Today in the rain, I made my way to the nearby Jardin du Luxembourg, peppered with young people in romantic poses at one end and with small groups of tourists in the other.  It was raining, but under the canopy of the dense rectangularly-trimmed trees, it was very dry, so quite a few people were huddled together listening to the rain hit the leaves overhead.  It was lovely.

I pulled out sketchbook number one, turned to the first blank page, and plunged in. 

Palais du Luxembourg, Jardin du Luxembourg May 16