Richmond Park from Alison

I received my postcard from Alison! Thank you Alison for such a wonderful card of your winter in the park. I can truly feel the drab grey skies you speak about in you letter. I am also thankful for the siennas that bring some warm color to the grey days of winter. Hopefully your sun is back out and your spring will come quickly! For us, although it has been colder than normal in Southern California we usually have sun and look forward to the grey rainy days that are few and far between.

The Little Lemon Tree

This is a sketch from Desiree, done several weeks ago now during the tail end of autumn.  It's part of her own garden and amazingly colourful considering the time of year. A real reminder to me as to how mild the Californian climate is compared to that of the UK. Everything looks wonderfully lush. 

I am particularly jealous of her little lemon tree, something we can't grow remotely well here in England.

I have seen photos of Desiree's garden and its stunning. I think her love for her plants clearly spills over into this painting and i am so happy it's now part of my postcard collection.  Thank you Desiree!  

Peach Jam by Desiree

Peach Jam

The written tale on the reverse of this postcard had visual qualities nearly as good as this beautiful painting of peach jam by Desiree Habicht.

So here it is....

Dear Katherine

With our fruit trees in full production and everything ripening at the same time I am forced to deal with bushels of fruit.  I do love to can and put up things I grow. The weather has been so nice and I have an outdoor kitchen where I sterilize jars and process jams.  It helps keep the house cooler but requires a lot more running for me.  After two solid days of picking, cleaning, processing and sealing I feel it qualifies as Sketchercise!

This year I made peach jam, peach-japaleno jelly, peach bellini jam, peach salsa, peach-cantaloupe preserves and corn relish.  Yummy - 45 jars of goodies!

Enjoy

Desiree

I most certainly did Desiree - I am salivating at all those wonderful products of your labour - and that amount of work most definitely counts as sketchercise!

Californian Hollyhocks

On a very cold wet winter's day there was a lovely surprise for me in my mailbox.(sadly it was a little wet - but not too wet on the front!) This wonderful card from Desiree shows the Hollyhocks in her amazing garden. These were not blooming when she had her garden tour... what a pity "they are in full bloom now - they must be 7 feet tall and the giant, peony type flowers take turns blooming up the stalk. I have light pink, dark pinks and white". I hope that one day I will be able to visit her incredible garden - see here

This certainly brightened my day! I also love the way it is a page ripped out of a sketchbook - somehow it makes it more personal to think that it once was in Desiree's sketchbook.

Thanks!

196 Cards from A Postcard from my walk - a tribute to Earth Day

Our project has come to an end. With many stories to tell about lost cards and some destroyed by rain and some never received and some resent...it was exciting, kept us on our toes and we were constantly challenged to come up with interesting and original subjects. But here we are...a little over a year later and very appropriate for earth day 2012, we look back on our cards and a great satisfaction and contentment bring a smile to our faces. It was a year well spent around the pencil and brush.

 

Click on each image to see the bigger version.

Cards sent by:

Albrecht Richter - Germany

Alison Staite - England

Bridget Hunter - Scotland

Cathy Gatland - South Africa

Charlene Brown - Canada

Desirée Dianne Habicht - USA

Felicity Grace - Switzerland

Katherine Tyrrell - England

Liz Steel - Australia

Martin Stankewitz - Germany

Pat Reece - USA

Robyn Sinclair - Italy

Ronelle van Wyk

Vivien Blackburn - England

Thank you to everybody who shared this trip with us around the world, whether it was by regular visits or leaving comments or simply just stopping by. The more the company, the merrier the spirit!

Thank you!

Strawberries, apricots and gifts "sur la table".

My last card was from Desiree and it came wrapped as a big surprise.
An enticing strawberries card, seeing how much I love food...

-watercolor on watercolor paper, 12,5x18cm-

...and a beautiful apricot branch in bloom(may I receive the apricots card soon..)..

-watercolor on watercolor paper, 15,5x11,5cm-

...both hidden inside THIS...with its own bookmark(handmade of course by the artist herself....

I am spoiled! Thank you sweet friend from sunny California!

