last pages

This 2-page spread is the last of this sketchbook, a rough sketch of my first glance of M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, though it is only one of several buildings. The text on the left page was shared with me by my friend Annie, who is also battling cancer.

yesterday’s shopping

After receiving notification that a book on my search list came in, we drove to The Book Attic in Tomball to pick it up. Last year I read all of the Dorothy L. Sayers mystery books as ebooks checked out from a Houston library. Knowing I would definitely want to re-read them, I am keeping my eye out for hardback paper copies of the series and this is my first find.

The Book Attic is presently housed in the same building they were in in past years but now a realty company operates out of a large two-story building added to the back. My receipt says they will be moving to a new location in the near future.

I understand that removing the extra door and windows gave them more bookshelf room inside, but the business looked so much more charming before the remodel, as shown in the photo below.

The Spice Merchant

We are now home from Kansas but I had one more sketch to finish and post. As long as we were in Wichita, we decided to do a bit of shopping at our favorite coffee / tea supplier, The Spice Merchant. The business has expanded since we moved to Texas, into the adjoining building. They roast their own coffee beans in the center of the main floor and the aroma is amazing, even for a non-coffee-drinker like me! There is also a Huge Selection of loose-leaf teas, something I’ve been unable to find in Texas. So many new choices to try!

The business is located in the historic Mentholatum building, one of my favorites of Wichita architecture. Silent film star Louise Brooks also ran a dance studio here at one time. 

St. Joseph’s Church

We returned home from camping a few days ago, but I didn’t get around to finishing this last sketch until this morning.

The first couple of days camping the temperatures were in the upper 90s, too hot for a campfire. But Tuesday brought cooler temperatures and we planned to cook over a fire — just in time for the camp host to drop buy to say that a burn ban just went into effect! 

So we decided to drive into New Waverly to eat at the local diner. Across from the diner’s corner, I saw this lovely gothic-style church so I took photos to sketch from later. This is the third structure built on this site (in 1905); the congregation originated with a group of 40 Polish families who immigrated in 1867.

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!

Sketch With Me — gratitude

The past two days have been sketching days for the Facebook group, Sketch With Me, and this month’s theme is gratitude. While I had planned on sketching on Saturday, we ended up looking at a country property that our daughter and son-in-law considered purchasing. They are wishing to move away from Houston’s suburbs to a small acreage in the country . . . and they are specifically looking for a place with an in-law house, hoping that we will join them.

We both dearly love our log cabin here, north of Brenham, as well as our church family and this area. We also love the many improvements we have made here in the past 5 years, including a woodshop, a new carport, a remodeled bathroom in more of a rustic style, and real stone tile floors. Getting rid of the 2 previous ugly carports and the small building that blocked the cabin’s view made it much more attractive as well.

I am grateful for the time we have been able to live in this place and for all the Lord has worked out in our lives since coming here, including bringing Bill safely through the years of chronic pain and an unexpected second bypass surgery.

But we do not trust the current situation with our community water well. Those in charge of its upkeep have refused to listen to sound reasoning . . . or the fact that the state does in fact have the right to demand that wells be brought up to state code or they can be forced to be shut down. There are 30 some homes depending on the well system and we have a lack of confidence in the board members doing the right thing. Bill tried serving on the board for a time but they would not listen to his vast knowledge and experience in these matters.

Yesterday, instead of regular sketching, I scribbled the above in my sketchbook as we checked out the in-law cottage on the 7 1/4 acre property we were looking at. After much thought and discussion, all four of us agreed that the acreage is a bit more than we need and the larger ranch house is not special enough to move our kids to buy this early in their search. But we had a great day together anyway, which is another thing I’m grateful for!

Baylor, Scott and White clinic

Today’s Inktober sketch — back to the clinic for Bill’s cardio rehab. Only three more appointments and he’s done! Meanwhile, I decided to sketch outside from the parking lot instead of the waiting room. That’s the hospital building towards the back on the right.

Waco Suspension Bridge

Twenty-nine out of thirty direct watercolor sketches . . . Only one more to go.

The Waco Suspension Bridge was about the only available crossing of the Brazos River in the 1800s, except for a dangerous ferry. Two stagecoaches could pass side-by-side, or cattle could move along one side while people crossed along the other. Toll for cattle was 5 cents a head.

The entry gate of the bridge itself was in deep shadow from the many trees growing nearby.

Though I didn’t do an underdrawing in pencil or fountain pen, I did do an undersketch with a rigger brush and watercolor to try and get the perspective correct. The bridge still seems to be leaning a bit in spite of my intentions!

tiniest flatiron building ever!

After leaving the San Jacinto State Historic Site in La Porte, Texas, we headed for Galveston Island for a mini-vacation a couple of weeks ago. As we drove along Highway 146 through Seabrook, we were stopped at a red traffic light . . . and saw this ridiculously tiny flatiron building on the corner. I almost didn’t get my phone out quick enough to snap a photo!

The 2-story, 600 square foot building has most recently housed Valentine Law Office. But the Texas Department of Transportation claimed “eminent domain”; the building will be removed to widen the highway. Such a shame to lose such an eye-catcher, with its leafy haircut!

This photo I found online shows the entrance in the back, with its railing of metal dolphins and other assorted decorations. I love it . . . I don’t particularly like pink but it totally fits!

two more homes in our neighborhood

When we decided to move to Texas, our 1920 apartment building in Kansas unexpectedly sold in only 6 days. So we made a mad dash to Texas over Thanksgiving to find and buy a new home. We had been looking online for a couple of months; there were 4 homes for sale in this country community we ended up in.

