Another Trip

Earlier this month a couple of my girlfriends and I went to Kentucky Lake, a couple hours north of here in the great state of Tennessee.

We mostly ate cheese dip and drank wine, but we also managed to go for a walk around the lake shore (after a nap, of course).

I sketched this from the deck of our cabin.

Here are Terron and Heather reading magazines while it's still light out, before we started a beautiful fire in that fire pit behind them. We roasted marshmallows and hot dogs, drank more wine, and then went inside to watch the Colin Firth version of Pride and Prejudice.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and I'm happy to be celebrating it with family. I'm also happy to work at a place that hosts a Thanksgiving Potluck every year. After years and years of working with two or three other people, I still get a lot of joy from participating in giant potlucks!

Here's a sketch I did while doing dessert intake duty at this year's potluck. Look at all those desserts!

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Studio Night Last Night: Studio Sketches

These are from back when I had energy to sketch before and after Studio Night. Actually, they are all from October - that was a good month!

Click on the sketches to get more detail.

I'm Back from Several Trips

First, Austin. We went for a weekend to attend Cooper and Shannon's wedding. We drove halfway, to Texarkana, to break up the drive.

On the drive from Texarkana to Austin, LOOK AT WHAT WE FOUND! We sped off the interstate even though we weren't hungry yet and ate some glorious glorious In-N-Out burgers.

I enjoyed watching all the birds and the shadows on this church across the street from our hotel. I forgot to draw the birds because I had to draw this super fast as the shadows started to disappear. The sun was going down fast.

That night we went to a restaurant called Shady Grove with Toby's mom and brother, his two aunts and his two cousins. We had a great time just laughing and laughing.

On Friday we hung our in our hotel room a lot. It was really relaxing.

After lunch I wandered around and went to the capitol.

Saturday was the wedding. I got to sketch while we waited for the wedding to start, the whole time wishing I had more than just a pen with me.

The wedding and reception were lovely, and we're happy to have Shannon in the family!

See I Told You I Was Having a Show

Martha Kelly and I are having a show at Memphis Botanic Garden! The opening is Tuesday, December 3 from 5:30 to 7:30 PM. I hope you can stop by!

Ask Morandi

As I said, it's all stuff on my desk for a while.

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Exclamation Points!

Headed to Tallahassee to visit my BFF Robin for her 40th birthday! This is the ONLY sketch I did the last time I was there SIX years ago!

I am excited, and can only communicate with exclamation points!

Studio Night in my Head

I've come to the point at which I am too busy preparing for a show to stop and tell you that I'm preparing for a show. Tonight is Studio Night so I should be painting, but first I wanted to share with you a sketch of the salad I ate for dinner. I was going to sketch the studio, but it's kind of a wreck.

The show info is as follows:
Martha Kelly & Elizabeth Alley
Memphis Botanic Gardens
Dec 2 - Dec 31
Opening Reception Dec 3
5:30 - 7:30 PM

It is weird how prepping for a show - all the painting and thinking about painting - takes away from my sketching. It just fills my brain up so much that there isn't room for much else. So when I finally do get the past couple of weeks' sketches scanned, they will mostly be of meals, whatever is on my desk, and the studio.

Here is a painting that will be in the show! It's called UK Border - a 12" x 12" oil on canvas painting that is part of a little series called Small London (little, get it!). It is a companion series to Tiny London. I know, these titles are genius!

Martha Kelly will be showing watercolors from Paris and prints she's done since she returned. The whole thing is travel themed! So to help prepare I also have been/will be traveling almost every weekend this month. I think of everything!

I hope you'll come to the show and see Martha's Paris and my London, as well as my Spain. The other series I'm showing is called "Learning to say I love you in Spanish," and it is a fun group of paintings that I'm excited to show you.

Here is another preview of what I will be showing. Thanks for stopping by!

Making Sure My Brain Works

Sometimes I just need to put pen to paper to make sure my brain still works.

Memphis Monday: Making Friends at Poplar Perk'n

Recently I was enjoying a nice cup of coffee on a beautiful fall afternoon, when this happened. Sometimes when I sketch out in the world, super-high people come up and tell me all about their art. All I could do was tell him to keep up the good work.

Saturday Night at Home

Follow Friday: Kristen Curtis

Here's a treat: follow Kristen Curtis, a.k.a. Sleepless Beekeeper, who makes comics about her day, and sometimes of people she knows. This is her take on Toby, which is really spot-on!