from the archives

random drawings

Katie allowed me to draw her - this isn't her, but it captures something about her. And she requested a ruff, after I said I'd made her look like a young Shakespearean actor.

San Francisco, and its patron saint, have been on my mind.

People in water.

creatures for march

Hello, hello! Meet this horned lizard, whom I've named Theo. He's ready to cuddle.

And here are the Birdlets of Chivor!

things living and no longer living

mid-january musings

kale x 2

Ansel has always loved the Public Market, our enormous central farmers' market. He got up before dawn every week to go there and get his pick of the best vegetables.

When we met, I loved eating vegetables, but I did not love washing vegetables. "When you wash them, they're so sparkling, and fresh!" he said. He reminded me of how beautiful they are.

Now we go together to get the vegetables (but he still washes them).

happy belated thanksgiving!

In the spirit of gratitude, here are 2 mugs - definitely empty, but waiting to be filled. Drawn with some beautifully sumptuous watersoluble graphite, pressed into my hand to try by Marla.

my studio

I spend a lot of time at this cute little piano with cracks in its soundboard...

and with this violin, peeking here from under its blanket...

and looking across the room at this little cupboard.

another sunday evening

We are in the wilds at the moment, as a people, as a country. We need clear thinking, we need compassion, we need creativity, we need honesty. What is each of us doing to bring that to the table?

                                                                                 *

wee notebooks

Lately I haven't had much time to write. As if in compensation, I've been making notebooks whenever I have the time.

skaneateles

Skaneateles is one of my favorite places on Earth.
The lake reaches right up to the edge of the town, or rather the town reaches right into the lake. The water is clear. Ducks abound. In summer, you can run from the porch of the Sherwood Inn straight down the grassy hill into the water. In winter, thick ice forms on the surface of the lake. Sometimes it breaks into huge clashing plates that make an eerie sound when the wind blows.

The hills in the distance across the lake look pink, green, blue, gray, depending on the weather and the time of day. Boats appear: big touring ones, little sailboats, kayaks, paddle rafts.

The town is kitschy, like the one I grew up in, but lovable, again like the one I grew up in. Its antique stores and thrift stores and libraries burst with the history of the people who live there and have lived there. I picture them all like my Quaker and Puritan relatives: reading crumbly leather-bound books at night, grinding coffee by hand in the morning. Their spirit, strong, stern, boundedly but bloomingly beautiful, lives in every eave and hedge and curb and curve of Skaneateles.

2 views: one while I was there, one a memory-reflection that evening.

wondering

fun with an altered book

sketches & notes

Life has been a little hectic lately and most of my drawings & paintings have appeared on lists of things to do.

Also this little guy appeared when I was trying to show Ansel some key places in my home state of California...

These little fairy magicians were helping me remember the words to a song:

And this guy is illustrating a point - his toes are beyond strange and his arms are way off, but maybe that's part of the point ;)

My first 5 attempts at this cartoon all looked like they were doing yoga, so when this guy showed up, I decided to be happy with the result.

fear 3

Often there's a busy little part of our brain occupying itself with coming up with a thousand and one reasons why what we want won't work, won't happen, can't be, can't be ours, can't happen for us.

It's nice to be able to move into another part of the brain where things are possible, the air is a little clearer, and the view is clearer too.

This guy can be grumpy.

The appeal of having something that is OURS, too, is great.

But what ELSE is ours?

plant life

The plants are getting used to their new space. This one likes being draped over a hook by the window.

(This was painted on a page from my new journal made by Beate, which I'd love to show here but I haven't figured out yet how to take and post photos (yes, I am stuck in another century). My ink seriously smudged there at the bottom!)

The jade plant is flourishing on a table in the kitchen.

rochester

It was a beautiful Easter day. Ansel and I went walking in the sunshine, down by the river, and stopped to sit outside the library so I could draw the view.

katie's studio

I spent a nice afternoon hanging out (like these skeletons ;) ) in Katie's Alexander Technique studio and got some drawings!

The skeleton below has a neon green mustache and a three-cornered hat.

hofmannsthal

good morning!

This morning I was admiring my coffee mug, made by Marla. You can find her beautiful creations here.