Sticks, Stones, and Paper Stew Blog

Ridges

Sunday I grabbed a little bit of time to work on a watercolor and pencil sketch of a ridge above Lahaina. There is something so beautiful about the steep drops and dramatic inclines. It was late afternoon and the shadows were becoming better and better. It was a lazy sort of day. We wandered into Lahaina for the afternoon to visit friends arriving via the ferry from Molokai. Their holiday started off in Kauai and shifted to Molokai after the first week. They have raved about the house they rent and hopefully we can visit it in a few years. We all had dinner at a restaurant right next to the port. A great way to end the day, especially since we still have a few days left here on Maui.

A5 sketchbook with pencil and watercolor.

Maui west coast.

Crescent moon

Saturday we went in search of a different snorkeling location. We had been scoping out milepost 13 to where the road moves over the rocky headland to the south. Yes, milepost 14 is a great spot, but we needed to try something different. The beach was beautiful and snorkeling sucked. After spending the day there, we headed into Kihie for dinner at the Maui Brick Oven- a fully gluten free restaurant. It was the first time I’ve had good (non home cooked) pizza in over 2.5 years. On arriving home,we had missed sunset, but not moonset! At this latitude the crescent rested at the bottom. Hmm, a position I hadn’t even thought about before! At home, it moves from right to left. I decided, in honor of the different moon position, to attempt a night drawing like what my friend Rosie Scribblah creates from time to time. All I had was a charcoal pencil to work with. It was a beautiful sight that looked so much better in person than on the page! At least it will be cemented in my memory and that’s what counts!

A5 sketchbook and charcoal pencil.

Maui- western shore.

Watching the Ae’o

Yesterday we visited the Kealai Ponds Refuge near Kihie. We brought our binoculars and set about seeing what bird life we could find. The Black-Necked Stilts (ae’o) were prolific, along with Golden Plovers, Sanderlings, and Black Crowned Night Herons. Unfortunately my sketchbook stayed in the car, but the camera did travel out on the boardwalk. I played with some images this morning.

Edit

Nothing like the birds I’ve worked on before. Those legs are so long!

The sketches were made in an A5 book with B pencil.

Molokai

Monday was an exploration day, searching out a good snorkeling location. We spent a bunch of time exploring Dragons Teeth out at the end of Kapalua. Beautiful location,if you can ignore all the resort/ golf course end of things. After Kapalua, we traveled farther north on hwy 30, ending up at the Blowhole. There we were fortunate to find an incredible humpback whale display we couldn’t pass up. After watching the group of 5-6, we backtracked to a different beach, populated by locals. Dave spent some time in the water while I pulled out the sketchbook for a quickie. The island of Molokai rests 7-10 miles across the channel. I only captured a very small tip of it. So many ridges and shadows! Landscapes are not part of my drawing routine. I picked up a few odds and ends on the beach and hope to do a few sketches of them later. The weather is looking good thus far! A few showers in the mix but it shouldn’t cause us much problems.

I couldn’t resist adding in a photo of what my husband worked on Monday morning while having coffee. He’s never had any art classes except for what he had in grammar school. I’m super happy he’s giving it a go. It will certainly cement the images more securely into the brain!

The scene is looking towards the mountains from the balcony. He might eventually get some colors on the page!

Morning Sketching

Things have been rather sleepy-calm over the past couple of days. I managed to leave home without any art supplies! Argh! Not a great way to start a trip. After four days we managed to find a few things at extreme prices. This morning I unwrapped the sketchbook, pencils, and watercolor set and played. Off the balcony is a large Hala tree. I’m really grabbed by the bark texture and lines. The spice finches continue to bring more dried leaf material, possibly building a nest inside the nooks and crannies of the fronds. More snorkeling today if the winds remain calm.

March Quiet

The month of March will be quiet for my blogging output. There are numerous things shifting and moving around in life. The main thing was having the boys leave our home after 19 months. Zeek and Reggie have move back to Bend. Nigel cats was thrilled to come back inside and resume ownership of his domain. I was less than impressed with how quickly the claws and biting resumed. Hmmm, I guess we deserve it for pushing them outside for 19 months! 🙂

I’ll resume blogging at the end of the month. We’re taking a bit of a holiday away from electronics. Maybe I’ll even have some sketches to share after a 2 week break!

On the flip side

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While the Chihuahua waits for spray fixative before continuing forward, I decided to start another image on the back side of the board. The drawing board takes up quite a bit of studio space when propped on boxes. It was from my father’s collection and first belonged to the University of Oregon school of Architecture. I have 3 total, but this one is the largest (36″ x 52″ or 91cm x 132cm). German Shorthair Pointers seem to be on my brain these days. A friend had to put her GSP down on Thursday evening. My heart goes out to them! Gus seemed like a lovely guy. Anyway, I continue toying with the idea of acquiring another GSP puppy. Yes, I know I must be nuts, especially after living through the terror known as Mocha. Oh, that dog had a never ending energy supply! Moby is a sack of potatoes in comparison. She was the smartest of her litter and that intelligence almost killed her several times. She lived to be almost 16.5 years. She came into our life at 11 weeks.

