"Meditation"

Over this past summer, our local art museum sent out weekly emails. Each week there was a word prompt - theme for the week. One week the word was "Meditation." A good challenge so I got out my sketchbook...pencils, pens, brushes, and paints...

I do not consider myself a true 'meditator,' but I am inspired by nature and music and can ‘lose myself’ in certain special places.

I began thinking about a lot of different things... The slow oscillating sprinkler. It’s gentle back and forth spray is mesmerizing.

Water is important to me in so many ways... 

There’s the birdbath... I love to watch the small fountain and the antics of the birds.

 When weather permits, I try to swim every day. I love being in the water...

..and on the water. One of my fondest memories is of canoeing on Wisconsin lakes in the summer.

Some of my quietest times have been just sitting on our deck and looking at the water. It’s a very healing place.

Of course, my garden is also a place for thinking and healing. When the deer are not eating all my plants, it’s a peaceful place.

We live surrounded by tall trees...black cheery, locusts, maples, oaks, and tall pines. There is something special about forests.

In the winter, we are forced to be inside more, but there is nothing like being in front of a blazing fire ...

...or just sitting in front of a glowing candle.

And, the other thing I depend on is music. It transports me to peaceful places. Unfortunately, this sketch went onto two pages so there is a crease in the middle. 

Having a suggested theme was helpful. It got me thinking about possibilities. 

More sketches to come from another week's theme...

 

Sketch a day from August!

 Another month has flown by....somehow, even in 'lockdown', time continues!

So, here I am again posting more quick sketches and trying to make up stories about each page. 

As you may recall, each month has begun with two words.  In August, it was Train or Plane - 

We had wonderful old Lionel trains growing up. My brothers and I and friends spent hours being engineers.

When my father retired from his business he wanted to learn to fly. He got his pilot's license and bought a Piper Tri pacer. I couldn't help putting it's number on the plane N9833D. I loved listening to him calling the airport towers "N9833Delta"

Breakfast and Suitcase - Well. if you are going to take a trip you should definitely have a good breakfast before you go. However, we live far from the airport and take early flights, so we usually grab something to eat after we get through the security checkpoint.

Kilt and Castle - This is an easy one.. you could certainly wear your kilt when visiting the Scottish castle.

               

Anchor and Octopus - Another easy page for relationships... found in the ocean!

Coast and Harbor -  Now I am thinking this is too easy. Am I being lulled into smugness? Coast and Harbor are naturals!

           

Lighthouse and Planet - Well, lighthouse should have gone with coast and harbor... I guess I should have looked ahead...I already sketched a lighthouse! This lighthouse belongs to the Chesapeake Bay. I love it's different look. Planet seems kind of random.  Maybe UFOs would be looking for directions and see the lighthouse...that's a stretch!

Stars and Alien - Stars seemed too simple... I had this little guy seeing stars. And then here comes the alien. That would relate to the UFO story on the page before.

Spaceship and Robot - Seems like something got started with that planet back there a few days ago. Now it's a spaceship and robot... of course, they could go together...and then there is that alien, too!

Sleep and Memory - Sleep may imply dreams (that would explain all the weird space stuff). Some people remember their dreams. Me, not so much. In fact, I use post it notes to remember a lot of stuff!

         

Stretch and Cherry - Now, there's a challenge.... these words 'stretch' my imagination to come up with a way to connect them. Maybe after your workout you go to the health bar and order a cherry smoothie!

Abandoned and Thinking - I loved drawing the old wooden door. It reminded me of walks in the woods and discovering abandoned buildings - always interesting and great places to sketch. When I sketched 'thinking' the thinking bubble remained empty... sometimes my thoughts abandon me!

          

Poodle and Panda - Two cuddly animals that begin with a 'P'. I think they both look cute, but understand that poodles are not easy pets (our neighbor had one that ran away a lot and never listened) and pandas just look cute...they are not pets!

Pig and Fly - Obvious, they are both three letter words! But really... If the pig were rolling around in the mud and yuck, it might be covered with flies. And then there is also that wonderful saying..."...when pigs fly!"

                

Late and Stink - On my, we are always worried we are going to be late putting out the garbage! If we miss trash pick-up, that would surely stink!

Messy and Gorilla - Hmmm, my desk is already messy...BUT, if I let a gorilla in that room it would be even worse! I guess a gorilla could make a mess anywhere. It was fun to paint!

                  

Whale and Polar Bear - I loved sketching both of these guys... I looked at a lot of whale and bear pictures before I sketched. I have always been fascinated by whales breaching - 'jumping' out of the water. Amazing that a creature that big can do that! I used to take my children to the Baltimore zoo. The polar bear there was always a favorite.

There is sadness as I look at both of these magnificent animals. What climate change is doing to their habitats - or do I say, what WE are doing to their habitats... 

That's the end of another month! Stay tuned, we are a good way into September!

Stay masked, stay safe!

The Turkey Challenge

Several weeks ago and artist friend sent a very strange drawing around to several other artists with this challenge...

Color Me Beautiful Challenge:

Tinting Tom Turkey

The Challenge

 

1.      Attached you will find a black and white sketch of a male turkey head.  Enlarge this elegant fowl and print on an 8.5x11 sheet.  You might also consider a composition of multiple heads which must conform to the 8.5x11 size.

2.     Entries may be colored with any medium desired.

3.   The entries should reflect the artistic style and personality of the artist.

Here's the turkey head.....

When I first saw it, I thought..."you've got to be kidding!" 

I tried to picture it various ways... then I re-read the challenge and saw a possibility of multiple heads...

Hmmm,  I printed out lots of small heads, cut them apart and began to arrange them.

Maybe a flower... and leaves...

