DIY Sketchbooks and Painting in a Canoe

What a fantastic week!

The rain held off until after the Boat for the Vote event on the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn last Friday evening. 

photo taken by my daughter, Nicole, from another canoe as we drifted along

The first mini course in the Series of DIY Sketchbooks & Illustrated Journals is now available on Skillshare.  "DIY Sketchbook from a Paper Grocery Bag" teaches you how to fold a paper bag (or a large piece of paper) into a small sketchbook without any stitching, tape or glue.  You don't even need a ruler!  All you need is a paper bag and a pair of scissors.

new series of online classes: DIY sketchbooks and Illustrated Journals

A Zoom Webinar is in the works for November to teach a class of children in Germany about grayscale value.  This is the class that is currently studying complementary colors.

Another Zoom Webinar is in the works for November for Chapel Cottage Studio in Wales.

Weekly Zoom Webinars are in the works for a group of retirees in Canada beginning in January.

And ... a commissioned portrait is in progress in the studio ... surrounded by large, abstract paintings drying on the floor and leaning against the walls.

My energy level is high.  It must be all the great food I've been making from the eat feel fresh - a contemporary plant-based ayurvedic cookbook by Sahara Rose Ketabi.  I had no idea Mung Bean Brownies and Sun-Butter Sweet Potato Brownies could be so yummy. The Tumeric Sweet Potato Hummus is absolutely delicious.  The Raw Rose & Pistachio Cheesecake was my birthday cake.  Even my husband, Tom, liked it.

The leaves are falling from the trees. A chill is in the air. This is my favorite time of year. So much has changed since my childhood.  Holidays were celebrated on the day they occurred, not on only Mondays and Fridays.  There were no curfews on Halloween.  We wore masks, but not to protect us from a virus.  Halloween was the one night in the year when we wandered about in the dark without chaperones, feeling the magic of independence and the thrill of being undetected by the older, egg-throwing boys in the neighborhood. I was enchanted by the mysteries of the night ... and I still am.

Kathleen and I ... 1957

*****

Thinking about taking an online art courses?  I offer bite-sized classes on Skillshare as well as more comprehensive classes here on ExploreWithChrisCarter.com.

If you aren't already a premium member on Skillshare, please check it out.  You receive a fourteen day trial period totally free when you click on my link:  Skillshare.com/chriscarterart .  

Thanks for reading my blog!

Chris Carter