Call me a quitter, but...

I dropped my life drawing class even though there is only one month left. I hadn't missed any sessions and had turned in all the assignments and maintained the art journal, but I also felt as though I had taken it as far as I could go and dreaded each class session.

In the meantime, there were so many other things I wanted to be doing, most of them related to drawing and art.

I now have six extra hours to call my own plus commuting and homework time. That's a chunk returned and I'm thrilled to have it back. As Steve said, "It's not as though you need the class for a degree or anything...." Community college courses are so cheap in California that I feel that I got more than my $60 tuition worth. It was a great class, and I'd had enough. Both.

Here is Demi, two views of her as she shifted position, asleep on a red towel in church this morning. I love to draw my doggies!

No way ... Yes way

I was drawing with two boys at Juvenile Hall yesterday morning. One of them, a gang member with serious charges, kept saying, "You can't draw, you can't even draw a maple leaf. You're gonna fail miserably."

Let's just say I've had more encouraging sketching partners! In the meantime, my task was to make use of Prismacolor pencils, a media I rarely use. Like many sketchbookers, I have a plethora of perfectly useful drawing utensils -- every imaginable graphite or colored pencil, watercolors and watercolor pencils, acrylics, gel pens, black and colored pens, a 120-color crayon box and several assortments of markers. That's on the first shelf ... need I say more?

Don't even get me started on the sketchbooks, filled and empty, on the next shelf.

A long day

Demi and I were on the go from 6:30 this morning until 9:00 tonight. That doggie works! We were in Juvenile Hall all morning, class all afternoon and attended an evening meeting. She's tired, I'm tired, but the day was good.

This little sketch is almost too light to scan. I don't usually draw in pencil alone, but today I did. Demi, as always, was sitting next to me. Like my hand, she is always available to draw.

Two month goal

Yesterday morning I attended the funeral of a person I knew from church. I actually knew his wife better since she was in a religious class of mine many years ago. I knew so many of the people there although it is no longer my current parish. How great it was to back - home - and how I wish I could continue to participate more fully in that place.

There wasn't much time to draw but I did manage to capture the basics of the paschal candle and part of the altar area at Trinity Episcopal Church, Sonoma, California.

There were well over 250 trick-or-treaters at our front door last night with many awesome costumes. I stationed Younger Daughter and one of her friends there with the door open and a dog gate crossing the threshold. They laughed their way through a busy few hours passing out candy and eating pizza.

Steve isn't feeling well today so we missed church even though it's All Saints' Day. He was awake coughing but I got to sleep in that extra hour and feel oh, so much better!

The new energy made me assess the mess in this house - mostly mine - and I'm starting a major clear-out that I hope will be an ongoing project that I complete by December 31st.

I've just spent the first hour in my home office. It is now totally unusable because I unloaded several shelves of books and art supplies onto the floor. I dusted and washed the shelves, tossed a bunch of dry markers and am in the process of putting every thing back in a semblance of order. My plan is to stay in this one room ALL DAY so if you're looking for me, I'm right here.

If you come in you should wear a mask because I'm gonna raise dust!

The count is on

I'm hoping Steve will do the heavy lifting and carve one of our many pumpkins, but at least I got one painted to set out NOW.

The kids will start ringing the doorbell in a couple hours and we usually have a goodly number. This year, because the weather is splendiferous and it's a Saturday evening and fall-back Sunday tomorrow, makes me think that maybe we should rush out and get just one more bag of candy.

Reliving the past

My third book this week was Carmina Salcido's memoir, NOT LOST FOREVER. Those of us who live here in the Sonoma Valley remember with vivid detail how her father, Ramón Salcido, went berserk and killed seven people, including Carmina's two sisters and her mother and grandmother. He slashed Carmina's throat (it was ten days before her third birthday) and threw her in the local dump and left her for dead. It was quite coincidental that she was found at all and amazing that she was still alive.

