THE DRAWING. . . details & notes

“Yesterday” is a graphite drawing I did of my old cornhusker that a friend had given me about 10 years ago. It made a great piece of garden art and had a very country, nostalgic feeling about it. A remembrance of yesterday.

I’m not sure of the date of this one but it was old. Pioneers used to use these things to husk and take the silks off the ears of corn. This one was more efficient since you had a wheel you could turn as you put the ears of corn through the chambers and get more husked than doing it with a hand held husker.

Unfortunately, not too long ago I had to dismantle the husker. I hated to do it but the wood was rotting and it had fallen over and was becoming a hazard for me and my dog when out in the yard.

Here is what it looks like today – another piece of “heavy metal” garden art that will last quite a while. I’m trying to talk my brother or nephew in to welding it together to make some sort of water feature for my yard – we will see.










If you look closely at my drawing of “Yesterday” you will also see 3 hummingbirds. I just had to draw them in there to complete the country feel of this piece. They are only about a quarter of an inch long. "Yesterday" is 11”x 14” and is available for sale. Giclée prints on acid free paper are available too. Please check here for pricing.

The Economy & Art Fairs

I have a feeling that the economy is going to have an effect on artists participating art fairs this year.

I had my largest art fair just this last weekend in Kerrville - 4 days. There were 200+ artists that were juried into the show and they tell me there were records crowds that braved the record heat but people just weren't spending much. I brought cards, prints and originals of course to sell and the only thing that sold were the prints. I made my entry fee, which was large, plus a bit more, but I was hoping for another good year like last year and last year's crowds were down because of the flooding we had.

So my guess is people are holding back on spending and cutting corners where they can until they know what the economy is going to do. Gas is up to $3.79 a gallon here. I drove the 2 hours each way every day and I'm glad did as I saved on a hotel expense. I noticed too that food at the fair was a dollar more than last year. I think everyone is feeling the crunch.

I talked to other artists at the fair and got the same from them. Some did better - the pottery sold well. Some artists mentioned they didn't see their usual followers from Houston, Dallas and San Antonio - it has to be the gas prices keeping people closer to home. We saw more locals at the fair - that makes sense - staying home for the holiday but finding something to do.

On the plus, side it is always good to see faithful clients and old friends, fellow artists that I have done shows with before, and it is always nice making new friends.

One thing that I took exceptional joy in was watching the faces of people that were looking at my art - even if they didn't buy it - they all seemed to enjoy it. Some would be very serious and admiring, others would smile and call their friends to come and look too. I always got comments as they left my booth saying how beautiful my work was, or that I'm a fantastic artist, or what great work I do. That is always nice to hear. Thanks to everyone who came out - it was good to see you.

A special thank you to my friend and her daughter who helped me set up, my brother, his wife and son who helped me take down and my sister for feeding the animals. Couldn't have done it alone that is for sure!

Announcement!

Please take a few minutes to visit Marsha Robinett's blog, The Extraordinary Pencil! She has featured me as her Artist of the Month.

Marsha is an incredible artist herself. She uses predominately carbon pencils and produces such beautiful detailed work. She has also become quite the creative blogger. She is an inspiration for me. Anyway, check out the interview and be sure to check out her website too.

Thanks Marsha!

Bluebonnets - Another Native Perennial of Texas

I decided to do another quick study some wildflowers tonight after doing the Mexican Hat flower last night. This one took just about 30 minutes too. I tried to work quickly to learn to "loosen up" a bit.

Bluebonnets are the state flower of Texas and in the spring they adorn the sides of the highways and farm roads everywhere. Often you will see people stopping their cars to take pictures of their kids or pets sitting in a field of Bluebonnets or to just enjoy the view. They can be breathtaking.

This is a 5x7 on velour. I'm really pleased with the way this one turned out - I hope you like it too.

Mexican Hat Flower - a native perennial

This a native perennial wild flower found here in Texas. It is called a Mexican hat flower. I have a patch of them growing out by my driveway near the street and since I haven't used my weedeater faithfully they are growing very nicely. I think I'll keep them.

This is 6"x6" pastel on velour. It's not in my usual detailed style but was fun to do - took all of a half hour.

Multitasking

I'm sitting here at the computer printing things like brochures and giclée prints of my art in preparation for my show at the Texas State Arts and Craft Fair coming up Memorial Day weekend in Kerrville.

