Narcissus bulb and roots

This is a narcissus (paperwhites) bulb with its shoot at the top and the first row of prop roots descending. Sometimes simple graphite drawings are pleasant to work on in the evenings after the day is done. Cozy up under a blanket and let the pencil flow over the smooth paper.

Art and Gardens

Is there greatness in a garden? Or is a poem about a garden or a painting of a garden greater than a garden itself? If you were to sing about a rose, is that somehow greater than growing a rose? Or can the force that drives a garden be considered the greatest artist of all?

Etsy Shop

I've just opened up an etsy shop to try to sell some artwork online. Who knows if it will actually sell some things for me. I've started with just a few items and then each day I'll add a few more.  I'm continuing to use the O, Sweet Nature moniker and so my shop address is www.OSweetNature.etsy.com   So far, it is taking up a lot of my time to create this online source. I wonder if I'm not better off just spending the time on painting or drawing. If anything sells, it will be worth it. Now I have to get my website (also O, Sweet Nature) up and running. All these places need to be linked. Then perhaps I might actually get some visitors to these sites.

This is one of the items for sale at etsy. It's a small watercolor, only $35, but the shipping is almost half that, so who knows if it will get any buyer interest. Wonder if I should charge more?

Why?

I'm trying to find a way to make my artwork more meaningful and engaging to people. So I am asking myself these questions about my art:

Why do I paint this subject?

Why do I paint it the way I do?

Why should anybody care?

The inspiration to begin questioning and improving my art came from this site:

www.artisbroken.com/blog

I recommend a visit there for all artists.

Ginger root

This is a small graphite drawing of a ginger root. It's worked on a very smooth, Strathmore 500 plate finish paper. Love the way my pencil point just glides over the paper. Smooooooth.

More soul from Vincent

"Sometimes I have such a longing to do landscape, just as I crave a long walk to refresh myself; and in all nature, for instance in trees, I see expression and soul, so to speak."  --Vincent

Yes, I, too, am drawn towards landscapes as expression. It's the act of being out in nature, experiencing the "soul" of it, and then communicating that in painting or drawing.

Happy New Year!

Sometimes in winter the cold is so biting that one says, It is too cold; what do I care if a summer will follow, the evil far surpasses the good. But with or without our permission, an end to the bitter frost comes at last, and on a certain morning the wind has turned and we have a thaw.

Comparing the state of the weather to our state of mind and circumstances -- subject to changes and variety like the weather -- I still have some hope of a change for the better. . . . 

---Vincent

A warm, happy, fulfilling, and bountiful New Year to all my friends and family.

This morning

Today's winter colors are muted, softened. Clouds are violet in the distance, yet they hang not there but in my head. And for the rest of the day I'm so very cold.

Yes, It's Winter

Looking out over the mountains this morning, the distant sky was darkly violet.  Warm gray clouds covered me with stillness. Animals moved slowly, contemplating their feeble lives or wondering "What's for breakfast?" Winter scenes will be my subject this day. Is my palette up to the subtle colors needed for the subdued muted grays of winter?

San Miguel de Allende sketches

Just got back from Mexico. I traveled to San Miguel de Allende and taught a drawing class at El Charco del Ingenio, the botanical gardens. San Miguel is a beautiful town of colorful colonial architecture and cobblestoned streets. Everything is beautifully and lovingly preserved by the local people. I spent my free time between classes sketching throughout the town. Here are some of the watercolor sketches.