Foot: EDMWC

This week's challenge for the Everyday Matters group is to draw your foot. Not the prettiest of subjects in some cases, mine included!

All the responses to the challenge were good, but Deborah's at "It Was This Big" (her July 14 post) was my favorite, and she wins the best perspective prize as far as I'm concerned!

Clothing: EDMWC

Catching up on old Everyday Matters challenges. This one was to draw an item of clothing. My blue jeans were lying on the table, folded, just out of the dryer -- what better item of clothing to draw!

Old: EDMWC

Everyday Matters Weekly Challenge: Draw something old. I have a very old quarter-sawn tiger oak writing desk that is just one of my favorite pieces. These are a couple of details of a drawer handle and a bit of the carving on the drawer. I kept getting distracted by a vase of hydrangeas sitting nearby, and decided that since they were an old fashioned flower after all, it would be okay to add it to the page.

The photo is from a scrapbook of my grandmother's dated from the autumn of 1925 to the spring of 1926. We found the scrapbook several years ago after she died, tucked away in a closet. She and my grandfather were dating at the time she made the scrapbook, and the book is full of photos of their "gang" of friends. I don't know why she never shared it with us -- did she think that she and her friends acting up and having fun would have made us take her a little less seriously? Did she just forget about it? Did she think we wouldn't be interested?

I have to admit that scrapbook has been on my mind and taking up my time lately. I'm working to reproduce it, which has turned out to be a tougher job than expected. But with photos like this:


Who could resist?

Possum Love

I imagine it was several years ago that the first possum crept into the crawl space under our house. Generation after generation has probably used our crawl space as a safe hiding spot, but it wasn't until this year that somebody decided to nest in there. Not only did the ole' girl decide to nest under our house, she decided to rip into the heat/air ductwork, climb into the center of it all, build a nest, and proceed to have a litter of babies. Possums are generally quiet folks, so we didn't realize they were under there, until one of the young ones (nearly full grown -- a teenager, I guess) had the poor manners to pass away. IN the ductwork. I repeat ... IN the ductwork, which created a most pungent notification of their presence. Sheesh.

We were fortunate that it was unseasonably cool that first weekend. We were able to cover the vents downstairs where the smell was worst, and open the windows. We got under the house, and during our poking around heard something large moving through the ductwork. Now, not knowing exactly what was causing the, um, aroma, much less what to do about it, or what to do about the invader, whatever it was, we called in several experts. Nobody believed me when I told them there were animals INSIDE the ductwork. Nobody. It didn't matter how explicit I was, they all assumed I was exagerating and the animals (and carcass) was just under the house. And every single expert we called out was shocked when they came by for a look and discovered that I wasn't kidding.

Anyway, very long story short, we ended up having to hire a varmint exterminator to come out and try to trap the animals and get rid of the "d.o.a. possum" (that's what it said on the invoice), and then get a heating/cooling company to come in and REPLACE the ductwork. Possums are not kind to man made structures, by the way; they had torn it up all through the downstairs system. What they hadn't torn up they had lived in, and possum babies are like human babies when it comes to the matter of continence. We were VERY fortunate that our insurance company covered possum damage, since the total cost of the job to date has been ... hold onto your seats ... $5900.00.

What does this have to do with anything? Well, we live in the deep south. There have been days when the temperature has been in the 90's, and the humidity ALSO in the 90's with barely a swish of a breeze. We were completely without air conditioning for 3 1/2 weeks. I did NO artwork during that time! Paper stuck to whatever surface you laid it against. My skin stuck to whatever surface I laid IT against. Misery. So, you see, the tale of possum love is my reason (or excuse, if you so choose) to be SO behind on the EDM challenges!

True story.

A couple of interesting possum facts:
Dead possums Smell Terrible.
Live possums Don't Smell That Great either (kind of like a mix of musk oil, old garbage and wet dog).
The average life expectancy of a possum is one year. (according to a friend of mine)
The average size of a possum litter is thirteen. (according to the wildlife extermination expert)
I used to think possums were kind of cute.
Now I don't.

By the way ... does ANYBODY ever actually say "Oppossum"??? I don't believe I've heard anyone anywhere call them anything but "Possums".

"A's" first snow

Little Miss "A" in colored pencil - work in progress (approx 16" x 11"?). I had a hard time getting this to photograph clearly, so it is really very blurry. Hopefully, this gets the general idea across. Her skin is probably 20 plus layers of colored pencil, and her coat is already that much and more in some places. Still a whole lot of work to do (notice that I haven't started her scarf or shoes!) I think I'm going to keep the background sketchy and vague, to keep the blurry feel of a snowfall ... we'll see!


