Inspirations

A vase crafted from an old chestnut fence railing

There are all sorts of objects in our house that I love.  I kept them as we downsized and "consolidated" from two houses to one,  because they had meaning, were useful, and/or made me happy.   Lots of other objects were shed in the process -- there simply wasn't room to keep many things that I'd kept or collected over the years, whether antique wooden boxes or tins, remembrances from travel, or simply miscellany.  We only kept the furniture that we loved, too, shedding all of the extra in the process, but that's a different story.

There is inspiration to be had in these objects as subjects for quick sketches, I'm realizing.  "Quick" -- so the perfectionist critic doesn't seize up and "sketch" for the same reason, too.  "Quick sketch" implies equal ease. 

Excellent.

I just used a drawing paper notebook today, with watercolor pencils again, with a bit of ink, but still liked the results.  (Using cheap paper also placates the inner critic...)  The whole point is practice, and getting over the fear of sitting down with it....not in a class, but just in my studio. 

We have two of these old chestnut fence railing vases, one small and one a bit larger.  I bought them from a catalog many years ago -- maybe in a pre-online age, now that I'm thinking about it, so we've had them a long time.   I love the shape of the old railings -- they're not particularly practical as vases (the larger one has a bigger opening), and the glass tube inside fell out and broke as I brought it down to the studio (it was only big enough for a single stem...)

Here was the result.  I was glad to sit down and just do another drawing!