Supply Sunday: Stillman & Birn

I never gave much thought to the quality of the paper that I sketch on until I used a Stillman & Birn sketchbook. They take ink of all kinds so beautifully. I don't like using graphite pencils on them, but everything else works so beautifully on their paper that I don't miss the pencils.

This is a Kurtake ZIG Writer (favorite pen) and Derwent Inktense pencils in a Stillman & Birn Delta Series with ivory paper.

Bookclub

We had a low-key bookclub a few weeks ago, for which we read a series of articles about dreams. I think Albus found us a little boring.

Follow Friday: Commercially Unappealing

Want to turn the Memphis art world upside down and see what's under it? Check out Commercially Unappealing on tumblr and facebook. They're fun to follow!

Squished

I don't know why my cars turn out squished, but they do. So I put a bird on it.

Studio Night Last Night: Making Maps

I spent last night finishing up a commission for the Brooks Museum as part of the Summer of Cloar - a sketch map! I love sketching maps! This was really more of an illustration, but that's really what sketch maps are. Here are a couple of them that I made for trips. I'll post the one for the Brooks after they use it!

 London

Santo Domingo

Oh Hi.

Oops, I've been away a bit. There's been a lot of life going on lately, including family in the hospital (out now and much better), and a family reunion! More on the family reunion to come. Here's a little sketch I did while visiting at the hospital, mostly in the dark.

Follow Friday: Mary Jo Karimnia

Artist and fellow sketcher Mary Jo Karimnia put together a show that opens tonight at the Rozelle Warehouse (822 Rozelle, Memphis) at 6:00 PM. It's called Unchained and the description for it is below this image of Mary Jo's work from a recent exhibit, Overwhelming Captivations. 

Check out Mary Jo's work!

Unchained: a Memphis Art Chain Letter Exhibition
There is so much great Art Energy in Memphis lately with giant shows like Present Tense and Memphis Social, burgeoning arts districts like Broad Ave and the up and coming Crosstown and new galleries popping up everywhere – from commercial spaces to living rooms. There is also some great grassroots inclusiveness with shows like The Epic Unicorn Show and Hanging Participles. 

In an effort to keep this great Art Energy flowing we are hosting Unchained: a Memphis Art Chain Letter Exhibition.

In an attempt at random curation Mary Jo Karimnia sent out an Art Chain Letter asking one artist to participate in a show, an artist whose work she was interested in but someone with whom she had never had coffee. This artist sent the Chain Letter on, inviting the next artist, and so on for a total of 12 artists in the chain. The result is this one night show at Rozelle Warehouse. Come and see who was willing to appease the Art Muses by not breaking the chain.

Artists include:
Mary Jo Karimnia
Cedar Lorca Nordbye
Michael Joseph Flanagan
Jamie Harmon
C Michael Andrews
Friedrich Kerksieck

Las Maletas

Dibujé unas maletas a Cleveland Street Flea Market con Urban Sketchers Memphis.

(I drew some suitcases at Cleveland Street Flea Market with Urban Sketchers Memphis.
I don't know past tense yet, so while I know "dibujo" for "I draw" and "dibujando" for "drawing," I had to look up the past tense.
I'm working on it.)

Garden Sketching

A couple of Saturdays ago I was invited to sketch in a beautiful backyard garden. I could have spent all day trying to decide what to sketch, but I was attracted to this tree and its treehouse.

Memphis Monday: East Memphis Office Buildings

As I've said before I work in East Memphis and therefore spend a lot of time there, and as I've said before the architecture can get a bit zzzzzzzzzzzzzz. But it's my job to make it more interesting, right? Here are a couple of attempts to do that.

Waiting for a Pizza

Don't you love Friday nights? Last Friday night, after a late-afternoon nap, I went to Little Italy to pick up a delicious pizza. I made this sketch of the houses that now house businesses on Union Ave. That's ANF Architects straight ahead.

I'm using a new sketchbook - a Hand Book Artist Journal. It's nice but it has those rounded corners that it's hard to do anything about when scanning.

Follow Friday: Readily Available

Tonight there is a show at Crosstown Arts called Readily Available: An Instagram Show. So for follow Friday I'm suggesting that you follow these ladies on Instagram: Lesley Young, Stephanie Wexler-Malone and Jenn Billy Brandt. I'm looking forward to this show - when I noticed that Lesley was posting a lot of interesting location pictures I thought, "She should really show these somewhere."

Friday, June 7, 6-10pm
Crosstown Arts Gallery, 430 N. Cleveland, Memphis TN 38104

Overton Square

Last week I went to dinner and a movie with my girlfriends. We ate at... Bar Louie? Out on the patio. Across the street is... Bar... something? Is it called Local Pub? Whatever, we had a great time at dinner, it was really nice out and it was lovely to see people out and about in Overton Square. Then we saw The Great Gatsby as I napped.

Studio Night Last Night: Spain and London

More Spain on paper... channeling Matisse?

Tiny London so far, minus the one I did tonight.

Tuesday Morning Sketch

I've been getting to work early enough to do a quick sketch. Here's one from a couple of weeks ago - that's the... Hilton? Hyatt? Adam's Mark? Omni? in the background.

Memphis Monday: Crosstown Arts' MemFeast

This was fun! MemFeast is hosted by Crosstown Arts. It's basically a big dinner at which artists present ideas and everyone in attendance gets to vote on which project gets funded.

This one was for a public art project in the Vollintine Evergreen neighborhood, and since public art in Memphis is near and dear to my heart I decided to go.

I went with Shannon and Brian and a bunch of their friends joined us, and I ran into people that I never get to see, so it was really fun.

I sketched all through the presentations because I was already familiar with everyone's work :)

Jeannie Tomlinson Saltmarsh won for a project called "Are there fish in Lick Creek?" The project will be great - an entrance marker to the V&E Greenline.

Supply Sunday: What's on my Drawing Table

Sometimes my supplies are: color wheel, iPad, tiny palette, paper towels, and popcorn.

Soccer with Nieces and Nephews

First, I really wish there was a collective term for nieces and nephews. Is there? Can we invent one?

Second, it was just one niece, but two nephews, but saying "nieces and nephews" just sounds better.

Anyway, a couple of weekends ago I got to take Somerset to her soccer game. She did great! Especially when she played goalie. Her team won woohoo!

Plus I got to hang out with Calvin and Joshua! I took them for frozen yogurt after. Have I mentioned that I love being an aunt?

By the way, Memphis Urban Sketchers is sketching this morning at Cleveland Street Flea Market, 438 North Cleveland at 10:00 AM. Come join us!