The life of a woman artist hitting her stride!

Posts tagged “sketchbook”

ZOOMING IN WITH GRATITUDE:

On April 14, 2026 I was invited to talk about my sketchbook art on a Webinar hosted by Dina Brodsky. This was an amazing honor! And it was noteworthy to find out I was one of the few women artists to be interviewed. One for the girls! Dina is a major artistic force and voice for sketchbook artists worldwide. (@dinabrodsky) She’s also a very kind and enthusiastic person to work with.
There were the standard questions about “what pens and pencils” I use. (Pigma\Micron black ink 005, 01, 02, and brush) “What size is your sketchbook?” (In my backpack, that goes everywhere with me, I carry a 4×6 inch sketchbook that works especially well while sketching people in a crowd–like on the subway. And a 6×8 inch one for sitting in front of terrific trees or a great landscape. I have a 3 1/2x 5 1\2 for imaginings. Back at the studio I use a larger 8 1\2×11 inch–for more detailed drawings.)
I was pointing to some sketches I did in October 2025 while in New York and a delightful suggestion was made by some of the webinar attendees: “It would be great if you and Dina formed a sketching party in Central Park!” Absolutely. Someday.

And on May 1, 2026 I was invited to be on a Zoom with the author of the graphic novel, Hidden, (the light color hair) that I illustrated and and with one of the producers of a documentary film about the story of Hidden (Jody Glover). This Zoom was with a class of ninth graders somewhere on the east coast.

A student asked a very thoughtful question: “How did doing the research and the art for a graphic novel about the Holocaust affect your emotions?” It took me 4 1\2 years to illustrate the 96 page book. I couldn’t have done it without the internet. The Nazis of Hitler’s time were proud of their brutal work and took a lot of photos. I was surprised at what I found to assist in telling the story. And, yes, there were times when I felt the darkness of that time. It weighed on my mind. Art is an emotional project. I probably won’t choose to revisit that history as entertainment. I’ve added it to my list of unsavory topics: slavery, native American marginalization, abuse of women and children and animals. But it was very instructive and knowing history assists me in understanding my own.

A few words regarding Zoom: We live in an amazing age of technology. We’re on the edge of an AI tsunami. But I remember a time when there were no computers, no internet. Some of the transitions to tech were difficult…but every time I go out to the car to go someplace, I am grateful I don’t have to hitch up a horse! Anyway, Zoom showed up in 2013. By April 2020, because of a pandemic, Zoom became a global necessity. It went from 10 million users to 300 million users. I am grateful for Zoom! Here’s hoping we will learn to manage and use well the technologies that lay ahead.

June 16, 2026 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

My 5 x 5 Project

There are now FIVE weeks to “show time”. The last FIVE paintings that I sold left room for five NEW paintings to take their place for the four artist storytelling art show at Dixie College’s Sears Gallery in June. FIVE paintings x FIVE weeks = a new adventure in painting. I pulled FIVE ideas out of the idea pile and began last week to prepare them for painting. First I planned each new painting in a small drawing in my sketchbook. Secondly, I transferred the image to the painting surface. I did this by either by tracing an enlarged blueprint of my small drawing onto the paint surface or using a grid to redraw my design to size. Last night I began the painting. Yee-Haw! Of course, the quality of the painting will be the determining factor as to whether it makes it into the show, but, the next cactusFIVE weeks will be an “artist’s ride”!

April 27, 2012 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment