Dad's Home

This last week I was out of town helping out at my parents house. My dad had surgery for an anurism. My dad is a very hale 78 year old so he did very well during the surgery. Within 2 hours of waking up, he was grumbling about his empty stomach and giving his nurses a hard time. We are all so relieved. I had very little drawing time while I was helping out but I did manage a few.

Since I took the train to thier town, I did have some time to draw from a photo:

I'd like to get out to draw but its STINKING hot in the mid west right now. Today it was 100 degrees on the thermometer.

Waiting Rooms

I've spend a number of hours in doctor's waiting rooms this week. Some members of the family have had minor things that need attention. I started this drawing thinking I would only have a few minutes to finish but I just kept going and going and stopped worrying about how much time I had left. I found I finished more than I though I could.

Drawing this week has helped me to stay balanced even with all the horrible news from the Mid East. I wish President Bush would take a leadership role in helping to bring peace to the region.

Don't Fence Me In

This is only one example of the flagrant individualism that is rampant in our household. Believe me there are many many other examples of this sort of thing: soap, shampoo, food choices. This should serve as a warning beacon to all new parents. Indoctrinate your kids early into the "household" brand or else you too will be hunting up and down the grocery isles with anxiety stamped on your face and monstrous thoughts of "ohmygod, will he stop brushing his teeth if I can't find mango orange!!!!!!!!! "

I want to thank everyone for their kind comments on my previous post. Every once in awhile, I get a brain hiccough and start thinking I SHOULD draw a certain way ect. Bla, bla bla......More brain drivle. I have to remind myself its PROCESS that counts. NOT ANYTHING ELSE. Thanks again folks.

Tennis Anyone?

None of us plays tennis with anything like real skill but we had some fun batting the ball around and laughing at our really bad shots. I think I play home run tennis: lobed the ball over the fence into someone else's game! Ah well.




The last few days, I have been really unhappy with my drawings. I'm hurrying through the process and carelessly splashing on color. I need to S-L-O-W D-O-W-N!

Saturday Chores

DS has a summer job working for one of those large box stores and I just happened to need something from that store and dropped by on his work shift. I got a big kick out of seeing him helping people and than seeing me on my surprise visit. He even helped me choose a ceiling fan.


The inner workings of a working man's truck in our neighborhood. I bet he knows just where everything is.

When we run errands downtown, someone always rides shotgun so as to avoid paying huge downtown parking prices. We needed a new car bike rack for the Argone trip and so while I waited, I did this little number. (Anything to spice up dismal, but necessary errands.)




After running errands, I needed a little sit down in the back yard. This is a view of my neighbors yards. We all have the kind of yards that foster a tight knit neighborhood. Note the low chain link fences and narrow lots. You can tell the people who need more privacy because they build, (California Style) huge 7'fences on the side of the yard where they feel they need the most shielding. I count myself lucky that our neighbors, Terri and Glenn have not decided to build such a large fence. To the north of us, our neighbors buitd a big one....Must be all that really loud drawing I'm doing.

Argon Lab

Over the weekend, Kelsey and Craig and I went for a bike ride out at the Argon Lab. The trail surrounds the lab and has a beautiful waterfall. That day, it was almost dry. I kept thinking while we were biking that that would be a great place for DS to work next summer.

Oil pastel on 140 lb fabriano wc paper

Cheap pen and ink and watercolor

watercolor

Bunny Rescue

On Saturday night Kelsey and her friend were involved in "operation save bunny". A baby bunny was stranded in the street. It must have been blind judging by its behavior. Kelsey, with heavy gloves on hands, tried to catch it and release it. She discovered first hand why predators need fangs and claws to catch prey! Long story short, the bunny was set on the side of someone's garden.

I have to interject a note of reality: our neighborhood is OVER RUN with bunnies! We have not yet introduced any natural predator's to control them! (Should I ask the village board to think about wolves?) And, those %$#@@ bunnies ate EVERY seedling I planted in my garden and lets face it, they are RODENTS! I have a strong desire to begin population control measures, but in the interests of fostering my daughters nascent vet dreams, I held my tongue. So for today, its bunny's 1 humans 0. ( Sounds like a soccer score; all that sweat and not many points to show for it.)

Sally Wolf's Show

Yesterday I attended a show bySally Wolf. Rather than an exhibit of her large watercolors or her lunar calendar project, this show was a peek into her sketchbook. Her watercolors were no more than 5"x7" and done rapidly with pen and ink or graphite under watercolor. These spontaneous compositions are the product of a life time of sketching in this media. It was a wonderful show and inspired me to do a few sketches myself.

Watercolor Sketches

We had a party for the 4th. The weather was cool, sunny and perfectly comfortable!This is really unusual for Chicago in July. We spend the afternoon and evening outside and had a really great time. Happy Birthday to Craig too!!(Who's counting, Love. Your aging just like fine wine!!)

Two From My Oil Pastel Class

It's so helpful to have a teacher and George Shipperly is a really good one. He is teaching us to paint with our hearts: not to be so attached to reality. On the sea scape painting he had to urge me 3x to put in darker darks. Ok: Don't be afraid of the dark, Lindsay!!

These are about 18"x 24". Both are from my oil pastel class.

Two From The Mansion

Watercolor on Fabriano 140lb. NO niji brushes any more. They are driving me crazy. So I pack my good brushes in a small brush roll.

Pen and Ink under watercolor
I've been painting often in oil pastels but painting takes much longer than sketching. These are 2 quick sketches I did at our local historical mansion. I've pretty much decided that oil pastels are not the sketching media for me. I have to travel with the cheap ones which are much harder and I'm just not happy with the results. Watercolor is much easier to transport (no worry about melting) and feels much lighter to create with. I'll be posting a couple of oil pastel paintings when they are finished.