Just a sketch

So I figured out that if the weather is nice I do not like staying inside and doing artwork! Therefore I've had nothing really blogworthy to post.

School has started again and for the past three to four weeks I have been busy with that. But now I seem to have hit my stride so it's time to give myself a kick in the pants to get creative again!

Since fall is coming I have felt like drawing crows. Not really sure why they remind me of fall but I didn't feel like drawing cute sparrows and fluffy robin chicks anymore. Crows are more moody and mysterious don't you think?

I do have other projects started but not finished yet so I will have more to post soon. I'm still a little scattered.

But today is another gorgeous day out so I am going to go enjoy it while I can.

Enjoy!

Oregano??

I do apologize for being gone so long again. I have been busy preparing for back to school which starts Monday. Yikes! Still so much to do.

 I do need your help with something though.

My grandmother brought back some oregano from her village in Greece many, many years ago. It spreads like a weed but it's not invasive. And everyone in my family has patches of it growing all over their yards. The problem is that we've always referred to it as oregano but it doesn't look like any type of oregano I've seen anywhere else.

Can you identify it?

 It gets these cute little pinkish purple flowers scattered along the stem that produce an abundance of seeds which is why it shows up in the most surprising places each summer!

 The leaves are long and thin which is not like an oregano leaf at all. So I am curious if this is really oregano. It sure smells like oregano. My yiayia called it oregano so everyone in my family refers to it as oregano too.

 And it really will grow anywhere. You can see it growing in the cracks between the bricks in my patio. It also showed up a good 15 feet away by the stairs on my patio too.

 A small patch showed up right next to my hydrangea...

and all the way around my house in the front yard growing out from between the cracks in the flagstone wall.

It's just such a cute plant that I never yank them out. That way I'm always surprised where it will show up next year!

But if anyone knows the identity of this herb I'd love to know. I am wondering if Liane from Prairie Garden can help at all with this one?

Last Workshop

 Last week was my last summer art workshop for the kids whose school district eliminated all art, music and gym classes. There were only three girls in this last class and they are all good friends. They were so sweet, and I had a good time with them too. They got a kick out of watching the goats out the back window.

 We did a grid drawing for our last project. I had them bring in food wrappers because the bold graphics and images are easier to draw and look nice when they are all colored in. Grid drawing is a great way to draw images accurately and proportionately.

 

 Drawing out the grid can take a long time if you've never done it before but the extra preparation is worth it if you have trouble drawing from a photo without it looking distorted.

One grid is drawn over the photo and one is drawn very lightly on your paper. Then, instead of drawing the whole picture all at once, all you have to do is draw what you see inside each little square. Just make sure you draw it in the exact same square on the drawing paper. That's why I always have my students number the grids across the top and down the left side to make sure they are drawing inside the correct box.

 We ran out of time before they had a chance to start coloring but they are a smart group of kids and I'm sure they can color them in on their own.

 Besides we had to leave some time for them to run outside to see if they could scare the goats and watch them fall over. It was so funny to see the girls all trying to hide behind one tiny little shrub and jump out screaming .

 My daughter May decided to do her own thing and gave herself a purple marker henna style tatoo.

And I just had to share this cute little grasshopper with you too. I found him hiding perfectly camouflaged (almost) in my spirea.

*************************************

Well, I'm back to work this week unofficially to start doing inventory of the art supplies before school begins. I can't believe that summer vacation is over so soon! But I think I am ready for a change.....I think.