In the past I have used a pre-scored, tri-fold paper for my brochure which was nice but really time consuming and expensive to print. This year I'm using a 110 lb. white card stock with no folds. It is working out well. The printer is chugging right along without any problems.

I used Word to design it and have printed both sides so that all I have to do is cut it down the center and it makes a nice take along brochure. Here you can see both the front and the back.

People are always looking for information they can take home with them. This gives them a bit more information than my business card (shown on the right)and a few samples of my work too.

Happy Mother's Day

Last year, when looking for a reference picture to use for another drawing, I ran across this picture of my daughter when she was two. Catching her unaware of me and my camera produced a very sweet picture, which inspired this pastel.

What I was unaware of is, after all these years, when working on this pastel the flood of memories of her and her childhood it would bring back to me as if it was yesterday. My daughter is 35 now and has a precious son of her own.

I have the original framed and hanging in my bedroom. This last Christmas I gave her a print with a poem that I had written below. I thought I'd share it with you today.
- Happy Mother's Day!

Sweet Scents

by Karen Hargett

Sweet scents are the summer roses that follow spring.

Sweet scents are memories that roses bring.

Sweet scents are fragrances in the air.

Sweet scents are the roses in her hair.

Sweet scents are seeing her face in the blooms.

Sweet scents are fragrances that make my heart swoon.

Sweet scents are in my heart dear child of mine.

Sweet scents are my love’s design.

Sweet scents are the memories that tug at heart strings.

Sweet scents are the memories that roses bring.

Sweet scents are you dear child of mine.

Sweet scents are you making my day shine!

Sweet scents are you always in my heart!

Sweet scents are you my precious work of art.

Sweet scents are you dear child of mine.

Sweet scents are you for all time.

Sweet scents are you, Sherry, dear child of mine!

Still Restless!

I’m not sure I’m totally blocked but I haven’t been drawing as much as usual. I’m still taking photos for references and piddling with pastels but as I mentioned before I’m really restless with my art right now. Whatever I’m doing isn’t satisfying and filling that space within me that up until now has been happy and truly satisfied with what I was doing and learning. I have learned a lot over the last several years and my drawings and pastels have improved by leaps and bounds but there is something more I want to do, to learn, to stretch.

Lately I’ve been really surfing the web and reading other artists’ blogs and visiting their websites. It is inspiring and scary at the same time. There are so many wonderful artists out there and now with the internet there is so much to see and read right at my fingertips!

I’ve been obsessed with color since I found pastels and now I have a craving for texture too. What does that mean? I’m not sure – maybe it is the beginning of a growth spurt. Ha – I like that much better than thinking I’m being stagnant!

The journey continues. . .

THE DRAWING . . . details & notes

Camouflaged was inspired when a Killdeer laid her eggs near the edge of my driveway last spring. I was closing the gate one afternoon and saw the Killdeer doing her injured bird act and decided she must have a nest nearby. Little did I know it was right at my feet until I looked down! Her nest was so well camouflaged that when I looked away and then looked back down again I had to really search the area to find it.

I immediately took several pictures of her nest and watched and waited anxiously for the day they would hatch in hopes of catching a few pictures of those little birds on the run. We had a brief cold spell last spring that brought with it sleet and snow but the Killdeer and her eggs made it through fine and I worried for nothing. I did miss the hatching though, much to my sadness. I was glad though once I saw they had hatched I didn’t have to tip toe around the area of the nest and gate for fear of crushing them.

Killdeer don’t make much of a nest – just a little indention in the ground with a twig or two and a few pebbles to spruce up the place. I observed both the male and female birds sitting on the eggs. Once they hatch and their down dries the little Killdeer are off and running catching their food and following mom around learning Killdeer things.

An interesting bit I noted when doing this drawing is if you squint your eyes and look at the surrounding rocks and pebbles you can see why the markings are the way they are on the eggs and why they are so well camouflaged. The dark markings resemble the dark negative spaces between the rocks and pebbles making it hard for predators to spot them. God certainly knew what He was doing when He created the Killdeer and gave them the wonderful ability to camouflage their nests. Amazing!
The original drawing is available at this writing. Limited Edition prints are available too. It is 10” x 14”. One of the things I especially like about this drawing is the way the edges of the drawing are “outside the box” and spill over on to the border of the paper giving it a really natural feel. If you are interested in purchasing the original or a Limited Edition print, more information may be found on my website.