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Tools are an extension of our own hands, but we always begin with what we already have. In this post I introduce you to some of my favorite tools!

While it's not a hilarious review like Dave Barry likes to write at the end of each year, I break my year down month-by-month and remember the highlights.

A marble sculpture is an original work of art, made by human hands that will last for millennia. The quality of the work depends on careful planning and tremendous patience. How does a work of marble sculpture come to be?

This summer, enjoy some time in nature. Don't forget your sketchbook! Master Drawing Mondays will be on summer break, but please keep drawing. #MasterDrawingMondays

One of my favorite foods from France is the savory buckwheat crepes, or Galettes Bretonnes. The French serve these kind of crèpes, after they're all cooked, by putting them back in the pan (with the more-browned side facing down), and cracking an egg in the center. The egg cooks right on the crepe. They fold the four sides in so they're just covering the white and revealing the yolk. You can also add ham or cheese or whatever else suits your fancy to the package.

Study for "Apollo and Daphne", by John Singer Sargent. Sargent is one of America's best portrait painters and figurative artists. I love the freshness of this drawing. It could have been a pose we recreated when I was learning to draw back in the 1990s. #MasterDrawingMondays

While at Chateau Orquevaux, I was plucked not only from my everyday life, but my well-equipped sculpture studio. The clay I purchased in Paris was extremely difficult to work with, so I turned to other materials, including aluminum foil and plaster.  I let myself play, try new things, and respond to this place in unexpected ways. These sculptures are a response to my environment, the materials available to me, and my own imagination.

In honor of Mothers Day, here is a beautiful depiction of the Virgin Mary with the Infant Christ. I love that this is a Master Drawing of a Master Drawing. Thomas Vivares drew this "Madonna and Child" after a drawing attributed to Ludovico Carracci in 1823. It's part of the collection of the Royal Academy in London.

Somewhere in the US, a police officer is breaking the news to a mother that her child is dead. Opening ourselves to the glory and joys of motherhood also exposes our hearts to the unimaginable possibility of loss; and in that possibility of loss is an endless grief. Praying for all the mothers that are grieving today and praying for an end to gun violence. 

My last day in France I spent in Paris. First, I went to the Petit Palais to see the collection of plaster casts for many of the works of public art around the city. This week's Master Drawing Monday comes from Aimé-Jules Dalou's study for his monumental worked for "The Republic." #masterdrawingMondays

Dispatches from Château d'Orquevaux As we round out the last week of being here, I reflect on what the time has been like. It is hard to put into words all that this place is and means to me. I do not know how to properly express what I learned and how much rest it was for my soul. So, I will leave you, dear reader, with some beautiful images of this fairytale château.

In honor of my time at Château d'Orquevaux, I present a portrait of Denis Diderot by Louis-Michel Van Loo. Denis Diderot's daughter, Marie-Angelique married Abel Nicolas Francois Caroillon du Vandeul and they lived in the Château here in Orquevaux, which is now an international artist and writer's residency. #MasterDrawingMondays

I remember being a young person, caught up in the spiritual fever of charismatic Christianity. There was a nervous anticipation in each sacred gathering of being caught up by the Spirit. We waved our hands, spoke in tongues and prayed fervent prayers. Water that runs over rocks splashes and makes a lot of noise.

This line drawing of Pre-Raphaelite muse, Fanny Cornforth, by Dante Gabriel Rosetti is a splendid example of Rosetti's style, plus good practice for precision cross-hatching. #Masterdrawingmondays

As I walked down the hill from that château to the studios in the stables, I snapped this picture of L'église Saint-André in the distance. The rain today highlights the patina of the church and the verdancy of the spring grass. The château is quiet today, artists all behind their studio doors working hard on painting, writing, film editing, and sculpting.

This lovely study of St. Andrew was made in 1609 by an Italian artist named Guido Reni. It was made as a predatory study for Saint Andrew brought to the temple and Saints Peter and Paul in the chapel of St. Andrew in San Gregorio al Celio in Rome. #MasterDrawingMondays

I am writing to you today from Chateau d'Orquevaux in rural northeast France. The chateau sits atop a hill overlooking a pond filled by crystal clear water from a canal that runs along the edge of the little village of Orquevaux. There are perhaps only 80 people in the village, plus the 20 or so artists that come every month to the chateau to work. It is ridiculously beautiful.

This drawing, A Triton Blowing a Conch Shell, by Jean-Baptiste Nattier was presumably done as a study for a painting. Nattier used black chalk heightened with white chalk on gray-brown laid paper. It is the size of a typical sheet of paper, 11" x 8 7/8". The toned paper from Canson would be perfect for this. #MasterDrawingMondays

The challenge of Master Drawing Mondays is to set aside time to copy a drawing. You can either choose from one of the Dover books, or I will provide a weekly prompt from a museum collection. If you are on social media, use the hashtag #MasterDrawingMonday and tag me on Instagram @SarahHI. Let's see how many out-of-practice artists we can encourage to take up a regular practice of copying the old masters!

How I Balance My Mother/ Artist Dual Vocations. TLDR: I don't. Also a great recipe with sausage and kale.