A Flexible Schedule

Sometimes, much as we might like to be, we are not in control of our own schedules. Take my schedule for instance. Yesterday I found myself here...

sketch of airplane interior

That wasn't really a bad thing, but according to my schedule I was supposed to be on that plane on Wednesday, not Thursday. Which would have meant I was home on Thursday. If I was home on Thursday I would have posted this then.

shark & barracuda sketch

However, since I was not in control of my schedule, it fell victim to mechanical issues which required the cancellation of said Wednesday flight. With no other flights available, my family and I were forced to stay an extra day in a sunny, warm vacation place. Truth be told, I wasn't complaining. And the kids not only weren't complaining, but took it a step further, and were doing a very energetic happy dance.

palm tree sketch

So the Wednesday flight became a Thursday flight and the Thursday blog post became a Friday one. A worthy trade for a few additional hours of sun and a safe flight.

ottoman sketch - random I know but found in our vacation accommodations

I hope you enjoy my vacation sketches as much as I enjoyed the vacation.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
All sketches were created with graphite in a Moleskine cahier sketchbook.

Virtual Open Studio 2010 - Post #2

Now we are going to move on from the living room into the dining room.

Placed across from the doorway from the living room, Warmth for the Lonely Traveler is the first paintings you will see. It is a painting of the guest suite in the local, historic Sun Inn.

Tranquil Spring Day is a painting of another local landmark, the Burnside Plantation, and is also hung in this room.

In addition to these two paintings, the dining room is also the showcase for the Christmas table.

Now I have to admit, it pained me to set up a Christmas table seeing as how it isn't even Halloween yet. The Christmas table breaks every rule I've ever made about holiday decorating. But I made these cute little ornaments from some of my daily sketches and they were begging to be displayed together. So I decided to break my own rules in the name of art.

In addition to the new ornaments, the display also contained some holiday note cards, the Christmas Bells painting, and my new covered bridge miniature*.

Other paintings hanging in the dining room include Rainbow Tea and Crisp.

* I just realized that I haven't shared the covered bridge miniature here. I promise to do that once I wrap up the Virtual Open Studio. If you can't wait, you can find it now over on my Facebook Fan Page in the photo album titled "miniatures".

Days 89 and 90

On Day 89 I was signed up as a chaperone for my children's school trip. We left before the start of the school day and weren't scheduled to return until dinner time. I knew it was going to be a long day so I decided to try and complete my sketch on the bus. I hadn't accounted for it being such a bumpy ride!

interior of bus sketch

graphite in cahier sketch book

copyright 2010 Stacy L. Rowan

As you may remember, Day 90's sketch was of a wilted tulip. If you missed it, it can be found here with the other tulip sketches.

Day 37 - Chair

chair sketch

2B pencil in Cahier sketch book

copyright 2010 Stacy L. Rowan

Sketched from the comfort of my couch, this is a chair in my family room. It's a good reading chair especially when sun is streaming through the window. Of course there wasn't any sun on this day. This was drawn on the Saturday of the big snow storm. We were spared the bulk of the snow, receiving only about 8 inches, but still had a lot of gray, overcast skies.

Day 9 - Basket of Christmas Greens

This weekend is the great de-Christmasing weekend in the Rowan house. It's not a chore I look forward to. My beautiful glass ornaments from the Christmas tree take forever to pack safely away. And the house seems less cheery once everything is back in boxes in the basement.

basket of greens sketch

sepia pen in Cotman Field sketch book

copyright 2010 Stacy L. Rowan

This sketch shows a basket of artificial Christmas greens that I put on top of the china hutch. In addition to the evergreens it has groups of red berries, icy branches, an icy garland and little white lights. I love at night when it's lit because it gives a soft, warm glow to that corner of the dining room. I'm contemplating leaving it up for a while. I can argue that it's a basket of winter greens with all that ice. What do you think?

Interior Sketch

approx. 5.5" x 9"
2B in Canson Field sketchbook

Here is a quick sketch I did last night. I don't normally sketch interiors, but I wanted to sit on the couch by hubby as he watched the Penn State game, and this is what caught my eye. I did it in graphite since I don't trust myself with watercolors on the couch!

After my sketch, I started a new stippling project. This is only my third one ever, but I find stippling to be a very relaxing activity. Sort of like I imagine knitting to be. And since the image takes so long to build up, I can do it while listening to the TV or having a conversation with someone. Perfect for when I want to do art and curl up on the couch.

approx. 7" x 5"
005 black Micron on Canson paper

It doesn't look like much now, but after quite a bit of time and millions upon millions of dots it should look better. Does that sound like crazy person talk or what?