Observe Closely

Waz-zat

2012-01-27T10:47:00.003-05:00

Floaters

2012-01-17T08:55:00.000-05:00

This is about 7-1/2" x 4", gouache (and some watercolor pencil) on Stonehenge "Kraft" paper.

To Whom? To Todd DiLaBounta.

2012-01-13T15:15:00.001-05:00

Iroshizuku Syo-ro "Dew-on-Pine-Tree" ink in a folded nib pen, on S&B Gamma paper.
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BONUS:ChronoCon "First Light" HDR – HD Timelapse. Watch this:

Wild Side

2012-01-06T17:04:00.001-05:00

Gouache and Quink ink on S&B Gamma paper, using a homemade folded pen.

Art Journal?

2012-01-06T12:39:00.000-05:00

What is the difference between an "art journal" and a "sketchbook"? Is the difference measured on a continuum or along a sliding scale? If so, then what defines the two poles?

Or is the difference one of intent and purpose? In which case is there is no continuum, but only a yes-or-no answer?

What of this definition? ---> An art diary, art journal or visual journal is a daily journal kept by artists, often containing both words and sketches, and occasionally including mixed media elements such as collages. Such books will frequently contain rough workings, in cartoon form, of ideas later to appear in finished works, as well as acting as a normal diary, by allowing the artist to record their day-to-day activities and emotions.

Is that definition specific enough? Is it too inclusive?

What's the difference between an "artist's journal" and an "art journal"?

What about this alternative definiton? ---> Art journals are collections of composed pages, designed to be complete "works of art" once finished, both as individual page spreads and as whole journals. (Courtesy of my friend JWG.)

Does this second definition rule out "rough workings"? Is there a place for "rough workings" in a "compete work of art"?

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Bonus: I wish this guy was related to me!

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T15:58:00.003-05:00

It's the only thing

2011-12-26T12:39:00.001-05:00

Done using a homemade folded pen with Parker Quink ink on S&B "Gamma" paper; about 9" x 10".

Merry Christmas 2011!

2011-12-25T11:36:00.000-05:00

Wishing all my loved ones the joy of the season and a healthy and happy and peaceful 2012!

Tool Report: the Folded Pen

2011-12-24T12:05:00.000-05:00

I love the drawing and lettering tool called the Folded Pen.

Why: The nib's curves and flats induce me to do unexpected things.

How:
☛ How you can make a folded pen, from Scriptorium (both this and the following document are translated from the original French, so are little bit garbled)
☛ How do you use a folded pen, also from Scriptorium and showing the "shivering" line.
☛ The Way of the Folded Pen, from Leigh Reyes
☛ A Folded Pen Video, from Leigh Reyes (drawing with the Folded Pen)
☛ I made a folded pen . . . , from Stephanie at Biffybeans
☛ The written word is a beautiful thing.... includes templates for the pen blade and a note on appropriate ink, from Maria Whetman.
☛ How to Make a Pop Can Pen from Diane Hutt
☛ Aluminum Can Folded Pen, clear and concise, from DocStoc.
☛ An example of the line quality you can get with the Ruling Writer pen.
☛ A short essay on one of the calligrapher artists that favored the pen: Gottfried Pott – A Look into the World of Calligraphy

More folded/ruling pen videos, these showing lettering:
☛ in me, by Letterarte
☛ thank.yOu_1, by Letterarte

Buy:Either the traditional N22 or the more basic N30, both from John Neal can get you where you want to go. The designs are different, but the underlying ink-delivery concept is the same. The Horizon Folded Nib from PaperInkArts works well too. Their Ruling Writer is equivalent to John Neal's N22.

If you find any other useful info on this nifty tool, please leave a Comment here.

Pack up!

2011-12-24T10:03:00.002-05:00

One very cute Guy travels the world and shoots one second of footage in each location.

Bravo!

Peace

2011-12-23T13:49:00.002-05:00

Feet On Ground

2011-12-22T09:43:00.000-05:00

Where you are

2011-12-19T09:55:00.001-05:00

Prettymaps!

