Today's task

Planting pansies. I'm very late getting around to this, thanks to school, but I have a beautiful day for planting.

Natural and artificial

What's wrong with this picture?

It's 80 degrees out and nary a snowman in sight....except for these under my bare feet.

Lonely job

77 degrees

Everyone's trying to stay cool, peeling off clothes, opening the windows, going barefoot, or In the case of these cows, even going for a swim!

Kissin' cousins?

Yesterday we spent part of the afternoon at the hospital, visiting Uncle John (http://beth365.blogspot.com/2007/06/brother-john.html). He has a son, Johnny, who was trying to crack Bill's back for him, so although this LOOKS like it could be a little sketchy, it's all on the up and up! :-)



This is John's grandson (Gail's son...remember Gail? http://beth365.blogspot.com/2007/06/cobb-reunion.html), who doesn't at all look like he could be exactly twice the age of Mackenzie, sitting next to him! I think they share some family resemblance....if nothing else they're both tall. Mackenzie is 6'4" (at age 16) and Chuck is 6'7".


John's kids (and grandkids) have a special place in my heart. They're a close-knit family of really fun people.

PS Sorry, I still haven't been able to grasp how to embed a URL in the text!

At the gala

It's not the greatest picture of me (I'm beginning to wonder if there ever IS a great picture of myself!) but I'm posting it anyway. I didn't take it, but just for the sake of remembering the evening (and since I've been negligent at taking shots lately) I'm posting it. We went to the annual gala at the kids' school. This is where two years ago we bid on and ended up buying a week in St. Petersburg, Russia. This year, however, there weren't any prizes at the auction that we wanted bad enough to bid on so we came home emptyhanded.

Oh, and now that I think about it, I remember back in 1997 having a picture taken I really liked of myself!

Master Scholar

Yesterday we went to Columbia for Clark's graduation from the Master Scholar's Program. We were amazed to learn that of those who are recognized as Master Scholars (by USC) and end up going there to college, all of them have been accepted into the Honors College. He's talking about going to the Naval Academy though, but it can't hurt his chances of getting in there either! And of course, it's a long time before he commits to college; he's only in 9th grade. Plans can change weekly at this point. But I'm really proud of him for being a curous thinker, a good student, and an all-around great kid.

HELLO, I'm Cocky!

Slow decorating

This year I've been slower than usual getting around to Christmas decorating. Hopefully this will be the weekend for that. Part of it, I think, is that I'm tired and busy, and the last thing I want is to take on another project right now! Part of it, too, is that I am weary of being the one this job falls to: everyone enjoys having a decorated house, but I'm the one driving the train of getting the tree, I'm the only one who shows any interest in decorating it, I'm the one who does shopping and wrapping and baking, etc. So I've gotten to a point where it wouldn't kill me if we didn't have all the trappings; that's not what Christmas is about anyway. I guess I wish the kids and Bill would have a little more Christmas spirit so I wouldn't feel the responsibility for generating it. The last reason I'm talking myself out of decorating is that we leave for the beach on Christmas afternoon and stay there till after the New Year, so we don't really get a lot of enjoyment of the ambiance anyway, unless we get it up right after Thanksgiving.

But....I do have my fireplaces dressed up.

Tis the season to be ... garish

Me 'n Posh Spice

I got a new haircut (and a bit more blonde) today, and someone later pointed out to me that it's a similar cut to Posh Spice, of Spice Girls' fame. I was happy with this shot because often my halo doesn't come through in photos. As with most of my self-portraits, this was taken while driving, and drinking coffee, which explains the odd angle.

Semester's End

As the semester winds down, I'm getting back some of the work I've turned in. I thought I'd post a few of the pieces here.

Colored Pencil still life. This piece may not look it but it took FOREVER to complete. It was done with 8 colored pencils. In retrospect, I should have 'zoomed in' so I wouldn't have had so many different subjects to render.




