Travels with a sketchbook in the southwestern states of the USA

I've just posted a summary of my recent trip to California, Arizona and New Mexico to "Travels with a sketchbook in..." my new blog dedicated to travel and sketching.

Posts proper should start later this week. There will be quite a few comments about the weather (temperatures, rainstorms and fog!).......

Technorati tags: art , art journal , artist weblogs , art blogs , coloured pencils , colored pencils , drawing , landscape , Moleskine , plein air, sketch, sketching, sketchbook

Travels with a Sketchbook in Venice

I've now posted all the days from my last painting trip overseas in my new Travels with a Sketchbook blog. There's a post for each day and two have posts for both morning and afternoon. Beware - anybody who doesn't like fish!

This is the format I intend to use for posts from the trip to the southwestern USA which starts next week. I'd be interested to know what you think and welcome any suggestions for how it can be improved.

This blog is now signing off and having a break. See you all in August!

Blind Contour First Friday - Sky

This is this month's contribution from me - I'm a very literal person! ;)

And I'd got it all worked out ;) The weather would continue to be good and I could just fill the page with blue pencil! But it's cloudy and grey!

I get great skies in the morning when I look out of my kitchen window - but today wasn't one of the...................

To see other people who contribute to Niff and Sutter's Blind Contour First Friday visit this link

7 July - One Year On

The irony of the title of this blog is not lost on me at times. I don't normally comment in any way on things happening in London or the wider environment - but today is a bit different.

Today I'd like to pay my personal respects to all those who died and also to all those who were injured or got caught up at the centre of the events of a year ago today...........on a day not easily forgotten in London.

"F" - I still 'see' your smiling face every time I see a No 30 bus. Thinking of you today and giving thanks that you were one of those who were able to walk away.

This is a link to what happened then and since.

No comments please.

Changes to the Clustr Map

I've changed the way I archive my Clustr Maps as it had got to the point where it was difficult to view the dots! Clustr had moved me to weekly updates because of the number of hits I'm now getting.

So now, instead of archiving on a yearly basis I've moved over to monthly archiving with the number of visits back to being updated on the map on a daily basis. I still need to check and see whether I can get archiving to occur on the first of every month.

So the old map was archived yesterday (plus the start date corrected after their server update) and today there is a new map - with the 263 hits from yesterday! By tomorrow I'll have had nearly 16,000 hits in 3 months.

Many thanks to all of you who made you way over to the new sketchbook blog - it also started with a very respectable number of hits - and has already collected its first Technorati favourite!!!

I've started posting my sketching trip to Venice last year to my new blog - and the day-by-day format being used for this trip - is very much the way this new blog will work.

If you use Technorati favourites you can read posts from your favourite blogs (if they're registered with Technorati) very quickly.