If you’ve been following my work for a while, you’ve probably figured out that I’m obsessed with sunflowers. I always have been. They are such charismatic and fabulous plants. I grow them every year in my garden and after the first two years of planting seeds, they all come up as volunteers from last year’s plants. This means they don’t always come up in the most convenient places (like the middle of a path), but they are everywhere!
You know what else is everywhere this year? Grasshoppers. We have grasshoppers every year but this summer they are like locusts-eating flowers to the ground and shooting across our field like fireworks when I walk to the garden. They are chewing, chewing, chewing on everything!
Hence, this series of sunflower paintings which I have titled, “Tattered But Still Glowing”. They flowers have been chewed on till their leaves are in tatters, but they are still blooming beautifully and bringing me joy.
Whatever’s chewing on you, keep glowing my friends!
The other major activity of this month was my trip over to Edmonds to participate in Sketcherfest, the world’s first sketchbook based festival. Sketcherfest is a part of the Urban Sketchers movement which you can read more about here. I’ve been following the Urban Sketchers for over a decade and always love to go to their events if I can. Artists from all around the world and the PNW came to show their sketchbooks and sell their wares. I went into raptures of delight flipping through their sketchbooks-glorious, glorious inspiration!
These sketches were done during the free sketchcrawls that happened on Sunday. Over 100 people participated in each of the sketchcrawls and sketchers were spread up and down the waterfront painting and drawing. The general public, just out to enjoy the water, were surprised and delighted, tripping over sketchers at every turn.
It was so much fun-such a great sense of camaraderie among all of us sketchers and it was a joy to get to look at other participants’s sketchbooks. Plus, as you can see, the weather was killer-blue sky, Mt. Baker, and the Edmonds-Kingston Ferry!
Speaking of Sketchcrawls-this is my demo from my most recent Riverfront Park Sketch Crawl class. It was a great class of lovely people and I’m really looking forward to our August class. You can sign up for that here!
This is coming up Sunday-my last art festival of the summer. Come out and say hi! We’ll be in the Wonder Building, so you know what that means-SHADE!!
Stay cool out there friends!
