tiger balm

It’s a damp dreary day today. After a trip to H.E.B. for some fresh veggies and my Rx eyedrops, my hands started hurting again. I grabbed this wee jar of Tiger Balm but started drawing it instead of rubbing it on. Art therapy?

(I have a touch of tendinitis in my wrists and probably some arthritis in my fingers — cold or damp weather seems to cause it to flare up. The eyedrops are for glaucoma.)

The nib on my Kaweco Liliput fountain pen seemed to be too bold of a line for such a tiny sketchbook so I ordered a new gold-colored steel extra-fine nib from jet pens.com — and some cartridges of Smokey Grey ink. Both subtle enough for very tiny sketchbooks.

palmettos and an unknown lily(?)

The palmettos growing in the forest undergrowth looked pretty sad the day we arrived to our campsite, but after several days of sunshine they were beginning to perk up. Carrie arrived wearing these unknown lily-like wildflowers in her hair; they look like rain lilies except for the exaggerated stigma.

bits from camp

Just random things sketched from our campsite . . . . I walked the shorter trail today, down to a northern branch of Lake Conroe, but left my sketchbook in the camper. Cooler temperatures today with lots of cold wind in the morning hours. By noon it reached 60° and the winds slowed down a bit. 

We’ll be heading home tomorrow; we’ve had a relaxing time here even with so many Spring Break campers. Mostly young families with lots of kids and dogs.

my wee camping teapot

Just a tiny sketch today as we spend time with kids and grandsons. This teapot lives in our camper just for me; Bill brings along his French-press to make his coffee each morning.

Carrie brought a ginormous campfire coffee pot for when the two of them really wish to indulge in a cup of coffee.

Bill made the cutting board to cover the stove top when we need more counter space.

back to the woods

We are spending Spring Break camping in the Sam Houston National Forest. I know nothing about hooking up the camper utilities or leveling it . . . so I sketched while Bill worked his magic.

Ceilidh, from 2011

Recently our son Jeff and I were trying to remember how old our shared Scottish Terrier, Ceilidh, is now. She went to live with Jeff during his college years to help him through a bit of depression, then she chose him as “her” human permanently. She now lives with him in Ohio.

To determine her age, I went back in my sketchbooks — these are from 2011. The blog entry to the above sketches reads as follows:

“ Ceilidh insisted on tackling the front steps by herself after the first few times, running from me before I can pick her up. But she is still wary of coming down them.

Sort of like us. In life, it's much more exciting to go forward when we are feeling "up". Harder to function on the down side.”

red, white, and blue . . . rock

This morning as I was coming in from taking care of the beasts, this rock caught my eye. It appeared to be red covered in white with blue lines. So I brought it in to sketch in my tiny sketchbook.

Our interior ceiling lights cast 3 distinct shadows so that’s how I drew it — the art lamp needed to take a photo hid that. And the red (red jasper?) looked much redder in the bright sunlight. But in my mind it is red, white, and blue.

eating out . . . again

For determining to not eat out due to Covid-19, we seem to eat out a lot. Though we do choose “off times” between regular lunch and dinner hours.

Yesterday we headed to Old World Lumber in Houston, meeting Kristen there to pick out some reclaimed barn wood. Bill will be building her a new bed frame out of the “mushroom” siding planks she chose — the wood came from an old structure where mushrooms were grown.

Then we headed to my favorite Thai restaurant, the Mango Tree. They have Covid safety measures in place such as a very large bottle of hand sanitizer and closing the small bar area. There was only one other group of people there. But what drew my eye was the message painted on the wall. And my favorite Christian radio station in the background, KSBJ.

new mini toy

I have been following several Miniature Painters’ work on Instagram* — I am amazed at the amount of implied detail these artists are able to achieve. I’m not normally drawn to flowers but I love watching Nina Hidalgo’s videos as she fills sketchbook after sketchbook. I also love the wee wooden palette she uses that snaps together with tiny embedded magnets and clips to the tiny sketchbook.

A while back, I decided to order one of these palettes on Etsy to add to my small collection. Before the Russian Dictator Putin declared war on Ukraine. The Go Draw palette with hand-bound sketchbook comes from a lovely Russian artist, Julia Mironova. With so many sanctions declared against Russia, I wasn’t sure if the palette would actually get here.

But it did arrive this week, inspiring me to once again try working tiny.

Here is the Go Draw palette next to my Demi Palette from Art Toolkit. Both will now live in my purse for impromptu sketches when away from home — after I decide what colors to load the new one with.

* Two of my absolute favorite artists who paint tiny are Bronwyn Royce @PigmentsArt and Katharina @Katharinacreates — check them out on Instagram!

lunch today at Julio’s

On the spur of the moment, Bill decided we were eating out today — Julio’s Mexican Cantina on FM 2920 has a lovely outdoor patio. To keep from filling up on the complimentary chips and salsas, I did a quick sketch (and they have really great green salsa!).

This tiny Hahnemuhle ZigZag accordion sketchbook has lived in my purse for going on 2 years yet after a few pages of wildflowers and a homegrown berry, it was forgotten. Until recently.

After viewing a few miniature painters on Instagram, I am interested in working small once again. In fact, I recently bought a new toy for doing so and it finally arrived in the mail — more on that tomorrow.