Play Day 3 - Draw Faster

AThis morning I have, as always, too much to do. Here, the kitchen timer is our friend. Mission on Play Day 3 - draw as many bear faces as possible in five minutes. Yes, you may gather your materials before-hand. I didn't, so had to re-set timer. Ready, set, draw!!!

 As you can see, these are not the fanciest of bruins - but they are the ones who came to exist. No real plans except, as the writers say, Keep the Pen Moving! So I did. And when the timer went off I cheated a bit, as the charcoal guy on the bottom was not even as unfinished as he is now. So, feel free to add a few seconds to your fun if you so decide.

No change in image, just goofing off in scale. Gotta use up the space - ha ha. My favorite is the hatted type. I'm a sucker for a good cap or hat - always have been, always will be.

So, if you want to make art fast - set that timer and scribble away. Or write a poem in five minutes. If people can make excellent ten-second films, and they can, we have No Excuses.

On to the Grand Adventure! Use an art supply today, or do something fun with peanut butter and jam.

Good Luck playing!
Fare-thee-well,
Sue

No Excuses and Goofing Off - 1

This morning I grabbed a piece of white mat-board, three tubes of acrylic paint, and my newest toy - a flat-ended wooden coffee stir stick. There are no excuses if you want to make something.

Working wet on wet is fun. Now I see things I'd have done differently, but was working fast and having fun.

All in all - not a terrible result.

Colors used: Cadmium Yellow Medium, Alizarin Crimson, Titanium White

Go find some paints, pens, or pencils that you haven't touched in a while. Use what paper or canvas is at hand. Work quickly. This is goofing off and having fun. We have to remind ourselves that we deserve a bit of fun every now and then.

On to it!
Summer is leaving at an awesome clip. The robin splashing in the birdbath will be gone in a bit. Go splash something while the splashing is good!

Fare-thee-well,
Sue

Trying Times

Sometimes you just have to grab that Sharpie Marker and see who's in the pen.  


This guy showed up. I don't know if he can be trusted.... Not a Grinch-type, but probably an opportunist. And he got his gear from somebody who seems to know the Santa Game. On the other hand - he might be watching delighted cubs quite thrilled with their holiday take.

If he had a thought bubble we could fill it in.

"O Silent Bear, your thoughts are hard to fathom - "

Someday we might add a bit of Prismacolor Color to Sir Starkness. But not today. Today shows the "bones" of drawing. No pencil start - just gutting it out with the thin black line.

Try some pen-and-ink drawings today. You cannot fail. And you might give yourself a pretty awesome gift!

Merry August 16th!!

-Fare-thee-well,

Sue

Art Fairs in General?

We are deep into the almost-every-weekend insanity of the Midwest art fair season. Blessed with mostly excellent, or standable, weather this year. Knock wood. Cross fingers.

And the labor of making product (yes, I'm mercenary) is lightened by a booth of laughing and sighing customers.

The Ely Blueberry Festival in late July is always a highlight of our year. Folks are shopping seriously from before the show opens until we are trying to pack up the booth. This is not normal art fair behavior - so we must appreciate the crowd when it's there. Thanks, Crowd!

Our booth is never the prettiest, but there sure is lots to see. Most people seem to find at least one image that suits their needs. Lots buy groups of cards to frame. I'm "frugile" (cheap) & then ask if we may have the matching envelopes back to accompany a different card. Most say O.K., and we rescue a few innocent envelopes from the trash.

This past weekend we did the Powderhorn Art Festival in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was our first time there, and our booth space was moved from 131 to 70. Good Luck or Miracle? Friday night a storm blew down four or five tents in the area we'd have been in. Booth 70 was wet but upright. After a damp morning the crowds came and stayed. The ice cream was excellent. We made some new friends. The quality of art was high. Julie Crabtree, fiber artist of bowing-down to Julie quality, won Best in Show!

This weekend finds us once again near the shore of Lake Superior. Glensheen Art Festival, held in Duluth, MN, on the grounds of the Glensheen Mansion is a smaller, but high quality event. (Did a five minute radio interview about the event  at 8 A.M. this morning. I'm hoping it sounded O.K.)Tour the mansion and the beautiful gardens while you are there. Then follow the path down through the pines and toss some stones back into the lake. It's convenient, too, for us to send customers downtown to Blue Lake Gallery in case we don't have the exact bear they need.

So, on to the day. Too many tomatoes to think about, but won't complain about bounty. Must make product, maybe start a painting or two, and go draw at the Croixdale Assisted Care facility. Stillwater's Summer Tuesday Market- Music - Movie event is on tonight. Will try to sneak down.

On to our individual Grand Adventures!
Do something fun today? Do something FUN today!!

- Sue