Portrait

I started this drawing today and haven't quite decided yet where it will go. It is from an old photo of me taken when I was 21 months old. The photo is reasonably clear but does not have the detail that would be in a photograph taken today. However, its a lot better than some I've seen. I'm deciding whether to use it as part of a teaching class or just go ahead and turn it into a painting or some sort of coloured drawing.

I had done a little coloured pencil experiment with it some time ago on a form of drafting film. I hadn't found a source of the correct film at that point, so the experiment was on a harder, thicker version of Mylar and didn't come out quite as I wanted. With the photo in black and white, I created the colours from my imagination and from some vague, sketchy memory of furniture and colours that I was often dressed in as a child.

I'll play with it for awhile and decide where it takes me. Today obviously isn't a painting day for me. I tried two oils so far today and trashed both. They turned into muddy messes so I figured it was best to go on to some other mediums instead. Tomorrow's another day.

Things come in threes

Artist trading cards
2.5 x 3.5 coloured pencil
copyright Jeanette Jobson

Things are coming together. Way back in January I set some goals for myself artistically and, while, its taking some time, its moving towards those objectives.

I've finally finished the ATC cards so they can be sent to their destinations. I have to say that its not an exercise that I enjoyed a lot. I don't like the very small size a lot and trying to fit detail into it. As a mainly realist artist, I'm a detail freak so not getting it in there makes me a little uneasy.

There are several exhibitions coming up - one in a couple of weeks, the other on October 21 and another in early December that I hope to enter. I just need to choose (or create) the right pieces for the shows so tomorrow I'll open the portfolio and make some decisions.

I also have a couple of teaching opportunities coming up too and need to create a course outline for one and then determine whether the other is a lecture type or hands-on session. I'm used to practical teaching by example and having students participate using materials and exercises. I can do a lecture on my training and work and how I have come to where I am now, but need to think about that for a bit. How do I make it interesting and fill a couple of hours? Any suggestions from artists out there who have done lecture series before are very welcome.

There is also another lead for yet a third teaching position that I will follow up next week. If it plays out, it would give me a little more flexibility in content and frequency of teaching.

You know I have never thought of myself as a teacher and it amazes me when someone tells me that I'm imparted knowledge to them effectivly. I have a million thoughts swirling around in my head and often they don't translate into words - or not the words that I want them to translate into. So when people learn and I see progress , its very pleasing and still quite amazing.

Killick

Killick: A small anchor made of an elongated stone set in a wooden frame. Normally has two curved wooden timbers forming a cross as the base to this center stone, with pliable sticks rising from the base around the center stone and then tied and laced together just above the stone. Used for anchoring small boats and fishing nets. Also called killock or kellick. Either from Irish or Scottish origins.

I've had a long day of meetings and no art to show for my efforts, so I thought I'd share a little piece of Newfoundland trivia with you. The photo above is a representation of a killick. These were the original anchors, used when iron anchors were not available or affordable by fishermen, both in Ireland and Scotland. As the majority of ancestors of Newfoundlanders are either British or Irish, the killick was easily replicated from the trees and rocks naturally found here.

Drawing ability

Street Performer
7 x 9 graphite
copyright Jeanette Jobson

If you can draw, you can draw, right? Why is it that some days I can draw anything almost flawlessly and other days everything I try turns into a grey mess? The latter is today.

I am tired so that likely has something to do with my inability to be coherent on paper. I wake early and usually do my best work then, even before dawn strikes the tops of the pines.

Ice cream will solve the problem. I am sure of it. I'll let you know if it works. Meanwhile I'll leave you with a sketch of another street performer. I ran out of paper with this sketch so the hand and arm are a little small as I squeezed them in to fit.

Hops

Hop
6 x 6 coloured pencil and pen & ink
copyright Jeanette Jobson

This is the first of a little botanical exercise I'm embarking on that serves two purposes. One, it give me practice drawing botanical plants, which is my weak point and two, it focuses my mind on my medicinal herbs, reinforcing their merits and uses to ensure that they don't become less important in my world.

These are baby hops which are literally covering the fence from the dining room window, stretching out towards the arbour at the rear of the house. I grew them from seed 3 or 4 years ago and the three plants that remain luckily were two female and one male so I get 'fruit' from them.

These hops are the same ones that give flavour to beer, but are also a mild relaxant, used to enhance sleep and calm nerves. It is one of the 'bitters' which aid digestion by increasing saliva and bile.

Applications: Antispasmodic/Soporific/Sedative

Hops are primarily used to reduce tension and aid in sleep.

Sleep Aid: As a sleep aid, hops can be used in a sachet inside of a pillow. The aromatic properties of the herb will help one to fall asleep.

Tension: Hops can be taken to help relax the muscles and soothe anxiety.

Digestive Aid: Hops can help to relax spasms of the digestive system and aid in digestion.

An exerpt from Wikipedia on the use of hops.

Hops have long-established and well-studied medicinal properties and uses, although new uses and properties are also being explored. Two of the many medically active ingredients in Hops are humulene and lupuline.

Dried female buds have a high methylbutenol content, which has a mild sedativecentral nervous system; it is used in the treatment for insomnia, stress and anxiety. If one has trouble getting sleep, hop tea before going to bed may help, though a quantity of beer has similar results. effect on the

Hops' antibacterial qualities also stimulate gastric juice production.

Hops have been studied for anti-viral properties and antimycobacterial properties^]. They also contain numerous various flavonoids, and they have been studied for containing Estrogen precursors as well.

Weekends

I've hardly had any time this weekend to draw or paint. Life seems to have taken over in one way or another. I've been trying to make some inroads on these little ATCs that I promised to do. I have seven, more or less, with another two to go. I can't say that I like working on this scale. Miniature drawings are challenging to compose and execute. Animals, as always, flow better than other subjects.

The pigs were sent off yesterday and it took an hour or more longer than anticipated to load them into the trailer, poor things. Like most animals, they don't enjoy change and walking up a ramp into a trailer for them is big change with lots of different sounds, sights and smells. However, I said my goodbyes to them and they are gone.
Very few people really acknowledge where their food comes from or the process, people and animals involved in it. I think if more people did know, conditions of how animals are raised would improve dramatically. I won't get on my soap box about animal rights, except to say the next time you buy meat or poultry or eggs or milk in the market, give a silent thank you to the animals who provided it.

I found a new fruit today. When I'm shopping I seem to have one eye looking for things that would make interesting drawings and today I found some. Prickly pears. These are very new to me and I've never seen them before here. The taste is fairly nondescript, but the colour of the flesh is a beautiful blood red, perfect for a painting. So those and a bag of large, bright lemons went into the cart and hopefully I'll be able to make a start on some painting tonight or during the week.