Thursday, March 17, 2022

Close to Home, and A Road Trip


Hello, It has been quite a few months since I made a post here on the blog. Some people have been asking about this. Thank you for that. I have been busy with art projects and will try to get you caught up soon. Below are two of my recent projects and a peek at a third, still in progress.



Last summer I roamed around our little town and drew and painted doorways, buildings, and natural wonders, all the way from A to Z. Then with the technical assistance of my husband and the design skills of our daughter, it became this book. 

This is my fifth book. I write them to appeal to all ages, including children. We have already received reports of a young girl searching around town (with her mother), trying to locate each of the scenes that I drew.

And now for something completely different. It is a series of digital sketches based on road trips taken in New Hampshire in 2021.



 There's a lot of snow to be seen, although not always white. Blue, pink, purple are the colors I use for shadows in the snow.

And in this view of Mount Kearsarge, the afternoon sun is making the mountain look like spun gold.



I always get a little jolt of happiness when I see this road sign. It means we are about 45 minutes from the coast and the beautiful city of Portsmouth. It is New Hampshire's only city on the Atlantic coast, because the coastline in the state is only 18 miles long. It is nestled between Massachusetts and Maine.



Early morning colors on a very snowy day.



Heading north on Route 89 in New Hampshire, you can see the hills of Vermont.



One of a series of trips to nowhere that we took in 2021. A short drive north on Route 89, then a turn around and back home. 



One of my favorite parts of Route 89 has ice cliffs at the side of the road. Water flows off a hill in the day, then freezes at night. 


S curves are fun to drive on and to draw. The green trees are evergreens, which is some of the only tree color in the winter.



Split highways lanes are nice to draw too. The yellow is a little area of dormant grass. The snow has melted in the sun.

My appreciation of the designers who laid out Route 89 back in the 1960s is pretty apparent. Running northwest from the state capital of Concord, into Vermont, and continuing to the Canadian border, it was very nicely meshed into the wonderful scenery along the way. 



Market Street, Portsmouth, New Hampshire
I have always loved the study of doors and windows.

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Now to the Department of What's Happening Now!

An ongoing project of the past year is documenting a building project in New London. The New London Barn Playhouse is expanding to become a year round arts center. Here is an early view of the construction in one of my sketchbooks. Stay tuned! A book will surely arise from this project.