Sticks, Stones, and Paper Stew Blog

Two Feet

This morning we went out on a 3+mile walk with the dogs during a sun break. It was warm enough to shed rain gear and expose arms and faces. We’ve been getting pelted with storms, one after the other. Lots of rain and wind. Too bad it’s not stacking up the snow in the mountains. I can’t remember the passes ever being this bare. Last year at this time we experienced almost record breaking snow for our area. Today, it’s 55 , the flowers are popping up and tree buds are swelling. Even the pussy willows are filled with the grey velvet nubs. Certainly feels like spring!

My feet were a bit tired after the excursion, so I took it as a chance to do a sketch of my feet. Unfortunately, the brain wasn’t wanting to engage and my ass didn’t like sitting on the hard floor. Tomorrow I might tackle Dave’s face or hands. Off to run errands and grab fixings for dinner.

Charcoal, white chalk, conte crayon, builder’s brown paper. Sketch size: 9″x 10″ (22 cm x 25 cm)

🙂

An even foot

Another quick foot image today. It’s been forever since I’ve tackled attempting body parts. While in school, I loved life drawing class. Pulling out the big sheets of paper onto the drawing boards, sitting on the uncomfortable wooden benches, and getting covered in charcoal. I never dressed nicely while at university. Grubby pants & sweatshirts were my normal attire. I was either in the ceramics studio, printmaking studio or the drawing room. Good memories and lots of stains! The above sketch uses vine charcoal, white chalk, and black conte crayon. More Brown Builder’s paper. I finally feel caught up with the 28 day drawing challenge. 🙂

Happy Friday!

Sketch size: 15″ x 21″ (38cm x 53cm)

A foot behind

I was a tad tired last night and didn’t want to wander downstairs to compose this post. I’ve been attempting to de-clutter the house of 20 years accumulation. So many items are already in the donation piles, loads being recycled and even some stuff is heading right into the trash. While poking around in a dead zone corner, between the etching press and a set of flat file drawers, I discovered a mirror. Perfect for a foot study! So I plunked myself down with the drawing board, a chunk of vine charcoal, white chalk and a black conte stick. The paper is from a huge roll of brown builder’s paper (purchased at one of the big box home improvement stores for about $10). I think they use it for covering flooring and other jobs. It ended up in my studio due to the Camas project (when I thought I would have to protect the carpeted floors from my sculptures). Probably not acid free, but it doesn’t matter one bit for something like this. 140feet of paper can certainly hold a lot of sketches!

Sketch size is 12″x 19″ (30cm x 48cm)

Quick Cat

Today’s sketch is of Nigel. I never draw the cats, so I’m not as confident working with their angles (and in Nigel’s case, the overly plump belly). It’s a Eugene day, so I don’t have the time to spend really looking at all the important parts. So it’s a quickie. I can say I did something today in the art world. Off to deal with my brother for a while. Urgh! I’m tired of that whole scene. Vacation time can’t get here soon enough!

Graphite & my Vang sketchbook.

Eye

A Belgium draft horse, belonging to a dear friend, became my subject matter for today’s drawing of an eye. I love going out to their farm to see the critters. Giant horses, sheep, and plenty of wildlife. During the summer, their garden is huge! So much time and care involved with everything on the property. We keep hoping to move out to their area and have a small farm of our own, but it’s an amazing amount of work! I feel so lazy these days after so many family filled years. Oh well, eventually we’ll find a better place to live.

Two days down for the 28 day challenge!

Materials used: Vang Sketchbook, Graphite, prismacolor pencils

Shorebird

I was reading online about the February drawing challenge. One sketch/drawing a day for 28 days. Since I really need something to keep me motivated, I’ve decided to give it a try. My studio has been undergoing a bit of a cleaning and I ran across a photo of a sandpiper (or something similar) in my dad’s collection. The bird sketch is a bit off in proportions, but that’s why I’m going for the 28 day challenge. My brain and hand connections are out of whack. The bird has the most amazing white edges to all the dark plumage. Such a beautiful little thing.

Over the month, you’ll be seeing more wild birds and probably plenty of dog sketches. They seem to be what’s on my mind right now.

This in my Vang sketchbook from France. Graphite and charcoal.