Down below

2011-12-18T14:25:00.001-05:00

Hypnagogia

2011-12-17T10:01:00.003-05:00

Man from Possum Lodge

2011-12-16T12:19:00.003-05:00

This is about 7" x 5" on S&B 'Gamma' paper, done with a fude pen, in ink and watercolors.

Pears and beer

2011-12-02T15:22:00.001-05:00

About 3" x 4-1/2"; done with gouache and with "opaque watercolors" on St-Armand "Colours" paper.

Saint Amand (aw heck, close enough) = "patron saint of all who produce beer: brewers, innkeepers and bartenders (and presumably also hopgrowers). He is also the patron of vine growers, vintners and merchants, and of Boy Scouts."

Enjoy the moment

2011-11-28T13:37:00.001-05:00

Is it flummery?

2011-11-27T12:20:00.001-05:00

About 6" x 5". PR Velvet Black ink and gouache on Stonehenge "Fawn" paper.

Red Friday

2011-11-25T13:46:00.001-05:00

Remember: gravy is not a beverage

2011-11-24T11:57:00.001-05:00

Guess why I smile a lot.

2011-11-20T08:49:00.001-05:00

MUST WATCH. Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, Two.

The first Marcel the Shell is here.

Eddie rocks

2011-11-19T11:24:00.001-05:00

I enjoyed the Degas’s Dancers at the Barre: Point and Counterpoint exhibition at the Phillips.

This piece is Ballet Rehearsal, from 1891 and is in the collection of the Yale University Art Gallery. I really enjoy the adventurous composition of this one and spent some good time with it. Yo! Eddie!

Moi aussi

2011-11-12T17:38:00.001-05:00

New Mexican Garden

2011-11-06T10:42:00.003-05:00

Yeah, but sometimes you feel like a damn cheese

2011-11-06T09:00:00.003-05:00

Sketching Etiquette Q&A

2011-11-05T12:57:00.002-04:00

Q: . . . . when out and about with my husband (who thoroughly supports my artistic endeavours) I sometimes feel that my sketching can be akin to other asocial activities such as using a cell phone or texting. Have you felt this way?

A: Yes. I have felt that way. Sketching is not a genuine group activity. Even when you are out with your regular sketch group or are involved in a Sketchcrawl, each person in the group is off in his own world while sketching.

It may feel as if you are deliberately excluding your companions. Which you ARE. Which is what you mean by the term "asocial". Right? But this is GOOD. See below.

Q: Do you limit your sketching to times when you are alone?

A: Yes! Separate yourself from your companions. Otherwise you may not feel comfortable sketching while they are just hanging around, watching you, sighing loudly, and waiting. This can be handled in any number of gracious and thoughtful and friendly ways:

-- "Hey, guys. Why don't you go take a look at the dinosaur exhibit. I'll meet you in a half an hour at the cafe on the ground floor."
-- "Go on to the elephant building. I'll stay here with the reptiles. Come back and get me in twenty minutes."
-- "You all stay here in the cafe and eat your cheeseburgers and fries while I go over to that fountain for a while. Take your time and come find me when you're finished eating."
-- "Why don't you order room service breakfast in the room this morning? I want to go for a quick walk. I'll be back in an hour."
-- "I'll stay here on this bench (or in this cafe, having a cup of tea) while you hike up to the overlook. Don't rush! I'll be sketching."
-- "Those ice cream cones are pretty messy. Sit here and finish them while I go check out that garden. When you're all done with the ice cream, come get me."
-- "Why don't you go take a look at the stuff in the gift shop? I'll be right out here sketching from this roof deck. Come get me when you're done."

Q :How about when traveling with non-sketchers and your desire to capture and record your journey? Do you work out an agreement with your travel partner about how much time you want to spend sketching or watercoloring?

A: No, nothing so formal as an "agreement". I just make sure to get away to sketch regularly and seamlessly, in and among all the group or couple activities. I "play it by ear".

Q: Do you get around this by taking photos then sketching later?

