Hello Everyone!  I want to welcome all visitors, both old and new, here at InkTorrents.  This is where I have been sharing a bit of my atelier and my life.   This winter break was a tough one for me, which made a longer break necessary.  I do love the company of trees and mountains, so I visited a few natural places in Northern California for recovery.   At other times, I had my head buried in a sketchbook.  I look forward to sharing the photos and artwork with you over the next few posts.

As you know, photography is a very integral part of me.  For those of you who are new here,  I took one photo of my everyday surroundings per day for a year.  These photos played a big part in my life, and I have been sharing them here every now and then.

Here is the next set of my Simple365 photos.

Simple 365 – Set 9

Please Click on the image thumbnails to see the photos and read the captions.

I created a page with all the previously shared photos from Simple365.  I continue to add photos to that page as I share them here.  That way I can relive the journey through the year via black and white photos like in an old album.

Every now and then I make botanical paint from things I forage from my garden. 

Wild Child

I shared the basics of botanical ink making here.

A few years ago, I got Indigo and Coreopsis seeds for the purpose of paint making.  I collect the seeds from both plants each year and save them in little seed packets.  Last week I had a great time sitting on the patio, sowing them in tiny little pots.  These green trays are great for a plant nursery.

Much to my surprise, I saw little seedlings emerge within just a few days.  I love watching them grow and look forward to the beautiful flowers and colours they will make.

I will write up a little tutorial on how to make these cute seed packets soon, in case you want to save or share seeds from your garden.

With a very frail 19+ year-old kitty at home, we have been limiting our travels to just a couple of days at a time, mostly within California.  I often spend the last afternoon of a trip drawing in a sketchbook while my husband reads. 

Visiting Yosemite in winter is a must for me.   I did this sketch in pencil while I was at Yosemite, didn’t have a pen with me then.  I wanted to leave it as-is, but my dear husband loves inked drawings. So, later on, I used a $10 fude pen for all the lines and a white gel pen for the snow.

I look forward to showing you more drawings and telling you a bit more about this sketchbook soon.

With the advent of March, my outside time became very limited due to severe allergies.  Since I couldn’t be outside enjoying the fresh air and flowers,  I started sketching and then carving this block.  This will join the everyday journal wildflowers collection covers.  I am very excited about printing this one and making a book with it.

These are just a few things from my winter break.  I have so much to share with you – ideas, tools and supplies, the makes, and of course photos from my travels.

Until next time,
-Soma

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