Happy Holidays to all who are celebrating and (possibly even more exciting) happy countdown to the end of 2020. We’re in single digits now!

While this Christmas season hasn’t been as raw for me as last year, when it was the first anniversary of my mother’s sickness and death, my mood hasn’t been chipper either. I got up and wandered out to Basket Slough this morning. It was rainy and atmospheric and lovely. The big spot was a pack of three coyotes with a dead duck. My photos aren’t great of them, but it was an enjoyable encounter for me. This little pack wasn’t as wary as others I’ve come across and didn’t immediately dart for the hills.

Other critters and scenes were enjoyed as well.

 

I’ve been pondering how to add a little cheer to the rest of the day and landed on taking Ruth Armitage’s “Land Lines” online class, which I have access to as part of the Roaring 20’s program, which I will be doing again for another six months starting in January.

The first task was going through the first day’s materials, followed by a little journaling about the place you were interested in drawing. I may have cheated a little on that. Then we were asked to do warm ups with different lines. I cheated again and added color.

Then we were supposed to do two painting. Again, I cheated. I did these paintings late last week and they have more work to be done. But I’ll be using them to finish the assignment tomorrow.

In addition to the above, I viewed a video by admired artist Dawn Emerson. I’m toying with (more than toying with, really) taking her workshop in pan pastels next month. This might be the trouble I’ve been looking for.