A: Absolutely not! The whole point of travel sketching is that you do it on the spot. Call me stubborn but I am keen on this point. In the evening I may go back to a sketch that I made earlier that day and add some color or title lettering or writing or a frame or whatever. But the core sketch itself is always done "in the moment". This is the joy and the fun of travel sketchbooking!

Q: Can you sketch and carry on a conversation?

A: Yes, in an emergency. But trying to converse while I am sketching takes my attention away from the scene and my feeling of it and my ability to get it down in a satisfying way. Concentration is essential! As I said, sketching is a solitary activity.

Q: Do others with you just ignore your sketching, like ignoring someone who is knitting?

A: "Others" being my travel companions? No because I am not "with" them while sketching. Strangers? Yes, most of them ignore me if I'm not too obvious.

Q: Is it okay to sketch during a meal?

A: I hate to start making rules about what is or isn't "okay", but I'd say, yes, it's okay. Except for in nice white-tablecloth restaurants. Those kinds of restaurants will get nervous that your ink may trash their nice table linen and they may ask you to stop. No need to embarrass everyone. Hold off sketching in the fancy joints.

Q: What about sketching in a situation such as a performance, where you would like to draw but do not wish to divert attention from the activity occurring?

A: Yes, sketch discretely during performances! Make absolutely sure you are situated so as not to distract the performers or the audience. For instance, if you're in the front row, don't sketch. Use common sense. But do not sketch during the opera at the Met or during a National Symphony Orchestra concert at the Kennedy Center, where your seatmates may be skittish about you getting graphite all over their mink stoles. Same kind of "rule" as not sketching in fine restaurants.

That said, outdoor music and dance festivals are great sketching venues. The lounging and grooving audience at outdoor concerts is just as entertaining as the performers are!

Q: What other "Sketching Etiquette" thoughts or suggestions do you have for these types of situations?

A: If you are determined and consistent and considerate about your sketching, your companions will eventually come 'round to accepting it. It will become part and parcel of the group (or couple) dynamic.

Some additional suggestions:
-- If at all possible, attend one of Susan Abbot's "Traveling with Your Sketchbook" workshops. (http://www.susanabbott.com/) She covers all these topics very thoroughly. Be on the lookout for similar travel sketching workshops in your city. It's becoming a very popular workshop topic as those boomers who fancy themselves "artsy" get older and have more time for travel.
-- Look at some of Paul Hogarth's books. Drawing People is especially good with advice on how to sketch with people all around you. His autobiography is good too: Drawing On Life. And the illustrations are better.

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Sketch at the top is 'Bruce Lacey at 'The Establishment' (1966) by Paul Hogarth; 14" x 7", done with graphite in his sketchbook

Watch. Learn. Shake.

2011-10-31T08:44:00.000-04:00

"SAVEUR magazine's Executive Food Editor, Todd Coleman, shows you how to peel a whole head of garlic in less than ten seconds."

This actually freaking WORKS. I tried it. [Update: I now do this all the time. Piece of cake!]
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I am not sure if this is a spoof or not: 10 Bullets. By Tom Sachs. Seems it's gone 'viral' in corporate America. More on Tom Sachs. You decide.

Be cheerful

2011-10-28T11:10:00.000-04:00

I found this old and brittle and yellowed sheet recently in a stack of papers. I think I remember my Mom carrying it with her. The transcription:

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others, even the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life
keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.

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It appears to have been written in 1959 by Reverend Frederick Kates, rector of Saint Paul's Church in Baltimore, Maryland. Although there is some confusion about it. It sounds very 1950's-ish, though, doesn't it? Very plain brown paper kind of naive and hopeful aura to it.

Read

2011-10-26T09:47:00.001-04:00

This is done with the Pentel Hybrid Technica 06, which washes okay. Surprisingly.

A White Man

2011-10-23T12:09:00.002-04:00

This is 7" x 7" on Stonehenge "Kraft" colored paper. It's done first with a white gouache+white ink mixture in a folded ruling pen. Then finished with watery gouache.
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Beat down! and
"Good morning, good afternoon, and good night Detroit!"

