Merry Christmas Cards

This is the photo from our Christmas card this year- which I am just addressing tonight!

I drew this card about 10 years ago and had a box of them printed up in black and white-which is how we sent them that year.

I had enough left over to use them again, but I hated to send them out with the same look, so I decided to add some color this year. My mom, aunt and I watercolored them one night, and tonite my daughter did all the signing. I may get the hang of this delegating thing after all! We added some glitter too.

I wish peace and joy to all you internet friends this Christmas!

Another Chicago Page

I drew this light fixture and the opera singer on our Chicago crawl-tonite I added the Hancock Center from a photo Aor took. We are looking forward to going up in the evening one day soon to see the Christmas lights and have dinner.

Working and drawing

I drew this at work, and it is the first thing I have drawn in days. These days I work part time at a grocery store and a few days a month at this home deco. shop. I am not used to having so much of my time spoken for by an employer--I know, I'm spoiled. However the extra money is nice--especially in December! I should start drawing at the basketball games--that would add a lot to my drawing time!

We had a beautiful snow this evening! Everything is covered in a layer of sparkling white--I love snow!

Chicago Sketchcrawl & Challenge #41

Aor and I met Lindsay and Lisa to sketch Chicago. It was wonderful to meet these artists/bloggers in person! And very cool to see their sketch books and tools....Lindsay was sketching in a journal she bound herself. Aor did her first realistic sketches...which were very good! Lisa was working with some water soluable graphite pencils I would love to try.
















We met by Marshall Field's and set to work sketching the famous clock (challenge #41-draw a city landmark!). There was a nice supportive feel to being out sketching in a group. One man (who looked like he would like to join us) gave us the thumbs up as his wife hurried him along. Pretty soon we were well chilled...so we grabbed some cider and coffee and headed into the Chicago Cultural Center.
















Lisa suggested we be brave and sketch people...we were brave enough to attempt that, but chicken enough to draw each other instead of strangers. Don't go by my sketches of them....Lisa and Lindsay are actually lovely ladies. The cultural center is a very beautiful building with wonderful mosaics covering the walls, floors and ceilings, fabulous light fixures and stained glass skylights.

I would love to do this again someday, and I hope we will have some more Chicago area artists join in!

Blind Contour Friday

This is the old lamp next to my bed.

EM Challenge #14-What I See First in the AM

The dredded alarm clock. I am not a morning person...even if I have to get up (and I usually do have to) my brain does not function well until about 9am. Or even 10 maybe.

Draw something Halloween-EM Challenge #38

I figured I had better do this challenge before the Halloween decorations go into storage. We enjoyed watching our exchange student get such a kick out of Halloween-she had seen it in American movies at home in Thailand. She went to a Halloween party dressed as a cheerleader and carved a jack-o-lantern. Aor got a kick out of all the decorations around town--this drawing is of some of ours. Halloween is such fun time to decorate....it seems not to matter if Halloween deco is tacky and cheap...and long as it's fun!

Blind Contour Friday

This is a little light because I drew it in pencil-then colored the lines in Paint Shop. When I want to relax this is what I want.

Our Garage and B-ball Basket

One thing I have learned from Everyday Matters Group is that you don't have to have something "pretty" to make a drawing. So here is our garage...drawn on a chilly morning, and I drew in my nice warm car after taking the kids to school.

Oops, I'm a little late with my BC today. These are some of the scissors that live next to our computer.

Artist Date: City Museum, St. Louis

Wow, what fun!


Holy mackerel, if you have never been to City Museum in St. Louis, MO, take yourself on a date and go! It was so cool. A wonderland created by artists- out of all kinds of found materials and built inside and outside of an old factory. I was on overload the whole time I was there.

Click here http://www.citymuseum.org/3D.html for a really cool video tour. The place is literally a blast for kids from 2-92. We took our exchange student and my 65 year old mom with us. Full of slides, tunnels, falling water, and huge jungle gyms.



This is part of the huge jungle gym built on the outside. It also has a sculpture garden (with fire pits) and tavern underneath this. The place stays open til one am and we noticed a that after about 8 the kiddies went home and the teens-adults came out full force.



Lot of cool caves to walk and crawl through. If you use your flash or come after dark when these are lit by candlelight you can see the cool cave drawings.










These are a whole series of amazing spiral slides from 2 to many stories high and dimly lit (somehow that does add to the fun!). Look closely and you can see my 65 year old mom coming out of a 3 story high slide.
