Closeup of her hand and coat - a lot of work still to do just on the embroidery! Colored pencil is very slow work (for me) although I find it to be the most relaxing of all the artwork I do. I may have it finished in time to give it to her as a wedding present or something :-D

Tool: EDMWC

This is my favorite gardening tool. It digs, hoes, loosens dirt, chops, transplants ... you name it! If we have one rule in this house regarding tools, it is that DH keeps his hands off this one - it's MINE! :-)

Challenged!

In the comments section of the previous post, Chuck asked about the Everyday Matters Weekly Challenges, and how they work. There is a great FAQ somewhere on the Everyday Matters List site, but I thought I'd also take a shot at the answer, just in case anyone else is wondering.

Chuck -- we get an art "challenge" thrown out once a week. The goal is to do that week's challenge by Friday or Saturday, but there isn't really a time limit, except that doing them on time keeps the momentum going for the entire group. A lot of new members will go back to the challenge list and do several in a row, just to have a list of things to draw when inspiration is otherwise lacking. It isn't uncommon for folks to say, "hey, I finally did Challenge number 3, go take a look" no matter how far in the past it is. The point is to get out and draw.

I have found them to be a really good way to stretch myself out of my comfort level, and draw types of things I would bother to do otherwise. I mean, I NEVER would have drawn my glasses, or desk lamp, or messy desk if left to my own devices. I actually wouldn't have thought that I could enjoy drawing green beans, but ever since the "draw your dinner" challenge, fruit and vegetables have had a different type of attraction for me. I actually bought a blood orange the other day JUST so I could paint it. Of course, like most food, once I cut it and took a taste it didn't stay around long enough to make it to the painting stage, but that's beside the point! I never feel like the point of the challenges is to do a "finished" art piece, either. My personal challenge is to learn to work more quickly and with more spontaneity, so I have the goal that it can not take longer than 20-30 minutes, and preferably just 15. However, I guess if my tendency was to always work fast, my personal challenge might be to slow down and be more detailed. I wonder if others impose similar "rules" on themselves? It would be interesting to find out.

This week's challenge is to draw a tool. I decided to find and draw my little hand trowel, which, of course, I'd left out in the yard. Beside the trowel was this six pack of yellow squash plants that got sketched instead. I wonder, would I have looked at the squash as an art opportunity if I hadn't been looking for the trowel with the THOUGHT of art in my mind? I doubt it.

Thank goodness I didn't go looking for the mop. We might have had drawings of dirty floors here now if I had...

Tree: EDMWC

The weekly challenge for the Everyday Matters group this week was to draw a tree. Now, I live in East Tennessee, probably one of the greenest places in the country, and have upwards of 30+ very tall hardwood trees in my yard alone. Still, I couldn't find a tree to draw! It was a matter of not being able to see the trees for the forest, if you know what I mean. Today we went out on the boat and I brought my handy little sketchbook along, thinking I could sketch a nice tree or two while DH did some fishing, but found that every time we settled to one spot the wind or current would move us long before I finished any drawing. Sigh. Oh well. I did this little postcard watercolor last night from a photo in a book, so I guess it will have to count! I tried to work fast and wet, as the experts almost always say to do, and muddled it up a bit. The little dirt road on the left isn't TOO bad, but the mess on the right is supposed to be a creek ... use your imagination, people!

Foxglove

We spent part of this weekend in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Saturday, while DH was in a day long conference, I headed up to the Chattanooga Nature Center and Reflection Riding, just to check it out. Expecting a small 1-2 acre area with formal gardens and greenhouse, I was surprised to find a really wonderful and well maintained area with comfortable walking trails through the woods. Although the plan was to spend a couple of hours there, I ended up staying for 5 hours, and walked about 7 miles in all.

A litle past midway on a 3.4 mile loop, there is a pavillion with a cute little herb garden. I sat under a huge honey locust tree and began sketching this foxglove. After a few minutes I began hearing a strange tap-tap-tap sound, which turned out to be a light rain shower. The honey locust tree was so thick that I hadn't felt a single rain drop, but I stopped the sketch midway and quickly bagged pencils and sketchbook back up into their giant zip lock and into my little back pack. The rain stopped shortly after, but the sky was so grey that I decided to head back in. Of course the sun was back out within 10 minutes. I got a couple of photos of the foxglove, so maybe I'll do a little watercolor study of it one day.

Flame Azalea

At one point on my walking adventure Saturday, I found this gorgeous flame azalea blooming. No way to catch it on film or paper -- it actually glows like flame!

Arrowwood

Walking around the Reflection Riding in Chattanooga Saturday I saw this Arrowwood bush in bloom. Some of the leaves were on the ground, so I used one to make leaf prints with watercolor.

Treehouse

The treehouse on the Blue Heron walk at Chattanooga Nature Center. I want one!!

Treehouse door

The back door of the treehouse at CNC. Beside the front door is a Shel Silverstein poem which reads:

A treehouse, a freehouse,

A secret you and me house,

A high up in the leafy branches

Cozy as can be house.