All of that I knew. I used to see Ramón every week when San Quentin's death row visiting area was still open. He would sit in the back of the room having a great time with his various visitors, of whom there appeared to be no shortage.

What I wanted to know more about was how Carina got from age three to the present day. What a horrible what-happened-next! She was adopted by an abusive couple who took the money well-wishers had donated for Carmina's future and kept her away from her remaining relatives, withheld their letters to her and didn't allow her to socialize in any normal way.

And then things got even worse. But if that interests you I'll let you read it for yourselves. The good news is that still Carmina thrives. She's a lovely young woman and the community here continues to wish the best for her.

So not me

It seems that every decade I reread this same book, A WOMAN OF INDEPENDENT MEANS by Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey because I like it that much! I just read it for the third time and it was better than ever.

Do I aspire to be like the main character? No, we couldn't be more different just by natural temperament. I like to think I'm not as controlling or meddling but also hope that I'm as thoughtful as she can be too. Certainly she is well drawn in the letters she writes -- the entire book is her correspondence -- and unforgettable as well.

A thoughtful read

This was an impulsive pick off the library shelf and I expected nothing more than to be entertained. How wrong I was! Since Demi and I spend so much time in a chemotherapy setting as well as Juvenile Hall and the library, I figured I might even pick up a few tips on how to go about our work.

WHERE THE TRAIL GOES FAINT: A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF A THERAPY DOG TEAM, by Lynne Hugo began as a memoir about her dog Hannah, newly credentialed to visit nursing home residents. But as the chapters passed, the subject matter deepened.

It wasn't just about the Hannah and Lynne team, it was about how awful most homes are for the elderly, with what boredom even our most capable elders pass their days. The author offers other models of caregiving both in and out of institutional settings. Having the responsibility to nurture a pet - even a goldfish - or plant, or listen to children read or tutor a school child, for those who are able, the need to be needed can be fulfilled in countless ways.

We all want to be valued contributors in our communities. To have work that matters to us and to have a world and experience larger than ourselves is necessary for our mental survival. Simple things, like fresh air, matter. Having visitors matters. Being taken to places outside of the home matters. But being able to add our gift of participation matters even more.

Facing a draw

I never dreamed I would eventually be able to draw a facial likeness but this one does, in fact, bear a resemblance to the model.

In class we're currently focusing on heads and faces more than full figures and I find it quite difficult. My list of things to practice just grows and grows while I'm getting older and older.

I'm reading more now too, but that's another post.

I missed it!

This is my 702nd post - so I've officially missed the big 7-0-0. I was SO looking forward to it!

In my figure drawing class we're finally drawing facial features. I can't draw eyes, I can't draw a nose, I can't draw a mouth and I can't draw ears.

So.... when you put it all together for a homework assignment, what do you get? (I don't know either.)

Feeling grateful

Forgive me, but I was drawing in church again. I can focus so much better if I do and fidget if I don't.

This was the first time I tried to overlap the figures and was surprised by how easy it is. Now I'm wondering if I can start overlapping in other drawings too - overlapped dogs, for example, and landscapes with branches that bump into each other. Some day I would like to be at the "intermediate" level.

Steve baked a shepherd's pie for supper tonight. It was truly awesome. I know I have it good - home cooked meals that I rarely prepare for myself.

Saturday's update

My 10-year old grandson is totally "airplane struck" and e-mailed me this drawing. His present goal is to become a pilot. He visits airports and flying events regularly and now he is beginning to draw them too.

Today was another all day session of docent training focusing on the architecture of the historic buildings -- the mission of San Francisco Solano (the 21st and last built of the California chain of missions), the barracks, Petaluma Adobe (where I hope to lead tours) and General Vallejo's home. It was a little hard being indoors on such a glorious day but the material was presented in an interesting way and certainly whetted my appetite to learn more.

TGIF for sure

Oh my goodness, at this point in the week, you just get what you get! I am so very tired, fried.

But I'm continuing to work on skulls and bones which hold an adolescent fascination to me these days. I guess that's what happens when you spend 13 hours a week at Juvenile Hall where kids LOVE to draw skulls.