Angel Wing Begonias from California

This card reached me in the middle of the winter, when it was extremely cold here in Germany. You can imagine that this sunny greetings from California came at the right time. It's is a beautiful outlook to coming springtime. Desiree wrote about the warm days and cold nights over there, and that the yard is blooming soon. The Angel Wing Begonias are among her favorite flowers. Their color can change from pinks to red depending on the amount or lack of sun, she wrote.
Thank you very much for this precious little piece of art, Desiree. I love it!
Albrecht 

A Favourite View

"My favourite view in the whole house, a corner view over my spa tub.  This view encourages lots of daily soakings!"   These are Desiree's words, and wow, with a tree like this to gaze at, I'd happily be ensconced in the spa tub all day.  What a glorious colour! This is a pistache tree and it's leaves were this lovely flaming pink / gold a few weeks ago.  It's not a tree I'm familiar with.  I guess it likes the mild climate of California rather than the vagaries of English weather! 

Desiree says her husband had threatened to rip the tree out, because it doesn't always colour up like this.  The tree must have overheard the threat and fearing for it's life, burst forth this autumn like never before.  The tree is now saved!  Thank goodness, otherwise I'd never have had the pleasure of receiving such a gem!

Postcard from California

Isn't this wonderful? I never imagined when we started the postcard exchange that I would be getting a leopard! This lovely leopard lazing in the sunshine comes all the way from California where Desiree painted it during a family trip out to San Diego Zoo. The colours are beautiful - the rich, deep greens in the background and the subtle blues and pinks on the rock - and I love the way the light is reflecting off the stone on to his fur.

I love the back too, decorated with a lovely pen sketch and animal tracks! Thank you so much Desiree for taking time out from a busy family day to do this fabulous card!

Door to the Garden

Desiree Habicht

Watercolor on paper

This postcard comes from Desiree's creative brush during a moment to herself near a garden retreat.  The welcoming cushions on the chair and the open door to the garden allows us to experience the wonderful garden exterior with beautifully accommodating weather but blocked by the bench, keeping us safely cocooned in the cool interior.

 Receiving this card lifted my spirits and kept me smiling for the rest of the day.  I have placed it on the desk that is now holding all of my postcards. 

Here are the cards I have received up to this point.(right to left)

Bridget, Desiree, Katherine, Charlene

Martin, Vivian, Liz and Cathy

Salsa anyone?

Its not often that postcards make my mouth water, but this delightfully illustrated recipe version managed to do that - you may start a trend here, Desiree, or a new exchange... She says these purple fruits grow like Chinese lanterns (or Cape gooseberries?) inside papery, puffy balls until they bust through the cover revealing the fruit inside. They are apparently usually pale green, though I've never heard of tomatillos, let alone purple ones - but I love the colours and the lovely loose way they've blended into the shadows. On the envelope is a sketch of Desiree's labours to produce this interesting food. Now all I have to do is find me some purple tomatillo seeds!

California Dreaming in a Winery

What a lovely way to spend a day - in the company of a good friend at Southcoast Winery and Spa in California. Even though there was a little rain, a very rare event in July, the mountain scenery was beautiful in the misty weather. Hasn't Desiree caught that effect and the recession of the landscape perfectly on my card in the skillful way she's used the different tones of pure fresh watercolour.

Desiree describes the vines as heavy with maturing grapes. Her lovely portrayal of the bottle and glass of  red wine seems to sum up her wonderful day there. I can just picture the experience. Makes me quite envious. I love my card. Thankyou.

Hi from California!

A lovely painting of a lovely day by Desirée Habicht

Isn’t this a great picture? Desirée’s card shows two wonderful ladies (probably watercolour painters) enjoying a perfect summer day at Glen Ivy Hot Springs. Unlike the dauntingly elegant, high-maintenance layabouts usually seen in spa advertisements, these ladies obviously deserved this iced-tea-drinking drift around the pool preceded by mud baths, massages and sauna… and Desirée accurately guessed that this might be my kind of place!

Zion, a Place for Rest and Refuge, plein air from Desiree

Zion a Place for Rest and Reguge, drama in watercolour by Desiree

 This lovely plein air of dramatic cliffs, reflected in the rushing melt water in  Zion National Park, trees catching the light and a terrific sense of place, dropped through my letterbox this morning.   It really catches the drama and scale of the scene, the cliffs towering above.   Her title shows her feelings for this place that come through in the work.   I know what she means with the title - I have the same feeling at the coast.  It's lovely to see all these places that are special to us, so very different with each country.

Desiree describes sitting in  a cold wind, heroically working on this - It was well worth it wasn't it?   :>)

There are great details on the back of the flowers and even park stamps that she has used as a frame for one.  It came through the post safely with not even a smudge or wrinkle.

Her use of watercolour is confident and assured.

Nesting Cormorant

This beautiful nesting cormorant flew into my postbox recently. Desiree Habicht managed to capture the bird at an wild animal park sketching from life. This beautiful watercolor study arrived in perfect condition. Thank you Desiree for this wonderful addition to my small, but growing collection of artist postcards..