Now is good

2011-10-22T17:00:00.000-04:00

Inspired by Mr. Steve Light, this is done with Sheaffer Scrip ink, in "Brown", with a sumi brush and a folded ruling pen.

Roosterville

2011-10-16T15:59:00.001-04:00

This is a delightful sketch by artist/illustrator Steve Light, where he uses a big rooster feather brush to lay on the big mark and then a fine drawing pen to draw in the detail.

Excellent stuff. More here!

October Pear

2011-10-16T15:42:00.001-04:00

This is about 5-1/2" x 7" on Rives BFK paper and is done with by golly practically every medium I have in the place. Begun with an ink-in-brush-pen sketch, worked over with gouache, picked at with wc pencils, and then finished with pastels.

Sketch Kit for Everyday

2011-10-16T12:52:00.002-04:00

Plus the 8" x 8" sketchbook, this is my everyday sketch stuff as of this very moment.

left to right:

Kid Palette + paper towel + tiny ziploc bag
Pentel waterbrush
Pilot Razor Point
Pentel Hybrid Technica 06
Noodler's Flex (Lexington Gray ink)
Kaweco Classic (Fuyu-syogun ink)
Kaweco Classic (Kiri-same ink)
Kaweco Classic (PR Velvet Black ink)

bottom:

six Caran d'Ache Supracolor watercolor pencils in a plastic tube

Balls

2011-10-15T10:45:00.000-04:00

Dot Peeps

2011-10-14T12:09:00.001-04:00

Earthquake damage inspection. Dots crawling up and down an icon. “She’s kind of an old lady . . . but she’s doing great.”

Wait. "She"?

Pear on Rock

2011-10-14T11:46:00.003-04:00

Tiny Speck of Rock

2011-10-09T11:50:00.002-04:00

You. Must. Watch.

Herr Spachtelmasse

2011-10-08T14:59:00.000-04:00

This is about 7-1/2" x 7" and is done with modelling paste, gouache, watercolor, and ink.

Talking Lady

2011-10-07T15:59:00.002-04:00

Getting closer and closer to actual likenesses. As opposed to caricatures. This is progress.

Why waxia.

2011-10-07T13:02:00.001-04:00

This is done with PR Velvet Black ink using a shredded bamboo stick that I picked up "down county" a few months ago. I dribbled in some Dr Phil Martin's Bombay India Ink, in Terra Cotta, which is some pretty scary gooey stuff.

I am inspired by the exercises and images in One Drawing a Day, by Veronica Lawlor (2011). This book gives you permission to make a mess.

Eta’m chik chuplinik

2011-10-02T17:33:00.000-04:00

This is about 6-1/2" x 7", done with gouache on old crumpled Rives BFK paper.

(The sketch underneath: a Pentel Aquash waterbrush filled with Nooder's Lexington Gray "bulletproof" ink.)

Critical Response Process

2011-10-02T11:11:00.000-04:00

Choreographer Liz Lerman's Critical Response Process is INTERESTING.

Details are in her book Liz Lerman's Critical Response Process: A method for getting useful feedback on anything you make, from dance to dessert (2003)

The Process engages participants in three roles:
-- The Artist offers a work-in-progress for review and feels prepared to question that work in a dialogue with other people.
-- Responders, committed to the artist’s intent to make excellent work, offer reactions to the work in a dialogue with the artist.
-- The Facilitator initiates each step, keeps the process on track, and works to help the artist and responders use the Process to frame useful questions and responses.

The Critical Response Process takes place after a presentation of artistic work. Work can be short or long, large or small, and at any stage in its development. The facilitator then leads the artist and responders through four steps:

1 Statements of Meaning: Responders state what was meaningful, evocative, interesting, exciting, striking in the work they have just witnessed.

2 Artist as Questioner: The artist asks questions about the work. After each question, the responders answer. Responders may express opinions if they are in direct response to the question asked and do not contain suggestions for changes.

