Romania 2024

 

We had an amazing visit this year to Romania! The itinerary was very different from our 2022 trip and we visited Constanța and the Black Sea.

I worked to journal every day but I did get a few days behind. I keep pushing myself to write more.

Once again, I will be putting together another travelogue. I am still deciding on the cover image and keep changing my mind.

I had my main Sillman & Birn book and a few feeder sketchbooks including a square zigzag I will post later.

So many great stories I look forward to expanding in the travelogue.

I also just updated the website for our September 2025 trip!

We have two 15-day trips available. 

Stay tuned!

Final Book Cover!

 

The manuscript is with the editor and we are working on the layout!

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Back my Patreon to get the behind-the-scenes look plus you can commission a sketch!

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Sketching Here and Everywhere, My Sketching Obsession is launching this summer. 

I have it chock full of sketching and material tips, anecdotes, and sketches

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One of the first 100 subscribers is in the running for a free pet portrait!

Sketchy Art Book

 

I have been asked for years if I would do a sketch art book. My schedule is so crazy that it is hard to fit this kind of project in. 

I plan to Kickstart the book in Spring 2022 but to get the ball rolling to put it together, I am starting a Patreon. 

It has tiers to get the book and see some behind-the-scenes stuff putting it together and some of the tiers include sketch commissions of your choice!

SUPPORT IT HERE!

The first person to back my Patreon will get a little pet sketch of their favorite furry companion!

Central Park-The city is growing so fast that every sketch has a new cityscape!

Dijon, France in 2018

Eriz Valley in Switzerland 2018

Spring Fairies

Unleashing the last spirits of winter

Something about spring makes you think of fairies. I think it is all of the new life that emerges. So, I have been doing a lot of them in my sketchbook lately.

The council is in session...

We also just saw Song of the Sea, a wonderful film by the folks who did The Secret of Kells. It was a beautiful film with a bit of a Spirited Away vibe with a dash of Tolkien's Silmarillion (he was greatly influenced by Celtic and other European mythology). I loved the design and the concept.

It is common mythology around the world of spirits being a part of everything... The world does awaken this time of year from a dormant state.

I can hardly wait to get outside to sketch!

The Leaf Litter...

Even at the Krohn Conservatory!

Trip to Romania Part 4: Maramureș and the Painted Cemetery

Beautiful wooden chapel next to the tallest wooden church in Europe.

Me sketching quickly

Sketch of one of the chapels in Maramureș next to the church with that is tallest wooden building in Europe. I loved the little chapel next to it and drew there. The gorgeous arched gateway was a good place to sketch from.

Ioana took this picture of me entering the monastery complex. The chapel is hidden behind the trees, the tallest wooden church is on the left.

Chapel detail

The architecture is very different from Brasov and the Moldovan areas.
We were very close to the Ukraine here. This was also the town with the Merry Cemetery called Săpânța.

Taken from my balcony overlooking the cemetery

We stayed at a wonderful pension here called Anuta. (Basically what they call a bed and breakfast there). The owners were super friendly and even invited us to try their homemade brandy! 

The location was next to the Merry Cemetery. It was hard to convince my husband that was a selling point when he saw this picture I snapped from my bedroom.

When we first entered the town, we stopped by a woman's house where she showed us socks and blankets she had woven. The folk craft in Romania are high art. Gorgeous stuff!

She had Ioana take my picture at the loom.

I have several posts after this including castles, more painted church details and I cannot believe I skipped posting about Sighișoara!!!

The Merry Cemetery in the daytime...

Greetings from Săpânța!

Trip to Romania Part 2: The Carpathian Mountains and Piatra Neamt

Sketch of the Museum of History and Archaeology in the city of Piatra Neamt.

More from the Romania trip!

Piatra Neamt: We loved this city so much, we stayed for 2 nights at the Grand Hotel Ceahlau and took a lot of time to sketch. They have the cutest gondola up to the top of the mountain.

Recently restored fortress that was much more vertical than the sketch suggests in order to defend from the Turks.

Sketch of the Carpathian mountains before a hike on September 7th.

Picture on location from the porch at our little pension. I sketched during breakfast.

Just call me Indiana Wald! Hiking over a safe but rickety looking bridge in the Carpathians

I was sad not to see any brown bears in the mountains. We did see their scat though…

Trip to Romania: Part I

Red line shows our itinerary...

I just got back from a 2 week trip to Romania with my friend Ioana who is working on a plant field guide to the country. So much fun touring the country and seeing castles, churches, villages and fortresses.

It was a whirlwind! We were on the road a lot so we could see as much as possible. But, in the short time, it was just tastes of different regions. 

We first went to Romania in 1998 to be in George and Ioana's wedding. The country has done a 180 since then and is growing in leaps and bounds. Unfortunately, the guys could not join us this visit.

We did not get to revisit the seaside town of Constanta or the Dacian ruins, but next time...

Our first stop was Brasov and OF COURSE Castle Bran in Transylvania. We did not see Bran last time since I had to pick one castle to visit and that was Peles. So this time, we made sure to cover it.

Brasov is an amazing town. I hope to go back and sketch more! We only got a little taste of the city.

The Brasov town square

While I sketched this, they were giving a free opera concert. It seemed to cover a lot of the greatest hits and was a bit of a sampler platter of songs.

A peacock is a good image in Brasov. It is a proud and beautiful city.

Did you think I would not sketch it?

Queen Marie's Chapel we thought... Gorgeous with all the moss...

Me, walking up to the castle...

If you are curious and want to know more, watch this amazing series about Romania called Wild Carpathia. They go to a lot of the places Ioana and I went to and talks about how they are trying to conserve the largest areas of virgin forest in Europe.

http://youtu.be/jvDIpOPlWJ8

Travel Madness-Report on ICON 8

It has been a CRAZY summer! I am REALLY behind on posting here.

I went to Portland in July for ICON the illustration conference and just got back from 2 weeks in Romania. I am now digging out from under a TON of work.

So, enjoy these ICON and Portland sketches.

ICON was a great time. I met a lot of cool artists and got to visit LAIKA studios.

I do wish they had a set up that involved smaller groups rather than a lecture hall for all the presentations one after the other. I know there are a lot of challenges putting up an event like this, but there was an impersonal, lecture hall freshmen 101 feeling to it that would have probably been helped by everyone picking 3 or 4 smaller sessions a day to see.

It would have also been less overwhelming.

The speakers were very good for the most part; there was just a fatigue that set in when you watched so many in a day.

The workshops were set up more in that way and were excellent.

More soon!

 

Chinese Gardens

SKETCHES FROM ICON 8: