flowers from my sketchbook

 Wildflowers from the Colorado Springs area, blue beauties blooming all over the mountainside in early June.

since we were gone

I am back and this blog is now back, returned from a vacation in body mind and spirit.  My sketchbook is filled up! I had to buy a new one for my little watercolor journals. I will be posting the remaining entries that I have missed while away.

what a lovely idea

Here is a truly lovely idea. This very polite young man is designing his own wedding invitations. He searched the web for images of peonies and came across a line drawing that I had posted when I was drawing and painting a whole series of peonies from the live flowers in my own garden. Here is the original post. And this is the drawing. I kind of like it a lot myself.

Here is some of our email exchange: "I am putting together my wedding invitations. I began by finding images of Peonies, and I stumbled across this image. This was my favorite image of peonies in all of the searching I had done.
I was using it for a design, and it occurred to me that someone had spent a lot of time on it, and I was about to use it without recognition of that. 
That would have been wrong of me.
I'm writing you to ask if there is any way I could use this image of yours. We're running a tight budget, so I can't offer you much for money, but I could put your name/signature on the invite or elsewhere. 
I understand if you would prefer that I don't use your image.
To be transparent: I'm sending out 60-70 invitations, printing the peony lightly on the background, and then using a fancy pen to write over the top. I may or may not use the image for the RSVPs as well, of which there would be the same amount. I've also attached a preview of what I was thinking for the invite."

And I replied: "First let me thank you for contacting me regarding the peony line drawing. I am a professional artist and enjoy sharing my art but it is painful to see how many bloggers or web users do find an image and just use it giving no regard to the original work and expertise that an individual has put into that image. I really do like to get paid for my work, but sadly it seems that original art is not highly valued as a financial commodity any more in our culture.
All that said, I give you permission to use my art for your wedding invitations. I am pleased and honored as to your purpose for this work of mine. These invitations will be lovely I am sure. I made original art invitations for my own daughter's wedding recently and printed them myself on my home printer. " 
Maybe I should have asked for money, but I did inform him that the original finished art is available for sale, framed and sitting here in my studio ready to be a wedding gift from someone who loves this couple.

asking permission

Recently I was contacted by a young man asking for permission to use some of my art that I had posted on my blog. What a lovely idea! Asking for permission from the artist who created the original work. I am not being sarcastic, well, maybe a tiny bit. It is a problem on the great big old world wide web to retain personal rights to anything posted. Either I hide all my art in a closet or I share it and take the risk.

the artist

The fleeting tsunami of spring
becomes her palette
for each season.

~ copyright, zachary jack marcus

perfect summer days

I am enjoying my summer, each  moment is so lovely, so precious to be savored.

This art is from a book I illustrated for Rigby Early Readers, titled "My Big Brother". I posted about this book project here.

solstice

Warm Summer Sun

Warm summer sun,

    Shine kindly here,

Warm southern wind,

    Blow softly here.

Green sod above,

    Lie light, lie light.

Good night, dear heart,

    Good night, good night.

By Mark Twain

“I must have flowers...

“I must have flowers, always, and always.”

― Claude Monet

summer vacation

My blog "Skivington So Far" is going on summer vacation. Or we can call it a blog vacation. I am preparing for my new show taking place later this summer. I will need to concentrate on painting new stuff and finishing some older work by the end of July.
As I work, I will have to resist posting! It is a pleasure to post my ideas and new thoughts and random sketches along the way but I am determined to discipline myself and get the studio time I need. I will catch up with all of you and show some my of new work later this year. Have a great summer!

Consider the Lilies

My title for the new show; "Consider the Lilies". August 3rd through September 28th 2014

Consider the lilies, how they grow: they toil not, neither do they spin; yet I say unto you, Even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  Luke 12:27

"Allelujah Lilies" acrylic on canvas 60x48  copyright Janice Skivington