Practice, practice, practice. Draw, draw, draw.

I was cleaning my studio out last week; picking up all the clutter that accumulated below the radar, going through drawers I hadn't opened in a few months, maybe a few years and reaching deep into the dark recesses to get rid of all the . . . stuff. I really let things get out of control and found that I was having a hard time clearing my head and getting down to work when I had the time to go in my studio.

When I was digging through one of the drawers I found an unsigned mid-semester critique from one of my former undergraduate art professors. I just can't remember which one. In my time there I had two different professors for drawing classes. The letter was . . . fun to read? It was like being patted on the back and punched in the stomach at the same time. So I guess as a critique it was good - a nice mix of positive comments and constructive criticism. It was sort of amazing that xy years later some of the comments still ring true. The instructor had me pretty figured out and was right for the most part.

In the final few sentences they instructed me to "practice, practice, practice, draw, draw, draw". Those six words cemented themselves in my head for the next few days. I haven't really been practicing enough. I've been putting more pressure on myself to produce polished, completed pieces, rather than focusing on improving my skills. One of my New Years resolutions was to draw, paint or photograph every day this year. Even if it is only for 15 minutes. This letter added some extra motivation to stick with my resolution.

Three days later I was out for lunch with my mother and youngest daughter in Marion, IA. After lunch my mom took my daughter for the afternoon so I could work a little and take care of some errands. The restaurant she picked for lunch was just a few doors down from one of my favorite galleries - http://campbellsteele.com - so naturally I stopped in to feed my soul a bit, since my tummy was already full. I had a nice conversation with Priscilla Steele for a few minutes and she casually mentioned a life drawing class she had later that evening. I learned that she hosted a life drawing class for interested members of the public on Tuesday evenings and Sundays. For a small fee I could go and draw from life for a few hours. My mind immediately went back to the critique I had read a few short days ago. It almost seemed like this encounter was serendipitous.

I went to the class on Sunday and I drew for three, blissful, uninterrupted hours. The first drawing I did was actually a little stressful. I haven't drawn from life in over xy years. I got all the proportions wrong, I had to do a lot of erasing and re-drawing and I had no time to focus on the hands or face. By the end of the session however, I hit my stride. 

I gave myself permission at the beginning of the class to use the whole three hours as a warm up. I did not expect to leave with anything spectacular. I didn't of course, but in the end I felt better about a few of my drawings than I expected to. 

I left feeling completely relaxed, happy and whole again. When I got home I worked in my own studio for a little longer playing around with shadows and lines and my head was swirling with ideas for future pieces combining models with my seed drawings to emphasize the themes of fertility and nutrition. The whole experience was thoroughly invigorating. I am looking forward to next week!

Hiking at Uncle Bob's

My husband's Uncle Bob lives in a gorgeous log home on several hundred acres along a river not far from us. The only thing on the property is his home, the rest is mostly timber, two ponds and a little bit of prairie. Eric goes deer hunting on the property once a year and sometimes helps his brother cut wood there. There are a few logging trails cut through the timber that have made a perfect trail for hiking. We've started taking the kids out there to hike and play in the snow. I love, love, love walking around the property. It is peaceful, unspoiled and so beautiful. 

This Sunday the weather warmed up a bit, so we loaded the kids up and took them to Uncle Bob's for another walk. It's a bit of a haul around the trail so we usually take a sled or two to pull the kids around on when they get tired. 

This time Eric did all of the heavy lifting and I got to walk around taking in the views and snapping pictures. I could have stayed out there all day. 

Wildlife is abundant on the property, but this time around we only saw the evidence and not the actual animals.

Even though the landscape is predominantly gray and brown there is still so much to look at. I love the texture of these plants. I wish I knew what their name was. 

I love this rusty orange color and the way the leaves curl up into little packages. 

I ran across these pretty purple viny bushes. I wanted to spend some more time trying to capture them in some sort of creative way to accentuate their color agains the landscape, but it was fairly difficult in the time I had since I knew my kids were still forging ahead of me. I do like this photograph though, because if nothing else it reminds me of one of my kids scribble drawings. 

I found a little more color in the evergreens.

And then there were these . . . plants. I wish I knew what they were. The yellow color was stunning to catch against the snow. 

I had fun finding shapes in the curls of the weeds. I love how the tops of the weeds all curled down and echoed each other making beautiful patterns. It would have been fun to see how many ways I could capture the shapes, playing with f-stops and such. It was a real challenge in the large clumps of weeds however, to capture their silhouettes without it ending up looking like indecipherable clumps of brown. Hopefully I can get outside with my camera sometime soon to try again. 

At the end of the trail I came across some milkweed. It is so lovely. On the overcast day, it was hard to get the subtle colors to come out very much. Such great texture though.