Cat practice sheet

This is something I talked Mary into doing with me just before I left.  There were so many other things I wanted to learn from her, but my time there was so short.  I love cats and wanted to learn this easy one......well, she made it look easy!  As you can see, my lines are way too think, but I was just getting the strokes down and brought this one home as a visual to use for practice.

If you ever have the opportunity to work with Mary at least once in your life, take that opportunity!   She is a great teacher and can say so much in a very few words and strokes.  I thoroughly enjoyed her and making art with her.  We had a great day Saturday at her apartment and enjoyed a light lunch together, too, before getting back to the brush and ink.  Mary has a website:  http://www.bamboosumie.com/

I had never been to San Antonio before, so this was a great trip for me.  I was also able to stop halfway on my trip to stay the night with another cousin and catch up on all the family news.
So, all in all, this was a very successful, enjoyable trip for me and my cousin that traveled with me.  Riverwalk was very pleasureable and our accommodations were great.

Hen and Rooster practice sheet

I love the hen and rooster.............I think I made my hen just a little too fat.  I'm definitely going to be practicing this for cards.  I just fell in love with this pair!

Cattail and grass practice sheet

A picture is worth a thousand words.............
practice!!!

Snail and waterlily practice sheet

Wow!  wide open on those snails!  PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!

Dragonfly card #2

I practiced a few lily pads and flowers before making this card and decided to make my dragonflies look as though they were about to alight on a flower.

Dragonfly card

Mary told me to make a card after only making four dragonflies on my practice sheet.  I was really happy with this card.........just wish I had put the eyes on them, but I really do need to practice that some more.

Practice sheet for dragonflies

This is my practice sheet for my dragonflies and my grasses.  I turned my paper and worked on grasses on all sides so it makes my dragonflies look a little confused!  ")  I had trouble making the eyes concentric and not far enough out front.....I tended to put them on the sides.

Bamboo done with large Japanese brush

This is my practice sheet for the large Japanese brush.  I loved working with the large brush.  I can see how much better my joints look in this photo.   I can also see where I had too much water in my brush.  ")

This is my first attempt at putting leaves on the bamboo.  I would post Mary's card she was working on while I did this one, but I want my to look fairly good.  LOL

Practicing bamboo leaves

This is one of my practice sheets for the bamboo leaves.  Mary also had me practicing my signature block. 

The upside down pod is actually the base for a spider chrysanthamum.

Bamboo card

After I had practiced on several sheets, Mary would have me make a card.  We used rice paper for the paintings that went on the cards.  This one is not yet attached to the cardstock.

Practicing bamboo

This is one of my practice sheets for the bamboo.  I still have lots of practice to do on my joints.  I'm not as thin as I need to be in the joint caps.  I loved learning this technique!

SAN ANTONIO RIVERWALK

This was the site across the river from our hotel as we walked out onto the riverwalk.  It was very cool on the river.  Lots of people for early April. 

Japanese Brush Painting Lessons

I traveled to San Antonio this past week to take some Japanese brush painting lessons from Mary Bowman, who has traveled to Japan and taken lessons from several masters.  I thoroughly enjoyed my time with her.  She was a joy!  We had six hours on Saturday and two and a half hours on Sunday.  The card on the left was made after 4 hours of practicing the strokes and placement.  Still much work to be done and hours of practice ahead of me.  ")

My cousin traveled with me and we stayed at Drury Plaza Hotel right on the San Antonio Riverwalk.  It was so convenient for her while I was at Mary's taking my lessons.  She is definitely a Shopaholic!!  She walked about 5 blocks to the mall and shopped all day.  She came back with a bag large enough for my 3 year old grandson to hide in!  LOL  The weather was absolutely beautiful.................74-78 daytime temps.  It was the beginning of Fiesta! Sunday.  We walked to the Mexican Market and had lunch on the patio of Mi Tierre.....listened to some wonderful Inca musicians.  The flutist could play absolutely anything.  After several traditional tunes, they played several romantic American tunes.  What a master he was!