Friday night Sculpting (?)

I was looking forward to my Friday night drawing class which was supposed to start on October 7th. Life drawing or portrait drawing is the norm, and I've been practicing all summer to be better at this and get more out of the class.

Much to my dismay, the school canceled the class two weeks before it was supposed to start - due to low enrollment. I tried to tell them that it would be full in a week or so, but they were cranky about it and canceled the class anyway. Bummer! So I signed up for Friday night sculpture, which is a bit odd for me but I figured "what the heck".

The first class was not what I expected - in that we toured the museum at night. Which would have been fun if I wasn't wearing my work shoes - which were high heels (well...two inches or so) and we all know how hard museum floors are.

I took pictures of a few very interesting items - taken while I was supposed to be listening to the instructor - who was off talking about juxtaposition of blah to blah. I think she was a bit taken aback when she asked me if I liked a certain installation piece...and what did it remind me of - and I answered "No" and "an inflamed colon". OK...good start don't you think?

I took a few pictures in one of the galleries. It was actually a beautiful gallery, with all sorts of famous artists work there - i.e. Warhol, Motherwell....and many others but I didn't get their names photographed so can't give appropriate information.

This painting was interesting - look at how it was painted, very digital. Looks good from far away, interesting technique I think.

Loved this portrait -


and this one

And was very intrigued by this piece


But my favorite was this ceramic piece.

I will approach this class with as open a mind as I can get, but I'm not fond of lectures or "juxtaposition" talk. I have a few projects in mind - the first one being dressing a tree in my backyard. Vandalism or installation art? You tell me.

Happy New Year to all! (Jewish Holiday time...)

Animal Wednesday - The Story of Scruffy and the Airplane ride

You all remember Scruffy - mom's little dog. Well this summer, little Scruffs has been out in California - doing all kinds of doggy things like running on the beach, and playing with other dogs - it sounds like he had a wonderful time out there. What could be bad about 6 weeks in a beach cottage, with sisters and brothers coming over every day, and doggie friends and lots of spoiling.

But it all had to end someday, and Mom is now back in Florida but not without some angst. See, we made her buy a first-class ticket out to CA, and figured this would give her room for Scruffy's little cart and make everyone comfortable. And it worked great on the way out there! But coming home they hit a few snags. First mom had to check an extra bag - and it was the bag with Scruffy's treats! Then she couldn't fit his rolling crate under the first class seat (she forgot that the wheels were detachable!) and everyone was very upset. Luckily, a couple sitting near mom had a daughter traveling in coach - just two rows back, and this lovely person fit Scruffy's crate under her coach seat (don't ask me why this worked out, it just did). So Mom was sitting in first class, and Scruffy was back in coach...and occasionally giving a little whine or whimper of distress. Of course, after mom had her first class dinner, she took a few bread rolls, and went back to coach to feed Scruffs a little dinner. And of course, once he saw her - he whimpered more, so mom switched seats with the gal and stayed in coach to keep Scruffy company. (SO glad we spent that extra money).

Then they got home, everyone was thrilled to be home and Scruffs was very thirsty of course, only having bread rolls for the past 6 hours. So he drank a ton of water while Mom went thru the mail. After a few minutes, he came scratching up to mom - who of course thought he just wanted to cuddle. So she picked him up and they cuddled for awhile, then she put him down and he wandered off...to pee on the freshly cleaned rug.

( I mean really...what would you think if your doggie came up to you and yammered and scratched and you knew he had just drunk a ton of water....would you think he needed a cuddle? Well, of course, he always needs a cuddle....but really!!!)

So that is my Animal Wednesday! I could of course tell you about the deer that I nearly hit while driving home tonight but I'll save that for another day.

Trying to be green

We've had two old computers for years and just haven't gotten around to recycling them. This weekend we cleaned out our garage and these two computers are sitting there, waiting to be dumped.

While driving back from biking yesterday, we saw this sign next to a small strip mall.



It was unclear which store in the line up of stores was the recycling center, so we drove around the back to see if there was additional information.

There was.