3 Neutral Questions: Responders ask neutral questions about the work. The artist responds. Questions are neutral when they do not have an opinion couched in them. For example, if you are discussing the lighting of a scene, “Why was it so dark?” is not a neutral question. “What ideas guided your choices about lighting?” is.

4 Opinion Time: Responders state opinions, subject to permission from the artist. The usual form is “I have an opinion about ______, would you like to hear it?” The artist has the option to decline opinions for any reason.

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Lerman, Liz, and John Borstel. "Liz Lerman's Critical Response Process." Contact Quarterly 33.1 (2008): 16-20.

(adapted from Unlocking the Classroom, 2009)

Cucurbita incognita

2011-09-30T13:18:00.000-04:00

Scary feet!
Scary feet!
Scary feet!

My new favorite bass player

2011-09-28T09:24:00.002-04:00

Diego Stocco and his Experibass.

Like the Rube Goldbergian aspects of this. Bravo, Diego!

Have some fun, why not

2011-09-27T09:33:00.002-04:00

I very much enjoyed my workshop this past weekend: Contemporary Scripts: Lettering for the 21st Century, with Mike Gold. Interesting!

It was hosted by the Washington Calligraphers Guild and they were a good group! All very encouraging and welcoming and patient with me and with the one other noob in attendance.

Mike Gold is a charming man and an expert teacher. He is the senior lettering designer at American Greetings (the five hundred pound gorilla that challenges Hallmark for total domination of the Earth) but pursues more creative challenges in his spare time. Thus, this workshop.

My favorite part of the weekend was watching Mike's eyes and face as he stared down, first, at a big blank sheet of paper and second, how he responded to/answered each partially done line or mark. He was constantly reassessing and rethinking and re-planning as he went, continually reacting to the line he had just made, eyes darting around. It was a delight to see this process in action.

The other interesting part of the weekend was watching how the accomplished calligraphers in the class dealt with (or didn't) the challenge of getting loose and intuitive and wild and crazy. 'Wild and crazy' does not seem to be a part of your standard calligrapher's skill set. Are we surprised?

In any event, for my piece at the top (12" x 20") I started with an enormous Chinese sumi ink brush to make the big fat marks. I finished it with some very spidery and thin lettering in the crook of the "n". (Yep, that's an "n".) The sumi brush is a nifty object and the marks it makes are nearly alive, all on their own. I really want one of those brushes but cleaning it is absurd. (How do they do this in China? Are they left sitting in the ink? Dunno.)

The bottom piece (10" x 14') was made quickly, standing at the table (rather than sitting down), using a ruling pen and some skanky brownish black ink+watercolor goo I had mixed up. It was the last thing I made, and hurriedly, on Sunday afternoon. Go figure.

Kid Palette

2011-09-18T11:55:00.000-04:00

Portability? Yeah, I guess so!

I found this kid palette at Plaza Art and remembered reading about in on RozWoundUp, on one of her palette pages.

So I snagged one (shoulda gotten five of 'em), took it home and soaked it until the pigment pellets that it came with were soft enough to dig out. I then filled it with some DSmith tube paints and let them "set up" over night. (I put eight colors in. Roz gets eleven by putting three more in the slot between the circles, where the microscopic brush originally snapped in.)

Anyway, the following morning I had a new carry-around-every-day toy to play with! Keen!

The Kid is also available from Wet Paint here. The closed dimensions are about 1-3/4" by 2-1/2".

The pix below show The Kid with my other two travel/sketch palettes.

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Orange El

2011-09-09T17:26:00.000-04:00

This is in my new Clairefontaine Douceur de l'écriture Papier Velouté. N'est-il pas grand?

Jugs in German

2011-09-03T13:49:00.000-04:00

This is 11" x 2" and is done on a scrap of Stonehenge "Kraft" color paper. I am using Pilot Iroshizuku Kiri-same ink ("Autumn Shower") grey ink in a pen rigged with a "fude" nib. And for the color I am just beginning to use the new Schmincke Horadam Aquarell pan watercolors. So far I really am enjoying these because of their opacity. Almost perfect on the Kraft paper. These are more like the opaque wc pencils and more like gouache than they are like my good ole DSmith watercolors squeezed from the tubes. I like the Schmincke pans very much so far.

