April 27, 2026 Storm

 So, almost two weeks ago Monday and Tuesday started off with a bang. It began with bad storms moving through everywhere around us Monday night. It was storming when we went to bed, but we didn't think it was that bad, and the weather channel wasn't saying anything about tornado sightings nearby or anything. Not long after we went to sleep, we were awakened by really hard wind, rain, and hail hitting all sides of the house and windows. We jumped up and got dressed and went to our living room, but the worst was over in a few minutes, so we went back to bed.

When we got up the next morning, Tuesday, and looked out, we were in awe, and so grateful, that we, and our house, had been spared! Several trees were down across our driveway, big limbs were strewn all over the yard, leaves and twigs were plastered all over the sides of the house, the phone line was on the ground, and the highest window upstairs had been partially sucked out and was laying on the ground. Other stuff was also blown around out of place, and there will be a few days work of cutting and cleaning up, but that's all minor. God kept us and our home safe again! 

The trees across our driveway are in front of my dad's shop building, and there's one down by my parents' house. There is also a large tree down across the road going out to the farm and a bunch down by the gate opening onto the road. We haven't been out to the homeplace to check the damage. By the way the trees are twisted in two and branches torn out of the top, we are pretty sure a tornado passed over us. The telephone repair man agreed with us!

The day was spent surveying what we needed to do, hubby making a trip out of town for a piece of plywood to block the broken window before the next round of storms, fixing it after multiple trips up and down the stairs and a ladder, a lot of measuring, and me trying to hold the plywood while he sawed into it, plus the phone repair man showed up to put our telephone line back up.

We have next to no cell phone service at our house, so it took me five trys to get hold of the phone company and for the signal to hold long enough for me to tell them the problem. We were without a landline phone and internet all day, but had electricity until late evening when it went out for a couple of hours during more storms. The pictures don't really show the damage, and I don't have any of the trees down behind our house, out toward the old home place, but they are many.

Hubby's cousin picked him up to go with him to get a new weed eater out of town, because we live near a small town, we have to go out of town to the next town to get anything, and saw the damage. He showed up with his chainsaw the next morning and helped hubby cut multiple trees off of our driveway down to the main road. Very grateful he did!

So, hubby has gotten a lot of the trees, branches, etc. cut up and hauled off down in the field, despite everything else going on, but there's still a lot to be cleared, and he refuses to ask for help. I can't help, and I feel so bad, because he's not in good shape either. Just praying that he doesn't get hurt and takes it a little at a time With the Lord's help it'll get done, at least what has to be done so he can mow.

Bless his heart, he had just gotten the debris from the ice storm in February cleared up. Our driveway has taken a beating the last couple of months! But we're so thankful that our house and us were kept safe and sound. It could have been so much worse...

Anyway, that's some of what has been going on around here. I finished the free Sketchbook Revival 2026 classes that I was interested in by the time it ended, then a few days later I stumbled upon Tamara Laporte's taster sessions with thirty-eight plus classes, all free for fourteen days. So far, I've only taken three of those though, and I'm not going to buy the VIP package. I know I could learn a lot more from all the wonderful generous teachers, but I desperately need to do some house cleaning if I can, along with my daily art practice and PT exercises.

I know this was a long post, so I'll stop now and see ya in the next one! Stay safe out there!

Sketchbook Revival 2026 Classwork

 I completed 18 of the 36 free video classes, plus 3 bonus gift classes, in this year's Sketchbook Revival 2026 during the two week session. I could have opted to buy the VIP package, which includes all the classes, plus a lot of bonuses, etc., to keep from now on, which I did last year, but I decided not to this year, although the price is definitely worth it. Just too much else going on, but I learned a lot from the generous teachers, as well as the other students shared work on the Facebook group page. So fun to see all the different interpretations of the same classes!

I did all my classes as samples in my 7"x10" Winsor Newton sketchbook, 135 lb mixed media paper, two to a page (5"x7" each), which worked great for most of the work. Some would have worked better on paper better suited to the particular media, but it worked well enough to help me remember the lessons, so it's all good!

Here are the classes I completed, in no particular order. I watched the videos, took notes, and made a photo of the teacher's finished piece, and later made copies of the notes and pictures, cut them apart, and glued them to the backs of my art pieces for future reference.

The first class was actually a pre-class, before the classes started, which was how to make an Australian Piano Hinge journal/sketchbook. Many of the students used theirs to do the classes in. I didn't, but I will definitely use it as a sketchbook/journal, and I want to make another one soon. So fun!

The Australian Piano Hinge sketchbook/journal I made. The pages can be taken in and out to work on or switch around. For more pictures see the previous post on just the sketchbook.

