We're headed up to the tulip farms soon to get booths ready. Looking forward to meeting lots of great people, and to seeing those tulips make their annual appearance. If you are in the Skagit Valley area, please be sure to stop by and say hi. I'll be at Tulip Town on 4/1,4/7,4/21 and 4/29 from 11a-3pm. Find me at Roozengaarde on 3/31, 4/8,4/22 and 4/28, 11a-3p. I'm happy to sign your purchased posters or other Tulip Festival merchandise. See you there! Visit www.tulipfestival.org for information on local places to eat and many activities happening this month!

After hearing about the Sketchbook Project based out of the Brooklyn Art Library, I've been wanting to give this a try. You can check out the online library which is very inspiring. I just didn't know if I'd have the time, and after I filled a book, I thought, would it be hard to let it go? Well, this is the year.

My book arrived a few weeks ago, and the deadline to send it in is April 30, 2018. This is a really busy year, so was I nuts to try to do this now? I don't think so. With the plan to keep these sketches quick and fun, and sticking to a single subject matter, it's been a hoot. Also, I'm getting better at observing my two cats and coordinating my eyes with my hands and brain to come up with the shapes that describe a figure, expressions and body language. It has turned out to be way more educational and fun than I had even hoped.

If you are thinking about joining this global art project, I'd really encourage you to do so. Check out their website, order your book and just have fun with it. Your book will be part of a traveling exhibition and then reside in New York. You never know who will come across your artwork! 

In getting ready to begin a new series of work for next year, I've been trying to pay attention to what I can do that helps me keep doing the next thing. Starting a new series is exciting, but can also be intimidating. So I've found that starting with a drawing really helps. We've all heard that working out the composition using just line and areas of tone is important, but sometimes it takes a long time of practice before really understanding that idea. And maybe for you too, but for me, I had a lot of frustration with drawing for a very long time. I'd encourage you to study the sketchbooks and drawings of artists that you love.

We don't have to be excellent at something in order to benefit from the practice. After looking at the drawings of Pierre Bonnard and other post-impressionist painters, I notice the different styles of drawing and the evidence that they really are using their drawing as a part of the process of working out the many puzzles involved in painting. So it really is ok if my drawing doesn't look anything like DaVinci. I've embraced my own scribbly style of drawing and am enjoying the process so much more now; not to mention getting a lot more paintings completed satisfactorily. 

I'll be sharing the new work with you as it gets completed, and come back to visit for more information on spring shows. The first will be during the Tulip Festival the first Friday of April 2018. Scott Milo gallery will be featuring my work as well as Tulip Festival merchandise. Thanks for visiting and have a delightful Holiday Season!