Triology

Its been a true fall day here, cool and wet with the colours of the leaves strong and bright against the grey skies. Now and then a leaf flutters past the window looking like a colourful bird sailing past.

After a number of timewasters, a genuine person has bought Kit or started the process. My concern is that Kit would go to the right person who would give her the life she is used to and treat her well so that she remains kind and responsive to people. This seems to be the right person. A family with children with some horse knowledge and a willingness to learn. I can rest knowing that the horse will be well cared for.

Today I started three portraits. I have the master line drawings done for them and will now decide what medium to complete them with. I'm toying with watercolour for two of them and perhaps coloured pencil or derwent drawing pencils for the third. They speed up the process. I enjoy constructing portraits of either people or animals. The act of watching something appear out of the paper is endlessly fascinating. The first line drawing is shown here. The others will follow in subsequent postings, as will thier progression into colour.

Technorati tags: art, drawing, line drawing, portraits

How to be an artist

STAY LOOSE. LEARN TO WATCH SNAILS. PLANT IMPOSSIBLE GARDENS. INVITE SOMEONE DANGEROUS TO TEA. MAKE LITTLE SIGNS THAT SAY “YES” AND PASTE THEM ALL OVER YOUR HOUSE. MAKE FRIENDS WITH FREEDOM AND UNCERTAINTY. LOOK FORWARD TO DREAMS. CRY DURING MOVIES. SWING AS HIGH AS YOU CAN ON A SWINGSET BY MOONLGHT. CLUTIVATE MOODS. REFUSE TO BE RESPONSIBLE. DO IT FOR LOVE. TAKE LOTS OF NAPS. GIVE MONEY AWAY. BELIEVE IN MAGIC. LAUGH A LOT. CELEBRATE EVERY GORGEOUS MOMENT. TAKE MOONBATHS. HAVE WILD IMAGININGS. TRANSFORMATIVE DREAMS AND PERFECT CALM DRAW ON THE WALLS. READ EVERYDAY. IMAGINE YOURSELF MAGIC. GIGGLE WITH CHILDREN. LISTEN TO OLD PEOPLE. OPEN UP. DIVE IN. BE FREE. BLESS YOURSELF. DRIVE AWAY FEAR. ENTERTAIN YOUR INNER CHILD. YOU ARE INNOCENT. BUILD A FORT WITH BLANKETS. GET WET. HUG TREES. WRITE LOVE LETTERS.

Read how some of these were experienced by a group of 14 year olds between 4pm and 4am. The creative process is taken from the Soul Food Cafe, a wonderful source for inspiration and ideas for writers and artists.

More inspiration. This was through a weekend drawing event at WetCanvas. The image of the accordian player appealed. The costume, the stance, the background. I tried it with pen and ink and watercolour wash on my Moleskine. I do like the way it beads up on the Moleskine sketchbook even though I have the Moleskine watercolour book too. There's something about that paper that always draws me back to it.

Sandwich generation

These are two sketches of my mother. One done at the age of 18, the other at 82. She is still the same person, but different too. Inside we all feel the same as we did when we were younger. Its usually our bodies or minds that seem to skip a beat now and then or betray us in other ways.

I spent an afternoon ferrying my mother to specialist appointments, realizing how old she has become and even through her determination to be alone and independent, she is undergoing the ravages of time that are robbing her of all the things that she wants most from life. I felt like the observer in the doctor's examination room and a little remote from the proceedings. I imagined my mother as the young woman she once was and wondered if in her mind, she felt some of the discomfort that I felt on her behalf for not seeing, hearing or walking well or for having to take 10 prescriptions for a variety of age related and life abuse related illnesses.

My mother is independent but also needs support in some ways too. In new experiences she is a child and needs cajoling and treats to make the experience work without either of us losing patience. I feel like the parent with her, not the child. It is a strange feeling. I go through the motions but it never sits well with me. She seems to accept it however.

So tomorrow I must take more time off work to take her back to the specialist. Her short term memory is failing and she sometimes doesn't remember that I've taken her or the address of the doctors as it is new to her. She also doesn't realize that it is often difficult for me to stop work and spend 3 hours at doctors and the detritus that goes with a visit. But I will do it and play catch up later. It is what the 'sandwich generation' seems to do.

Cultures

I quickly drew this image as part of a drawing thread on WetCanvas last week. I liked the look on the woman's face - part disdain at being photographed perhaps or sitting next to the smoker. The indication of the type of restaurant made me think of the different cultures, foods and rituals and how little I know about many of them. Ethiopian in particular. I searched around a little and found some interesting sites on Ethiopian foods. It was similar to what I expected - stews and a bread, some vegetarian foods too all eaten simply without utensils. I'll have to search out an Ethiopian restaurant when I'm next in a larger city and taste the cuisine for myself.

Weeds II WIP

This is not a great photograph of a work in progress. Its the beginnings of a 'Weeds II', part of a series I am doing of garden, field and woodland vegetation. I'll get a better image of it daylight. At this time of year, there is little light left in the day by the time I get home from work.

Then there's Minnie and me having a 'moment'. Minnie is the little turkey that won't grow. She was being picked on by the other birds in the pen so had to be taken out and put on her own. I bring her in most days and we either watch tv together or she just stands there while I pet her and she closes her eyes as she's doing here. She's quite sweet really and very quiet. I'm not sure if I should be concerned about that or not.

She's nearly 8 weeks old and easily 1/4 the size she should be. She eats and drinks and walks around her pen but just doesn't seem to grow. If anyone knows why, do let me know. Meanshile, she's my pet turkey. Yes, I know. I need to get a life.

Technorati tags: drawing, Weeds II, turkey

I'll call you

Kit has been the epitome of patience this weekend with people arriving to view her, as she's for sale. She's such a good natured animal as people handle her or walk her. Though today she did her mule impression, planting her feet and refusing to budge for awhile. Its shortlived and her way of saying 'I don't like this'. That's about the extent of her rebellion, which for a horse, is pretty tame.

I can tell the idiots of the horse world who arrive and try looking in her mouth. They're like those guys who open the hoods of cars and peer into the engine. They haven't got a clue what they're looking for, but think its what they should do. Yes you can check a horses age by its teeth if you're experienced. These people weren't. Kit sighed and slobbered them. Good girl.

A lot of weekend time has been spent waiting for people to make up their minds. Which they do, but unfortunately they don't have the common courtesy to tell me that they have.

This is the second weekend in a row that someone has come to view Kit. They spend time here, examine her, ride her, talk about her, indicate that they are very interested in buying her, then go away to make up their mind, saying they will call. And they don't.

I don't mind that they decide not to buy her,but I do mind that I have to put my life and weekend on hold waiting for them to call.

So if anyone out there is interested in a kind 4.5 year old mare, part Newfoundland pony/part Morgan, contact me. Just don't waste my time.

So while I wait, I draw. This was from a reference image in an art forum that appealed to me. I liked the contrast of the hard shiny sun goggles against the softness of the baby face and sheepskin. Its done in my Moleskine with a 2B mechanical pencil.

Technorati tags: time wasters, horse for sale, drawing, baby