Class Field Trip

At the end of the semester, I take my Basic Illustration class on a field trip to the Museum of Fine Arts. I arrange for a private show in the Works on Paper room where students have an exclusive view of works by Picasso, Manet, Homer, Pissaro, Rembrandt, Munch (to name a few).


I get to pick works that are in the museum's private collection and I choose pieces that include subject matter I taught in class such as self-portraits and figure studies.

It's such a treat to "play curator" for the day. Next semester I'm going to bring one of my own drawings to put on the shelf so I can say "My work was shown next to a Rembrandt!"

Another Year Older!

How'd that happen?? Another birthday snuck up on me! I decided not to let the number of years get to me so my philosophy is that I will not think about adding up the years of my life rather I will think about adding life to my years! And, nothing made me feel better than a chance to visit with my nephew who was in Texas on a company retreat. He's such a corporate warrior and I'm very proud of him. Here we are in Bastrop enjoying the day together.


I came down with a cold this past week so I spent a few days on the couch sniffling and coughing. "The chef" knew what I needed to cheer me up.
See how much I love lilacs by clicking here.

A Day at the museum

My cure for a visual creative block is to visit an art museum or gallery. I spent a whole afternoon recording inspiring sketches or making notes in the moleskine journal yesterday while at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston.

The museum is so big and there's so much to take in. I focused on paintings that attracted me because of their strong linear designs and bold colors. One such favorite is by Matisse. The description posted near the work mentions "pulsating color with a variety of lines that energize the work."

Link to Matisse painting

It's not easy sketching in a museum but I make an effort because drawing from the actual work is so much better than drawing from a photograph. When I walked into the room that displayed the Indian maiden sculpture, I was taken by her form carved out of marble. She really didn't look like an Native American girl to me, more like a topless Venus wearing mocassins and trendy Santa Fe style skirt! But she held a striking pose and was larger than life, I stood in a corner and drew her just to give myself the practice.

Link to sculpture






The view of the Alex Katz work was seen through a doorway as if it were framed by the architecture of the space. Katz inspires me because his portraits are so stylized and tightly cropped. I made note of the negative space in the picture plane which helps to organize the composition.

The last page has no drawings because I was overwhelmed while touring the exhibit of French paintings borrowed from the Met. The galleries were very crowded and the works were all masterpieces - Ingres, Delacroix, Daumier, Breton, Corot, Monet, Manet, Van Gogh, Degas, Gaugin, Picasso, Modigliani.... oh my!!

Link to highlights of the exhibit

Playing around with LuminArte paints

jff1, originally uploaded by e14studio.

Love these little LuminArte pots of paint that were used on these fun little paintings. They are my new favorite art product and I wish I had every color! You do have shimmer vision on your monitor, don't you?