I did some more arranging, took away a few petals and reversed the leaf on the right. I took a photo and then printed it out on watercolor paper. There was no way I was going to draw NINE ugly turkey heads! 

I googled turkeys to see about color...

I got out my watercolors and it looked like this.

I think this is fun, but also very busy and in your face. I was going for a more subtle look. I washed off the blue, and toned it down, trying to keep the beak. I really liked the subtle beak on the leaves. 

"Nine Turkeys"

I sent in my completed challenge and was informed this morning that my entry came in SECOND in the contest!

It was a weird/fun challenge during a very challenging time! Thanks, Lee!
 

The Wedding Gift

 Our grandson, Patrick, had planned to get married next weekend. 'Save the Date' postcards were sent out many months ago. Then we were hit with a pandemic. Patrick and Grace, his fiancee, had to postpone their ceremony. They sent out "Unsave the Date" postcards. I must admit, I have never received one of those before!

Rather than postpone for a year...or however long it would be before it was safe to have a gathering, they decided to just get married. On a Thursday a couple weeks ago, they found a beautiful park and exchanged rings with just their parents present. 

The next day they came to our house and had lunch with us. That Saturday they had a Zoom reception for about 40 family members! 

Actually, the zoom call was fun. We were able to 'meet' so many of Grace's family who were literally all over the world. The call was at 2:00pm our time. With time zone differences, some of the 'guests' were having breakfast or lunch. A few had to get up at 4:00am, others were having dinner on Sunday! It was a lovely shared experience and certainly 'made lemonade' out of COVID 19 lemons!

But, back to the gift. 

A week or so after they sent out the Unsave the Date postcard, we received two small wineglasses in the mail. 

 

There was a note about the reception and that we could raise these glasses (with the champagne that they had brought to us) for several toasts while we were zooming.

Since they had postponed the wedding, we had not given much thought to a wedding gift... and here we were about to celebrate! I needed to paint something personal for them.

I decided to pick up on the 'we do'. The other obvious theme for me was that they are both musicians. Patrick is an accomplished harpsichordist and Grace is an amazing vocal artist. 

Preliminary sketches help me to visualize ideas and to see how they can be developed. 

First thought...

Expanded to "we do...make beautiful music together"

Maybe add a music staff...names and date?  It's getting too much....

Tried to make the glasses smaller... eh...

got rid of the glasses and played around with the staff...

Then I had this hokey idea that if I was going to paint a staff, I could copy real music. I searched around for something appropriate...  A few more sketches experimenting with some color....ta da!

After I took this photo I added the little heart that was on the glasses. (Forgot to take a final photo)

For those of you who can read music, you know the mystery tune... Yes, of course, Grace and Patrick knew right away!

July - Sketch a day

I just realized that I got so caught up in all the dogs - Dog days of summer, I guess  - that I forgot to post my sketches from July.  We are now well into August so I had to go back and find them.

There are days that I have to make myself sit down and sketch...and other times when I want to skip ahead and do several. After all this time, I am giving myself permission to do what feels right...without guilt! If I get caught up in something else, it's OK - I'll get to it tomorrow and probably enjoy it even more.

Inserted after writing - after I finished writing all this and dropping in the images, I went to "Preview" to check before I published. For some reason several of the images do not directly line up with the text. In this area, I am technically challenged - as a friend of mine says..."Way above my pay grade!" So, I beg forgiveness and urge you to please read on..

As before, I tried to make up reasons how the sketches on each page might be related... here we go...

Summer or Winter...I added 'Ice' and thought of cold drinks in the summer. Ice in winter is definitely an igloo!

Flat and Waiting - I chose 'flat' on a music staff...I suppose I could sing flatly while I am waiting.

Chess and Necklace - I am working hard here...maybe a person could wear a necklace while playing chess.

Moth and Butterfly - more similar than different. When I looked for images, I found an amazing array of beauty in both categories.

                           

Mum and Dad - Well, I guess these are obvious go-togethers, but I never called my mother 'Mum' so I went with Chrysanthe-mum. I love the child had holding Dad's hand.

Ticket and Mushroom - Probably nothing here...but I could make up a story about going to a mushroom farm and having to buy a ticket to get in...

Rose and Balance - I see nothing here to go together! All I can say is that I really enjoyed drawing both of these sketches!

Hammer and Do Not Cross - Hmmm, maybe this is a construction zone and there is a piece of large equipment (not shown) that is in the way. Or, if you dare to cross this line, I'll hit you with a hammer...

Experiment and Vote - I loved drawing the experiment...I could imagine anything. The vote thing is a 'hot' issue right now with an election coming up in November. I definitely don't want VOTE to be an experiment!

Crown and Pie - The crown certainly represents royalty... hmm, maybe it takes me back to "Sing a song of sixpence" although there are NO blackbirds baked in this pie to set before a king!

Greyhound and Ferris Wheel - A fast, skinny dog and a wheel that stands vertically and spins around... really? What about 'entertainment'? There are dog races that people attend (although there are also people who are offended by this and work hard to protect the dogs) and carnivals with all sorts of rides.

Pyramid and Standing Stones - Certainly all made our of stones carefully fit together.

Stepping Stones and Puddle - I was wishing the standing stones and stepping stones were on the same page...but, not so. The stepping stones are the walk through the garden. The puddle calls for a little boy whose mother probably wished there were stepping stones so he didn't get soaked. But, come on, that's what little boys do!

Piranha and In the Forest - A mean, biting fish (although colorful) and an inviting path through a cool forest do not go together! Sometimes it's better to not try to make things work...

Black Cat and Itchy - There are people who are allergic to cats of any color! 

Sneeze - It's a bad time to sneeze or cough right now in the ongoing lockdown from COVID 19. I almost didn't even want to draw a sneeze!

That's it for July! Another fun month of some challenging drawings. More surprises coming up in August.