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!

Willow reflections

Katherine's card popped up at Coin Perdu in the New Year, but it was actually done still in the old year. Maybe reflecting on the old year, while sketching the reflections of the willow...?

..the willows..
done in colored pencil and pen on Arches HP paper, 19x28.5cm

Between the full sketch and the crop below, one can get a great feeling of the marks Katherine makes with her pencils and pen. a lot of cross hatching, some erasing for the higlights, some darker pressure here and a soft touch there... I especially love the darkness of the reflections breaking up into softer tones and hues and more highlights and finally disappear into the lefthand corner, adding such lovely diagonal movement. I feel as if I'm slowly passing in a canoe, dragging my hand through the ripples and reflections.

...the willows(detail)...

Katherine chose to compliment the Loire here in my world with her sketch of the willows at the basin of the Regent's canal there in her world...very appropriate and very special! Thank you for a lovely card Katherine!

A cup of french Earl Grey with Liz.

For some reason I am drinking much more tea since a few weeks back. It lifts many an eyebrow, because it is unthinkable that I would refuse a coffee for a tea.
"What happened? Are you sick?" Apart from a shoulder shrug and a lifted eyebrow myself, I didn't have an answer. Until I received my card from Liz. It hit me. Of course! It is Liz and her love for a cup of good tea!
For quite time Liz had been sketching these colorful tea scenes around a tea pot, a cup or two and yes...a tasty treat, like once again in this card. Now how does one stay on the right path when seduction is thrown so blatantly in your lap!

Thank you for a lovely tea scene, Liz, and I'm enjoying my cups of tea so much so, that now I'll be on the search for your latest discovery...French Earl Grey. By your hand I am becoming a refined lady!

Jacaranda blossom viewing at Johannesburg

Thank you Cathy for this nice card with Jacaranda trees in full bloom at the beginning of November. The Jacaranda tree was imported from South America about 100 years ago to South Africa. The pink spot in the background are Bougainvillea bloming at the same time.

The flowers of the Jacaranda tree fall constantly like rain, Cathy says on the card, and gardeners have a hard time to clean their pavements. The whole spectacle seems to last only for a short period of time until everything is green again. I feel very lucky that it was my turn to get a November postcard documenting the bloom of Jacaranda trees at Johannesburg.

By the way: Johannesburg is said to be the city with the largest man made forest with six million trees in public parcs and on private property. It is worth while to google a bit about Johannesburg and Jacaranda trees!

Looking at the River Thames

This lovely view on the River Thames was in my post box last week. Alison did the sketch from the balcony of her kajak club house. I believe it is a view near Richmond Hill, a gorgeous piece of landscape with a history in art.

Once Alison mentioned in her weblog that William Turner had been sketching in the area and some photographs of today showed an almost unchanged still and peaceful place.

Looking at a big flowing river like the River Thames can bring us in connection with the flow of the eternal forces of nature no matter what turmoil might be around or within us.

Thank you Alison for this beautiful card which made my mind take a rest from the busy everyday routine to contemplate in peace.

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.

Richmond Hill - a view protected by an Act of Parliament

The View from Richmond Hill by Alison Staite

I was absolutely delighted to receive a watercolour painting of the view from the top of Richmond Hill from Alison.

This is an absolutely classic landscape view.  So much so that it's actually the only view of a landscape in the UK that is protected by an Act of Parliament - the Richmond, Ham and Petersham Open Spaces Act passed in 1902 - to protect the land on and below Richmond Hill and thus preserve the fine foreground views to the west and south. This might possibly have had something to do with the fact that Sir Joshua Reynolds who was President of the Royal Academy of Arts used to have his home in a large house at the top of Richmond Hill and this was the view from his house!  Plus Turner painted this view.  It's certainly been painted by a lot of other artists since - and now that list includes Alison.

I know you loved views and vistas so it seemed appropriate for you!

Then I remembered that I'd had in mind to do the same view for her when her turn came round - so I guess I'm going to have think of something else now! :)

Alison has gone for an extended landscape format and she describes it as a rather oversized postcard.  She has painted the view on khadi which is a handmade cotton rag paper with an interesting deckle edge.