Boys do, anyway, girls never draw that way, they draw hearts, endless hearts. Sometime when I'm in the girls' therapy group and want them to draw symbolically I say, "No hearts, anything else, but no hearts." They moan, but plunge deeper into their imaginations and come up with stronger images.



And, to show I haven't completely given away to Halloween, death, bone structures and morbidity, I found an illustration similar to this in one of the flower books in "the Hall." I seem to like stippling as a shading method. It takes forever and slows me down, but I like the end affect. What do you think?

Draws with kids

I'm lucky that my job assisting the art instructor at Juvenile Hall allows me time to sit and draw while I chat with kids. They are drawing/painting and so am I.

Learning how to draw does not come easily to me. I sketch almost every day or attempt some other kind of mark-making. Call me compulsive, but when you don't have tons of natural talent you have to devote hours of practice to learning the most basic skills.

In the meantime, I'm just grateful that it's about 3-1/2 hours before Friday. You know, TGIF. I live in a state of perpetual exhaustion and welcome the weekends as much as any nine to fiver. I'll somehow manage to keep myself busy, I promise.

What I see

The recent rain has made our geraniums very happy. It's cooler now too. So, chilly and thoroughly dampened, they bloom and bloom. Most are red but there are white ones too.

So tempting to pick -- I plucked one little sprig to draw and paint. The colors didn't blend the way I wanted - the perfect excuse to clip another stem and practice again.







When I was in chemotherapy yesterday, as I wrote before, Demi was with me waiting for nurses with passing treats. Here she is from my perspective, looking downward.


I was home most of today, which was great. I commute a lot between medical treatments, Juvenile Hall and art classes - a three town circuit, so when I only have to make one trip out I am delighted.

I got a lot of cleaning done which really helped. What is it that Fly Lady calls it? CHAOS - Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome. Well, I conquered most of it in one free morning.

Underneath it all

I'm still practicing drawing skulls and bone structure. This one was adapted from a drawing I found in an issue of Juxtapose and was particularly fun to draw. I was trying to use stippling too, not my usual shading method.

Demi accompanied me at chemotherapy today. She loves to go because the nurses give her dog treats, each nurse thinking s/he is the first one to offer one. It's a parade of treats and Demi knows what's coming and how to fix those warm brown eyes on each person who passes by.

Can a dog be manipulative, or is she just hopeful?

Page after page

I've been reading steadily, just not posting it. Most recently I read Tracy Kidder's nonfiction piece, AMONG SCHOOLCHILDREN.

It was the third of his books that I've read - and enjoyed tremendously. I also read HOUSE and HOMETOWN. I really appreciate the depth with which Kidder goes after his subjects. After I finished HOMETOWN I felt as though I could drive into Northampton, Massachusetts - a place I've never seen - and just take up life like a townie! Not really, of course, but close.

The other book I read this month was BEAUTIFUL BOY, by David Sheff. It was a heartbreaker. Anyone who has raised a meth addicted child (thank god, I haven't) or worked professionally with same (I have, many) will recognize the frustration and sadness in the loss of relationships and potential.

David Sheff writes about his several years with his adolescent/young man son and the countless attempts at rehab and recovery. He offers a comprehensive exposition of the various treatments, the impact on the rest of the family and the sleepless nights of agony with a kid who doesn't return home during relapse. Hard reading, but well done.

When three leaves you see....

....stay away from me!

That's the rhyme I remember growing up in southern Illinois during poison ivy season. It works just as well for California's poison oak.

Youngest Daughter and I have just returned from Hendy Woods State Park, a redwood coastal campground near Boonville and Ukiah in northern California.

Hendy is gorgeous! There was hardly anyone there because it's so far off season and had rained hard the previous week. We had most of the park to ourselves.

Here's our morning view from inside our tent.


And here are the gorgeous redwoods, some virgin growth nearly 1,000 years old.