Me and Andy, and Andy

2011-08-30T09:26:00.007-04:00

This sketch is about 7" x 7" and is done with wet watercolor pencils on Stonehenge "Kraft" paper. The original is a glazed terracotta panel entitled Madonna and Child with Cherubim, made by Andrea della Robbia circa 1485, and donated to the NGA in the 1930's by Andrew Mellon.

Character and Personality

2011-08-29T09:18:00.000-04:00

Begin by selecting people whose movements are lively and animated. Don't draw just anyone who crosses your line of vision. Instead, single out those who strike you as being interesting characters. Observe a single figure; take him or her apart mentally and imagine what kind of a person he or she is. Then decide whether or not you like the look of the person. Whatever your reaction, accept it and use it as the basis of your illustration. This approach will enable you to effectively define and convey the character and personality of your subject.

So says Paul Hogarth in Drawing People (1971), Chapter 3: Drawing People in Public Places, p. 23. The image is from that chapter and is entitled Mid-morning tea at Bentley's, Westmorland Street, Dublin 1969 and is delightful.

Me too.

2011-08-26T10:35:00.001-04:00

Wednesday's 'Daily Drawing' from Chris Piascik. Says and shows it all for me, particularly that yelp exiting the "I". Yowzer.

Pot o' Cranesbill

2011-08-20T09:27:00.004-04:00

This is about 5" x 7", done with wc pencils and gouache, on Stonehenge "Kraft" paper. Simultaneous musings are blurred out. "Do not adjust your set."

Map Art Extraordinaire

2011-08-16T12:23:00.003-04:00

Isn't this great?

See more of Ingrid Dabringer's map art here.

She explains it here.

Barnes Salute (and RIP?)

2011-08-13T09:29:00.002-04:00

Here is an interactive and narrated tour of four rooms in the Barnes Collection in Philly PA, by the NYTimes. It's one of the most remarkable museums around. It closed last month, in preparation for it's move to its new digs downtown.

SETI Blinky

2011-08-11T09:44:00.000-04:00

Nose Swan in Kansas

2011-08-07T11:00:00.003-04:00

This is about 5" x 7", ink and watercolor pencil and gouache on S&B Delta paper.

Punto Com

2011-08-06T14:54:00.002-04:00

This is about 5" x 5", pen and ink and gouache on Stonehenge "Kraft"
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Wordplay. Keep these in rotation: absolutely, all, all in all, altogether, comprehensively, consummately, entirely, exactly, exclusively, flat out, full blast, fully, in toto, just, perfectly, quite, thoroughly, top to bottom, unconditionally, unmitigatedly, utterly, wholeheartedly, wholly

Pin Tower

2011-08-03T09:18:00.000-04:00

Lake Cypress

2011-07-30T10:42:00.000-04:00

Serrure

2011-07-25T07:35:00.004-04:00

Sunglasses, on the Bus

2011-07-22T12:54:00.001-04:00

This is about 6" x 6" and done with a Copic brush pen and then Supracolor wc pencils and gouache. The gouache and the wc pencils mix to create some messy and interesting textures.

SETI Orton

2011-07-22T11:45:00.001-04:00

Hair On Fire

2011-07-12T09:02:00.002-04:00

Jugs

2011-07-10T15:42:00.002-04:00

This is 6" x 3" more or less, in ink and watercolor.

The art of keeping up with yesterday

2011-07-09T11:51:00.000-04:00

Just because it's easier than actually going out and sketching anything real

Water and Sky

2011-06-30T08:41:00.001-04:00

Another Calvert Bay iphone pic from my down county trip.

