Shadow Shot Bench

Shadows really are different in different parts of the world. This was taken in Wichita, Kansas -- and the shadows there are incredibly sharp compared to what we see here in hazy east Tennessee, which must still be hazy even when we poor locals think the sun is out full force!

Go visit the group at Hey Harriet! to see how other shadows all over the world looked this week!

A (LONG) SIDE NOTE:
Sometime in early June I looked at how busy the summer was going to be and gave myself permission to skip sketching when I was pressed and to skip Saturday morning painting if I needed to -- it seemed like the only way to maintain balance. Unfortunately, the undisciplined kid in me took that to heart, and therefore I have barely done any sketching or painting in two months. NOT what I thought would have happened! So the sketchbook is back out, and I'm adding the rule of no matter how busy I am, I at least sketch my coffee cup. The Fifteen Minute Rule is what I call it -- I can at least find 15 minutes!

As to my unexplained absence from the world of blogging -- it has been a crazy busy fun summer for me so far, folks. We drove to Wichita in mid July to celebrate my husband's parents' fiftieth wedding anniversary. As a surprise treat for them, the invitation included a request that people send in their photos and stories about Doc and Mary, and I got to compile them all into a scrapbook. It has been a long time since I did anything "scrapbook-ish" and turned out to be a rather time consuming project, taking up most of my art time for over a month. I really felt privileged, though, to be the one to first read some of the wonderful stories about how my in-laws had touched so many lives.

Other fun "stuff" that has gone on this summer:
Work madness ensued and then resolved (yay! -- but isn't that always the case?);
An absolutely WONDERFUL week-long visit from my niece, starting and ending with a few days of my sister and other niece thrown into the mix -- what a BLAST!;
Time spent on the boat enjoying the sunny weather (when we got it);
The house remodel continues, with the kitchen and downstairs bath being halfway complete (I've put them on hold temporarily because I have to change planned colors now that I see the new counter tops in the room -- sheesh -- I'd never make it as an interior designer!);
There's more that I've probably left out and EVEN MORE fun stuff is planned that will take me away from the computer here and there over the next month.

But even if I'm away from the computer -- I WILL BE SKETCHING AND PAINTING!