I wish I could say I drew and drew, but the truth is, I slept and slept! We roasted marshmallows, built a large bonfire and played rounds of gin rummy. So entirely relaxing and fun.



Youngest Daughter is already asking when and where we're going next!

Obsessed

It's not that I'm obsessed with drawing my hand, but I am obsessed with practicing what we're working on in class. Last week it was all about hands and feet.

In the meantime, we survived the storm. It was wonderful! We needed that rain desperately so to get a couple inches early in the season and only because of a typhoon in Japan, it was a treat and a blessing!

Okay, so I will admit to one obsession - dog biscuits. But I learned that from Demi, Brix and Parisse.

Waiting for the storm to break

A major storm is heading our way, the leftovers from a typhoon in the Pacific Ocean. It will be the first real rain for the season, and since we've been in a drought, it is most welcome. Personally, I prefer weather that does something, that doesn't just sit around, day after day, in its sameness.

And while I've been waiting, and watching out the window as the clouds darken, I've been drawing zentangles to adhere onto luminary bags for next September's Relay for Life. (I work ahead, I promised an oncology nurse that I would draw 200.)





I also finished half of my homework for tomorrow. The assignment: Draw your hand and foot.

Well, I did the hand.

The skull bone is connected to everything else

As a docent-in-training I attended a lecture this morning by Dr. James Rawls, a prominent California historian and author of some 30 books.

He has a particular interest in the disruption of the lives of the indigenous people when the Spanish, Mexicans and Westward Movement all changed their lives forever. It was a moving presentation and I'm glad he was able to speak to us fledglings.

Later we toured the Mission San Francisco Solano in the town of Sonoma. I've been in it many times because, as part of the California State Park system, there is an annual service of Lessons and Carols attended by the larger community.



This evening I shifted back to bones, canine bones, to be exact. I re-drew the canine skull using ink this time with a light watercolor wash. What have I learned this month? I love to draw bones!

That time of year

We've been looking at skulls and muscles in my life drawing class as a way to better understand the underlying structures of the figures.

When we were asked to draw a skull for homework, I couldn't resist and drew a canine skull. I often wonder what's going on underneath my doggies' fuzzy black fur. There are days when it seems nothing is there at all, they are empty headed numbskulls. Or they are food obsessed. Or tennis ball addicted.

But no, I now understand they have skull bones. Hard as rocks. Empty headed beyond that, perhaps, but under the fur is a canine skull.

'Tis the season of bounty

The cherry tomatoes I planted last April just don't know when to stop. I keep refilling the bowl, but we eat them like candy so they go fast - but these days, there are always more.

During the summer I read and mentioned Jonah Raskin's book, FIELD DAYS, about his professorial sabbatical year spent working on a local organic farm. Oak Hill Farm is actually just spittin' distance from our home so we drove out to pick up some veggies.


Now I have the makings for two two pots of soup - vegetable and potato/leek.

While we were shopping the doggies patiently waited in the car.

My projects have projects

I'm busy enough these days. I still work almost 20 hours a week and that leaves me time to do Other Things.

I have three art projects with deadlines. The monster book is due in Atlanta on December 1st. (If you don't know what I'm writing about, check it out at HERE.)

My class assignment of filling 100 sketchbook pages is due on December 3rd.

I promised an oncology nurse that I would zentangle or otherwise decorate 200 luminaries for next year's Relay for Life to be held in September. I have the first three finished since I also committed to bringing a few in every three weeks when I have chemotherapy.

And I've begun docent training -- in my case, a refresher course -- so I can tell the visiting public about General Vallejo's Petaluma Adobe.

The top photo shows dancing at the fandango last Saturday, an annual event and reenactment. The second one is a view of the inner courtyard. You won't see me dancing, but you can imagine me leading a group of visitors around the first and second floors and standing outdoors trying to field questions. We're talking 1830s here, when California was part of Mexico. I'm reading, I'm reading, I'm reading!

Draws in church

Back in church this morning after a few misses, I couldn't help but draw a few of the folks nearby.

