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I've been putting the roof damage drama on facebook, and somebody at church noticed I was having a hard week. These flowers from Sunday's service appeared on my porch Monday afternoon, and they've been making my week brighter. Last night I decided to sketch them while watching a little British mystery drama (my favorite genre). I was really touched. I haven't had the extra bandwidth to get there much at all these last couple of years, and it felt lovely to still be included and cared for.
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It was a wild weekend. Memphis had a storm with 70 mph winds and a downpour, and an hour later (why?) one of my older trees just broke and dropped a large limb on the house. Fortunately the biggest part was on the ground, but it's bad enough to be a headache for sure.
Oddly, and gratefully, I kept power while a third of the city was out, so the upside is that my family who lost power came over for breakfast the next morning. I had holes in my roof but power, and we ended up with an unhurried, impromptu family breakfast, which was a delight.
-As well as power, I found out that I also had bees. While I was staring at the roof, my brother in law noticed a swarm around the branch on the ground. A friend of mine used to keep bees, so I got her to alert the local beekeeper grapevine, and it worked fast! I'm still trying to get the limb off the roof so it can be tarped, but by golly, Jalen Prater with the Works Urban Farm showed up and got to work. He donned a beekeeping suit, got his smoker going, and managed to find the queen in all that mess. He carted off the chunk of tree with the biggest section of hive and took it to the non-profit urban farm to re-home them and give them a safe place to stay.
All of this took place just outside my work table window, so I got lunch and watched the show. Halfway through I pulled myself together enough to realize it was a golden sketching opportunity and did a sketch before he was finished and pulling away. It was impressive, and I am so glad the bees are safe. With any luck my roof will also be safe before the next rain gets here.
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I got invited to dinner by a pair of lovely friends on Saturday night. I haven't had dinner out at someone's house (that's not our family get-togethers) in way too long. I bought some flowers at the farmers market to take as a hostess present, but I decided it would be a win win if I sketched them first. I got out my biggest sketchbook and did a loose sketch in green ink with my fat dip pen. Then I used my biggest brush but still fell back into the more careful illustration style I've been using lately instead of staying as loose as the original drawing, but I both enjoyed the process and am happy with how the page turned out. Henry nicely posed for me for a minute down in the floor, lifting up his head as he heard some other dogs bark. It's always fun to include him.
While I had the sketchbook out I leafed back through it. I've been using a big one more than ever before this year, lately with the dip pen. I came on this sketch of poppies using Neo-color watercolor crayons plus some paint (more farmers market flowers from back in the spring). It has felt too careful and anemic every time I flip through this book, so while I was sitting there with the dip pen and case of colored inks, I pulled out the Diamine Ancient copper that I love but that can sometimes be too much. It was perfect for this job, since I already had the paint down, and it wouldn't be washing everywhere while I painted.
While I had the sketchbook out I leafed back through it. I've been using a big one more than ever before this year, lately with the dip pen. I came on this sketch of poppies using Neo-color watercolor crayons plus some paint (more farmers market flowers from back in the spring). It has felt too careful and anemic every time I flip through this book, so while I was sitting there with the dip pen and case of colored inks, I pulled out the Diamine Ancient copper that I love but that can sometimes be too much. It was perfect for this job, since I already had the paint down, and it wouldn't be washing everywhere while I painted.
So here is the updated version, bolder and looser. It's not my best sketch, but I'm much happier flipping through the book now. This one doesn't jump out at me as super disappointing anymore at least.
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Those of you who remember me 50 pounds heavier in my 20's know I've always had a slightly shaky relationship with food. Mostly sugar. My parents used to hide the treats from me. I said for years that I had a loop track going in my head saying, "Can we have a cookie? Is it time for a cookie now? What about now???" Incessantly. I spend a ton of my time thinking about what I'm going to put in my mouth next -- which is probably one reason art is such a joy to me, because it's the thing I'm most likely to lose myself in for a while and not think about food.