Here is a squid or octopus or something mosaiced on the floor. The place is covered in mosaics made out of tile, pennies, little gears, china--cool! They also used parts of old buildings-they have two reception halls that are awesome-made with huge parts of old buildings.

My pics don't really do it justice, but the video tour gives you a neat taste of what is there. Oh yeah, we also went up in the arch and visited a great old neighboorhood with fabulous old buildings. I took lots of pics I hope to draw from.

Missouri on Dwellable

Flip Flop Flap

There maybe a flap about shoes in this house soon. You can't walk for tripping over shoes (I admit, some are mine). Anyway, couldn't decide what to do for blind contour friday--then I looked around and saw the shoe thing going on.

100 Things About Me

Apparently a bloggy thing to do....so here goes....
1. I have too great teenagers-a boy and a girl
2. I am married to J who I met when I was 14!
3. I love art!
4. I love gardening!
5. We live in a 100 year old house that we are slowly fixing up.
6. J and I (and the kids) love to ride our bicycles.
7. I love dogs.
8. I was born in Hawaii.
9. I try to be organized but find it hard.
10. My favorite color is red.
11. I drink Diet Coke.
12. Growing up, I spent summers at my granddaddy's lake cottage.
13. I still go there as much as possible.
14. I cannot play any musical instrument.
15. I wish I could.
16. I am addicted to decorating magazines.
17. I love chocolate!
18. Chicago is my favorite big city.
19. Red is my favorite color.
20. I am a Christian.
21. I walk every day for exercise.
22. I used to be skinny.
23. Now I am not.
24. I have short hair.
25. My eyes are dark brown.
26. I am interested in history.
27. I am interested in preserving older buildings.
28. I like to go fishing.
29. I don't like to clean fish.
30. Books....can't have too many.
31. I recycle.
32. My favorite way to recycle is to make something over.
33. I am an antique dealer.
34. I stop for garage sales.
35. I think you can tell a lot about a person from their home.
36. Nature inspires me.
37. I go hiking whenever possible.
38. I went to a Big 10 university.
39. I accumulated a lot of credits but no diploma.
40. I think most parents need to pay more attention to being good parents.
41. Basketball is my favorite sport to watch.
42. I used to swim on a team.
43. I worry too much.
44. The porch is my favorite part of the house.
45. Soups are my speciality.
46. I like music from the late 1970's.
47. I like music from the 50s and jazz too.
48. I love it when it snows.
49. I like to go fishing.
50. I like target shooting.
51. I know how to knit and crochet.
52. I don't mind doing laundry.
53. I don't like to put away laundry.
54. It always amazes me when people are mean.
55. I have a fire in the fireplace most days in the winter.
56. We have an exchange student from Thailand living with us.
57. I have never traveled to another country,
58. but I would like to someday.
59. I am trying to get into shape.
60. Making stuff is such great fun for me!
62. I make scrapbooks.
63. I don't care for Sinatra's singing.
64. I do like Dean Martin's singing.
65. I like romantic comedies--even though the critics rarely do.
66. I don't watch daytime soaps.
67. I do watch Desperate Housewives.
68. I always buy used cars.
69. I have a room that I use for artwork and sewing projects.
70. I used to have studio outside of our house but found I didn't use it because I like to be at home.
71. Someday I would like to build a treehouse.
72. I do not like shopping for clothes.
73. My favorite type of garden is the cottage garden.
74. I just love to shop in office supply stores.
75. I love to be near the water.
76. We love to take backroads when we travel.
77. I want more roses in our yard.
78. I want less grass in our yard.
79. I like trees.
80. I like to be around positive people.
81. I avoid negative people.
82. I get really excited when I receive something personal in the mail instead of just bills.
83. My sisters and my mom are my best friends.
84. I am kind of scatterbrained.
85. I used to work as photographer for a newspaper.
86. I now think 100 is a very large number!
87. I have painted some very large murals.
88. Little kids make me smile.
89. Someday I'd like to live on the water.
90. Log cabins....I am very attracted to log cabins.
91. I am still in love with my husband after 23 years of marriage.
92. My kids are great people that I love to be around.
93. I like to find ways to save money
94. and still have great quality stuff.
95. I think it is important to volunteer
96. so I have in the schools, at church and on community committees.
97. I have an aquarium.
98. I like to go to museums.
99. I love chocolate ice cream.
100. I love to laugh and to make others laugh too.

Humiston Woods

Today I went to Humiston Woods after wasting too much of my day taking a nap (I was going to go to Starved Rock). Humiston Woods is a small nature preserve nearby. It was such a beautiful day today! I actually stayed out a little too long and it got dark on my way back to the parking lot.....spooky! We have a full moon tonite too.