Drawing one image from different angles-pencil and a red colored pencil-I didn't actually watch the class video on this one, because I had already taken a similar class last year, but I kept seeing the others' pages and decided to do it just for fun, so I sketched a small red bottle of red Sumi ink in different positions, quickly.

Samples of my pages of notes-I had several of them...

The first class I took was with Helen Wells in her "Trees" class, which was interesting. We sketched different things with tree shapes, then painted watercolor blobs and gave them tree shapes. All ideas for jumpstarting sketchbook pages. I love her sketchbook work!

This a class on Mood Minis with Cynthia Hauk, in watercolor with a bit of neurographic drawing. It was also on "mindfulness", with questions about the art and my interpretation of it, which gets written on the left side that I haven't done yet, but I sure did enjoy the painting part! And I will do the writing part!

Left was a class with Jane Davies on Visual Prompts, which started with a couple of collage pieces and wound up using mixed media. Right side isn't from a class, but it's where I cleaned watercolor off my brush and accidentally made a tree! I liked it, so I glued it down!

I've always loved Sumi-e painting and have tried it before, with not much luck, so I wanted to try it again. The teacher was Karou Hirose, and she explained and showed it in a simple way in three basic strokes with Sumi ink, then we put them together to form a bamboo tree. She also showed us a bluebird, a cherry blossom, and Japanese Maple leaves using the same three strokes. Mine are on another sheet! Right are Eucalyptus leaves in watercolor with Amy Maricle. They are usually greenish, but we painted them blue too! I like how they turned out...

Left is a page in watercolor that I didn't really like until I added the Sumi ink with a stick and the little eye magically appeared. It was a class with Julie Fei-Fan Belzer on using ideas from our sketchbooks to create new pages. The Sumi ink with a stick is an idea from other pages. It's actually a little brighter than it looks here. Right was a Collage and Stitch class with Rita Summers, where we created a collaged piece, then using various threads to stitch on it. I printed off a copy of one of my artworks for the background and added some scrapbook paper pieces and a round paperclip, then stitched away!

Left is from the class Self Portrait on toned paper with Ohn Mar Win. Mine doesn't look much like me, and I let my white Posca pen get away from me, but it's a fun process, which I will try again. The paper is actually blue, but looks gray here. Right is inspired by Amanda Traught's class on Embellishing Faces. I printed off one of my sketchbook drawings in black and white to decorate with a Micron pen and a Zig marker.

Left was inspired by Kaisa Hart's class Messy to Magical, where we took a sketch we didn't like, and using mixed media, added layers until we did like it. I used a smaller printed off version of my embellished face, markers, a stencil, Zig marker, Micron pen, etc. I'm ok with it. Right is inspired by Helen Wells bonus/gift class with cut outs, collage, and mark making.

I cut shapes out of paper that I had painted black acrylic paint on and added a red Posca marker, gold metallic paint pen, and a stencil. Oh, and a few spatters!

Left is inspired by Drew Steinbrecher's class From Sidewalk to Sketchbook, using photos of urban images, patterns, textures, words, etc. collaged onto a page. I live on a small farm, so I used photo images from the last field trip around the old homeplace. The old house belonged to my gr-grandparents, then my grandparents, then my parents, and now me. I live on the same farm, just a different house. The blue glass ball is from my yard, and if you look closely you can see my silhouette in the center of it taking the picture. I titled it "Home", because it is! Right painting was from Debbie MacKinnon's class Fast and Loose in Mixed Media on Location. The background is watercolor with white gouache added to the middle, because I overdid the blue-brown mix. The two conjoined trees are in our yard, and I added them with Sumi ink on a stick, then collaged a print of our water fountain figures to the bottom. 

Both of these were inspired by Jeanne Oliver's class Let Your Mind Play Tricks on You, which involved quite a bit of experimenting and playing. I painted a random image on my mini gelli plate with black acrylic paint, then stamped it on a piece of brown paper bag, a couple of pieces of printer paper, and the last print was on a paper where I cleaned off my paint brushes (below). I glued the brown paper down, left, then added a bit of collage scrapbook papers and some Sumi ink brush marks. Right, I glued the page below down and used tracing paper over it with cut outs. The top paper has a very loose sketch of what's underneath, and the second paper has a loosely traced image of the top sheet. The teacher had onion paper, which was translucent, but I only had tracing paper, but I like how it turned out. Can't wait to do a bigger one!

The stamped paper under the tracing papers on the page above...

Left is a page of 10 journaling prompts from Karen Abend, the host of Sketchbook Revival. It was one of the first classes, but I did it almost last. Some good ideas on getting started journaling! Right is the bonus/gift class Sumi-e Birds in Flight from Karou Hirose in watercolor and Sumi ink, plus the top bird, cherry blossom, and Japanese Maple leaves from the main class.

