Tuesday, June 27, 2017

Congratulations to Julie and Marc!



I love the sketches that celebrate special occasions in ones life, and this is no exception!!  
My good friends Julie and Marc got married last month!  I wanted to give them a one-of-a-kind gift, so I sketched Bistro Chat Noir in NYC, where they got engaged the previous October!  I received the photo below in a text the following morning that said..."so this happened last night!!"  

Congratulation Julie and Marc!
Wishing you a lifetime of joy and happiness!!


Wednesday, June 21, 2017

Pine Grove House



I was thrilled to do this sketch of the Pine Grove House, located in Pinehurst, North Carolina and 
built in 1894.

I did my best to capture the feeling of the photo's my client sent me to work from, but the pen and ink just didn't do it justice... so I went at it from a different angle and added watercolor.   

Yes, I'd like a mint julep now please!!  



Wednesday, June 14, 2017

Kates Family Tree


Congratulations to Laura and Curt Kates, who recently celebrated their 40th Anniversary!  




I love sketching Family Tree's, but this one was especially fun for me since I've known the Kates family since our kids were in Pre-K together!  What a treat to have watched them grow into such great young adults and start families of their own.  


Tuesday, June 13, 2017

Our Viking River Cruise!

Ver Welkoming, Guten Tag, Szia, Hello!

I'm back from what really was a "trip of a lifetime!"
Thought I'd share a few of my favorite photo's before getting back to the business of posting my sketches!!

Our trip began in Amsterdam!  We had two and a half days to explore this historic city and recover from jet lag!  I was inspired in the Van Gogh and Richtsmuseum, intrigued by the the maze of canals throughout this charming city and entertained by the "window dressing" in it's famous Red Light district!




The first few days were spent drifting down the Rhine River, visiting the windmills in Kinderdijk, Holland, exploring Marksburg Castle near Koblenz, Germany and along the way passing quaint little towns with their tall steepled churches and ancient castles towering above.




One of my favorite stops was in the town of Miltenburg.  This view was from Mildenburg Castle, overlooking the arched bridges over the Rhine River, the half-timbered houses and it's famous pubs!




Along the Rhine-Main-Danube rivers, this was a familiar site, along with about a million beautiful swans!  I'm pretty sure this one will become a painting!




Saturday, May 27th was our 11th anniversary and we spent the day in Salzburg, Austria!  We visited countless cathedrals on our trip, but this one St. Peter's Cathedral, was my favorite.  



This view in Salzburg is from the Catacombs where early Christian Monks lived in 775 a.d.  We enjoyed lunch nearby in the oldest restaurant in Europe (some web searching said the oldest in the world!) that began serving (the monks, I assume!) in 803 a.d.  



Our last day was spent in Budapest, Hungary!  
After dinner, we cruised the Danube to experience the breathtaking view of the city lights!