Pen Sketch Rocks

Cross hatching with the V7 pen was interesting; using the side of the point was almost like using a pencil. The only interesting element on the page of my travel guide prompter was a pile of rocks.

I decided to use a pen in these sketches to force myself to not think about erasing. When I draw with pencil, I tend to be very timid and tentative.

Pen Sketch Elephant

So I have to add these pics in some order.

I've been watching Alex with her sketchbook in her lap, busily sketching away while she sort of watches television. I decided to try this myself.

I used a V7 Precise pen from Pilot, and a AAA travel guide for prompts, vowing to take some element from each page for sketching.

Wow, Has It Been That Long?

Well, apparently it has.

So here we are in the improbably-numbered year 2014, and I'm not dead yet, and I'm still trying to kick myself into creativity. There are two problems with this: 1.) I'm a lazy procrastinator, and 2.) my scanner doesn't work with my everyday laptop, so I am at the mercy of my old laptop for scanning images, which has undergone some weird regeneration and now works just fine, but I still don't trust after it ate an entire chapter of a story I wrote just before I replaced it. (The laptop, not the story.)

The first day of the New Year, my creative burst was to defy my mother.

Mom believed that meat and potatoes belonged on the same dish, but never, ever, ever in the same pot while cooking. She said that it made the potatoes look unappetizing, although none of us would have dared declare a dish unappetizing when it was served as leftovers, all cooked together. Over the years I've thrown my turnips, potatoes, and beef into the pot all together, and my ham and potatoes and green beans all into the pot together -- and I can't taste a difference. Sorry, Mom.

New Year's Day we always have pork and sauerkraut, with mashed potatoes and dumplings. It's for luck, they used to say, so your new year goes smoothly. We love to eat it, so we go along with the superstition.

However, babies don't necessarily love sauerkraut, so I cut some bits of pork and potato to cook up separately for Joan, who is about 18 months old. I browned the pork bits, and threw some slices of potato in with them to sizzle in the fat, thinking about Mom turning over in her grave back in icy Pennsylvania. The potatoes browned up quickly and crisply -- maybe a little too crisp? -- but I threw in the tiny bit of water and put a lid on the pan for braising.

Five minutes later, I pulled it all off the heat. The pork was delicious and tender; the potatoes ... divine. They had softened and soaked in some of that yummy pork browny flavor. Bernie and I loved the flavor and texture, Joan not so much, but then her focus was entirely upon the pork bits, which she devoured like a piranha.

Happy New Year!

Another Year, Another Drawing

Cheryl took a face-drawing class a week or so ago, and I was sorely envious. I rarely have the discipline to keep to an arty regime on my own (except for writing, which I DO do every day), and I now have no $$ for any art courses at all.

Cheryl is my Good King Wenceslas, and I'm trudging along in her footsteps.

Oh, and when I was done, I threw the dried up marker out.

2012: Dreaming of Poppies

I miss Spring.

Poetry from April

I did some poetry in April as a challenge -- to write a poem every day. It was a dismal failure. But it was a creative act. Here's one of them:

Morning in April

The dawn glows
the trees rock
the blossoms fly through the air on the season's clock.

Birds couple
nesting here
I hear them in my trees and know summer is near.

The wind blows
air is cold.
Would it seem more like Spring if I were not so old?

Two Ballerinas

This piece of art is called "Two Ballerinas" and it was done in the Paint program by Lillian Queen.

I've decided to share this blog with her -- after all, I'm not doing much with it, and perhaps, with her help, we can put more art work and creativity in it more often.

Welcome, Lillian, and keep up the good work!