In my late 20's my dad was newly single and going on a ski trip/legal conference but didn't want to go alone. All of us in my family knew that I was never going to be a candidate for downhill, with its speed and athleticism, but Dad talked me into trying cross country. I knew I was going to be terrible at that, but I didn't want to also be embarrassed by my total lack of wind and stamina, so Dad and I started walking daily to get ready for the trip. As it turned out, I never could stay upright long enough for wind or stamina to be an issue. I did, however, find myself a happy winter occupation of going out snowshoeing with a sketchbook in my pocket.
By the time the trip had rolled around, I was already losing weight (slowly) and feeling physically better, so I kept up the walking and didn't actually diet (I hate going hungry), but I made some substitutions in my eating habits that felt sustainable long term. I lost the 50 pounds over a year and a half or so and managed to keep them off, finding a balance between eating what I enjoy and moving enough to offset it.
Then menopause hit, followed by long covid, which has meant an interruption to the daily 3 mile walks I did for decades, and it's been more of a struggle. I work at home right next to the kitchen and I'm a stress eater, so periodically I fall into putting more things into my mouth than I'm physically hungry for. When that happens, I do a day or two at a time of a food journal. The rule is that before I eat something, I have to draw it, so it makes me more mindful. It's also positive and satisfying activity, rather than a punitive measure.
In my late 20's my dad was newly single and going on a ski trip/legal conference but didn't want to go alone. All of us in my family knew that I was never going to be a candidate for downhill, with its speed and athleticism, but Dad talked me into trying cross country. I knew I was going to be terrible at that, but I didn't want to also be embarrassed by my total lack of wind and stamina, so Dad and I started walking daily to get ready for the trip. As it turned out, I never could stay upright long enough for wind or stamina to be an issue. I did, however, find myself a happy winter occupation of going out snowshoeing with a sketchbook in my pocket.
By the time the trip had rolled around, I was already losing weight (slowly) and feeling physically better, so I kept up the walking and didn't actually diet (I hate going hungry), but I made some substitutions in my eating habits that felt sustainable long term. I lost the 50 pounds over a year and a half or so and managed to keep them off, finding a balance between eating what I enjoy and moving enough to offset it.
Then menopause hit, followed by long covid, which has meant an interruption to the daily 3 mile walks I did for decades, and it's been more of a struggle. I work at home right next to the kitchen and I'm a stress eater, so periodically I fall into putting more things into my mouth than I'm physically hungry for. When that happens, I do a day or two at a time of a food journal. The rule is that before I eat something, I have to draw it, so it makes me more mindful. It's also positive and satisfying activity, rather than a punitive measure.
A lot of these pages are done with a pair of ink brush pens, one dark and one lighter in tone, but I also use these pages to play with different media than I normally use. I keep them pretty quick so meals don't get cold. Another upside is more mindfully enjoying my mixed pottery collection that I use for my daily meals. Above are a teapot from Sauk Mountain pottery in WA (and the memory of sharing it with a good friend), a bowl and teacup with a Julian of Norwich quote by Melissa Bridgman here at home.
I like the idea of markers, but usually I reach for watercolor instead when I'm out sketching, so a food journal page can be a good reset.
One time I was away from home (and away from my regular big sketchbook for this) and tried watercolor instead, but it was too much of an effort to keep up. The food journal can't be too big a mental barrier or I won't do it at all. But watercolor was fun for a day.
I have been kind of fascinated by the advent of GLP-1s and read a lot about them. I'm mostly holding steady where I want to be and don't like adding medicine I don't need, but it is HARD to lose weight the old way, and I'm so glad for my friends who have found the relief they need. It's also been such a comfort to me to read the experience of others and hear the term "food noise." I come from a family of people who legit forget to eat lunch (never have I ever), and I thought I was a freak outlier with my internal cookie loop track. It turns out there are a lot of people wired the way I am, and that has been such a joy to know. Which is probably one reason I'm stepping in here and writing a much more personal blog post than I usually do. Another reason is that I'm still working on the memoir and getting more used to the idea of sharing personal details. When I do take that leap, I find the sharing makes bridges and helps other people, the way that reading about food noise helped me.
I don't hold myself strictly to these food journal days. It's meant to be mindful rather than punitive. Sometimes unexpected things happen during the day, and I fizzle.
