​I know it's November... We've already had 3 to 5 inches of snow and are supposed to get 4 inches this afternoon, I love snow and winter... but I ran across some pictures I took looking out my porch window last spring and just had to post these before we get any more snow :)

Just a few images from 2018 Studio Hop held at at my home studio. Studio Hop is an art event held annually the 3rd weekend of June in the New London, Spicer, Willmar, Minnesota area. This event gives you the opportunity to visit local artist studios and meet the artists. My wonderful friend, Joan Miller joins me every year and sells her pottery.  This was my first opportunity to sell my husband's and my book, 'You'll Never Guess What I Saw...At the Lake.' For more information about our event visit us at our Studio Hop web-page.

Authored by David and Violet Dauk, Illustrated by me, Violet :)

Here is a picture of our book - 'You'll Never Guess...' You can purchase this book and Mary Lee's Marshmallow Clouds by clicking here.

Here's a pic of the book I illustrated for author, Mary Lee Moore. Still a couple of issues to deal with, but it will be on sale soon :) :) :) Next week or two!!!

​Sadness :(
With a bit of sadness I have to say, we're almost finished with our 30 day drawing challenge. Where does time go??? It has been fun getting drawings emailed and texted to me daily! I'm so proud of you :) :) :)  My hope is that most of you who have started this discipline, will continue!!!! I am challenging myself to another 30 days. Why let a good habit end! 

​Way to go Ginger!!!!! She sent me not just one drawing a day, but multiple drawings every day, and most of them of faces. I'm impressed. That was my goal. I did accomplish a few faces, but had commission projects so focused my drawings on those. My favorite drawing of Ginger's is this one, so sweet:

Here is our drawing collage.
I hope I got at least one of each of your drawing in. It was hard to keep track after a while :)  If not, let me know and I can feature one of yours by itself!!! But first, I thought this quote in Nancy's drawing book was great: 

Journal Books
I was so impressed by two ladies, Cindy and Kathy, who made journal books to do all their drawing in. How creative is that! They are so wonderful!

Letter from Jan:
Violet,
  I am impressed with the joy I find in drawing, regardless of the outcome. Due to my physical condition, I have not been doing much painting, but drawing has stepped into my space and has my attention.
   Thank you, thank you. I am getting more confident in my drawing. I don't seem to be afraid to try my hand at almost anything, regardless of the outcome. It is fun to try. 
-I'm learning the true value of shading and shadows as they give depth and keep the picture more 3 D instead of flat. With every drawing it becomes more and more apparent and obvious.
-I've learned the value of taking my time to really study the subject before I put pencil to paper by estimating proportions (like this part is about the same height or length as this part, causing me to divide, in my head, the paper... in halves/thirds/fourths etc.). 
-Also I take more time to 'see' over all shapes instead of getting lost in details right away .(That looks like a small ball on a doubly large rectangle).
-The eraser is very useful and is a 'fear eliminator.'
-Viewing a complicated subject initially causes me to eliminate the frills and details of the subject and I know I must follow certain drawing steps before completing the intricate details.
-drawing is fun and more satisfying to me than tracing... Why eliminate joy in my life. I am not willing to rush through JOY. I PREFER TO STOP AND SMELL MY DRAWING SUBJECT.
Love you so, J AN

Jan, 
Thanks for the encouraging letter :) I am so glad this has been a positive experience for you. Art is healing... nice that you can continue drawing even if painting right now isn't possible.

​We miss you at CAT! 
Love, Violet
Below is one of Jan's drawing :)

On to our next Challenge :)
Anyone who is interested in continuing drawing, send me your one drawing (your favorite drawing) weekly drawing and I will collage them together and post them at least monthly. As I said before, accountability is so important in keeping a new habit going. 

Back in 2010 a friend of ours, Becca J traveled to London, England to study there for a semester. Since Becca’s family and ours both lived in New London, Minnesota; both of us are artists, and Becca took private art lessons from me while she was growing up, we decided to write (as much as possible) a daily blog together - Becca from London and me from New London. We called it: ‘A Painting a Day, An Ocean Away.’ My kids were still in high school, so I didn’t always have time to draw, and Becca was busy studying, so it didn’t end up being the everyday thing we had envisioned, but we tried…

After all these years I have decided to revisit this drawing-a-day idea. I need to sharpen my drawing skills, and daily drawing is a good habit for any artistic person. Good drawing skills are the foundation of any creative, artistic adventure you are interested in. Since I want to be successful on this drawing journey, I decided to set out boundaries and guidelines for myself – after all, I am an artist and can get distracted, or even veer off on a totally new tangent without even looking back…

I decided to share these guidelines for you on both my blog and my website. I hope they will help you decide to take this adventure too. Here are some tips to get you started:

•  I have decided to do my daily drawing for 30 days. Hopefully, during those 30 days I will have started a habit, and it will go for the rest of my life. That is my intent anyway. Since my husband is a pastor and Sundays are our days of rest, I will not be drawing on Sundays but will be ‘back at it’ Monday through Saturday. The nice thing about drawing is that you can take a pencil and notepad with you wherever you go and do some sketching.
•  
  o        Here is a very quick sketch I did at a coffee house: 

• The next thing I need is an organized studio space I will not be doing all of my drawing in my studio, but it just makes me feel better to organize first. When I am in the middle of a project, my studio space ALWAYS gets disorganized!!!!! So, to clear my mind, and get rid of at least one of the typical distractions, I organize. 
• I then need to decide
  • practice-only, or
  • finished drawings for paintings, or maybe 
  • some doodle art for coloring pages?
  • All three?
• For me, I feel I need to some of each of those three kinds of drawings. But I need a plan. (That is a later step.)
  
• My next step it to gather supplies together in one place. What do I need?
  •  Paper? Canvas?
  • Drawing tools?
  • Drawing boards?
  • Easels?
  • Pencils?
  • Pens?
  • Pastels
  • Watercolor Pencils?
  • Ink?
  • Paint Brushes?
  • Pictures?
  • Still Life Ideas?
• After deciding on and gathering the supplies I will be needing, I am now ready to create a theme, a list, or just plain ideas to draw... This may take some research and time, but It’s worth being prepared.
• Walk around and make a list of still life ideas – inside and outside
• Check out and print off photographs you’ve taken that you have always wanted to draw or paint.
• Check out online animals, buildings, landscapes, etc. If you use any of these for final drawings or paintings, make sure they are copyright free.
• Brainstorm your own ideas.
• Make sure you photograph or scan your challenge. Keep a file of your drawings.

• After a month go back and look at your beginning drawings and compare them with the drawings you created at the end of your 30 days. You will be amazed how much you better you have gotten!  This will be encouragement to continue drawing on a daily  basis - especially since you are now in the habit of doing it! 😊

• I need accountability!!!! Here are some ideas on how to make yourself accountable:

• Ask someone, or a group of friends to do this challenge with you.
• Ask someone if you can check in with them daily, or weekly.
• Blog about your challenge.
• Post it to your social media sites.

•  Now all you need to do is draw…

​Feel free to post your drawings under the comments. I will be posting drawings from our Creating Art Together Group once a week for the next month. ​

This painting is for sale :) Check it out on my Etsy site. 

Is it an art????
Well maybe not, but it sure can stir memories and creativity!!! It's that time of year again when farmers are out cutting ​alfalfa. Boy does that stir memories!!! Our neighbor was out cutting alfalfa yesterday. Such a wonderful smell. I grew up on a dairy farm and it brings back memories of hard, hot work and driving tractor. That part was fun! My dad told me he liked me to drive because I was the best, smoothest driver. He didn't like getting knocked off the wagon, I guess.  ​​

Smell and Creativity...
Studies have shown that certain smells can help stimulate your creativity. Apparently cinnamon and vanilla smells enhance creativity. I would guess any smell that brings back a great memory or emotion can get your creative juices going. As smell causes you to think about and feel great (or not so great) moments of the past it will influence your creative process. Your work will reflect the emotions you are feeling. 

As a young artist, it was difficult for me to get beyond the feeling that people were reading my private emotions and stories in the art I created. When I would view one of my paintings, I would instantly feel the emotions I had while painting it - good or bad. It was embarrassing for me to show other people my work. As time went on and people commented on my work I became aware that they were having an emotional response to my work that didn't always reflect what mine had been. That is when I realized that people sensed my creative emotions and stories, but translated them into their own emotions and stories. I now enjoy hearing people comment on how my artwork makes them feel. 

What are some smells that call up a memory for you? Here are some of mine...

1. Coffee 
2. Bread Baking
3. Cookies Baking
4. Warm Cream or Butter
5. Vanilla
6. Basil
7. Lemon
8. Pencil Shavings
9. Oil Paints
10. Clay
11. Clothes dried on Close-line
12. Rain
13. Dirt
14. Cut Alfalfa
15. Fresh Mowed Grass
16. Lilacs
17. Linden Trees Blooming
18. Campfire Burning
19. Christmas Trees
20. Frozen Outdoors

This post was prompted by the smell of fresh cut alfalfa... I was reminded of a post from my 'A View from My Porch,' blog. You can check it out here...

This was my proposal for Traffic-Light Box Paintings. My proposal was chosen and is now at the corner of 19th Avenue and 1st Street in Willmar, MN.