A Little Sketching, A Little Stitching

We were at the Shakepeare festival in Ashland for a week, and now have family coming next week, so I haven't quite got back into my art routine. I have made it out for a couple sketch dates. One to Pioneer Square at the heart of downtown Portland.


And another to Hughes Water Gardens, one of my favorite spots full of water features and garden art.


For some reason, I'm having a hard time getting excited about my sketching lately. I tried changing up media in this sketchbook, but just felt frustrated with the results, so I've come back to my pen and watercolor. Maybe I need to take a break from it for a while.

I'm working on a very fun project that I can't show yet. My art group does an annual art swap at our July picnic. Sometimes it's a one-for-one swap such as the year when we each made a shrine to trade, or pieces from recycled materials. Some years you make one small piece for everyone in the swap. We made small dangly ornaments one year and pages for an Exquisite Corpse book last year.

This year we are making pennants to be strung together in a long banner. They are all out of paper or fabric. I can't show mine until we have the swap, but here's a sneak preview. This wonky stitching will be at the center of each one. It's a quote I love from Emerson.