I don't hold myself strictly to these food journal days. It's meant to be mindful rather than punitive. Sometimes unexpected things happen during the day, and I fizzle.
Sometimes I fizzle super fast.
The flip side of all these food journal pages is a quantity of pages in my regular sketchbook celebrating treats. Yesterday was one of those days. I walked inside Crosstown (bad air lately with the smoke pollution) and felt called by the nearby cinnamon rolls at Lucy J's bakery afterwards. I've always loved Wayne Thiebaud's paintings of cakes and pies and all the good things. So often when I'm having something delicious, I like to enjoy the look of it by sketching it before eating it. I did a whole show one year, buying eclairs, Napoleons, and macarons in Paris and painting them before eating them. It spreads out and slows down the enjoyment for me. So here is a celebration of yesterday's deliciousness. I'm grateful to have found a moderation I can live with that has room for delight still built in.
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I had such a welcome day yesterday. Events have overtaken me lately, and I've barely been getting through the necessaries with no time for the soul giving extras. I kept yesterday morning to finally see the new Parisian Cafe paintings exhibition (clustered around 1900) at Dixon yesterday. Like all large group shows it was a mixed bag, but the good stuff was really good. There was a stunning Vuillard, who is one of my favorites, and a lot of great prints (always happy for me) including a lifesized Steinlen cabaret poster that was beautifully designed and executed. I love that 1900 era, with so many different styles and subjects burgeoning. Clearly in a specific subject matter you don't get as many of the symbolists I love from that period, but they did have a Munch I'd never seen before, and there were a lot of recognizable artists as well as a bunch of new ones to me.
Beautifully, the museum cafe has designed a special menu just for this show. I treated myself to a salad Nicoise outside with the trimmed trees that also feel like Paris and the Rodin sculpture in the background. It was good to see art and take time to sketch again, and I did a big, loose piece in my biggest sketchbook with a dip pen, some green ink, and a bunch of watercolor on top.
That evening was a bonus urban sketchers outing to Shapeshifter Art School. They have two new shows up in their galleries, and it was such pleasure to just relax and sketch and talk with friends. I ended up sketching our founder Elizabeth Alley, who is also a founder of the school. She has been such a light to the art community here in Memphis.
Beautifully, the museum cafe has designed a special menu just for this show. I treated myself to a salad Nicoise outside with the trimmed trees that also feel like Paris and the Rodin sculpture in the background. It was good to see art and take time to sketch again, and I did a big, loose piece in my biggest sketchbook with a dip pen, some green ink, and a bunch of watercolor on top.
That evening was a bonus urban sketchers outing to Shapeshifter Art School. They have two new shows up in their galleries, and it was such pleasure to just relax and sketch and talk with friends. I ended up sketching our founder Elizabeth Alley, who is also a founder of the school. She has been such a light to the art community here in Memphis.
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I finally got my walnut ink back in my main sketch bag, and I've been enjoying it lately. I've got a big, blunt dip pen, and these forest sketches are both in my biggest sketchbook. It's been fun getting big and messy to offset the more careful illustration work I've been doing for the new book.
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My favorite cafe has a summer special of peach chai. It is delicious. I got it the first time and sketched with walnut ink and a fat yellow marker plus a little paint. Then I kept thinking about it and went back and sketched with the walnut ink again and a little more paint. It's funny. I had one big sketchbook one summer, and I found myself a little reluctant to start a sketch feeling that it was a lot of real estate to cover. I loved the ones I did, but I didn't always sketch as much as I might have. This summer the big one is the one I'm reaching for the most. I decided just to have a large one going alongside my normal size and not try to box myself into one or the other. I think the dip pen is a game changer. It forces me big and loose, and I'm just enjoying playing with the space.
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There was a tree that caught my eye from my favorite patio, and I settled in to sketch it, with my fun little Prius in front. I like drawing my small car in an age of hulking SUVs. I've been on a dip pen kick lately, and I used some walnut ink. I had thought to add paint afterwards, but I ended up liking the line and deciding not to overdo it. I didn't get nearly the full tree on the page, however -- I usually go bigger than I mean to. So I did a second version.
