4B Or Not 4B

I have been participating in David Barranti's drawing class all this week in Cloudcroft, New Mexico.  His challenge to us is to find out how many marks are in a 4B pencil, alone, for the whole week.  We have done modified contour, free style drawing, blind contour, vase-face, combinations of all and varieties of tonal drawing, all with one 4B pencil.  It's really liberating and informing!  Can't wait to see what else I can do with a 4B pencil!

I'll try to post a drawing or two in the next day or so.

Spring Art Date

My friend Sue Parry and I went over toward San Patricio for a very fun art date recently. On a mission to garner new photo references at the Hondo Iris Farm, as well as saturate ourselves in beauty, we drove across the Mescalero Apache reservation, enjoying the fabulous spring day. Nearing San Patricio and spotting the sign for the Hurd Gallery, we took a little side trip to see the artwork of three members of the Hurd family: Peter, Henriette (Wyeth), and Michael.

The gallery is housed in a beautiful old ranch building. I failed to inquire re the origin of the place, but it has wonderful high ceilings with gable windows. Lots of natural light for the art.

The art director is Tiffany Owen, a charming and informative young woman, who gave us a colorful and informative history of the Wyeth-Hurd clan connections. We even had the pleasure of meeting and chatting briefly with Michael Hurd himself!

After viewing the remarkable and varied collection of Hurd family artwork, we pressed on to the flowers, only four miles further. We were not disappointed! I still have not downloaded the 100 plus pictures I took, from all angles and of many varieties. I'll try to share some soon.

Adding to the charm of the day was our visit with the owner of the Hondo Iris Farm, Alice Seely, plus her assistant Shawna and friend Carol. The irises are truly amazing and colorful, as is the owner!

I could not resist a quick watercolor study of one of the irises, which I'm told is called "Gyro." I called it glorious. This is a 10 x 7 watercolor pencil drawing with watercolor added. I couldn't possibly do the gems justice, but . . . Fun!