A Field of wild Mustard

I just received this wonderful postcard from Desiree on a grey and wet autumn day – what delicious colours – it certainly made my day. Unfortunately the mail is sorted and bundled with aggressive rubber bands which have left a small tear at the top – but apart from that it is in perfect condition!

“Although considered a weed, in the early spring this when sets the valleys and fields on fire with bright yellow flowers. The hills are still full of snow and the sky was a beautiful blue. A perfect walk on a spring day”

The back of the card also included a sketch – of some Clivia that are in full bloom all around her front courtyard- how I would love to come and visit one day!
Thanks Desiree!

Echium Spring in California

A 4.5" x 6.5" postcard from Desiree Habicht

My mouth has been watering for ages over Desiree's beautiful botanical studies in pen and watercolour. Now it's like a bunch of Echium has been delivered to my door, which just goes to prove if you want something enough it will come.

Desiree's postcard message says 'During my 9 day plein air paint-out I saw this brilliant blue spotting the hills. The bush can get very large and woody so best grown in background or kept pruned.' There speaks an authentic gardener as well as an artist.

This gorgeous postcard tingles with colour. I'm hoping Desiree will tell me what that beautiful blue is because I don't find anything like it in my paintbox.

Thank you Desiree. One very happy fan here.

Postcard from Katherine Tyrrell, London

I was the lucky recipient of Katherine's first post card! She had a outing with other artists to the Natural History Museum in South Kensington, London where she penned these beautiful butterflies.

Thank you Katherine for such a lovely card. My daughter, who loves butterflies asked is she could have it framed for her room, I think we might fight over who gets to keep this one! I admire all those tiny pen strokes that make up the butterflies, then it seems like you added some colored pencil to complete the masterpiece. A lovely way to start my spring season, thank you so much!!! 

A Postcard from Casa Colina

A postcard from Desiree - Casa Colina

This is the beautiful postcard I received from Desiree Habicht in southern California.

This is what she had to say about her visit to Casa Colina on the reverse.

This new rehabilitation hosital is absolutely beautiful.  We are lovers of the spanish and meditaerranean influences in our architecture.  Every street seems to have many subtropicals and varieties of palm trees.  Since we are here several times a week I often will run or walk the area whuch Jennifer has therapy.  Today, as I wait in the outdoor gardens, I am enjoying the sun and the warmth.  The birds of paradise are blooming and the boug. are just starting to open up.  Within a few weeks they will cover the nicely trimmed bushes with a neon pink.

Enjoy!

Note: Casa Colina is located in Pomona, California, about 40 miles due east of downtown Los Angeles on the San Bernardino Freeway, Interstate-10.

Introducing Desiree Habicht

I am fortunate to live in Southern California with my husband and daughter, where the weather is almost perfect year round. I love to be outdoors gardening, swimming, walking, running, sketching or painting. I find that I do several types of sketch books and sketches. One is to document my travels, another is for sketching things that inspire me and yet another to record ideas and designs for future projects. My supply list is a pen or pencil, a water brush and some paint tucked into a backpack that I can carry where ever I go. If I am going to an indoor event I often just tuck my sketchbook into my purse. I usually always carry it with me so that when the opportunity arises I have it.

I have been an artist all of my life, doing murals, faux finishing and fine art. Today I work in fiber, pastels and watercolor. You can view my art on my website or follow my adventures on my blog. Mostly self taught I didn't start to sketch daily until several years ago when I read the book "Everyday Matters". That is when I started adding sketches to my journal pages.


When I am walking or running I seldom stop to sketch but often I will return to a particular area to sketch something of interest that had caught my eye. I have also collected things on my walks that I will sketch once I get home. Something special happens when I paint things from life, I really discover it! I get to record the details most people passing by never see. It becomes imprinted in my mind's eye and it is not  quickly forgotten.

I find when I look back over my  sketchbooks it takes me to the memory of that day.

One of the things I like most about sketching and recording my thoughts about the events of the day, is that it is a personal record of my life's journey. These sketches and notes are for me and although they aren't always perfect or beautifully done, they are a small glimpse into what I was doing or feeling on any particular day. I hope that in years to come my family will enjoy them long after I am gone, seeing where I was, what made me stop along a trail to sketch, what inspired me and what I was thinking.

Thank you for letting me be a part of this wonderful group of talented artist from around the world. We are joined by a love of exercise, the outdoors, nature and painting.