JUNE LAKE LIBRARY, ink and watercolor sketch

JUNE LAKE LIBRARY, ink and watercolor sketch in my sketchbook.
Spending time in the town of June Lake, in northern California, I visited the enchanting thrift shop and the library. The librarian, a lovely lady called Vanisia, was very friendly and welcoming. We talked about watercoloring, sketching, and how you comcentrate and pay so much more attention to details when you have to draw something, than when you are just looking.

BIRDWATCHING FROM JEAN'S WINDOW, ink and watercolor

BIRDWATCHING FROM JEAN'S WINDOW, ink and watercolor in my sketchbook. "oh, baby, it's cold outside!" While in here we are warm, reading, sketching, and enjoying the variety of birds that come to the birdfeeders just outside the living room window in Jean's house.

A real treat, to start the year like this, snowing in June Lake, California. Happy New Year!

VISIT TO MANZANAR, ink and watercolor on sketchbook

VISIT TO MANZANAR, ink and watercolor on sketchbook, 6x6"
About  200 miles north of Los Angeles, on US Route 395, is this Memorial to the Japanese people held prisoners of war here between 1942 and 1945. Men, women, children, old people, even parents of soldiers fighting FOR THE US abroad. How these families managed not only to survive, but to overcome, to make do with what they had, TO MAKE ART! The visitor center is amazing, I was impressed with the stories, the memorabilia, the books, films, photographs.

LUNCH AT GLOBE BOOKSTORE AND CAFE, PRAGUE, watercolor and ink in notebook

LUNCH AT GLOBE BOOKSTORE AND CAFE, PRAGUE, watercolor and ink in my art notebook. This bookstore in Prague, has books only in English, and behind it you find this lively cafe, walls painted red, paintings in contrasting colors on the walls, beautiful glasses, bottles, and a friendly service in English. It is a typical expats place, where they get together to play scrabble, chess, chat with friends, or read a book. Me? I had lunch and painted this little sketch in my notebook, of course! Pstrossova 6, Metro: Karlovo Námésti.

SOFONISBA ANGUISOLA, ink and watercolor

SOFONISBA ANGUISOLA, ink and watercolor in my journal. This is a sketch of her painting: Self-Portrait with the Virgin and Child. Sofonisba was born in 1532. Her father sent samples of her work to Michelangelo, who invited her to work with him.  After a few years in Florence, she was invited to the court of Felipe II and Isabel de Valois, King and Queen of Spain.

Sofonisba was married at 38 . After her husband died, she fell in love and married again, at 47. She continued painting all over Europe,  up till a few days before her death at 93, in 1625. You can read the novelized version of her life in  Lynn Cullen's The Creation of Eve.

Antonio String Quartet, ink and watercolor sketch

Antonio String Quartet, ink and watercolor sketch in my journal. This String Quartet played daily in different parts of the Star Princess ship, where we were cruising from Los Angeles to Hawaii in January. They were awesome!

According to Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, when you write a goal you MUST have a deadline. A goal without a deadline is not a goal, he said, but just a wish.

STAR PRINCESS CRUISE Journal, ink and watercolor

Star Princess Cruise to Hawaii Journal,  ink and watercolor.

My own private journal (with a compass!) of daily activities, events, concerts,  lectures, books read, people I met, etc. during the 15 day cruise. I kept a written and painted journal. I will not publish every page, but some.

Day 1: we boarded the cruise ship early, so I had time to paint the bridge in the Port of San Pedro, viewed from the ship, before we left.

That afternoon we watched the movie: "Parental Guidance". My husband and I enjoyed it very much, as we could empathize with the grandparents in the movie.

PETIT PALAIS, PARIS, watercolor

PETIT PALAIS, PARIS,  watercolor in my art notebook.

Le "petit" (small) Palais,  in Paris, was built for the 1900 Universal Exhibition, like its neighbor, the Grand Palais. It houses a magnificent collection of decorative murals and sculptures created between 1903 and 1925. The architect Charles Girault wanted to lend his building the grandeur and dignity of an official palace and created a program of work designed to glorify the city of Paris, and celebrate the benefits of art. This is the view from the garden, where I was sitting sketching in ink, and then put some color into it. I used sepia ink, then some watercolor. It is a huge, beautiful, very elegant building. Nothing in it is "petit", but it is smaller in comparison with the "grand" Palais. In the galleries around the garden, Paul Baudouin painted a huge vista of vines interspersed with medallions featuring the months of the year, and the hours of the day and night. Then three large sections of the vaulted ceiling are painted with feminine allegories of the Seasons. Gorgeous! Not to be missed!

Massolit Cafe, Budapest, watercolor and ink

Massolit Cafe, Budapest, watercolor and ink, 14x18cm. Available.
I know it doesn't look like a cafe, but it is. It is also an English book-store, they have free wireless internet, and this lovely garden, where you can sit with a drink, read books forever or write your next book. There is another Massolit Cafe in Poland, so I had to identify this one, where I have been going often since I discovered it, near downtown Budapest, and my residence.

Rudas Baths, Budapest, watercolor

Rudas Baths, Budapest, watercolor and ink, 14x18, available.
These are ancient baths, with very hot water (burning) if you'd take it naturally, so they cool the waters to different temperatures, you can choose your pool, or go a few minutes to each. Tuesdays is for women only, most other days is for men, and I think there is one day for mixed. So the exclusive one-sex days people have the option of wearing a bathing suit or not. I made several watercolors, and I had to work very fast, because the humidity in the air was such, that spontaneous droplets formed on my glasses, and on the paper!

Good News!

Good News!, ink, pencil and charcoal, March page of my 2011 Sketchbook: "Travel With Minnie", the original will be  in Oakland, CA, from June 1-20...check it out!

My original pencil and pastel portrait of Leonardo da Vinci, is 20x16, then I photographed my painting, and printed and pasted it on that page of my notebook. I visited the exhibition in iami8bit gallery, 2147 Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, this past weekend, it was awesome! On Friday, there were long lines of people to get a library card with which you could check out two sketchbooks and read them there, then come back for more. I went with my friend Lily, we each checked out two notebooks, then exchanged them with neighbors sitting up the stairs, had a glass of wine, and enjoyed the energy, good humor, concentration, friendship, and wonderful vibes coming from everybody there! The Sketchbook Project has a fantastic organization, way to go!!!