Go Bumblebees!

Saturday Before Last

On Mud Island before it was closed due to flooding

Sketching Life

Over the past 3 Thursdays I taught a class for the first time. The class, Sketching Life, was offered at Flicker Street Studio, where I had already taken two great classes.

The goals of the class were to get students in the habit of carrying and using a sketchbook, and basically to draw more.

In the first class we talked a lot about what sketching is, and the students did several very quick sketches as they got to know their sketchbooks.






















In the next class, we discussed perspective and spent more time on sketching larger areas.






















For the last class, we went outside and sketched the area around the studio from direct observation.

















Then we went back inside and practiced the social aspects of sketching, as we sat around a table sketching each other. Here's my sketch:

Double Yellow

It is rare that I would pair a yellow belt with a yellow sweater, but sometimes an outfit is more about shape than about color.

Actually this day it was about color. I was cheering on the Green Bay Packers on behalf of my husband for a Superbowl-themed jeans day at work, hence the green and gold.

This Tiny Outfit painting is available on Etsy.

Very Memphis

Casual Day

I never realized how blue this sweater was until I paired it with a green t-shirt! This Tiny Outfit painting is available on Etsy.

Memphis Heavyweights

Last Saturday the Art Museum at the University of Memphis hosted Memphis Heavyweights, a collaborative project between artist Nick Cave and several local groups. It was an amazing spectacle, and I had a great time sketching it. I think they should do this every weekend.




















This group was being led by someone in a crazy costume with a mask that looked like a giant tin can. The group was carrying a river of fabric on poles.






















The little kids dressed like trees and dancing were super cute. It's difficult enough to draw people when they are not dancing, so I tried sketching this guy playing 5-gallon plastic buckets like drums, but the crowd crowded in around him and I had to move on.






















Giant metal cornucopia being carried by more people in crazy costumes.






















Another angle of the cornucopia. They also had people with them who were dancing and they were fantastic, but impossible to draw.






















Up top are Aztec dancers in these lightweight structures that they were inside of. On the bottom are the folks from the Natural Learning school. They had these huge puppet-like structures covered in cloth, with some crocheted leaves hanging off of them, made by yours truly.






















There was a float/car with an environmental message. I'm thinking bikes might have gotten that message across a little better. They also had handouts that ended up littering the sidewalks.

On the right is local sculptor Eli Gold inside of a giant metal costume. I was sketching him as I walked backwards alongside him.






















These folks were awesome: Danza Azteca Quetzalcoatl. They were the same ones marching inside the lightweight structures. I was actually leaving after the parade and was drawn back by the sound of their drums. The dancing was amazing!