It was the first time I'd tried it for sketching, so what with all the greens to mix and an unfamiliar paper I was way out of my comfort zone.  The paper is really good fun though and I'll definitely be having another go.  I need Robyn's help so I can make a proper bound sketchbook out of it.

Looks to me like Alison has had a great time and I certainly recognised the view straight out of the envelope!

Trees by the Tate - Greetings from London

During the lunch break I heard a rattling at letter box and I was delighted to find this beautiful postcard from London inside. Katherine Tyrrell had taken the time and effort to sketch some trees at the famous Tate Gallery, London and had posted them to me.

The drawing is in coloured liner pen and coloured pencils I think, on a buff white strong card in a slightly panoramic view (1:2). I like the way how people are arranged in different scale from foreground to the background and it is nice to follow them through the picture. To me it seems like a film still and immediately I began to wonder what the story could be about.

Thank you very much Katherine for this unique piece of mail art.

The bridge and the birds at Montlouis sur Loire

People joke about those who will go the opening of an envelope!  However, if you ever get the opportunity to go the opening of an envelope from Ronelle van Wyk (African Tapestry) you MUST GO!

It's a real treat!  With added extras.  ;)  Ronelle is all about added extras! I oooed and aahhed and generally had a good time when I opened mine

I'm not saying any more than that about "the extras" so as not to spoil the surprise for my fellow Sketchercisers who will in turn get their envelope from Ronell!

Anyway, first off there is the envelope which I have down in the category of "added value" for both me and the postmen who have handled it.   Lovely pen and ink and watercolour sketches of the "muettes"  flying around the Loire

"Les Birdies sur le Loire" - sketch on an envelope by Ronelle van Wyk

Inside there were a couple of more sketches of birds on the reverse of Ronelle's sketch of the railway bridge over the Loire in February at Montlouis sur Loire - which I've been to!  That's a real February sky!

Pont de Montlouis by Ronelle van Wyk
pencil and watercolour

I so admire people who can just touch in watercolour here and there.  I've always wanted to be able to do that but somehow my brush manages to try to cover the whole sheet before I know it.

Here's what Ronelle has to say about the bridge and the birds

Dear Katherine

A loire sketch for you - the Montlouis birdge that has been bombed 13 times in WWII (by the Americans no less!!) and is the only bridge still standing.  How is that for hope and determination?  

The "muettes" are starting to nest on the islands in the Loire and along with all the bulbs peeping through the dark soil, Spring is tickling us with the desire to renew our lives..... our houses, our habits...like Sketchercise

I wish you the same... strength and determination like the Pont de Montlouis, renewal like the arrival of the Muettes and a non-stop flow of creativity like "La Loire".

Gros bisous

Ronelle

PS  It is a postcard even if it is a bit big - it has two stamps to prove it!

Ronelle van Wyk sketching the Loire - February 2011

It must be so lovely to be able to walk out of your front door and go and look at and sketch the Loire whenever you want to!

Now I wonder whose postcard I will get next month?

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 Vivien Blackburn

sunset, Penwith, oil in sketchbook

I'm really looking forward to this postcard exchange with such a great group. Thank you for the invitation :>)

About me: I can't remember a time when I didn't draw - one of my earliest memories is, aged one, posting drawings (scribbles) to my father when he was in Gibraltar, looking for accomodation so that my mother and I could go out to join him.

In my youth I lived in some beautiful places including Cornwall, Malta and on the Moray Firth in the north of Scotland, so, though it may have scrambled my education a little, it almost certainly led to an early feeling for light and landscape.

I went to art college on leaving school, completed my Foundation Year, didn't continue on to the Diploma years - did a few different things - art was on a back burner - then married, had 2 daughters and didn't go back until they were at senior school. I then did my BA in Fine Art as a mature student. It's never too late :>)

This is some of my sketching, the first few are all Cornwall

Sam, evening, silver sea, watercolour/mixed media in sketchbook

Moorland Farm, Penwith, watercolour/mixed media in sketchbook

Lanyons Quoit, charcoal, in sketchbook

Someone commented earlier on about the clean neatness of Albrecht's sketchbook - mine are, I'm afraid, messy ones! I work in all sorts of media - oils, watercolours, lots of mixed media, charcoal, pastel, pencil, acrylic ..... etc etc etc- so loose oils may follow a detailed close up study of something in pencil in my books, followed by watercolour, mixed media, charcoal ,ink - anything goes.

