I spent most of the weekend at my Mom’s dining table with my sketchbook.  With none of my usual domestic  distractions, I was able to finish the shading on the mini-pumpkin, do a little experiment with a doily, and work up an idea I’ve had since August for a floral piece.

The Dahlia Sundae was inspired by a photo in an article in the Sunday Oregonian Homes and Gardens section last summer called “Bad Kitty Bouquets” by Marsha Westcott Peck.  In a two-vase arrangement, she wedges a smaller vase inside a large vase, then layers odds and ends in the space between the two vases.  Fun idea!  I’d like to do a series with this idea but winter may not be the best time to start floral arranging.  I’ll be putting this idea away for next summer.

Winter is a good time for experiments with technique, though.  The background stripes for the pumpkin were “rubbed” using colored pencil over a plastic mesh.  The background for the orchids was another less successful attempt at rubbing, this time over Mom’s lace doily.  I think a pastel chalk might work better.  Using the barely-visible rubbing marks as guide, I added a few hand-made marks.  Still didn’t do it.  Next up was a white caran d’ache waxy crayon – not waxy enough, apparently, since it didn’t resist the watercolor that came next.  In spite of it not being what I had in mind, it does give a bit of texture and directs the eye around the piece, so this one goes in the “close but no cigar” file.