Everyday Matters Challenge--draw a leaf

This is Everyday matters challenge #34. The leaves are really getting brilliant around here!

Joe's Birthday

We had a little wine after dinner, and before it put me to sleep, I got this blind contour done....I really like this one!

Blind Contour Friday

I was looking at all the great blogs I have on my favs list and was inspired by Paula Becker's http://www.paulabecker.com/blog/index.php soup drawing. Well, I don't have any great homemade cream of mushroom soup, so I grabbed a can of Campbells. To see a bunch of great blind contour drawings, follow the Inkfinger link to the right.

Fall Bike Ride

Today we took a bike ride along the I&M Canal. If you live near this path and have not tried it....do! It's a beautiful path. We rode from Ottawa to Utica, walked around the Burgoo Festival for a while and rode back. I did not have time to sketch, so I was trying really hard to remember what some of the path looked like...and then I came home and drew this from memory. This is the first time I've tried to memorize a scene to draw later.

If you knew me you would laugh. I am famous for my bad memory. Or infamous. For my friends and family it is a big joke and a pain in the butt. I take tons of pics to gaurd against losing wonderful memories. Drawing helps me to remember too... when I look at a drawing done earlier, it brings me right back to that place and time.

At the Park

After church today I sat in the park and drew one of the pedestrian bridges. They are one of the neatest things about our town. They make it much easier to get around on foot since a small river runs through the middle of town. I have tried to draw this before but I always got frustrated because I got all caught up in details. Today I was able to loosen up and I like how it turned out.

Blind Contour Friday

I decided to blind contour my son sitting on the couch, and in the process I defaced him! So I drew his face again. He has a bad habit of sitting around with no shirt. Yuck....I mean he is cute, but ....why do guys like to sit around like that? And of course, I am a naggy mom and keep after him to put a shirt on. Could it be he just likes to drive me nuts? Nah.

The Eyes Have It

Everyday Matters Challenge #33

Today I wanted to do a challenge, so I drew my eyes while in the car waiting for the kids to get out of school. Then tonite I drew the eyes of everyone who was still awake. It is very interesting how when I am looking closely like this, I can see that the eyelashes don't go anything like I imagined they did!

THE BIG DRAW

http://www.drawingpower.org.uk/menu2.htm
This looks like a wonderful event taking place in the UK during the month of October. The idea is to get everyone drawing. There will be events, large and small, throughout the month to encourage people to draw. Check it out!

Blind Contour Friday

Here's my effort this week--my mixer.

Blind Contour Friday

This is an African Violet with the most amazing color rimming the petals. Deep violet-red. The cup is an old flow blue I got at an auction.

I haven't forgotten my promise of alcohol aided blind contour, but it will have to wait till next week :(
This week I am on Rx meds and I don't want to mix it up -it'd probably just put me to sleep anyway.

Something "Dad"

Ahh, poor dad. There are so many ways this is unflattering...starting with those lips. Believe it or not I'm pretty excited about this drawing because even though it does not look like Dad---it does look human! That's a good thing! As you can see he is actually a pretty good looking guy.

He is also a wonderful man. He spent his career directing centers for the developmentally disabled...and making a difference in the quality of life for so many. At home we kids always knew that when the chips were down we could count on Dad to be cool headed and in our corner. And we always knew when the relatives from NC were calling...because they would ask for Bobby Lee!

Bright Little Shop

This little shop is owned by a friend, and she just moved it to this location on the square. It was raining yesterday, so I decided to sketch it from the car. You can see where I got carried away on one side of the drawing and drew the door all the way down to the curb. I may transfer this to some watercolor paper and try to make one that I can send to her.

I used watercolor, then I went back in and tried out my new colored pencils.

Everyday Matters Challenge #30-Chair

Here is another challenge for Everyday Matters. I bought this little high chair at a garage sale for $40.

Everyday....parking lot sketching

This is just a daily drawing...when I had time....drawing what was there.

Everyday Matters #29 Architecture

This is the courthouse in our town. We have a wonderful little square-2.5 of the sides still have the original buildings. One whole side is now a parking lot. It seems to me that many of those who have lived here all their lives are the most likely to undervalue the old buildings. They scorn the Mayberry-ness of it, while those of us who came here later in life cherish that same quality. I've got nothing against progress as long as it does not erase the past at the same time. Ok, stepping down from my soapbox now.

