Tricyrtis stem

This sketch of a tricyrtis stem in a glass indicates that I need to work on looking-down-from-high-up perspective!

Wrist corsage sketch

I made time to practice my sketching skills this morning.  I don't like the way this drawing turned out, but I'm grateful for the occasion to practice and - ever so gradually - improve.

More kitchen planning

I worked on the kitchen design again today.  I'm feeling full of doubts about it, even after trying several new layouts so I don't feel excited about sharing.  Here are a couple of sketches, just as a taste.

Kitchen planning

We're about to begin renovating the kitchen at our country house (along with many other rooms) and I've been procrastinating about settling on a final design.  Today I took advantage of the mental distance created by being out of town to come at the process with fresh eyes.  I also forgot all the most recent sketches I made (a good six months ago, maybe more) at home.  With the slate wiped more or less clean, I started thinking about how the cabinetry might look.  I'm planning to conceal all the appliances within full height built-in closets along the north and south walls.  The shorter east and west walls will be all doors and all windows respectively.  Here are some ideas I played with, the first two (full height closet doors) reference other architectural features on the property:

Sketch of a flower-filled urn

I'm traveling this week (and next) so I can't keep working on the ceramic stool.  Instead I'm going to devote some time to practicing my sketching, which has fallen by the wayside the past could of weeks while I worked on the design for the stool.  It surprises me to discover that I miss sketching...it's almost a form of meditation.

Flower arrangements

My husband and I are hosting a party for some of his colleagues tomorrow so I spent the morning making a few bouquets for the dining tables.  It's been pouring here so unfortunately many of the flowers in the garden are soaking wet and a bit beat up.  I might amp these up with a few more blooms, but here's what I've got now:

Fern pattern, part four

Yesterday and today I worked some more on my fern design, orienting it around a more symmetrical central shape.  Here's what it looks like now:

Fern pattern, part three

Friday and today I've been working on the fern pattern.  Here's where I was at at the end of this morning's work session:

Although I think the negative space is an interesting shape, I think I would prefer something more regular and symmetrical.  So this afternoon, I decided to scrap the composition of fern leaves that I'm working with, along with the idea that the pattern would roughly form an "X" and try a more traditional design.  Hopefully traditional doesn't mean boring and predictable, as I had originally feared.

Completed: Rabbit Notecards

I don't know if I mentioned on this blog but I've decided to begin a new project that I think of as "Sweet Nothings".  It involves regularly undertaking short projects (1-2 days maximum) and giving away the results to people I love. 

I drew that second rabbit from a couple of weeks back for my brother, whose birthday is coming up in mid-September.  I knew I needed to make the drawing part of something else since I dislike giving or receiving non-utilitarian artwork that is supposed to be displayed... unless the prospective recipient has previously seen the work and fallen in love with it.  I feel like it places too much of a burden on the recipient to hang a piece that they might not like enough to want to look at constantly, never mind something they might not have the space for. 

For a while, I couldn't figure out what to do with the drawing that I thought he might like (he's extremely pragmatic) and that I felt would be both special enough to rate as a gift and that would honor the spirit of the work.  Using a print of the drawing as a birthday card just felt stingy (and the original is much bigger than greeting card size).  Then someone suggested making a series of blank notecards that he could use, perhaps as thank you cards for something related to his new daughter.  Perfect. 

 

Second day with the fern pattern

I continued developing the fern pattern today.  One of my biggest questions is how much white space (if any) to leave between the various groups of elements in the pattern.  I decided that there was too much white space between the elements I'd arranged yesterday, so I enlarged those.  Then I incorporated a second cluster of fern leaves into the pattern.  I'm not sure whether I've got the right amount of white space around this new cluster or whether it should overlap with the edges of the leaf groups in each of the four corners of the page.

Beginning a fern pattern

Today I began to create a fern pattern inspired by Honiton bobbin lace.  My idea is to have it be a part of a ceramic garden stool that I want to make.  Here's where I got with the work today:

Tomorrow after transferring the second pair of drawings and darkening up the lines, I'll think about how to fill in the open space.