Wild Day, Sennen Cove, oil


Approaching Rain, Mawgan Porth, charcoal and coloured pencil, in sketchbook

Charlestown, Cornwall, watercolour/mixed media, in sketchbook

I particularly like to paint or draw water - the Cornish coast has to be top of the list but canals, streams, rivers tool

Wild Day, Sennen Cove, pencil, in sketchbook analysing the movement of the waves

The Old Packhorse Bridge (very old), Aylestone Meadows, charcoal, in sketchbook

Frog Island, Leicester, in large A3 landscape sketchbook

I don't often do industrial landscapes. This is part of a series of sketches of local waterways that I intend to revisit.

Cardoon seedheads, in sketchbook, pencil

And .... sometimes it's nice to change scale and observe something closely. I found the spiky dry scales vs the fluffy insides of these cardoons fascinating to draw.

I unfortunately have arthritis and asthma. so my walking distance is limited but it is essential to keep moving so sketchercise is great as it will encourage me out walking, sketching and sharing the results :>)

I like to work plein air soaking up the atmosphere, feeling the wind. smelling the vegetation, getting the mood of the day and seeing the colours as the light changes - it is so much better than a photograph, fixing all this in my visual memory, the feelings, smells and memories come back when I look through old sketch books.

Well - my first postcard went out at the end of January so hopefully it's winging its way to Martin. And I'm really looking forward to the first one dropping through my door :>) and following the progress through the months.

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.

Introducing Bridget Hunter

I live on the south west coast of Scotland and I love painting - oils, acrylics, gouache - especially the landscape around my home.

I prefer painting outside in front of the subject but, as its not always possible to do this,  I often sketch. The sketch then becomes a painting resource along with my recollection of the atmosphere and colours.

Above Loch Doon

Sketch - Loch Doon

Landscape, Loch Doon
Oil 2010

I also love walking and I'm lucky to live 10 minutes from unspoiled beaches and 10 minutes from the countryside which varies from rolling hills to rugged moorland, both populated by Blackfaced sheep, grouse, deer and buzzards.

I always drew and painted, but, as others find, working fulltime and being mother to 3 meant ironing and other such necessary activites always came first. Then I was widowed, my daughters became mums, I retired and painting has become much more than a part-time hobby.

But since joining Sketchercise and seeing all the wonderful, varied sketches of the people here and of artists' work found through the blog Making A Mark, I now appreciate drawing as an end in itself once more.

I'm very grateful to the members of Sketchercise for the opportunity to be part of this postcard exchange and look forward to being in touch, in this amazing way, with like-minded people from all around the world.

Introduction Albrecht Rissler

Postcard from Paris, Cafe Fontaine, self portrait, ball pen, 2009

Hi, I'm Albrecht, living in Heidelberg. I started drawing as a child and I haven't finished since then. I didn't have any choices because there was no talent in other fields at all. All my various professions had to do somehow with drawing or art in general. Finally I ended up as professor at a University of applied sciences, teaching drawing and illustration for 20 years. Now, being retired, I can’t stop. I teach landscape drawing at two private art academies. My studio has everyting I need to work on postcards or on huge sizes on an easel.

I try to take my scetchbooks wherever I go. For me they are dieries and a sort of a labaratory in using all kinds of techniques. These days I'm using the thickest pencil (20B!) I can get, it is absolutely perfect for me even in small scetchbooks.

Scetchbook Heidelberg 2010, Castle, Powder Turret, Graphit 20B

Scetchbook Paris 2009,
Tombstone of the murdered Journalist Victor Noir at the Pere-Lachaise Cemetery

Postcard from Mallorca, Cala S'Almonia 2002, pencil and watercolor


Scetchbook Balcony, Ladybirds, pencil, watercolor, May 2 1990

I send art postcards for many years. I guess I've started in the sixties. I keep swopping self-made cards with lots of friends all over the world. So I'm looking forward to have my collection enriched by this great project
POSTCARD FROM MY WALK

www.risslerart.de
http://drawinglandscape.blogspot.com

Introducing Katherine Tyrrell

Sketches in London by Katherine Tyrrell

My involvement with the Postcard from my Walk project dates back to 2006 and a small group of bloggers who were all taking their sketchbooks with them as they took regular exercise.  It was the sketching version of a painting a day - with walking a mile thrown in!

