weekend with Mikala

Today's Lego's are much more detailed than when I was a kid. 7-year old Mikala and I worked on a second story and roof for this house over the weekend. I stayed with her while her parents enjoyed a weekend in Las Vegas.

We went shopping just for fun; Mikala chose a couple of new Webkinz pets at a buy one / get one free sale. She got a Portuguese water dog and an Arctic fox, but she's saving their codes to put into the computer later when her year account is nearly up. For now, she added this Peppermint Puppy her other grandma gave her for Christmas. We played a lot of games together, both on Webkinz and regular board games.

On Sunday we painted butterflies together. Jason & Carrie gave her a kit for her birthday from the Houston zoo. The small plastic butterflies are flexibly soft and wonderfully detailed; I thought they were alike at first (before painting) but Mikala pointed out the botanical differences to me. She plans to use them to decorate her room.

early am Earl Grey

Sometime in the middle of the night, Jayna was walking in her sleep; she opened the door to the guest room and crawled in bed.

It's not easy sharing a day bed with sharp little elbows and kicking toes. Now I know what her mommy and daddy go through trying to get a good night's sleep.

for David

A birthday card for my brother --- I just hope it gets to him in time. It was hard to find time to paint while taking care of little ones.

It's also hard to paint an impression of a motorcycle without a motorcycle in front of you. . . . . . I used a painting by Carlton Plummer as a reference, found in a 2005 issue of Watercolor Magic. His, of course, was much better!

Kenny & Ziggy's

LOL! From glancing through this small sketch journal, one would think that I've done nothing in Texas except eat out and go to church!

Actually, that is what ends up in this one because it fits in my bag so easily, ready to pull out when I get a chance to sit down somewhere. When shopping or going other places, I'm just on the move too much to sketch.

On Mother's Day, I will be in the north part of Houston taking care of my older granddaughter, Mikala, while her parents are in Las Vegas. So Jason & Carrie took me out to celebrate this weekend instead. I wanted to check out some shops in Rice Village.

Later, we met up with Carrie's parents to eat at Kenny & Ziggy's, a well-known deli in Houston. Great food and great time together . . . her mom and dad are awesome friends!

Jayna's new dog

I knew it was coming. Jason and I had discussed the possibility for several months before I came for an extended visit to Texas.

For over 6 months, Jayna has been asking for a dog of her own. Specifically, she wanted Maxwell to be her dog. We got Maxwell from a Scottie rescue group when he was 7 months old; one month later, we took him with us to visit our kids in Texas, including Jayna who was 10 months old at the time. They hit it off right away and have been great pals ever since.


Maxwell was rescued from a puppy mill in Missouri where he had been treated as a commodity, not an animal. No contact with adults. But the people running the place had grandchildren who played with the puppies. As a result, he bonded with children from the beginning but is shy around adults.


A few weeks ago, Jayna came to me and asked if Maxwell could stay in Texas when I go home and be her dog. Of course I said yes --- it will be good for both of them. Since I brought him with me this spring, he has been much happier . . . suddenly he is acting like a confident, happy dog. He just needed a child of his own.

sketching at church, 24 April

Before services began at Beth Yeshua, the musicians were warming up. I sat near Jason while he set up the overhead equipment, starting to sketch one of the Rabbi's as he sat in an introspective pose.

As soon as I began sketching, a very talented musician, Johan, began to play Clair de Lune on the piano. Everyone, including the Rabbi, sat up and listened . . . . it was THAT beautiful! When done, everyone present broke out in spontaneous applause.

So I altered my sketch of Rabbi Tom.

eating at Zorro's

I did not have a timer going as I sketched this last night, but I know it was less than 20 minutes. After eating my share of chips (this is our second basket), I sketched it quickly with a Pentel Pocket Brush pen and added washes before our food arrived.

The text was added later at my son's home. Even with daughter-in-law Carrie watching me, I dived right in to sketching without pencil guidelines -- scary but good practice.

Josiah makes a stand

His parents have been encouraging him to use a pacifier (he'll only take one made by Avent) . . . . at two months, Josiah already has a mind of his own and likes his thumb.

I quick-sketched this in a 20 minute challenge from a photo I took --- I've been a bit intimidated to try to sketch Josiah, so I forced myself to just jump in without time to niggle.

Jayna's egg hunt treasure

One of my art goals for this month: sketch something every day, even though I'm having trouble finding any time for sketching. No matter how simple, silly, or speedy.

Today Jayna shared some of her Easter egg hunt treasures with me.

back to the bear . . .

I haven't been working on the birthday gift for Mikala while busy with Josiah & Jayna. Too many sharp tools and tiny parts.

But on Sunday Jason's family spent the day with Carrie's parents --- good work time for me.

Having pre-sewn the individual body parts before my trip, I just needed to turn the parts, stuff them, join together with machine-screw joints, and stitch the openings shut.

Later this week, I'll start on the face, adding ears, eyes, and nose / mouth. Oh . . . and I still need to sew the clothes together.