A Tomato Family

Prismacolor colored pencils on Strathmore Bristol Vellum, 5" x 8"

When I was setting up this still life, it occurred to me that it looked like a little family portrait. So, the whole time I was drawing these tomatoes, I envisioned them as such: Mom, Dad, the baby next to its mother, and the two older children by the father—one refusing to sit up straight.

These folks were all born and raised in my garden: the "parents" are a wonderful heirloom variety called "Kellogg's Breakfast". They're a beautiful yellow-orange, and are fleshy, very sweet, and have few seeds. You'd almost think you're eating a nectarine—so delicious. The "kids" are "Sugar Sun" cherry tomatoes, also really yummy.

There's nothing quite like a beautiful still life. Here are two of my favorite still life painters:

Janet Rickus paints gorgeous, often whimsical, pieces. (I think that perhaps her sense of humor led me to create a tomato "family" with my own drawing.) Her work is hard to describe in words...you've got to take a peek here.

Abby Ryan creates a daily oil painting, usually an elegantly simple still life, and they're gorgeous. Each painting is then auctioned off on eBay. She collaborates with a potter, Jury Smith, who creates beautiful pieces specifically for use in still life paintings. Isn't that fascinating? And you can even watch videos of Abby painting on her blog and her website. It's a joy to watch.

I hope you'll check them out!

Eye Candy

The Sausalito Art Festival is not your run-of-the-mill street fair.  For starters, there's an admission fee—but it's worth every cent.  You stroll around on grass (not asphalt!) and sip champagne while enjoying the sea breeze and the view of the marina. Oh, and that musician in the background that sounds like a lot like Kenny Loggins? It is Kenny Loggins.  But most importantly, the caliber of the artists is exceptional.  I can visit blogs and websites all day long, but there's nothing like meeting the artists and seeing the work in person, is there?  Here are a few that impressed me with their talent, their humor, or their sheer uniqueness:

Marina Teraud - Etchings. I especially love the nature series and this one in her "ex Libris" bookplate art. Favorite piece: hard to choose, but "Nature Book" is gorgeous.

Cali Hobgood - Hand-colored black-and-white photographs. They're lovely, simple and quiet. (The gallery on her website has no thumbnails, but it's a joy to click through her beautiful work.) Favorite piece (you know me): "Booklist"

Chris Roberts-Antieau - Her website is just as whimsical as her amazing "fabric paintings".

Leif Holland and Brian McGuffey - Two Seattle artists that share a studio, but their art is completely different. Holland does these amazing botanical arrangements in deep shadow boxes (they're gorgeous in person), and McGuffey creates large paintings that combine humans and animals and evoke a sort of childhood nostalgia.

Alberto Toscano -  The sheer ingenuity of these pieces is remarkable. He uses polymer clay to somehow achieve these watercolor-like backgrounds with these tiny, detailed figures on them. The images on his blog don't do his work justice. Somebody needs to design this man a fabulous website!

Diane Komater - Wire sculptures and portraits. Amazingly beautiful seen in person.

Liz Collins - She uses maps and sheet music in her assemblages...take a closer look...

Ron Anderson - I love the paintings of his that incorporate articles of clothing.

Oh, I could go on and on: the food paintings by Cara Brown,  gorgeous pastel pieces that looks like oil paintings by Jody DePew McLeane, the visual humor of Richard Hall's photo-realistic still life paintings.

Check out the artists' websites and their calendars - maybe they'll be exhibiting at an art fair near you! 

Pencil Revolution!

"Alphabet" by Dalton Ghetti

You can't stop looking at it, can you? A couple of weeks ago, while googling the artist that created this marvel (more about him in a minute), I happened upon a website that is tailor-made for pencil geeks like me: Pencil Revolution.  I left a comment, and soon received an email from its editor.  He mentioned that they used to regularly feature pencil artists, but hadn't done so in a while, and asked if I would allow them to post some of my drawings! Well, I was very humbled by the request because there are so many wonderful pencil artists out there (more about them in a minute). But then, it occurred to me that this is one of the wonderfully serendipitous things about blogging: you bump into some really intriguing people as you mosey around the blogosphere.  Take Illustration Friday, for example -  I know that exchanging comments does not make me bosom buddies with another artist, but there's a kinship that starts to grow when you appreciate one another's creative efforts.

It seems that I discover another wonderful colored pencil artist every day, but there are a few whose new posts I eagerly anticipate.  One is Paula Pertile.  Her posts feel a bit like you're chatting with a friend over coffee, and she draws like a dream - I could stare at her drawings of candy (the ribbon candy, the caramels, the chocolates...) for hours.  Another is Leslie Hawes. She "travels" around the world via Google Street View and creates the loveliest drawings of  these locations.  Is that a wonderful use of technology or what?

Now, back to the fabulous Dalton Ghetti.  I've been enthralled by his work ever since I read about him in TIME for Kids one day last spring when I was substitute teaching.  He carves miniature wonders in the graphite at the tip of a pencil. Unbelievable. This is a link to his work and bio that was provided in the Pencil Revolution post. In such a hi-tech world, Dalton Ghetti's unabashedly lo-tech art just makes me happy.

So, thank you, Pencil Revolution, for "inviting me in" when I stopped by. Anyone who says that the internet is impersonal certainly hasn't been strolling through the same neighborhoods that I have visited since I started blogging a short while ago.