revisiting an old palette

Recently I pulled out a sketchbook from 5 years ago, intrigued that I had actually stayed with the same limited palette and 2 ink colors throughout the entire book. I could not replicate the colors exactly, as I no longer have a couple of them, but I put together a similar palette for this muted color chart in my current sketchbook.

The thin sketchbook of 140 lb. 100% cotton watercolor paper was a dream to work on! I began it on my birthday; including turquoise was influenced by the turquoise elastic band that came with the book. If I remember right, I even stuck with exactly the supplies shown on the first page!

back to the pool

After over two years, I have finally got back in our swimming pool.

While undergoing treatment for cancer, my medical team didn’t want me in a pool because my immunity was so low. Besides, I had an ostomy at the time and wasn’t comfortable getting in a pool with it. After the cancer and ostomy were gone, I still had a chemo port for a time — probably not a problem, but the area was sensitive. Now I can get back to swimming (it’s really good, gentle exercise) but my legs are still weak. I wasn’t too sure I could step out of the pool by myself with no handrail.

But this past weekend, Bill and our son-in-law Michael installed a handrail. I spent some time in the pool yesterday evening and it felt wonderful!

The magnolia leaf? It floated past me in the water so I brought it inside to sketch.

some really big books

Whenever I read books (a constant habit since early childhood), I find myself looking up maps, time charts, and historical data to satisfy my insatiable curiosity. I also love re-reading classics like Sherlock Holmes and books from the “Golden Age” of mysteries including Dorothy L. Sayers, Margery Allingham, and Agatha Christie.

Months ago, I stumbled on this used set of The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes — I placed a bid and won! They are much larger in size and weight than expected, definitely NOT for reading myself to sleep, lest one falls on my face as I drift off!

Today I just finished reading Laurie R. King’s new mystery, “Knave of Diamonds”, which involves the real-life theft of the so-called Irish Crown Jewels. Comments in a Facebook group, The Beekeeper’s Apprentices, led me to re-read one of the original Holmes mysteries that was written near the time of the theft. And as long as the books are out, I might as well sketch them, right?

yesterday’s musical interlude

Yesterday afternoon we drove to Needville for our youngest grandson’s piano recital — the boy is Way Talented, his fingers flying over the keys! A bit of classical, a couple of jazzy pieces, Amazing Grace, then a couple of just-fun pieces.

On the way there, I drew these two tiny sketches of Bill’s Dr. Pepper and my new purse. Just drawing what’s in front of me. My car’s passenger seat rides really smoothly, even on country roads, so drawing is easier than expected. This morning I added a bit of watercolor. (After painting the blue of my denim skirt, I left the purse lighter in color for contrast.)

A few weeks ago we were walking through downtown Fredericksburg when Bill caught a whiff of leather. He told me “let’s just go in here just to enjoy the smell!”While in high school, he liked to work with leather; later he gave me his tools when he joined the Navy. I crafted belts and purses during high school to earn some spending money.

But he ended up buying himself a cell phone holster and an ID wallet — then grabbing this soft leather bag for me. Nice souvenirs of our trip!

Palettes of Place?

Does anyone following Art Toolkit remember their “Palettes of Place” blog entry in March 2020? That one was about the Pacific Northwest Demi palette, a collaboration with artist Molly Hashimoto, author of “Colors of the West” (one of my favorite books!).

I just put together this copy of the palette, with a few changes: quin. red or carmine for perm. alizarin crimson, Fr. ultramarine for phthalo blue RS, my own mixed violet for carbazole violet, monte amiata natural sienna for yellow ochre, and transparent red oxide for quin. burnt orange.

What I wish to know is: Were there ever any other “Palettes of Place” color collections? Or was this one more thing interrupted by Covid?

 F

a Fredericksburg longhorn

One final sketch from our recent travels: we ended up by stayed at an RV park near Fredericksburg where three ginormous longhorns lived. This one was the prettiest of the three — but her left horn was heavier than the right, causing her to keep her head tilted. I wonder if it causes her a headache (or neck-ache) to carry such massive horns. It sure got in the way of scratching that itch!

Skye (aka “Baby”)

Our dear friend Miss B.J. lost her beloved husband (our pastor, Gary) just over 2 years ago. This wee chihuahua, Skye, was Gary’s constant companion through his illness — then B.J.’s since then. She was one of the few chihuahuas I’ve known that was sweet and loving to all who met her. B.J. used to take her to visit a nursing home, dressed up in one of her many outfits. She even had her own biker jacket to match Pastor Gary’s and Miss B.J.’s!

Sadly, we heard yesterday that Skye had died. I have no photos of her; I found a sympathy card online but it was too large. It said exactly what I wanted to say, so I sketched a rough copy for this card. Not my own original design, but I hope it comforts our friend.
 

tiny sketches from Inks Lake

These tiny sketches are from Inks Lake State Park. We are home now, but with no cell phone service at the lake, I’m posting these from home. And following, one more photo from the lake, some white-tail deer on an outcropping of gneiss. Maybe I’ll sketch it someday.

a bit of gneiss

On the long drive into Inks Lake State Park we saw these beautiful “island” outcroppings of gneiss (pronounced “nice”) containing a variety of cacti, ferns, moss, and lichen. More bits of gneiss were throughout the park itself.

exploring Longhorn Cavern

While camping at Inks Lake, we drove to Longhorn Cavern State Park where we walked a bit over a mile over uneven paths, ducking in low spots as needed — a bit challenging for us in our 70s! But I do love caves and it was worth a few aches.

This cave was formed by an underwater river cutting through the limestone thousands of years ago. Ancient people used one of the then-open sky holes as a trap cave, hunting animals by driving them over the openings. Confederate soldiers put the large deposits of bat guano to use making gunpowder. Comanches hid a captive girl here until she was rescued by the Texas Rangers. In the 1920s, the cave was used as a nightclub with wooden dance floor.

Eventually the cave was filled with run-off rains, mud, and debris. From 1934 to 1942, the C.C.C. dug out the muck by hand, one wheelbarrow at a time, and fashioned stairs and walkways for visitors, the park road, buildings, and an observation tower in the National Park rustic style.

Our tour group was very small so early in the morning, allowing us more personal time and extra stories from the tour guide. The following photos were taken with an iPhone with no flash, so as not to disturb the tiny tri-colored bats we found.

During the tour, all of us adults took one look at the rock “dog” in my above sketch and decided the C.C.C. workers had carved it as a prank. Only the child in the group got it right, thinking it was a real rock. The workers found it in a different part of the cave, saw the dog shape, and decided to set it up where visitors could enjoy it.