A little crayon therapy

We spent Independence Day at my husband's grandparents house in Langdon, ND. This quiet little town is the perfect escape for our little ones who are not big fans of fireworks. Also, my Grandparents-in-law are just wonderful people. They've set a great example to the family of how Christians should live and love people, warts and all!

It was really hard to say goodbye to them on this trip because Grandpa's second round of cancer is finally catching up with him, and we don't expect to see him again on this side of eternity. We are filled with a mix of grief for our up-coming loss but also a hope-filled peace that he will soon no longer have to feel the effects of this disease. 

This up and down of emotions has just made me just not want to work on anything I've got "in process" for the moment. I knew that I just needed to work on something so I was thankful that Jane Davies posted this showing her latest pieces using crayons. Given the ages of my children I'm sure you can imaging how many crayons I have!!

I ended up using a combination of crayons, oil pastels and watercolor. The pastels and crayons work as a resist for the watercolor which can created some interesting pooling of color.

The older I get the more I appreciate these times to just experiment and play. They help keep my creative energy up and any negative inner criticism down. Using cheaper materials also takes off the pressure to create masterpieces each time I'm in my studio!

Speaking of tough critics, my four-year-old told me that she thinks I did really well on these pieces. She is not known for holding back negative reviews of my work so positive comments are always appreciated! :-)

Memorial weekend making

My goal to have most of the living room painted was sort-of met. The brush that I was using for edging broke so I still have some touch-ups to do and an entire wall still needs a second coat. Thankfully said wall is behind a sofa, bookcase and artwork so no one could tell!

Friday night was spent watching Dr. Who on the porch by the fire. My kind of date!

The Grammy's took turn watching the kiddos so I had plenty of time to clean the house and prep food for Monday night. 

We make foil-pack dinners on the fire so most of my work is chopping all the veggies!

All week long it looked as though it would rain, but thankfully the storm did not roll in until after the evening was over. Each year I try to prepare only enough food for the night so I won't have to deal with leftovers and each year I fail. Guess what? This year was no exception!

We don't usually each meat but we had quite a bit left so I made a huge batch of beef curry which easily used up ALL the leftovers! 

And here's a little peek into what I was sketching on the porch!

What I'm Drawing: convalescence catch up

After three weeks of being too sick to sketch or really anything, I am having quite the surge of creative energy. Hope to use some of these sketches as inspiration or larger works.

Jury duty sketches

A few weeks ago I received a summons for jury duty. My to my dismay, having three children in diapers will not earn you an excused absence. Rats! I keep telling my husband that as long as I have to go to the courthouse, I hope it is a "big" case. Famous last words.

After a few hours of the general hurry up and wait that goes along with jury duty, we are told the name of the case and the charges. Sure enough, it is one of the biggest cases of the year for our city. It took a day and a half for the prosecutors and the defense attorneys to whittle our group from 28 to 12, and in the end, I did not make the cut.

I did try to take advantage off all the down time we had and ended up with these sketches!

What I'm Drawing: Flowers, bugs and more

In case you don't follow me on Instagram, here is what I've been sketching lately:

What I'm Drawing: Wednesday night sketch