Sketchercise

What became very clear to me was that they kept going because of the mutual support.  That notion of mutual support was the main reason I founded Sketchercise in June 2009 - see

• Sketchercise! (the blog post) 
• Sketchercise the Ning site (by invitation only)
• Sketchercise on Flickr for those people who would like to give Sketchercise a try.

Why A Postcard from my Walk is important to me

A Postcard from my Walk is a project/blog for regular contributors to the Sketchercise Ning Group.  The idea is to produce sketches which we can see for real as opposed to on our screens in a digital format.

The other main reason why I need a group and the discipline of walking and sketching is that I have a disability in my feet.  I've experienced cycles of tissue contraction/falls/tearing tissue which leaves me on crutches for 6 weeks plus very poor balance and constant pain in my feet.

I've adopted a strategy of trying to manage risks better.  In 2009 I decided to try and exercise more so that I could lose weight, reduce swelling and hence reduce the risks of more falls/tissue tears/etc.   Walking is also the best way for me of exercising my feet and strengthening the soft tissue which, after many falls and tears, is fairly mangled.  My physio has commented in the past about how much simpler it would be if I broke bones rather than tearing tissue!

In 2009, I gave up all the naughty calories (eg alcohol, chocolate, biscuits, cakes, cheese and anything else which was packed full of calories for relatively little nutritional value) PLUS vowed to do a lot more walking. As a result, in fits and starts (largely related to things like flu and how active I was) by the end of the year I had achieved a weight loss of very nearly 3 stones. 

8 reasons to exercise (my personal memory jogger!)

1. Exercise strengthens and stretches muscles which helps to prevent pain and being pain free means being able to draw and paint and do other activities for longer!
2. Exercise improves balance, which prevents injuries
3. Exercise builds bones
4. Exercise reduces stress!!!!
5. Exercise lowers cholesterol
6. Exercise creates endorphins which make you feel great both during and after exercise
7. Regular exercise rebuilds the habit of regular exercise
8. Exercise leads to weight loss and looking better

It also helped me work on my Ecology Park Pond series

Last year, I was working hard for my local residents association.  A major local redevelopment caused me a phenomenal amount of work in getting to grips with planning law/regulations and lobbying hard on pre-commencement planning conditions.  This meant I first took a break from exercise and sketching and then took a break from the Sketchercise group as the workload on the planning front threatened to swamp me.  As a result of a very sedentary lifestyle in 2010 the weight piled back on!  I don't in any way regret the commitment I made but I now need to get back to walking again as it's very clear that this is the key to my weight loss - and keeping it off!

Which means that A Postcard from my Walk comes at a very opportune time for me. I'm now more than ever convinced that:

• regular long walks help me lose weight and maintain weight loss
• I need the virtual company and encouragement of others to make sure I keep going

The nice thing about this project is that I've got to achieve the production of a postcard each month - so I need to get out and about again.

My travels with a sketchbook

When I travel I sketch and when I sketch I record the stories behind sketches from my travels in my blog.  

I'm a great devotee and promoter of the value of sketching and you can:

• See sketches done all around the world on my website
• Read about my sketching trips on my sketching blog Travels with my sketchbook in......  eg
• Venice in 2005,  
• California / South Western States and New England in 2006 and  
• Paris and Normandy in 2009
• plus all my local outings in London and the rest of the UK.

Travels with my sketchbook

• Read my Advice on How to Sketch

You'll find that most of my sketches are:

• local places in East London
• trips to places - often parks and gardens - in London
• generated while walking around major galleries and museums or my local branch of a huge supermarket if surfaces are wet or slippery
• often involve a stop for a cup of tea!

The major challenge for me will be sketching as small as 7" x 5"!  I usually sketch much larger.......