How cool

Since my blog is essentially a babyblog, meaning a new endeavor, I was thrilled to be awarded a sunshine award from Sally Dean. Thanks, Sally! Sally's blog is inspirational. Her goal is a painting or drawing a day with some use of a flower within it and to accomplish this for 365 days. Whew. She has been so creative in her thought process for executing this, too. You are inspiring, Sally.

Here are my recipients(in no particular order):

1)Passing Notes

2)Julie Zikefoose

3)Drawing the Motmot

4)Laurel Daniel

5)Margaret Dyer

6)Pablo Villicana Lara

7)Qiang-Huang

8)Sean Matthew Leary

9)Kelley Macdonald

10)Sophie Blackall

11)Mary Sheehan Winn

12)Drawing & Painting Steve Doherty

All are creative, fun and addicting. They should really call it blogcrastination as I find myself immersed in reading and keeping up and not tending to my own work at hand, sometimes.

Of course, there are a ton of others that I would give this award to, but I was told to list just 12...

Here are the "official" rules-

Take the picture of the flower and put it on your blog. Pick 12 recipients and link them to your blog. Notify these people.

Lots of work, but they all give me joy.

P.S.

After posting the drawing yesterday, I decided to do a little research. When I placed the lily by the statue I was aware that it was symbolic to Christian and Catholic faith and knew that it was associated with the Virgin Mary and her purity. And so I thought it was a meaningful flower to incorporate into the drawing not only for those reasons, but because I knew my mother and mother-in-law both loved receiving these flowers during the Easter season. Well, to my amazement and enlightenment this is what I found. In Christian faith the white lily is the associated flower and symbol of the Virgin Mary and the parts of the flower itself have their own significance. The stem represents the Virgin Mary's faithful mind. The petals, her purity and virginity. The scent, her divinity and the leaves, her humility. (I am sure my grandmother is now rolling her eyes at me up in heaven at my lack of knowledge. I admit I was not one to pay attention in CCD. And I am positive that when and if my brother-in-law Tom reads this will have the same reaction as my grandmother. He is an inspiration to us all with his incredible faith and knowledge.)

For My Mothers

click here to bid

My mother gave me this little statue years and years ago. It sits on my bureau and often when I am just waking the morning light hits it in such a way that I am mesmerized. It is a wonderful way to greet the day. I have often thought I would do a painting of it, but decided to start with a simple conte drawing. I named it For My Mothers, as a tribute to my mom and my mother-in-law who had such incredible faith and of course, for Mary.

Art Supplies

My students always inquire as to where I shop for my art supplies. Unless I need supplies in a hurry, online is where I get the majority of my supplies. It is so easy to comparison shop and get the most for your money. I always check on shipping costs as that will greatly effect your final price. Companies will always send you their catalog for free if you request them, so you can easily see what is offered before you go online. Here are some of my recommendations (not in any particular order):

Dick Blick Art Materials

Jerry's Artarama

Daniel Smith

New York Central Art Supply - This company has many hard to find and unique items. They also have specialty catalogs that you may request.

Dakota Art Pastels

Utrecht

Pearl Paint

Cheap Joe's

ASW

Rochester Art Supply

Terry Ludwig Pastels Great luscious colors and wonderful personal service.

Some great plein aire easels and pochade boxes are offered by varying companies. I recently bought an EasyL which I adjusted to my needs. I created 2 boxes which fit within the main box. One box holds my pastels, the other holds a palette for oils. I alternate the box inserts depending on what my desired medium is for the day. You can see the box with the pastel insert in the photos of my demo at the Pastel Painters Society of Cape Cod. I will include a picture of the oil palette in the next few days.

I purchased my EasyL here:

Artwork Essentials

Judsons Art Outfitters is currently having a seconds special on some of their boxes.

Happy Shopping!