The Last Sunrise of the Year

...and what a gorgeous one it was. This was the view as I woke this morning.

Afternoon at SAM

Just saw the Elle's exhibit from Centre Pompidou at SAM and now enjoying gelato here. This was my favorite. It's At the Edge of the Sea by Romaine Brooks, and Italian artist.

Treated myself to lunch at Taste Restaurant in the museum: a salad (with memorable dressing) and squash and ginger soup: perfect rainy grey weather food. On way back to Metro, I stopped here for some gelato.

Good but not as tasty as those in Italy but maybe it's my rainy mood ...or the $4 price tag?  Oh, I suppose it's still cheaper than round trip to Rome.  Oh, but I can't do Rome right now... I'm currently pretty busy in Venice with Mary Ann anyway.

Two New Books

Some books
:
A Kiss Before You Go, a new illustrated sketchbook by Danny Gregory, author of Everyday Matters and An Illustrated Journal, is a book I would recommend to anyone who has lost a spouse or other close person - or will - which includes us all. Here is a review by Roz Stendahl, a fellow sketchbook artist, that says it all.

And, a new book by my lifelong friend, Jeannie Vansickle, is on the shelves. Called The Long Ride Home, it is a raw accounting of Jeannie's trip through the painful process of grief after the sudden death of her husband. I've been there. But even if you haven't yet lost the person closest to you - consider yourself lucky, first, and for now - each of these books reminds us how much we take for granted and, just as the recent sad events also did, how important each normal day is in our lives. And so so easy to take for granted, aren't they?

A new setting for our house

So, that's our house. Right down to the garage. It's sitting in Bob's railroad. He built the model. Isn't it cute??

Put a stripe on it!

Bought a pair of warm and fuzzy slippers. They are black-and-white. I cannot resist black-and-white stripes. Or polka-dots. I just cannot. And, yeah, they are comfortable  and sassy. I like 'em!

Cheap entertainment for us doodlers

Just discovered in the Crayola section of Joann's. Crayola always has had my number, knowing how easily I am entertained. These markers have different tips allowing for multiple lines and ..the coolest, I think...(toldja it doesn't take much) are the tips in hexagon shapes so you can make hexagon dots! Ain't life grand?

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Don't bother me...I'm studying mushrooms.

In Molly's autumn sketchbook class, we are experimenting with lots of different tools and techniques to use with or without watercolor. Already posted some pencil sketches and some I did with walnut ink, a process I really enjoyed. Lately we've brought out the pastels, colored inks, pencils, and white gouache with studies of leaves and mushrooms, and learned how to tint our paper.

Bragging Rights?

Well, I probably have no bragging rights except as proud family member but hey anyway. Jeff, my nephew-in-law, created and runs a great deli in my OTHER hometown (stand up and wave, Elgin) where the sandwiches are named after all the schools. The best-selling sandwich, I hear, is the Lowrie. My old haunting grade school grounds. Just saying.

November afternoon

I don't like to see the end of summer but when these gray cool damp November days come, I try to embrace them. Perfect reading weather, as well as coffees, cafes, and croissants of the chocolate variety. Just ate one of the best bread salads I've had and delving into a croissant (okay, good, but not Paris where they make The Best Ones, just saying). A favorite place for lunch on a misty November Saturday. Really tasty bread salad. Trust me.


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..and bread salad made perfectly at Essential Bakery on Madison in Seattle. I treat myself here occasionally.

Because it's really really good!

Not Your Ordinary Doodle

Wow! I'm not a "Zentangler"of any quantity, though I enjoy dabbling. I am a doodler. Meet this artist: you may never find this form of doodling applied any more creatively. The artist is Margaret Storer-Roche and is a member of Everyday Matters where I found her. You should go to  her Flickr page too, if you have the courage  to be so awed :).....amazing detail.

My song to the moon

Making Tape

 

Ribbon through Xyron. Good: use interesting ribbons in limited amounts. Easy, quick. Too expensive and clumsy for a lot of tape.

30 Days of Drawing: Day 23

In Molly's watercolor class today, we sketched nuts, seeds, pinecones and other autumnal things with walnut ink. Great fun. I enjoy the looseness of this kind of drawing. 

 The top two were done on Bristol drawing paper, the bottom on Arches cold press. 

Visits to studios of West Coast Artists

Thanks to Mary Ann Moss for mentioning this site. A series of visits to the studios of artists.  This one has a interesting video of an ink and watercolor artist who emigrated from Bosnia and whose childhood experiences affects her work. "Not about beauty but honoring what was going on in my head.." http://inthemake.com/studio-visits/

It's raining a rainbow

A  delicious full spectrum rainbow.  Will I ever cease to become giddy when it appears. Wishing I had my good camera instead of iPad to capture this one. It was spectacular.  

30 Days of Drawing, Day 19. One Shell 8 Ways

Started in August, just finished; maybe a bit of cheating here, therefore. But I drew #3 and #7 today, so I'm counting it.  Fun. Used a variety of  tools and colors. Ended up totally different than what I had in mind when I started. Such is life. 

Your apple awaits.

Isn't this just the prettiest thing? 

Photo taken in Chelan Country, Washington. Wanted to take the apple, too. I didn't. I had gotten a speeding ticket a few days before. Didn't want to get a Stealing Apple Ticket on top of it. 

