Christmas morning at Jim and Kami's

I am in California having an amazing reunion with my 6 living siblings! AND my daughter, and my new son. Pretty much in heaven.

The Crossword Puzzle

Sumi Ink and a broken Plume :  (

Darn. I guess I will have to go back to Paris  :  )

A 20 minute self portrait

...while my client sat under the dryer I did this. Happy Solstice, everyone!

My 20 minutes...a recipe for YOU!

Surrounded by love, laughter, and LIGHT! Happy Christmas, everyone!

For my niece Trisha!

Is this the place you saw that you put on FaceBook? The place you wanted to go? I think it is Hallstatt, Austria! Been there...  done that....got the painting!  Love ya! Aunt Sue

A little art show for you!

 My view from my hammock while camping in Alaska! Acrylic on canvas covered board.

 My view from our apartment in Cochem, Germany in the Mosel River. Acrylic on canvas covered board.

 A quick charcoal drawing in Lille, France.

 A gift for our waiter in Amboise, France.

 A tiny acrylic painting looking out of the window at 1am in Paris.

 A quick pastel on sandpaper drawing of my favorite person in the world...drawn in Edinburgh, Scotland.

 A very tiny pen and ink and colored pencil drawing of Neuschwanstien Castle in Germany.

 A tiny drawing done while waiting to enter the Theatre Sebastopol in Lille, France. We went there specifically to see Lara Fabian in concert. I hoped to give this to her, but had no opportunity to do so.

I thought you might enjoy seeing some work that I have done this past year on my travels. I bring with me the following in my tiny art box: 6 tubes of acrylic paint, 4 x 6 canvas covered boards, a piece of glass for a palette, paint brushes, NuPastel chalk pastels and fine grit black sandpaper to do pastels on, a package of handi-wipes, smooth vellum, art pens, and colored pencils. These all fit nicely in a 5 x 7 x 7 tupperware-like container with a handle. Since I am only 4'10", it also serves as my foot platform while sitting on the plane. As you can see, these are all quickly done works in a small format. And I enjoy using a variety of mediums. I save my oil paints for my studio only.

My Mini Art Studio

As with most things in life, preparedness makes a difference for your success in any situation. In order to spend 20 minutes a day doing art, I realized that being ready to draw anywhere was my ticket. So I bought a small bag just big enough to hold my watercolor postcard pad, and then added my plume de becasse, a Faber-Castell artist's pen, a teeny bottle of Winsor-Newton ink, my aqua-mini watercolor set, a teeny knife to remove the paper from my drawing pad, a tiny bottle to fill with water as I needed it, and a couple of napkins. That's it! and I carry it everywhere! Sometimes I only have 5 minutes, so I use my artist's pen. If I have more time, I bring out the ink and plume. My challenge to you today is to think about how you can be prepared to practise your craft with minimal set-up time. It has made all the difference for me!