Challenge 77 Something cool

I saw this picture in the N Y Times and thought , "Now, that is cool."

Lucky doc 

Well, at least I'm drawing

So I didn't bring a book but at least I brought my sketch book. The view from the table in the doc's teensy room waiting for her to come in and listen to my aches and pain, tell me once again I am congested (duh!), need an antibiotic, to take fish oil and lose more weight. Perhaps I should record this for her. I like drawing this but doubt the view will change with the next visit. Why don't docs with all that $$$ invest a little more in ART? I would lots rather look at a print from Matisse than an illustration of how cholesterol is going to do me in or how heart disease is the number one killer of women. Oh goody!
But at least I had my sketch book and pen...never leave home without it. Maybe on my next visit I should sign a sketch and tape it to her wall. Think she might barter? 

Challenge 24

Challenge 24, Fruit
Watercolor
I'm not crazy about eating red Delicious apples but they are beautiful to look at and draw. I'm getting braver with the watercolors.
I love working on paper vs gallery-wrapped canvas but there is always the framing expense. I do most of it myself with the exception of work that needs to be floated. Those works are usually 22x 30 and collaged or painted to the edges and expensive to frame. 

Police chase

More from my sketch book. I have to admit I sat glued to the TV as an armed robber raced through nearby streets and freeways eluding the police for about 2 hours. He was followed mostly by a police helicopter and a news helicopter eluding dozens of police cars by driving through fields, yards, and even a golf course. The guy is 58 yrs old and had robbed a dry cleaners. He obviously was quite familiar with the area and did an amazing job of driving. He slowed down in major intersections and dodged cars as he drove the wrong way down major thoroughfares. Finally at a toll booth spikes were thrown down which blew out his front tires. He continued on rims still giving police a run for their money until he veered off the freeway out of control and ended up in a bayou. There he stayed for a couple of hours with a gun held to his chin threatening suicide. Eventually he was coaxed out by the SWAT team and was taken into custody. It was the wildest ride many police officers said they had ever observed. The miracle of it all is that no one was seriously injured even when the robber clipped another pickup at an intersection. Thank God.

Challenge 76, a fresh flower

Pen and ink and watercolor crayons and pencils

These hibiscus (what is the plural of "hibiscus"? Hibisci?) grow and grow and grow down my driveway. If I am not attentive to pruning, they would cover the side of my house and my kitchen window. But I do enjoy their blooms and they seem to thrive in this hot and humid tropical climate.

I am new to watercolors and am having a great time experimenting with pencils and crayons. For this Challenge I worked on actual 140# watercolor paper which I liked much better than the sketch book I had been using. I may have to switch and then bind all the drawings together some way later. Or who knows....I might just have to break down and join the moleskine watercolor community.

Challenge 30

I love this chair which I bought from one of my very best friends and traveling buddy when she took off for San Miguel de Allende to live. Sitting in it reminds me of her and the fun we have together. After our third trip to SM, Mexico, she went home, sold her house and her business and moved down there. I have visited her several times and looking forward to my next trip. It is a haven for artists and there is a wealth of sites to draw along with some great entertainment. There are two wonderful internationally known art schools there as well, one of which I have taken a class from. Right now I am an arm chair traveler with a gypsy soul and a traveling wannbe.

Challenge 75 - A recipe

This is a favorite of my family and so easy. It is a great pot-luck dish as well and can be made the night before. Red and yellow bell peppers are also good in this and add more color.

Another waiting room

Another day of Dr. appointments...this is drawn in the waiting room of the orthopedic surgeon's office as I waited to determine when my 2nd knee replacement was going to take place. This plump little woman was accompanied by her mother and an attitude. Determined to read her book and ignore her mother she sat very still, lucky for me.
The doc gave me a gel injection and a week to make up my mind as to when to get the surgery. I am terrified as we discovered during the previous surgery on the other knee that I am allergic to Vicodin and Darvoset...holy moly but the substitutes didn't quite do the job. The doc says there are a couple of others we can try but no quarantees...so I have more than a little anxiety about all this.
Just I think I shall just draw my way through this. I should just draw myself a perfectly good knee and call it good.

Inspire Me Thursday

This image transfer was done with gel medium on painted canvas with collage.

Challenge73

This really is my mailbox. I may have to sedate it when we put our house on the market. Some of the funnest mail I have received have been packages from Yahoo groups like postcard x or Art-By-You. The most recent was the return of my journal after a year in a Round Robin in which each participant picked a color scheme that was to be continued by each artist when she worked on it, much like the book True Colors. I love the way mine turned out in the colors turqoise, purple and lime. 

Challenge 15-Everyday Matters

Draw a tree. This poor tree sits in my front yard and we are in a quandry as to how best save it. It may be dying of old age as many in our neighborhood are in difficulty. But tomorrow we call the tree man back to see what he can do. With hurricane season upon us we must be wary of any dead branches, etc. It will be nice to at least have this sketch of it if, indeed, it has to go. 

Challenge #14

Challenge #14
What I see first when I wake up in the morning...B.C. (Before Coffee). At my age it is usually the bathroom. Oh dear, what a life I lead. Why couldn't be Orlando Bloom?

Challenge10

Challenge 10 - a hand
Mine, of course, since no one else was willing to sit still long enough.

Challenge 12 - my dinner of taco soup and fresh veggies, perfect for this rainy, rainy weather. And yes, the plate was really round...ah well....

Challenge # 9

Challenge # 9 the chaos of my studio table
Actually this is on a good day. It's been worse...a lot worse. Can one be creative in chaos? You betcha.

Challenge #7 & 8

Challenge #7 A Kitchen jar
This is a garlic jar made years ago in my former life as a potter. Fortunately it still works great and sits on my kitchen counter full of garlic ready to throw in the pan.

Challenge #8 A watch
I love this silver watch with the Navajo symbol of a man's journey on it with a labyrinth. It was a gift on a trip to New Mexico and I have earrings to match.

Challenge 6

Challenge #6 A favorite thing
Like Georgia, I have a thing for skulls. Someone way back gave me this great goat skull complete with horns. A lousy drawing but you get the idea.

Challenge #4

Challenge #4 My bed
I love my king-size white wrought iron bed but I am thinking of getting a new comforter. I want to paint the walls a nice soft green and use some quiet blue somewhere. Obviously we like to read in bed. :)

Challenge #2

This challenge #2 was to draw a purse or a wallet. So here is the old black backpack from the Hard Rock Cafe in D.C. that I seem to carry everywhere. My life is somewhere inside.
Pen and ink and watercolor pencils.

More of Everyday Matters

Challenge #1
Draw a shoe. Thank goodness I thought to save one of my first grandson's baby shoes, his first walkers. It brings back such sweet memories of watching him take those tenuous and then running steps. He will be 15 in a couple of weeks and wears a size 12 now.