more from camp

During the weekdays, several cheeky squirrels kept approaching us as we relaxed outside. As I was sitting on the camper’s upper step, this squirrel was flirting with Bill, trying to steal one of his in-shell peanuts. Suddenly I felt a ticklish touch on my back — another squirrel was behind me on the step, ready to climb up my back!

Our kids had planned on coming up on Friday to take over the camper for the weekend as we drove home. But problems at home kept them from coming so our stay was extended over the weekend. On the way to H-E-B in Huntsville for additional supplies, we passed these whimsical cowboy houses. Hand-crafted by artist-builder Dan Phillips, they are 2 of over 20 small houses built for artists and low-income people.

After dark on Friday, more and more people arrived — we woke up on Saturday to find ourselves surrounded by a village of RVs, campers, tents, 3 or more large family reunions, kids, dogs, bicycles, skateboards . . . The birds, waterfowl, alligators, and squirrels vanished.

There is a Good Reason we normally camp only on weekdays!

from Lake Raven

This week we are camping in Huntsville State Park, in a section of the Sam Houston National Forest. Though our reservation goes through Sunday, we had originally planned on leaving today with our daughter and son-in-law taking over the camper through the weekend. But an unforeseen problem at home meant they are not coming and our stay has been extended through the weekend.

Our first evening here, my old alligator friend showed up to greet us at the fishing pier — and hasn’t returned since. When we were here in November, he hung around all day long but the water was calm then. This week’s winds are strong enough to cause a burn ban (no campfire cooking, darn it!) and there are more people. He did hang around long enough to chase a much younger, smaller ‘gator away from his territory though.

I haven’t seen a sunset with much coral in it; I had been wanting to try out a new tube of quinacridone coral. But I snuck a tiny bit into this sketch anyway.

Texas gulf coast, prairies, & piney woods

Recently Austin artist Lisa Spangler, in preparation for teaching a workshop near Houston, put together a palette of colors especially for the Texas Gulf Coast & Prairies which is pretty close to where we live. Her blog post can be found HERE.

Lisa is very good at choosing just the right watercolors for specific environments; I especially love her sketches from Big Bend National Park! I was inspired to go through my own paints for near-matches to her selections, adding a dark cool green and cool brown for the Piney Woods — our little farm is a blend of Piney Woods and Prairie.

Next week we will once again be camping in a forest north of us so I’m testing out this palette, hoping to try a bit of landscape sketching. Many of the pigments are those I normally use. I seldom use orange so rather than buy a tube, I mixed quinacridone rose and hansa yellow medium together right in the pan, stirring with a toothpick. The only purchase I made was a small tube of quinacridone coral. Usually I only carry one cool red, adding a yellow when I need a warmer red, but Lisa’s choice of this coral intrigues me, especially in capturing sunsets. Hopefully there will be one over Lake Raven next week!

bluebonnets . . . and a new sketch pal!

This past week, after a 2-year delay, I was finally able to meet a new sketch friend in person and we drew bluebonnets! A. heard of me through this blog and contacted me 2 years ago to see if we might meet somewhere local to sketch. She and her husband live in a barndominium, as we do, just a short drive up a country road from our place.

But then Bill was hospitalized a week due to a cat bite infection — the same week that Covid-19 shut down the world. We have stayed in touch through email but didn’t meet in person while Covid numbers were still up. 

Covid cases are now pretty low in this area so A. invited me out to her place — a beautiful property with acres full of Texas bluebonnets and other wildflowers! Strong winds and high pollen levels made sketching outside difficult but I took photos, then we sketched these bluebonnets in the barn.

Maybe I’ll be able to do some more sketches from those photos I took . . .

Hedgehog Grill

I started this sketch last week after we went to the Hedgehog Grill in Waller for a late lunch / early dinner. We avoid crowds when we eat out by going during “off” hours, even though Covid-19 numbers are down in this area.

This interesting little place is part diner, part pub with a large selection of locally brewed craft beers that Bill enjoys. The “footprint” of building and parking lot show that an old Sonic drive in once operated here.

The drawing was only in pencil and that’s where it stayed as I busied myself with errands, dr. appointments, and planting my new containers. Until tonight when I suddenly remembered it . . .

never mind . . .

About that stolen herb container in my previous post that I was trying to replace . . . Never mind! I wanted one like it to plant hen & chicks and other succulents. But after all, we live in a barn! We were at a favorite antique shop in Giddings, TX and found these old metal pieces that we thought might look good in the herb garden at our front porch. And I even have room for more succulents! Sort of goes with the cacti we are wanting to plant nearby.