Pet Peeves . . .

So last Friday's topic on Illustration Friday was pet peeves. It took me a while to decide on my approach, and then I still didn't get it right, because I missed a big one with me.
People who take little kids to nice restaurants and do not monitor their behavior . . . letting them run around and scream, etc.
Chalk that one up to me being a crabby old man.

Illustration Friday Topic . . . "Heavy"

So, I haven't had much time to blog this week. I did start this sketch on Thursday, and was happy the topic this week seemed the fit right in.

So here is my entry for "Heavy".

Illustration Friday's Topic . . . Garden

So if you haven't been to Illustration Friday's site yet, you are in for a treat. This week's topic was Garden, so I thought I would give it a try.

As the blizzard rages outside here in Medina, Ohio (and most of the East from Atlanta to New York, it seems), I was struggling to focus on the garden theme. Now we only recently moved into this house and it was built new, so needs landscaping. And we have been looking into gardens, but that isn't what struck me today.

I received my latest copy of Audubon magazine today (my reward for trudging through the snow to the mailbox this morning). There is an interesting article about carnivorous plants with simply fabulous pictures. So there you have it, my entry for today. And remember, as the frog said to the Venus Flytrap . . . "Times fun when you're having flies."

. . . a slow start

So I have been asking myself, why did I decide to finally start this blog? Heard about them for years and had never visited a blog site . . . on purpose.


But I have always had a fascination for art. I suppose at times more the idea of creating art, than the actual making of it. I'd like to say I'm passionate about it, but that isn't true. I have tons of supplies in various media. I love buying new supplies, but never seem to make the time to sit down and do a project, let alone feel I am driven to do it.


Well, last fall I finally got going into an oils class I had been trying to get into. And I have enjoyed that. I kept going long enough to produce four paintings, all of which have found homes on my family member's walls. None of them great, but decent efforts; or at least not embarrassing.


But since Christmas, I hadn't started any new ones, and I needed a kick start. I went to this demonstration/workshop at a local art supply store. Karen Sandstrom was doing a workshop on the sketchbook journal. What she was creating, and the reasons she gave for starting a few years ago really clicked for me. She has a great blog called Pen In Hand that is one of my favorites to visit. Anyway, after attending, I got hooked on the idea of doing something like that.


I have often kept journals, and have fantasized about creating these awesome vacation travel journals like some I have seen through the years. I guess this is a way for me to "have time" to create these little snippets of art that won't take too long to create. I think posting them here gives me a way to feel they are "finished", if that makes any sense.


Anyway, today's sketch is one I did a couple of days before I went to Karen's workshop. I hadn't added the watercolor until after, and I like the way it turned out. As I look at trying to write regularly, I know it will be a challenge and I am off to . . . a slow start. Stay Tuned.

The Day Was A Gift

Today has been so vile, weather-wise. And after yesterday was in the 60's here; such a cruel trick. Ah well, life in the Greater Cleveland area.