Mary Lawler Blog

The Grid, Drawing, and William Blake.

I like the grid. I like to measure and predict and have the world predictable and moderate and harmonious. I like to get lost in the harmonies and symmetries of geometry, and the harmonies and symmetries I see in nature.  But there is a flexibility in nature, growth. Everything is subject to change and to the changes in the environment. That's life! That's living! Here's to life!

Purple Coneflowers

I picked these purple coneflowers from my garden today, and made this watercolor page in my visual journal.

Two Circles in Squares. watercolor and pen.

I picked two flowers from my garden and drew them with emphasis on geometry. Then I colored them and emphasized the purple/yellow contrasting colors.

Cherries. Watercolor and pen.

I bought these Ranier cherries today at Whole Foods. They are delicious!

Tomato Orange Lemon. Grid. Watercolor.

I did this watercolor using a grid form, and it has a quilt quality. I used slices of tomato, orange and lemon for inspiration.

Hot Pepper. pen and watercolor.

Wisteria vine. watercolor and pen sketch.

I sketched this wisteria vine while sitting on the back porch. The vine hasn't ever produced flowers but makes a nice sunscreen in the afternoon.

Sky with clouds, view from St. John's College. Pencil sketch.

I sketched this from the college coffee shop which has beautiful views. The clouds obviously did not hold still while I drew, but that created some fun for me, to define a shape and then to dissolve the shape, to keep changing with the clouds.

Evening after a long day. watercolor.

Landscape. Sketch in watercolor.

Another landscape sketch, looking at the mountains from our house.