Blind Contour Friday

Here is my favorite spot to sit (inside). We busted out a wall between a tiny kitchen and a tiny family room...so now we have a big kitchen with a fireplace and a sofa. If the rest of the house fell down I could live in this one room! The computer desk is right behind the couch.

September 11

I drew this yesterday, but did not get it painted until today. Drawing it was interesting, because I really don't know how I look from the back.

Everyone in my grandparents' day remembered exactly what happened the day Pearl Harbor was attacked, and 9/11 is like that for the current generations. I think it must have been Good Morning America as that is my usual morning show, but I am not entirely sure about that--I was glued to the scenes playing out behind the newspeople. Like most Americans I could not believe what was happening.

My heart goes out to all who lost loved ones that day.

Blind Contour Friday

I decided to join in on Blind Contour Friday. I am working at the church subbing for the regular secretary, so here are some things in the office.

This was refreshing after all that crosshatching yesterday!

Challenge #28-Draw an appliance

When we remodeled our kitchen a few years ago we kept our old appliances to save money. So this is my 20 year old stove. I covet a new one with 2 ovens (one over the other) but I keep waiting for this one to die first.

We like to fish and only live a block from the river, so we have some fish things in here-but it is not too over the top.

I always have trouble with perspective--I think I kept it pretty good in the stove sketch, but I lost it on the cabinet where the fish hook is hanging.

#27 Draw a Book

Here is another challenge for Everyday Matters group. I really got going on this drawing but somehow I got the title all crooked!

Then I just kept on drawing other stuff on the desk...I love office supplies. When I was working as secretary one of may favorite parts of the job was buying the supplies. I also liked putting the newsletter together. What I hated was having to be very organized--I work hard at organization but for some reason it does not come easy to me.

Challenge #3-My Purse

I finally did Everyday Matters challenge #3! Had time while waiting for the girls to come out of the school. I want to try and get back to drawing daily...kind of got away from it lately.

Corner at the Cottage

This weekend I was able to grab a few minutes to try and draw a corner at the cottage. It is incredible how wonky this drawing is, but I do feel like I can really remember how this corner looks now. That makes drawing a wonderful memory tool for me--I tend to have a terrible memory.

It was very shadowy in the room, so I could not see details of what I was drawing.

Exchange!

Just wanted to let you all know that I have not forgotten my blog! I have not done much drawing lately, because I have been very busy getting ready for an adventure. We are hosting an exchange student from Thailand this year and she is coming this weekend! We are very excited to finally meet her in person. The last couple of weeks have been busy -transforming our son's room to a room suitable for a girl. We have also been working on his studio apartment which he is renting from my parents. I have been doing lots of painting---but all with interior latex! I am going to take my sketchbook to the airport with me, to do some drawing while we wait.

On the Porch

We live in an old victorian, but I think of it as a victorian cottage....because it is not as big or fancy as the ones you think of with turrets and lots of curlie Q's. It does have some fish scale siding in the gable ends, but that is about it.

My favorite places in the summer are the porches. There is a tiny one on the front and that is where I was sitting to draw this. It has been so hot lately that only die hard porch sitters like me sit outside.

And yes, our house really is bright yellow. It has white trim and a pretty green on the porch floors and foundation. People looked shocked when we first started brushing the color on, but after it was all done we got lots of complements.

EMC #24 Blueberries!

I drew this at the lake...very quickly, because I was feeling guilty about not helping in the kitchen. I colored it after I got home. Those berries were good!!

When I returned home I read all the posts regarding challenges. Personally, I find them helpful. I am just drawing what is around me on a daily basis, and when I "draw" a blank on what to draw, I like having that list to spur me on. They are common everyday subjects and I enjoy seeing what various artists produce from the same simple suggestions.

Looking toward the lake...

This side of the cottage is a well used path because it is between the lake and the clothesline...I was sitting under the clothesline to make this drawing. We had beautiful days while I was there-blue skies and blue water. We have a very narrow yard on this side but a wall of greenery gives both houses some privacy. The neighbors have a trumpet vine growing way up in the tree. We can see the humming birds on it from the upstairs window-very pretty!

Back to the Real World

I am back from Michigan. I had a great time but did not have as much time to draw as I would like. I was entertaining my high energy sis-in-law: go, go, go. We had fun though. Since it is late tonite I will scan some stuff in tomorrow.

Check out these wonderful drawings done at Chalk the Walk on the bluff in St. Joe. I don't know the artist's names, but hopefully since they were drawing at a street festival, it will be ok to post some pics from our day.

Coloma on Dwellable