"Emerald City"
You might remember this from a photo I posted here on my blog. The assignment here was to render a scene in linear perspective, from real life. We had to show something in one point perspective, something in two point perspective, something in three point perspective, cast shadows, and reflections. Since my town is "Greenville", and the large glass window is green, I drew on a green surface, and thus, the title.


This is a study of texture. The assignment was to FIND 10 textures (not to arrange a still life or whatever) and to recreate them in a charcoal or graphite drawing. This is Bill's junk drawer. If you look closely you'll see a candle, a key, a lock, a watch, a crumpled receipt, a lifesaver, some sock holders, a miniature Eiffel Tower from his 40th birthday trip, a backroller, a pair of glasses, a spool of thread, and a shell from Edisto.

Goodness, Truth & Beauty

I have the assignment this weekend of writing an artist's statement. Which feels a bit disingenuous because I feel like a poser. I'm an art student, not technically an artist, and making that transition -- mentally, if in no other way -- is challenging. Anyway, I've been thinking about what I'm trying to say with my art, what theme holds it together (if any), blah blah blah. I was driving home thinking about Goodness, Truth & Beauty, the threefold of expression of The Trinity, and how I hope that my work reflects a spiritual dimension that's characterized, at least in some limited way, in some measure, by Goodness, Truth or Beauty. Then I arrive home, walk through the door, and am stopped dead in my tracks by the afternoon sun pouring over these simple pumpkins ... and I just knew that I was on track with my artist's statement. Which photo do you like best?

Fall textures

I've been so consumed in my observations of fall colors, it's easy to forget the textures are nice too.

Atonement

I'm trying to atone a bit for my lame photo posting of late. So here are a few entries, hoping to garner your forgiveness. :-)

Zeus: Glamour Shot

After a morning of roughhousing with Fibi, his (platonic) girlfriend, Zeus shot me this look, which I overexposed for the glam effect.

Daylight Crescent

Silver milestone

Today is my 25th anniversary, on the 26th of November. These two shots were about all I could manage today to recognize the day!

Stunning Light

Chelsea called out to me, "Mom, you gotta get a picture of this". Of course, I'm not capturing it very well, but the light really was amazing. Then as the storm came closer it got darker, and THAT light was stunning too:

Grateful bird

This bird was part of my table decoration for Thanksgiving, and he was grateful not to be the 'other' bird.

Yep, it's that time of year

First game

He's waited a long time for this moment.

Car trouble

Mackenzie's car overheated today, and the prognosis doesn't appear too good.

Connected

Tony Cragg, World Events, 1996

Linear perspective

Rip Van Winkle Auto Sales

Dereliction

Abandoned gas station, abandoned car, abandoned building. And lots of weeds.

Veteran's Day

I guess this is a pretty uneventful street scene in my town, but it does encapsulate the day. The mailboxes (no mail service), the flag (thank you, veterans!), the fall color, and the building -- I spent the day behind this buiding down on the river drawing a cityscape. Plus the added bonus in this photo is an Elvis sighting.

Shoeshine

I got my car washed the other day, and inside the car wash was a shoeshine stand.

Glass, my version

It's a lousy picture, but here's my graphite version of the glass still life I took the other day.

Filtered Sunlight

in my neighborhood.

My classroom

Cool and clear, a perfect autumn

From Open Studios

Once a year over a hundred local artists open their studios for a weekend and allow the public to view their workspace and talk to them about their pieces and processes. Although I've got jet lag pretty bad, I went to my art teacher's studio and found these pieces that would look smashing in my bedroom. Unfortunately, there's no money in the budget right now for bedroom art, so I'll probably not be able to get these. But I do think they are cool. Her name is Enid Williams, just to give credit!

Time for new glasses

Bill gets fitted for some new funky frames.
If I can save up some money I'm going to consider these:

YMCA

San Diego skyline.

Eucalyptis

Paradise Point

We were in San Diego at Paradise Point Resort for a conference.

From 30,000 feet

Wednesday's: Glass still life

This is the set-up for the drawing I'm currently working on.