"Knit Your Own Cat" by Sally Muir and Joanna Osbourne

I love cats so when I saw this book in the bookstore the other day, it made me laugh!
I like the design of the cover, especially the cat's tail going through the writing.

Door County, Wisconsin #3

Sometimes art workshops are really hard to resist which is why I went to one in Wisconsin two weeks ago taught by a children's book illustrator whose work I find inspiring. His name is Rick Chrustowski and he has created several nature books for kids. You can check out his website if you like:
http://www.rickchrustowski.com/
He was fun and encouraging and ready to answer any question about his experience as an illustrator.
The class was very enjoyable - of course, it had to fly by! The workshop was held at  the Peninsula School of Art in Fish Creek. They offer all sorts of classes, have exhibitions and everyone is very friendly. I would recommend going there because it's a great school in a great location! Somehow I found it online as I was looking for workshops on etchings.


Peninsula School of Art
flowers all around!



Rick showing some of his work



my work


Rick organized the workshop so that we would be encouraged to complete one work by the end of the 3 days. He had several texts to choose from so I chose one which had a rabbit and a bird, some of my favorite subjects! He showed us his technique and we went about creating our own works. At the end of each day we gathered to discuss our progress.

Bird Study

 Here is the start of a new work...or perhaps just a study! I wanted to paint this bird but give it a soft look  with watercolor. I might give the wings a little more color.and add more paint in some other areas. Then I'm hoping to add a nice background!



I made a light wash after masking out the whites.



I added more paint after masking out more spots.



I added more paint and removed the masking.



Door County, Wisconsin #2

Apparently this rocky beach on Door County's Lake Michigan side is a great place to practice your sculpture skills!

 

  



I liked this one.



More!



Mine

Door County, Wisconsin

Last week I went to a workshop in Door County, Wisconsin, which is in the very northern part of Wisconsin on the peninsula - on one side is Green Bay and on the other is Lake Michigan. It was kind of odd to find myself there but when I was dreaming about workshops on the computer one day, I stumbled upon one that interested me and a place that seemed very intriguing. Thus a vacation was born!
It's such a neat place - clean and quaint, lots of nice galleries, hiking and boating - perfect for a  vacation. Here are a few photos of some of the quaint buildings I saw there. And soon to come - some nature shots and some photos from my workshop.

Stillwater Grill & Hat Head hat store

 

Sunshine and Co. (home and garden store)

 

I like the bicycle!



Larry's Bee Natural (honey store)



Wilson's
(so American!)

Mercer Museum - Doylestown, PA



Word blocks carved to print on wallpaper and fabric





 

I visited Mercer's home but also his museum that was completed in 1916 to house his vast collection of early American everyday objects. (nearly 40,000 - that's a collection!) There are more than 60 early American crafts represented. The place is amazing. Here are two crafts that were especially interesting to me!




Etchings, Engravings



 





 

Philadelphia Aquarium

Is it a snake or just a friendly fish??

The patterns of life!!

Fonthill Castle - Henry Mercer's Home

  

  

Last weekend while we were in Philadelphia, we took a side trip to Doylestown, Pennsylvania to see what we thought might be some interesting places to visit. The building in these photos is one of three reinforced concrete buildings built by Henry Mercer in the early 1900's. This one was his home and is now open for tours. On the same property he built the Moravian Tile Works to make hand-made decorative tiles for ceilings, walls and floors. These tiles are everywhere in his home, all with different stories to tell. The many rooms are different shapes due to the fact that concrete can be shaped. You could easily get lost here! It really is fascinating and I've never seen anything like it. The tile photo is from the Mercer Museum.