What an odd looking pointer drawing! It takes me awhile to work through proportions (eyes to nose, ears, neck) before exploring the color side (and thing still have quite a ways to go!). I’m working from an image that has been tacked to the fridge for well over 4 years. The pointer has a goofy look with his lips pulled back a bit, which makes it harder for me to work. Recently, there have been a couple of people requesting dog portraits but I don’t feel comfortable taking them on. Maybe once I build up a larger body of work. Several years back I did a series of 13 prints (block, screen and a litho, all visible on my other website- www.galeeverettstudio.com). After creating the prints, people responded favorably but didn’t necessarily want to purchase images. Part of it was because they wanted their own dog as the subject. “Can you do one of my dog” was what I kept hearing over and over and over! Hence the reason for the dog drawings. I will eventually go back to printmaking but my fingers are still too compromised. Drawing will have to do for now.

Oh, what a goofy dog!

Charcoal on brown Builder’s Paper. 34″ x 35″ (86cm x 89cm)

Mr Scruffy Doodle

Yesterday was spent in Eugene helping my brother. Overall, it was a very good visit. Much laughter happened. I suspect he thinks I’m totally nuts for caring so much, but that’s how it goes. I can live with it. The month of February sketching is almost over. I didn’t manage to draw everyday, but that’s ok. It won’t be the end to this exercise. The above quickie is Mr Reggie looking rather scruff. Add in the shaved spot from his minor surgery and you get a goofy dog. Fortunately it fits his personality to a “T”! During his dental treatment, the vet techs gave him a cute bandanna to wear home. He’s still sporting it. The two doodles depart our home on March 10th. Hard to believe 19 months of pet sitting will close. I desperately tried not to become attached, but the bond formed. It will be difficult to have them leave, but the cats are already rejoicing! There is even a going away party in the works for Saturday March 7th. I think I’ll actually get the carpets cleaned before the event!

I used my moleskine book and a Pigma Micron 05 pen by Sakura. (dark brown color)

Taxes and tribulations

Urgh! Where has time gone? What happened to all the daily sketching for Feb? I’ve been spending days, and part of the weekend, organizing everything for 3 sets of taxes. Meanwhile, the weather has been gorgeous! Plum trees are blooming, leaves are emerging, vultures are slowly coming back to the area. Yes, vultures return home to the valley even before the swallows. They are the first avian signs of spring. Anyway, toss in computer issues and overall grumpiness from having to do paperwork and it’s certainly not made me a fun person to be around. All I can say is this: February 2015, I tackled more days of drawing than previous years! Hurray!

There have been a couple of trips to Eugene to take my brother shopping and deliver requested items. I’m really wondering how his body is fairing. Yesterday I had brief contact with him. I woke up the resting patient with my delivery of chairs, juice, papertowels and a car battery. He seemed confused about the time and he looked paler than usual. I know that therapy has been harder than normal. His body is compromised by a rotator cup injury creating more pain than necessary. I called him today to set up a time to take him in for blood work on Thursday. His speech remains compromised and trying to figure out what he’s asking/ telling remains a giant challenge. Sometimes I over think things, jumping to conclusions, which doesn’t help the situation. Other times he attempts to spell things out and I can’t even tell what letters he’s pronouncing. Speech therapy on Thursday morning then I’ll gather him up for lunch and a trip to the clinic in the afternoon.

I’m so looking forward to March! A little escape from everything is going to be bliss!

The above doodle was created on brown builders paper. More stippling fun with a touch of color.

6 Years

Happy Blog Anniversary! Yes, 6 years! Wow, I can’t believe that much time has elapsed since February 20, 2009. I still remember the first post I wrote about: a walk I took around the park with the old dogs, noting the first signs of spring and the return of the vultures. I wondered, to myself, how long a blogging exercise of writing and art would last? Who would be interested in what I have to share? Some days I feel life has dealt an over abundance of experience in the last 6 years. It’s always easy to pick out the negatives, because there have been plenty, but what about the positive side? I certainly feel lucky to have grown my circle of friends and art buddies. I’ve been fortunate to have some amazing four legged critters share my home (with exception of the furry critters the cats bring in). I’ve learned that I really do have an “arts support crew” out there in the world, people who actually are interested in my crazy studio creations. I can even say that my work does bring about smiles and positive thoughts from those who take it into their home. It makes life better.

Today I baked a batch of GF oatmeal cookies. It was part of a belated holiday gift from Tim & Lois. Yummmmm! Good cookies make my life much better! I wonder how long I can keep them a secret from my spouse….

Thanks to all of you! May the next 6 years be filled with more good things to come!

-Gale