Last two classes completed, and I wasn't going to do them until I kept seeing, and being inspired by, the other students work, and I'm so glad I did them! Left was inspired by Bindi Desai's Abstract Florals With Negative Painting. Not as easy as it looked! I, for sure, need to do another one, but it was fun pulling the flowers out of the painted background! Right is from Trupti Karjinni's class Intuitive Landscapes. Such fun to watch the watercolors do their thing, even if I didn't add as many trees as she did in the background. My paint absorbed into my paper too fast. 

And that's it for this year for me, except for putting what I've learned into practice!

Thank you to all of the generous teachers from all over the world, to Karen Abend for hosting, and to all of the other students for sharing their work on the group page and inspiring me every day! 

I have learned so much, and I am proud of myself for being brave enough to try all of the classes that I did. They were all challenging, but great fun, and I enjoyed the processes so much! I did miss Karen Stamper though. I loved her classes last year!

 I have a tendency to watch the class videos, take notes, then do the work from memory, so my finished pieces may not have taken the same route that the teacher's did, but I'm proud of what I've accomplished this year. Can't wait until next year's classes!

If you're still with me, Thank you for looking, and I hope you've enjoyed it! See you next post!

Playing With My Imagination

 It's been a few days, but I've been tied up with almost two weeks of free Sketchbook Revival 2026 classes, tax and prescription puzzles, and a bad storm at the beginning of the week, besides the usual stuff and unexpected trips out of town, so it's been busy on Rabbit Hop. I have the pictures uploaded on a couple more posts. Hopefully, I'll get those posted by the weekend...

The few days before Sketchbook Revival 2026 started I was playing in my sketchbooks with my imagination, ink, and paint, just having fun! The two ink ones are in my 11"x14" Canson mixed media book, and the other two are in my 7"x10" Winsor Newton MM book, which has thicker paper than the Canson.

This one was kind of inspired by a Helen Wells sketchbook class that I took, but I just started doodling with my large black and white Posca paint markers, then added some fine curlicues with a Micron pen. The black is actually much darker and richer than it showed up in the photo.

This one started off as an abstract landscape attempt of our fields, from memory, but I couldn't leave it alone. I kept playing with my watercolors until this is where I left it. I kind of like it...

I played with gouache and my Zig marker pen and a ruler over my wonky lines on this one, then added some travel stickers and collage. Not sure I'm through with it...

I can't find my India ink right now, so I played with an old bottle of Sumi ink and a brush on some mark making on this page. I added a sample of asemic writing vertically to mimic asian writing and some dots and white posca paint pen. I collaged on a paper where I had cleaned my watercolor brushes off and added some corner pieces that I had cut off some scrapbooking paper.

It's amazing what can show up during a doodling session, sometimes good, sometimes not, but it's all good fun! Try it! Nobody else has to see it, and it's good for your soul!

Field Trip Around Farm n River-March 2026

 A couple of weeks ago we rode in the side by side out around the old homeplace/farm to check on the ice storm damage, and I made these pictures. I just hadn't gotten around to posting them. Of course, because I took my camera, the sun went in, and only popped back out for a few minutes.

We were surprised to find very little damage from the ice storm, considering the shape our yards and driveway were in, and the road out to the old house was blocked by some fallen trees. There are also a lot of trees down in the woods where we didn't go. We will have to hire someone to cut those for us, and also the one on top of my mom's house. Still a lot to clean up, but hubby has worked hard to get the yards cleaned up and ready for mowing.

The old Stricklin Home

The old Stricklin homeplace

Granny's daffodils and Papa's tractor shed

Old house side living room, dining room, kitchen

Old house side, porch, living room, dining, kitchen-side porch gone

Side of tractor shed from garden spot & daffodils

Kitchen with Granny's old wood stove remains

Cattle shute side in front of barn and daffodil cluster

Cattle shute side with lichen and blue gate

Old bucket in leaves

Gate to back barn stables

Rock face

Back of barn stables

Rock road bed behind barn-goes to old well

Rock road bed with little rock horse

Old commodes

Once Granny's wash house behind the main house

Papa's pond

Bird's nest

Prickly Pears

Daddy's old Barn

The back of the house I grew up in with a fallen tree branch

The TN river from above-near our home

TN river boat/fishing landing

Old Churchwell store building

The house I grew up in from the highway

Flower bed needing cleaning

Bird Fountain Children

Blue glass ball with self portrait

Mushrooms on old stump behind our house

It's so sad to see nature reclaiming so much of the old place that I've lived on and loved my whole life, but at the same time nature is beautiful, and it eventually reclaims everything until only memories remain. Two things we can always count on, God and change. Nothing stays the same or lasts forever on this earth...