These 2 homes are the ones that sold before we could make it here to look in person. As much as I liked this log cabin with that huge garage Bill could have used for his woodshop, I’m actually glad it sold early so we ended up with a different log cabin that had a loft. Grandkid Zone as well as my art space are up there!

another neighborhood home

When we were looking to buy a house in Texas, this home just down the lane from our log cabin was one of those we considered buying. The price was very low and the existing garage would have made a great wood shop for Bill. I LOVED the stone fireplace!

But the roof needed replacing, the kitchen needed to be torn out and redone, the ugly linoleum floor needed to be removed and wood or stone floor installed, the bedroom wallpaper needed to be stripped off and painted, there was a moldy smell in the bathrooms and they needed to be redesigned . . .

All said, it was just too much to take on so we passed on it. I wonder if the new owner likes chocolate mint ice cream?

This limited palette is loosely based on one I found on artist Iain Stewart’s blog from a few years ago. I substituted colors I already had for some of his choices.

another home in our neighborhood

This nearby house used to be a storage barn for a recreational vehicle. Then it was just general storage, plus a meeting place for the local home owner’s association. But the owners downsized, selling their house and turning the barn into what is known in this area as a “barndominium”.

a commissioned sketch

After the October art sale that nobody came to, a friend of a friend contacted me through Facebook. Somehow she had seen some of my sketches and wondered if I might draw her Christmas card this year.

She is a realtor and recently sold this charming cottage, and thought it would make a cute card. So I drew it for her; she's buying the original and, after printing cards, she will gift it to the homeowners.

saying goodbye . . .

Since moving here nearly 4 years ago, Bill has formed a close friendship with our elderly neighbor, John. He lost his beloved wife, Bobbie, just a couple of months after we had settled here. His own elderly aunt and uncle once owned the cabin that is now our home.

John is now dying. His son and daughter-in-law have been very thankful for Bill's help as they go through the process of saying goodbye. I sketched this card to give them from us; Bill and John have spent many hours visiting on this side patio of John's.

Heritage Sunday House

We recently stayed at the Heritage Sunday House, a charming bed & breakfast in Burton, Texas. While getting to know innkeeper Diane, she told me she had been wanting a drawing of the place for a new brochure. So I drew a couple of versions for her to play around with. Actually, I drew three but the first one had too much detail for its size and was drawn with too large of a nib. Which was strange, as I used my Platinum carbon desk pen --- which I had thought was the finest fountain pen nib I owned. Apparently the nib loosened up with much use.

I have given the upper two drawings to Diane, to see what she and the printer can come up with. Meanwhile, I need to get busy on some artwork to make prints off of --- Diane wants to sell them through her shop next door to the B & B.

buildings, mice, and a lovely morning

We managed to walk the whole downtown of Fredericksburg several times, including a side street, admiring so many old buildings. I took photos rather than sketch on site since Bill is not a sketcher --- I didn't want to make him wait and we _were_ interested in getting the exercise. These are some of my favorite houses (plus one garage / carriage house). There were so many more downtown buildings I wanted to draw! This town really built them well, maintaining and repurposing them through the years instead of tearing down to make way for new.

We had an invasion of mice at church yesterday . . . of the chocolate-cherry-Hershey-kiss-almond slice species. Ms. B.J. has been playing with her food again and the kids loved them.

And this is my view as I edit and post these photos this morning. Not as many roses in bloom as we have recently had, but a lovely, sunny 59 degrees.

Nimitz Museum

The Admiral Nimitz Museum and National Museum of the Pacific War were very worth seeing, presenting the history and world events leading up to World War II while honoring those who served. When the city of Fredericksburg (Admiral Nimitz' home town) approached him with the idea of a museum, Nimitz gave two conditions: (1) that it would honor all who served, not just him, and (2) that the old Nimitz Hotel would be restored to how it looked when he grew up there.

After his parents died, he moved into the hotel owned by his German grandfather. The hotel prospered and an addition was added on that was shaped like a showboat (and yes, I wrote the wrong thing on my sketch page -- it was late at night). The Nimitz Hotel also became known as the Showboat Hotel. Years later the original was torn down by new owners --- although not an exact replica, it was restored to the former look when it became a museum.

As we walked the downtown area, I kept looking back at this portion of the building, how the sun made such interesting shadows at various times of the day. It was hard for me to capture in a sketch but I had fun trying.

The restaurants were great too, most serving way more than we could eat. I only sketched a couple of my favorites. 

Giddings courthouse

The historic Lee County courthouse in Giddings, TX has recently been restored. Whenever we've found ourselves in this town between Brenham and Austin, we have driven by to check the process. It really is a beautiful piece of architecture!

I drew this with a Sailor Fude de Mannen pen and the black ink cartridge that came with it; when it empties, I will fill the cartridge with water-resistant ink instead. I had this just as I wanted it and laid it open on a footstool to dry. Bearcat then came along and decided to taste the paper with his tongue, resulting in a smear. Weird cat!

a church in Giddings, TX

We had some extra time after eating before going to see Macy play volleyball earlier this week, so we drove around exploring this small Texas town. Across from the recently restored courthouse we found an old Presbyterian church with a beautiful steeple shining in the bright sun. Literally shining, due to it being covered in galvanized tin!

Years ago, when we owned our own plumbing business, we used to go on "get-away-from-work" trips to various small Kansas towns. A game we used to play is "guess the denomination" of old churches by the architecture --- it was usually quite easy, as each group tended to choose similar styles of their own. Not so in Texas! We can never guess the denomination by the architecture here. We would have guessed Lutheran for this building; the Presbyterian buildings we grew up around were always built of stone.

Here's the two-page spread in my sketchbook.