For over 35 years I specialized in pen and ink stippling.  I developed my own method of layering color.  It is not pointillism, nor is it based on math or even the graded dots in most black and white stippling.  My work in based in seizures.

When I was a child, I had a kidney issue that caused high fevers and convulsions.  In fact, I was born with a "double-collection" system, having four kidneys and the normal amounts of everything else.  At some point, after either having a seizure or recovering from one, I wanted to just sit and color.  Well, I was dizzy and "woooozy" as my mother would say, so instead of coloring with the normal crayon methods of a child, I started making dots.  Dots didn't hurt as much.

Many years into my career, I went to the University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, long-distance, before long-distance was online, and combined my love of plants and the earth with my dots, and obtained what is equal to an American Associates Degree in Horticulture.  That led to many years of detailed pen and ink stippling of plants.

I recently said I was going to challenge myself and go back to using a crow quill nib for most of my writing.  Well, I have remembered that before I used a crow quill, I made dots.  So stippling is really earlier for my life than the simple crow quill.  My need to express in color after a seizure meant I didn't put the crayons away when normal coloring hurt, I made dots.  And I am still making dots.

Below is a photo of an American Flag that I will be completing in stippling.  There is a major difference between the Flag and plants, as far as layering.  All of my plant depictions have yellow in them.  Working with only the red, white, and blue of our Flag leads to the challenge of developing depth without that "opposing color" to play of off.  Different shades of blue? or red? or maybe just true colors?  We will see-

The sketch above is in pencil on Aquabee Super Deluxe Sketchbook paper, with a layer of gouache coating the paper.

I have decided to challenge myself and write with a Hunt crowquill nib for a while.  I started out with simple black and white pen and ink and crowquill nibs over 35 years ago.  Although I have many technical and fountain pens, it is a crowquill nib that demands the utmost control.  I recently filled out some paperwork for someone with a crowquill, and was shocked to see how poorly I was using my favorite old nibs.

I have many crowquill holders, a few nibs, and lots of Higgins black ink.  I also have a traveling inkwell.  Below are some photos of it just after I filled it.  I am using Carmex lip balm around the edge of the inkwell before I put the top on.  This particular inkwell is a vintage piece from Russia, and it had taken a long time to get the top off when I first received it.  Preventing that from happening again, I am using the simple lip balm to both lubricate and seal the threaded well.

If you'd like to try writing with a Crow Quill pen yourself, they are available at Dick Blick on This Page  These are extremely economical pens, and I feel are the"basis" of good writing or drawing.  Higgins Black ink is here  Higgins is the best ink to use with a dip pen, and is permanent enough to use watercolor over it when dry if desired, without too much bleeding or ink run.

I've just made a short video on using an ink converter in the Sheaffer No-Nonsense and Viewpoint pens.

Sheaffer No-Nonsense and Viewpoint Pens and Ink Converter 

A new addition to my Saint Michael studio - currently overseeing my beadwork.

ACEO-size artwork is a wonderful size to work in.  Always 2.5 inches by 3.5 inches, the uniform size can be used to depict either simple designs or complicated drawings.  A very portable size to work in as well.  I have completed oil paintings, watercolors, gouache paintings, and of course pen and ink drawings in this miniature format.

ACEO "A Simple Cherry" Prismacolor colored

In August of 2015, I lost my father.  Since then I have been focused on making Quilts For Veterans in my father's honor.  Until the terror attacks in France.  Even though we still honor our veterans, terror attacks leave no veterans, only victims.  We all need the Protection of Saint Michael. I will be again drawing my icon-style images of Saint Michael.

the art of being an artist is very emotional.  When I was hit by lightning, my emotions became "level" in some ways.  Two days ago I felt that after 6 years, my color perception had returned.  Yesterday my father had a medical emergency and is in ICU as I write this.  His prognosis at this time does not look good, and all the thoughts running around me are of my childhood and Dad.

It's funny how things happen.  I have trouble verbalizing emotions because I am a visual person.  And my acute sense of color, of hearing color instead of seeing it, if "me" is back, then now more than any time I will need to draw in color.

I've done 2 small oil pastels since yesterday.  Art has always been the way I speak.  The oil pastel I just started has a bright red background - are those emotions over my father, or is red the color of the sky I see?