Three Pots

I was delighted to experiment with some underglazes (there are hills painted on one) and glaze overlapping for these pottery pieces that I made over the summer. Actually, I thought they would work best as pencil cups. But one might use them as vases. Or napkin holders. Or something else :)  In any case - they went to a friend's house - what a joy!

A Good Day to Sketch

I went to sketch big sky and wast marshes. Forgot some tools, got frustrated by a bunch of things, you can read it all in my notes which I added on the page after I got it taped in my large sketchbook.

On My Table: Beginning of November 2026

November 2026:
Remember the orange bag I was trying to use to organize my materials? It's been fired again - and all of this spilled out of the main compartment of my backpack after my sketching outing to pumpkins. Gouache colors were refilled but now need another refill (perhaps there is something about deeper wells, but it is so nice to have a light pocket palette! (though I may be ruining all the effect by carrying so many pens!).

Some Very Halloweeny October Vibes

I started my October with some proper pumpkin sketches, took a little break for a quieter week, and now I am closing October with some very Halloweeny sketches! I went back to paint a giant pumpkin which had some sisters this time - one of them is called Tinkerbell! And I got some houses with decorations and some proper Halloween piñatas!  

Yellow Chrysanthemums in a Pot with Horses

I got these bright chrysanthemums to mark the beginning of October, but it took me some time to get them in a pot that I liked and to sketch them too. The pot might need another introduction, but it is a collab family project where I threw and trimmed it and then pained (horses and a house, and a tree in a landscape) in blue after a design. This blue has greenish tint without a glaze but it lovely warm blue under clear glaze and it is really singing with the mums, which are slowly turning from lemon yellow to sunflower yellow to orange.

 

Bird Watching Notes

A couple of pages of recent birding notes:

Quieter October Vibes

Compared to last week outings, this week there was rain and much to do, so no outings to enjoy pumpkins on lawns or crazy Halloween decorations - but some quiet joy from the very first persimmon of the season and very nice chrysanthemums my little garden produced.

Amaryllises

My earlier encounter with amaryllises this year ended up with this little collection:

Drawing October Vibes

October here, and in California we have bright blue skies and very orange pumpkins everywhere - which means that my two favorite colors are on display, so I try to maximize my sketching outings before the rain comes (we need it!). Oh - and Halloween decorations are everywhere too :) 

Big Refill Part II

I recently did some maintenance work on my tools (big refill I including), but my collection of waterbrushes and all sorts of refillable brushpens was not part of that maintenance work. However, this week I got my inks and liquid watercolors out and enjoyed pure refills and some custom mixes! 

Loss is Hard

I lost a tree. In a sense, I never had it - it was not mine. But it was part of my life - it told me about upcoming changes of seasons way in advance. It danced when the weather changed. It hosted a variety of birds and often one very loud murder of crows. It changed the shape of my sky. It was a large European Ash tree (Fraxinus excelsior). 

Even if you know it is coming, loss is hard. Even if you think there is nothing you could have done, it is hard. Or if you have a list of things you think you might have done differently. I still want more time with it. It is a natural way of things. Birds are circling in search of a familiar perch. And I keep checking the spot.

Drawing helped. Walking helped. Remembering how Amy Stewart documented her loss in a "requiem for a tree" helped. People helped, of course. Earplugs helped. Remembering and visiting other trees too.

Drawing Bikes with Kids!

Another year - another opportunity to draw bikes with kids at a local event promoting biking to school and work. This year we had a heat wave and, understandably, fewer visitors. But it was a blast nonetheless!

I planned to bring lots of brushes and paint instead of drawing but did not have a way to bring it all and instead brought acrylic markers - I thought they would be a big hit - but kids cared only about colors and not what tool they were using! I hope to learn from them :)

This year's favorite/new/surprising expressions are:

• Strawberry is riding my bike! Wait - where do I sit?
• My bike has polka dots instead of spokes!
• And mine has hearts instead of spokes - this is the most heart bike ever!
• I know how to bike and make matcha. I also just started kindergarten - I will know more soon.
• I am drawing a city where I am riding - and need to add cameras - many cameras.
• This is me, and this is my mom - riding a bike together. She does not know how to ride a bike, but we are going for matcha ice cream - this is a drawing of our dream.
• No! My bike does not need a helmet! But I do.

Bell Peppers!

Farmer's Market bounty: bell peppers of all sorts in markers, watercolor and gouache, not to mention a mix between all of this and printmaking and collage!

A Vase and Some Dry Grass Collected on my Walks

I made this vase but did not draw it for some time since I was trying to find a good branch to put in it. But none worked. Leaves were not working either. But with time, some unknown grasses and remnants of sweet alyssum (Lobularia maritima), which I am trying to cultivate, made a somewhat working collection.