For the last 39 years, on the first Sunday in May I have gone on the Walk for Hunger. The money raised from sponsors like you benefits food pantries and soup kitchens across Massachusetts, and the 1 in 10 residents here who sometimes go hungry. Here is a sketch I did of the Walk. If you would like to sponsor me, click here, and thank you!
The brushstrokes in acrylic (which has the consistency of toothpaste, though you can thin it with water) are much more textural than watercolor. The main difference from watercolor is that with acrylics (or oils) you can paint light colors on top of dark, and add white even at the end, which makes it much more forgiving. In watercolor, white is the white of the paper, and you can’t paint, for instance, yellow on top of dark blue, because the medium is transparent.
We have been in Chapel Hill for Easter, where spring is in full bloom. This painting celebrates two years since our daughter Kate (Rademacher) published Following the Red Bird, a memoir about her faith journey. We raised our three kids Unitarian, a non-dogmatic faith which honors all world religions. In the last dozen years, my husband Bruce has become Catholic, Andrew is Christian (attending African-American churches where he plays gospel piano and organ), Kate has become Episcopalian, and Christopher and I are still Unitarian. Did I mention our son-in-law practices and teaches Tibetan Buddhism?
I took a terrific workshop this weekend with Lisa Daria Kennedy, who (having survived cancer as a young adult) resolved to create one painting every day — and she’s done it for 10 years straight. I have only ever painted in watercolor and she teaches acrylics — also a water-based medium, but quick drying and similar to oil in appearance. Learning something new is exciting and frustrating. Here is one of the paintings I made in the workshop, of peonies.
Isn’t this one of life’s great truths?
Winston Churchill, who was a serious amateur painter, may have been referring to watercolors. Prince Charles is also a watercolorist, and has published two books on the subject. In England, “watercolour” is a very popular pastime.
On our trip to Paris in 2011, we stayed on Ile Saint Louis, an island in the middle of the Seine. I sat in the park at the end of the island and made this sketch using a pencil and watercolors. Sketching creates more long-term memories than snapping a photo, and I can still remember that day and the bench I sat on.
Seven years ago, we went to Paris. Recently I unearthed some photos I took while there. To soothe my wanderlust, since we’re not going back anytime soon, I decided to do a sketch from my photo.
