A long-awaited meet-up

This week I got to spend some time sketching with friends - Suhita Shirodkar, Shari Blaukopf, Brenda Swenson, Gay Kraeger, and Elyse Fairweather. Some of them came from afar - it was a special treat and something we've been trying to pull off for quite some time! 

We went to the magical garden and forest in Santa Cruz Mountains to see Gay and Elyse and had a blast trying to fit a gigantic redwood in our sketchbooks. We listened to birds and water and looked for frogs in a fountain. We smelled flowers, played with materials, flipped through each other's sketchbooks, and drew oranges outdoors, and humans indoors. 

Chatting about life's big and small things, sharing some food, and ideas, and looking at the clouds. Below are my drawings and some photos from our adventures. And attached to them are some really good memories and a feeling of joy of friendships - and that is such a gift! Thank you to all who made this week special!

Magical Forest and Garden: Persimmons and Apples

I went to the magical forest in the Santa Cruz mountains this week. We sketched persimmon trees and apples and had a great time catching up and hatching plans for more sketching projects with Suhita and Gay. It was a wondrous time of color and bird songs at the end of a busy week and it was a gift! 

Sketchbook #101: Visiting Persimmon Orchard

Sketchbook #94: Persimmon Orchard

Sketchbook #93: Sketching in an Amazing Persimmon Orchard!

An amazing artist and my sketching friend Gay Kraeger invited me to draw in a persimmon orchard - it was one of the best days in November!

My Participation in the Strathmore's new Art Project: "Pass the Journal"

Pass the Journal is a collaborative art project organized by Strathmore. Artists from around the world fill the pages of 12 art journals, passing them on to keep the cycle going.

I created a spread about treasures and you can view it as well as work of other artists drawing in this journal and other journals here: http://www.strathmoreartist.com/pass-the-journal/journal-full.html#/journal/5/show

Because of this opportunity I had two wonderful walks - one was when I went to gather things to draw and paint and then sat in a shadow to actually create the spread.

Another walk was when I went for a little sketchcrawl with the previous artist from Rockwell journal - wonderful and inspiring Gay Kraeger! It's an mazing experience - to meet in person someone whose sketches I've been following online, to be able to flip through actual, live journal pages and draw side by side (even if it suddenly rains in California :)

I am excited to be a part of this and can't wait to see what others will make out of their spread! Thank you, Strathmore and Gay!