This may be a record -- the first time I didn't sit and draw my dog! Actually I did make a tiny sketch of her on a page full of other tiny drawings of Demi.

I haven't learned how to draw the fronts and faces of people yet, I'm apparently destined to forever walk behind the crowd and sketch whatever I see from there.

In the meantime, I came home and drew the second monster for HERE. I keep learning of new folks who want to participate - click on the site and sign yourselves up! The deadline to participate is October 7th and you have until December 1st to do the actual work/play.

If I decide to give these monsters titles I may describe this one as a shy monster trying to look ferocious. What do you think?

Waiting for paint to dry

Sometime during the summer I wrote about a traveling sketchbook project sponsored by Art House Coop that I had committed to.

I was eventually assigned a random theme --- AHHH! MONSTER! --- and my little Moleskine arrived.

The deadline for submission is approaching -- December 1st -- so I've panicked myself into finally beginning. Last night I made a definition page and also wrote an introduction.

This evening I drew a monster. It's not just too, too scary, is it? I mean, I wouldn't want to find it under my bed or crawling up the walls or anything, but beyond that, it's more a creepy crawly than a terrifying monster, right?

You just never know who's going to open up this book.

By the way, the deadline for signing up to participate has been extended until October 7th -- so get on it!

Draggin' my butt

I am so tired today! I've been struggling through a mild migraine for the past three days and it's sapping the starch right out of me.

But our days here in northern California have been spectacular this week. It's been high 70ºs and sunny with dry leaves crunching underfoot. I'm hoping to get in another camping trip soon, but it won't be this weekend.

In the meantime, I've watched most of the new PBS series on the national parks and it's just making me want to get out there!

I requested and received a disability pass for the state parks which gives me half-price entrance and camping fees. YES! - especially now when rates nearly doubled last month to offset the state budget woes.

This morning I drew with two groups of kids in Juvenile Hall, thus adding more pages to my 100-page sketchbook due in class on December 3rd. I am so behind. But zentangles and California poppies, I can do that much!

Regaining my footing

I was hampered most of the week by being a single parent to our adult disabled daughter. Steve was in New York City and, even though we sent texts every few hours or so, I was still the one to navigate the more complicated scheduling.

He's home now, thank heavens, and life has returned to normalcy.

Yesterday I began docent training for the local history in our area. We're fortunate in that our community of Sonoma has one of the great missions of California, military barracks from 175 years ago and a great park in the center of the town. There is also a magnificent two-story adobe in nearby Petaluma and, probably because of its rural nature, I am studying to interpret that site to the tourists and school groups which come to visit.

In the meantime, when you're at a loss for something to draw, there's always your own hand, right?

Back at camp

I took Younger Daughter on a second camping trip this weekend. This time we were at Acorn Camp near Valley Springs, California. We had lots and lots of space to ourselves since it's off-season now.

There were oak trees everywhere. My daughter saw a fox, which made me insanely jealous - I missed it - but we saw three deer, a rabbit and a flock of geese in V-formation. We were on a knoll overlooking the Hogan Reservoir where swimmers, boaters, jet-skiers and fisherfolk were enjoying the end of summer.

I have the next place picked out and we hope to go soon, but the trip isn't on the calendar yet.

Tomorrow is the first day of autumn and the season is already revving up with more (too much) on the schedule. That's unfortunate because October is a wonderful month to camp!

My Jeffrey Archer summer

Last June, if you'd asked me about Jeffrey Archer, I would have said, "Who's that?"

And then I stumbled across his prison diaries and read through them, all three volumes. He was a disgraced Member of Parliament when he wrote those but was also a writer before and since. Because he was better known for his novels, I first read a collection of short stories, TO CUT A LONG STORY SHORT and then this one, NOT A PENNY MORE, NOT A PENNY LESS.

I've missed out! I have thoroughly enjoyed what I've read so far and wish I had discovered this author earlier. He's a prolific writer with many, many titles out there waiting for me - and you!