Hmm....we were looking for something a bit more effective and green.

What started me into drawing, painting, being creative....

I didn't start drawing until after a very very close friend died of cancer (at 50) and my sister in law died of complications from kidney disease (at 53). Suddenly I started drawing, and painting and on and on. I'd always been somewhat creative, but their deaths were an impetus to me to really start drawing. Miss Em came out of some of that pain, she's been a great emotional outlet for me. In the back of my mind I always felts that Isabel and Lucile were channeling thru me - especially Isabel who was a wonderful artist.

Today I read Robyns post and truly - chills went up my back at the poem. The post itself is wonderful and sad and amazing, and the poem...wow.

I'm a bit stunned......

Early Morning - once again - and some lake shots

I adore early morning - and a picture taken at the same spot (or close) as I jog around the track shows how quickly it can change.








We went bike riding at the lake on Sunday and I took some time to admire the beauty of the lake and clouds.






I love the camera on this iphone......

Animal Wednesday and a few other things

We were bike riding last weekend and I brought my camera to capture the multiple images of woodland animals that I was sure I would see. And I saw NONE. I was going to show you all picture of empty field and desolate roads claiming that I had just seen a deer or a snake.

Then I remembered that Animal Wednesday was about all sorts of animal images...and duh....I like to draw and paint.

Here is a paperclay dog that I've had hanging around, I had thought of painting him but have decided not to - I like his goofy whiteness. So now that I consider him finished, he will take a place in the paperclay basement hall of fame. Since he's sort of lumpy and bulgy in places, I can call him Whitey Bulgy....what do you think of that clever name?


I had a little canvas hanging around and decided to paint a picture of a crow. At the same time I didn't want to get out my paints and make a mess. So I pulled out these things I got at the hardware store - it's paint in a brush-marker holder. You pump the end and paint comes out on a nylon brush - I think it's for "touch ups" around the house. Anyway, I used them to do this painting - I kind of like it.


I've been working feverishly on a quilt for a friend who's friend just had a baby...and she went into labor just as Hurricane Irene hit. I had the idea of a balloon theme, and then decided to have a cloud blowing at the balloons. I emailed Lynn for advice, she told me how to get the image I wanted onto the quilt and it came out wonderful! (thanks Lynn). Here's the front.....


...a closeup of the wind cloud...


...and the back. The whole project became a family affair, as I was working with no pattern and there were some design elements to be dealt with - i.e. the upper clouds. DH knew what he would do if it was a drawing, so we had to figure out how to transfer that idea to a quilt. It was fun, but I'm glad to have it done.

I'm still knitting up a storm - finishing up some baby hats to go with the sweaters that I made (all babies need ensembles - don't they?) and also some scarfs for my cousin and a lacy one for me. I'm also working on a sweater for myself in some amazingly soft brown and black wool and the wine colored merino yarn that I saw recently just called out to me.

Have a Happy Animal Wednesday and I hope you see some animals around your area

Personal Best

It was cool out this morning - about 55 degrees. Lovely sleeping weather but a bit cooler than we expect for this time of the year - but welcome. I bundled up a bit to go out for my walk, but wore stuff that was easily layer-able as I knew I would get warm once I started going. I started trotting along but had to stop to take this picture.


I've always wanted to say I've reached a Personal Best....not usual terminology when sitting and knitting a sweater, or drawing. But I did one today - maybe not impressive to some, but amazing to me. I did 5K in my morning walk/run and did it in 38 minutes. When I started out with this exercise routine, I was doing 5K in about 48 minutes - which impressed me at the time. My goal has been to get it under 45 minutes, and I didn't realize that I was getting closer to that goal every day.


I'm not fishin' - not looking for kudos - I guess its just amazing to me that if I persevere, and keep at this exercise routine that I keep getting better. After I broke my ankle 6 years ago I thought I would never be able to do this type of exercise again...and here I am...doing better than ever. Frankly - it's amazing! If I can do it - ANYONE can!!!

Good way to start the weekend I think. Hope you all have a lovely personal best weekend yourselves.