Waterman

2011-06-26T14:30:00.000-04:00

Ink and gouache, about 5-12" x 6", on Stonehenge Kraft paper

Down County

2011-06-26T10:50:00.014-04:00

My visit "down county" to St. Mary's County and vicinity included:
-- Historic St. Mary's City's "Mid-Summer Faire". (It was on Saturday. There appears to be a rule that all period-costumed staff have to go about their day barefoot. At least those depicting mid- to lower-caste folk. Very faithful!).
-- I hung about the dock where the Maryland Dove is berthed (so I could make a little painting of it), Trinity Church, and the Godiah Spray Plantation. I also listened to choir practice from St. Mary's Hall, on the campus of the college.

-- I studied the locals at supper at Courtney's and I very briefly visited Solomons Island (crossing - yikes!- the Governor Johnson Bridge over the Patuxent River).
-- But I REALLY especially enjoyed my crab cakes on grilled ciabatta washed down with two root beers at Blue Wind Gourmet, in California, MD, where I stopped on the way home. Excellent spot!

The view above is a little cove off Calvert Bay (upon which my inn was situated), snapped around about the 7am 'stillness' time.
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At left: historic colonial cow.

Anamnesis

2011-06-21T10:34:00.005-04:00

Gouache sketch (with some ink lines) on Stonehenge paper, about 4-1/2" x 6-1/2"

Coming Going

2011-06-18T15:20:00.000-04:00

Signature

2011-06-07T11:48:00.011-04:00

I don't care how dorky this footwear will look on the streets of DC. Who isn't still tempted by their sheer lushness? Cowgirl! Yippee Eye Yo!

Busy days:
-- My day of Japanese papermaking with Jacqueline Mallegni was lovely. I was grateful to have visited her studio, her land (right on the Chama River in Abiquiú), her house, and sampled her hospitality and taken advantage of her experience and (especially) her patience. I made a dozen or so pieces of paper and now what? Hmmm!
-- Our visit to Puye Cliff Dwellings, near Los Alamos included a guided hike among the remnants of the structures. Every step along the path yielded more and more pottery shards of almost mind-boggling variety and color and finish. See pix here and here.
-- Other miscellaneous events: Sunday brunch with my friend Paula from Abq at the Range Cafe in Bernalillo; a zip through some of the gardens on the 16th Annual Santa Fe Botanical Garden June Home Garden Tour (what drought?); "Western-style" furniture shopping (stay tuned!) . . .

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See more:

El Santuario de Chimayo

2011-05-31T11:33:00.007-04:00

Our visit to one of my favorite places, El Santuario de Chimayo, included a lovely impromptu visit with Father Roca, who was strolling in the Plaza. He asked where we were from and told us about his long-ago visit to a monastery in Maryland.

As during past visits, there were very few people in the Sanctuary and in the adjacent plaza. It's an extraordinary place. Made more so by the sunlit peace surrounding it.
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Harry's Roadhouse

2011-05-29T12:29:00.010-04:00

There have been a number of busy days since the workshop ended. At left is John inhaling a dollop of guac at Harry's Roadhouse. Which establishment I recommend for their green chile salsa, OMG, which I on my side was busy inhaling. ("'Scuse me, miss. Do you sell this salsa by the quart?")

Other activities of note:
-- A number of visits to the Farmers' Market (not much yet except greens and radishes, but a very nice ambiance -- I bought a beautiful gourd yesterday)
-- Excursions with John and Marie (and with Tony the real estate agent) to look at condo properties. John and Marie are on a serious quest to decide whether they want to re-locate here from MD. I was initially just along for the fantasizing, but am getting beguiled. It's most tempting -- the local opinion is that the prices haven't bottomed YET, which is remarkable and a little nerve-wracking.)
-- Strolls around the Plaza and around Canyon Road (yesterday afternoon there was a six and a half foot tall guy in weird short striped pants, sporting an exquisite and utterly monumental Ace Ventura hairdo, tooling around the Plaza hand-in-hand with a little child. We and a number of the other vendors decided it was indeed Jim Carrey himself -- hey, why not?) In addition to "Ace", the Plaza is really hopping right now, what with all the holiday weekend visitors. Very nice buzz! Fun!
-- A visit to the Native Treasures Indian Arts Festival, running this weekend in the Convention Center downtown. "Museum-quality" merchandise = Wow. I was happy to meet John and Marie's new friend, Mark Winter, owner of Toadlena Trading Post, who had a booth there. He is devoted to the Navajo weavers around him and he (naturally!) had some beautiful rugs there at the Festival.