Sketching autumn vegetables

More sketches from our Autumn Sketchbook class.

This is called a turban squash. He's a funny guy, isn't he? Well-named, though! He sat around the house too long to taste him, though I'm sure  he's quite delicious. 

Imagine green stripes on yellow, a giant jellybean. Him we ate. Another tasty squashy treat. 

30 Days of Drawing, Day 16: Fall flowers

Today in Molly's class we sketched fall flowers, using broad strokes in watercolor and pen and ink. I painted a dahlia and a gorgeous blue/green/purple (pink, red, gold) hydrangea.  Ooo, I love hydrangeas in all their flavors. 

Tolstoy and the Purple Chair

Do you know about this book yet? If you wish you could read more, if you imagine reading a book a day - yes, a day, not a week, if you are already aware of the healing effects a delicious read can have...you should read this. I have just discovered it at the U bookstore, but I see that it has been highlighted in papers and radio...how did I miss it?...and am deep into it already. So beautifully written, and, of course, a treasure chest of ideas for the next read. You know, the one that comes after the other next read...the one on top,of the pile. No, not that pile! That one!

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Go To Meeting

I am always interested in meetings at Starbucks. It's not hard to figure out who is the boss or who is being interviewed or whose idea was this anyway?

Procreate app on iPad

As for this meeting, the guy on the right is the boss.

Drawing a Day: Day 11

I have a love-hate relationship with my dentist. Well, not love. Tolerance. Because she keeps my teeth in good shape. And she has the latest technology. And lots of technicians all dressed in black. All women, although I didn't do that on purpose. Very slick quarters. I mean, it's all good. But I just hate going to the dentist. I know. It's my failing. Give me points for going. I usually keep my eyes closed. But, wow, I opened them today and saw a very scary-looking iimage. 

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30 Days of Drawing, Day 10

I'm still learning the ins and outs of this app...

Procreate app

Drawing a Day, Day 3

In Jill Berry's journal texting class...some of the interesting tools we used today.

30 Days of Drawing, Day 2

In Portland, first day of Art and Soul, left home at 5:00 in the morning to travel the 150 miles and get there on time for 9:00 class and uh oh, I guess I had a lead foot as the speed decreased to 60 without my paying attention.  Okay. I admit it. Let me just say this:  I was passing nobody! Actually, the cat in the chair was something I did a while back...I just used the rest of the page space to make my daily sketch. Pretty scene at dusk...silhouettes against the Columbia and across from Washington hills. A bit of wind to remind us that October is upon us.

30 Days of Drawing, Day 1

Magnificent metal (or glass?) gourds at the entry to Benson Winery.

Sunday sunny morning sitting on the dock the bay.

Well, not exactly a dock. Or a bay. Rather, a lake, Lake Chelan, with friends, wine, good food. Who could ask for anything more?

Smoke from all the first has mostly cleared up, offering such views from our friends' lovely home.

Does that tree enjoy its special view? It's sort of...there!


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Procreating at McD's

Used the app, Procreate. Sorry, couldn't resist.

On My Mind

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Maybe it's a cliché

...but isn't it nice to be floating amongst the clouds?




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Maira Kalman on Epiphany

How did she get into my head so perfectly?!

Andrea Joseph

  

Lazy days of summer. I'm revisiting some of blogs from the blogroll and other resources to get inspired, invigorated and move myself out of a  creative funk. Andrea Joseph is a favorite artist of mine, an amazing artist who works magic with a pen. Go see her stuff. You will be amazed. Here's a flickr of a travel journal. Her blog will keep you interested for hours. Trust me on this.

I just ordered one of her zines on Etsy. She has 2 or 3 limited edition titles.

How does it manage to get so late so fast? Holy Secondhand, Batman, look at the time. Another midnight-to-bed.
And still 70 degrees outdoors.
Yippy-ki-o-ki-ay.

Hopper Houses

I love the work of Edward Hopper. His dark, moody urban scenes and his amazing depiction of light and shadows never cease to attract me and make me want to linger there. But I also love the houses. This article in today's NYTimes Magazine highlight the actual models for some of his bright sunlit and shadowed  paintings of houses. I'd love to see these houses in person (and according the article, I am not alone - tourist groups abound). I think I'll put them on my travel list, which grows increasingly larger day by day. These are in Gloucester, Mass on Cape Ann, a part of the country I never need an excuse to visit.

 

Just my type

I'm cleaning up my iPad and deleting apps I rarely use, since I have pretty  much run out of space on my 32G. I knew I would someday.

In doing so, I'm reacquating myself with a few. Like this one.
But you'll have to click these to read them.

I'll probably tuck this one away for awhile, too, since I seldom use it. And, anyway, I can just go to the real one I talk about here...

P.S.  I was and remain a 90+ wpm typist, I like to proudly reveal. Happyface. 





I see some errors in the post below but, as it has magically appeared from the MadMen age, I can't and won't fix them. There's something pure about that, though, don't you think?

You'll have to click me to read me. 

Quick sketch of a new landmark

-using Paper by Fifty Three. I am confident the Ferris wheel travels in a full circle, despite my apparent efforts to not make it so.