Watercolor Study  4" x 2"  August, 2014

This is a portion of a copy of an original painting by Larry Gluck.

The purpose was to learn about layering and mixing original colors and utilizing a variety of methods of washes and watercolor painting techniques.  

Drawings of Trees

Portland Trees

pen in sketchbook

Pyar and I walked from our hotel on the river to my favorite breakfast restaurant, Zell's in Portland.  After an amazing breakfast with dear friends, we headed out for our friend's house further north.  We had a blast, the air was crisp and it felt like a new day, it being New Year's Day.  I felt invigorated and blessed.  We talked about houses we liked and didn't like and noticed some wonderful trees that managed to outgrow their cement surroundings.  A magical day, thank you, Pyar.  

April Artwork

Ferret with Crown (getting the job done)

handmade stamps on paper

King of the Jungle

handmade stamps on paper

Fiddleheads

handmade stamp on paper

Sketch of Fiddleheads Dreams

handmade stamp on paper and ink drawing

Tree with Flowers

handmade stamps on paper

Koyasan Temple Stay

Snow in Tree
pencil in sketchbook

Renegejoin Temple in Koyasan is one of our favorite places in Japan. We stayed there again for a weekend in February just to see the snow. The temple is stunning in any season. I gave myself ten minutes to work on this one after warming up with other sketches. I wanted to render snow without anything behind it in order to indicate the tree's isolation.

Sketch of Middle Rock Garden with Shadow
pencil in sketchbook

This sketch was done from across our room in order to frame a section in the windows.
I sat under the kotatsu (heated table) and tried to see the white on white while the snow continued to fall.

Sketch of Middle Rock Garden
pencil in sketchbook

On our second night, we had a wonderful large room that overlooked the central rock garden. Since it was so cold and snowed all weekend, the stillness was mesmerizing. It was difficult to find the difference between the snow and the branches.

Bird Resting
pencil in sketchbook

There were many screens and doors with paintings in the temple. This sketch was done in our room on the second night. We made voices for many of the birds, they all seemed to have flamboyant personalities, especially the ones with the red feet.

Sketch for Rock Garden stamp
pencil in sketchbook

This is a small sketch of the front rock garden. Idea for stamp making.

Rogue River Gorge

Rogue River Cliff with Trees study
pen and ink

We visited the Rogue River on Monday of our wonderful vacation in Oregon. I was standing at an overhang/outlook and spent a few minutes trying to get all of the beautiful textures on the cliff. I especially love how the trees seem to hover over the sides while growing out of the lava rocks. It was an incredible view and a wonderful day.

Chipmunk
pen

This guy was at my feet while I was drawing the cliff study featured above. It moved quickly, this was literally a ten second gesture. I think I captured its squirrel like movements.

Sinjo Junior High School Ball Field

Tree Study on Ball Field at Sinjo J.H.S.
ink

I am honored to have the opportunity to visit my schools in Tanabe each month. I was at Sinjo J.H.S. May 11 and 12. After lunch on Tuesday, Goto Sensei and a student were practicing pitching for baseball. The student is amazing. It was a joy to watch them and enjoy the beautiful spring day. Shintani Sensei encouraged me to explore the campus during my last visit and so this time, on Wednesday, I took a walk around and found this very interesting tree.