This time I started with the tree and got *almost* all of it in. I started with paint too and added very little line afterwards (in my current favorite Diamine Chopin ink). I like this one for different reasons, but as so often happens, neither one is even close to the vision I had in my head before I started. In my better moods I think of the paint or ink as a partner in the process that takes me in a different direction. In my worse, I wonder why on earth I can't manage to draw a tree the way I want to. Mostly I was pleased with the outcomes, so we'll go with that today.
This time I started with the tree and got *almost* all of it in. I started with paint too and added very little line afterwards (in my current favorite Diamine Chopin ink). I like this one for different reasons, but as so often happens, neither one is even close to the vision I had in my head before I started. In my better moods I think of the paint or ink as a partner in the process that takes me in a different direction. In my worse, I wonder why on earth I can't manage to draw a tree the way I want to. Mostly I was pleased with the outcomes, so we'll go with that today.
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Elizabeth Alley was sitting with her show on its final Saturday at Shapeshifter Art School and invited folks to drop by. I had wanted to sketch it a bit more, so I took my dip pen and biggest sketchbook and did a couple of loose, fun sketches. Drawing other people's work helps me really pay attention to it and remember it later. I love this show so much. I love how the arctic has just captured Elizabeth -- Levisham moor did that to me years ago. It's magic when a landscape takes you by the scruff of the neck and demands your attention. My favorite piece is her life sized silhouette of herself with the arctic in rectangle right at her heart. I love how she's busted out of her longtime traditional painter mindset (still something very real for me) and made these playful, large, casual installations, layering paper pieces , assembling a wall of glacier paintings, and crocheting "plushy glaciers" that hang from the ceiling. Her enormous ship (see a previous blog post) is also in line with this playfulness. It all works. When I try to switch to 3-d or installations, it looks like a 4th grade project, but I guess I should keep trying. Anyway, I wanted to just drink it in and hang out with some great art, and I ended up hanging out equally with some great friends. Cool people kept showing up and dropping in, and it was a delightful day. I'm grateful for this brand new art space in town.
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Shapeshifter Art School invited the Memphis Urban Sketchers to visit again while the exhibition by our founder Elizabeth Alley is still hanging. I love this new art space for Memphis and am so glad they want us to be involved. Everywhere you look is surprising and creative. I settled in to sketch this gorgeous utility sink (how often do you hear those words together?) and have a catch up. I managed not to overwork the brick, but often when I go out to sketch I get sucked into a more complicated, all over sketch right off the bat and then end up doing a looser, "warm up" sketch afterwards. ("warmed up?") It would probably be a good discipline for me to do thumbnails or a warm up sketch first, but I never think about it -- I just get excited and dive right in. Often I like my second sketch better, which was the case yesterday.
I'd brought my biggest sketchbook, thinking it would be good for me to loosen up from my smaller, tighter illustration pieces I'm doing at the moment. I also threw in my bottled ink at the last minute and used a broad, blunt dip pen and some Diamine Chopin ink to do a quick sketch of Elizabeth's enormous ship installation hanging from the ceiling. Which is delightful. I used a little orange and a little grey paint to pick out details, but mostly I let the lines do the heavy lifting except for that orange pop. I'm going to try to get out the dip pen more often. This was so much fun.
I'd brought my biggest sketchbook, thinking it would be good for me to loosen up from my smaller, tighter illustration pieces I'm doing at the moment. I also threw in my bottled ink at the last minute and used a broad, blunt dip pen and some Diamine Chopin ink to do a quick sketch of Elizabeth's enormous ship installation hanging from the ceiling. Which is delightful. I used a little orange and a little grey paint to pick out details, but mostly I let the lines do the heavy lifting except for that orange pop. I'm going to try to get out the dip pen more often. This was so much fun.
My friend Libby Elder got a photo of me (at the far end) spread out on a convenient box just going for it. I love the friends in this group and the reminder on my calendar to get out and just draw for the pleasure of it instead of working on a specific project.