A street house, a neat house,

Be sure and wipe your feet house,

Is not my kind of house at all --

Let's go live in a tree house.

I couldn't agree more.

The Rhodies Hit the Stage

The rhododenndron bushes outside the living room window are covered with blooms. They stand about nine feet high now, and I'm always thrilled with how well they bloom. I'm thinking of doing a large painting of them, as usual -- hopefully this year I'll get around to doing it before the blooms fade!

Happy Mother's Day

A quick watercolor of part of my Mother's Day bouquet. Here's hoping all the Moms out there have a wonderful day! And to my mom -- I love you so much -- thanks for all the support, even back in the day when I wasn't bright enough to realize that's what you were doing!

Phone: EDMWC

The Everyday Matters weekly challenge this week was to draw our phone. I wish I had a lovely antique phone to draw, or even a modern one with some character. It was hard to get excited about it, but then I really warmed up to the page when I decided to draw an ear to go along with it all. The plan is to write down all my important phone numbers on the white spaces on this page -- that way I have a backup list, and I'll remember where it is!

Its been a busy week, but I have gotten in a bit of art, although it isn't anything anyone would really want to look at. I bought a new shade of yellow watercolor -- Winsor Yellow, which I'm thinking will compare to Hansa Yellow, a shade that I've been advised to get but can't find in the local art supply store. If this yellow doesn't suit me I'll be sure to order Hansa Yellow when I next place an order through Jerrys. I also picked up a nice deep staining purple, since I really only had one purple and it seemed a bit reddish to use to deepen the shadows on my greens, as advised by Jim. I know, I could have just "blued it up", but then what would I have gotten to BUY this week???

Beans: EDMWC

This week's challenge for the Everyday Matters group is to draw your dinner. I never let mine sit uneaten long enough to draw it, so I finally decided to draw the green beans I'm planning on preparing for dinner tonight. Since it is a journal entry, I also wrote down my favorite way to cook green beans.

Beans: A Quick Watercolor

I also tried a quick watercolor sketch of the green beans along with a red onion. Done with no sketching lines for guidance, I'm afraid the whole thing is a bit wonky -- still, I like the alizarin crimson and ultramarine with a bit of burnt sienna for the red onion . Greens continue to elude me.

Press Conference

DH sitting in his recliner watching the president's press conference Thursday night. We thought our favorite show, Survivor, had been pre-empted entirely, but to our delight it came on an hour late.

Glasses: EDMWC

Glasses and more for this last week's challenge from the Everyday Matters Yahoo group.

Hand: EDMWC

My hand drawing for the Everyday Matters group weekly challenge. I tried out a new Staedtler mechanical pencil with a thick lead. I like this pencil for quick aggressive drawings, I think; it doesn't feel like it would do small detail or shading as well as the old turquoise pencils.

It is NICE to be "back in the sketchbook"! This drawing only took about 15 minutes, and I realize that even if I WAS busy the past few weeks, I could have given myself 10-20 minutes most days to sketch a little something.

Poor neglected blog!

Well, it sure has been a busy busy few weeks! I've worked too much and let myself get way behind in other things. Several trips out of town, including a trip the weekend before last to a continuing education seminar on acupuncture -- really exciting stuff! This past weekend was my birthday (ugh -- I think I'm past the mid-point now ...) and I actually worked, but it wasn't so bad, as I went in and cleaned off the horrible mess of a desk pictured in the previous post. As a result, today I got off a little bit early, and got my herb garden planted. DH went to work out after work, and while he was gone I treated myself to a few hours of lying on the couch doing nothing (!!!) and watched "Shall We Dance" -- a movie that he would never consent to watch! Now I really want to learn to ballroom dance ...

I'm behind in the Everyday Matters Weekly Challenges, and will get back to the sketchbook tomorrow. That makes today a good day to share a photo of the bleeding hearts blooming back in the fern garden.

Piles - EDMWC

Everyday Matters Weekly Challenge -- draw your "piles" of stuff.
I decided to draw my poor desk at work, which is certainly piled up! Normally I enjoy drawing ordinary things, and find it makes me appreciate them more, seeing aspects that I hadn't noticed before. With this drawing, however, I can't even complete it -- I HAVE to get up and clean!

Watch EDM WC

Finally, my watch drawing for the Everyday Matters weekly challenge. Technically, it is LAST week's challenge; I am late posting! It was an appropriate subject, as I've worked 12 hour days nearly every day for the last week and a half, and have a similar week ahead. I feel a cold coming on - I'm tired - I've had two healthy meals in the past week and feel like I've gained a few pounds - I want to do something fun - I'm smiling on the outside, but am really tired of hearing myself whine on the inside. Oh, bleh! I'll get over it! :-)