Case for the Bird

The bird light is slowly taking form. Yesterday I spent a bit of time with power tools and scrap pieces of lumber. The case is now 8″x 8″x 5.5″. It might become a bit narrower since there is a split that formed on one of the sides. I’ll need to do a bit more tweaking to give more reveal for the paper by using an angle cut or something similar. We shall see. By the end of today it should be pinned, clamped and glued together. Hopefully a bit of sanding to follow.

Which paper is the best choice for light diffusion? After auditioning several types, mulberry was the winner. I’m still figuring out what color the front bird should be.

This piece will be heading to the 8″x 8″ show in Brownsville at the end of January.

Second Bird

I never quite know how to arrange my days right now. Do I spend it at home or head to Eugene? Part of me feels guilty for not going down. Ok, a huge part of me, but I need to back away. Today I chose to back away. I worked on another bird that would fit the size constraints for the Brownsville show. The above image is to be a template for the next rendition. The white will switch to a dark colored paper and I’ll probably use velum behind the bird. If the velum doesn’t diffuse the light well enough, I’ll switch to mulberry.
Next step is to gather materials for the finished product and decide what color would best suit this bird. Citron? Black? Burgundy? So many possibilities hanging out in the flat files and other bins of paper! I’m also contemplating trimming the frame with metal. Probably too many things to contemplate for now. One step at a time.

Off to the garage to see what wood is available!

Paper Bird

Hurrah! I finally cut something new!!! The design is for an 8″x 8″ lighted piece. This is the first attempt executing the concept from drawings to cutting. I’m actually pleased with the form but still need to figure out additional tweakings. The bird was influenced by a piece of brightly-colored Mexican folk art I grew up with. I used to love looking at that painting! The surface was filled with so many lines and colors! This particular cut ended up well over my size limit, so it’s back to the drawing board! Maybe I’ll actually have something by next week.

I’ll be mounting the cut paper to a wood frame that will be back-lit with an LED bulb.

On the home front, we moved my brother into his home last Friday. I can’t wait to step away from the situation. It’s been way too much family time and not enough time for my life.

Thinking Ahead

There are a couple of small shows approaching towards the end of the month/February that I would love to enter. However, it requires me actually sitting down and working in the studio. My brain still hasn’t been able to swing focus back to life here at home. The constant confrontation of daily things regarding my brother’s health keeps taking precedence. Regarding Tom: Yesterday was pretty monumental. He walked without a walker for two loops around the physical therapy space (as the therapist was walking just behind him ready to grab his belt). I will admit tears welled in my eyes from happiness. What an accomplishment! My sister had to look away so she wouldn’t have the same problem. We managed to get approval for car travel and embarked on a mini trip out! He even had some real food at the Thai restaurant!! Not that I particularly wanted to eat, since I had already consumed a big lunch. I tried to get him to agree to going somewhere he would really enjoy the food, but he kept asking “but can YOU eat there?”, which I couldn’t (major food allergies on my part). So Thai it was. The sunshine was glorious! We are trying to get him placed in foster care for the next couple of months as he continues to improve. His strength is increasing and the therapist thinks his wheelchair days are limited. He will continue to use the walker for many more months until he is fully able to navigate without. The big question remains regarding his cognitive and memory ability. Safety and making good choices are a major problem right now. Below is the photo I took at the restaurant. He did a great job of chewing all his food and not choking, well, except for the fluids. That continues to be a serious issue. Ok, enough about him!

tom lunch

The upcoming show at the Brownsville Art Center has a size restriction: nothing over 8″x 8″x 8″. My goal is to create a wall mounted( lighted) silhouette piece, something that would be of interest to the Brownsville crowd. I need to do a bit more research before diving in. There are also a couple of other shows that I would love to create something for, but it would be ok if I missed this year. I don’t want to push myself too much right now and feel awful as deadlines pass and projects unfinished. Playing is good, if I can regain space in the studio. It’s amazing that those cleaning fairies haven’t shown up. Didn’t they get the memo that it’s been over 2 months since anything has been touched? Seriously, I need to get a grasp on the clutter to free my brain. Maybe tomorrow after dealing with my brother today. I can’t spend all week in Eugene…. I hope!