The weather lately has been exquisite. Very cool nights and mornings and sixties-low seventies days with blue skies. My casita is just great. (I even hosted a cook-out a few days ago. The grill works fine!)

Possible activities to come include a cooking class or two, a papermaking workshop, and a few out-into-the-surrounding-hinterlands excursions.

See the pic gallery for more iphone pix. Love that camera!
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Workshop Results

2011-05-26T11:27:00.002-04:00

The most important thing to remember is that the process is the key element here, not the product. (sigh)
Lessons learned:
-- Rectangular is good. I am going to stick with the rectangle format for a while to see where it leads me. For some reason the rectangle is more soothing, more familiar, less pressurized, than the square.
-- Be strong and stick to your plan. Try like hell not to revert.
-- Drink more water in the high desert.

(More pieces from this workshop are here.)

Tia Sophia's

2011-05-25T09:52:00.000-04:00

Gen-U-ine!

2011-05-23T10:10:00.003-04:00

My four-day encaustic workshop has begun and it looks like it's going to be great. Weather, food, friends, views, vistas, coffee, and my adventures here have all been outstanding. I really feel comfortable here.

This is another pic from Taos Pueblo. (And yes, I did pay the surprisingly high camera fee, over an above the ten buck entry fee. No pic pirate, me! Too chicken.)

The best things in life aren't things

2011-05-19T12:58:00.003-04:00

Taos Pueblo, May 2011
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Kansas Sky

2011-05-15T19:09:00.006-04:00

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And the channel line-up in a state whose denizens take inspiration from their sports. This is a state, remember, where: "On August 11, 1999, by a 6–4 vote the Kansas State Board of Education changed their science education standards to remove any mention of "biological macroevolution, the age of the Earth, or the origin and early development of the Universe" . . ."
Yes, since repealed, but still.

Crossing Eye Street

2011-05-11T08:33:00.001-04:00

Hebrew National

2011-05-08T10:13:00.004-04:00

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Azaleas

2011-05-06T18:58:00.002-04:00

Western Union

2011-05-05T09:50:00.000-04:00

It May Rain

2011-05-04T09:31:00.000-04:00

She's Gone Now

2011-05-02T09:40:00.002-04:00

Desk by the Window

2011-05-01T11:50:00.004-04:00

Subtitled: Don't Look Down

Butterfly

2011-04-29T09:27:00.000-04:00

Yellow Brick Road

2011-04-28T09:47:00.000-04:00

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Ice Berg Wedges

2011-04-26T08:53:00.003-04:00

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Våren Eftermiddag

2011-04-24T14:37:00.001-04:00

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Out My Winda Part Deux (Frosty)

2011-04-23T10:50:00.001-04:00

I'm so glad

2011-04-21T07:37:00.002-04:00

I'm so glad, I'm so glad
I'm glad, I'm glad, I'm glad
I'm so glad, I'm so glad
I'm glad, I'm glad, I'm glad
Cream (Fresh Cream, 1966)
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Distress?

2011-04-20T09:46:00.002-04:00

Stepping Out

2011-04-19T10:03:00.002-04:00

Stepping out on a fine spring day.

Gallery Place Scurry

2011-04-18T08:45:00.004-04:00

"I now have a cool camera that I make a phone call on from time to time." Anonymous
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Van Gogh Metro

2011-04-17T12:01:00.002-04:00

Pink Scarf

2011-04-15T15:35:00.004-04:00

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Dashboard Baby

2011-04-14T09:28:00.004-04:00

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Stormy Man

2011-04-13T08:59:00.003-04:00

Stormy Man meets light post?