34th International Sketchcrawl

I'm very happy to tell you that the 34th International Sketch Crawl (www.sketchcrawl.com/forum/) will be held January 21, 2012. We have permission to sketch at Gari Melchers' Studio and Home at Belmont in Stafford County. The grounds are beautiful and if the weather is bad, we can sketch in Melchers' studio which is something I've wanted to do for a long time. We'll meet there at 10 a.m. and can stay until 3 or 4 p.m. I'm checking to see if we can bring our lunch and eat in the meeting room. If not, there's a restaurant at the bottom of the hill we can go to. Let me know if you plan to come.  You can contact me on the forum page (look for "Fredericksburg, Virginia USA") or via email at raudenbush1@cox.net.
Paula (Raudy)
P.S. let me know if you need directions or if you have any other questions.

New friend

Hi everybody. I just wanted to introduce you to a new, online friend of mine in South Africa, Maree Clarkson (see link to her website). Be sure to take a look at her wonderful sketches and watercolors. She lives in a magical place.

Silver maple

Sketched this silver maple in Hurkamp park yesterday. It ended up going across the gutter of my sketchbook so I can write notes on both sides (that's why there's a line down the middle). It's a handsome old tree with lots of character in its bark.