A little of this, a lot of that


Here is what there is a little of - pictures of the small South Carolina town that Sara and Greg live near. The largest building is an auction house but I didn't photograph it. There is also a lovely old house which might be a B&B or Inn, or might not. It is beautiful and tasteful and the decorations were just right. It was cold when we went to town, though, and I didn't get all the pictures I wanted.

I hope that this little mound is the grave of a pet and not a memorial to someone who was hit by a car while crossing the street. There was no marker, just the flowers beside the sidewalk on a lot between two buildings. 

Below are police stations, old and new. The new one is not much larger than the old but it probably has internet, etc. as well as electricity and phone lines. 





Below is a handsome building that was once the town hall. On the side  face there are windows trimmed in a burnt orange color. Very nice with the bricks. The building has been a restaurant, an office building and many other things. Check out the sidewalk.

And here is the library. I haven't been in it but intend to go. It is hard to think that their collection is extensive, but one should not judge a book by its cover or a library by its storefront. It is rather cute. 


 Below is what there is lots of. Jenny came for a few days and helped me go through things. This batch is going to the Goodwill. There is still much to be disposed of and Jenny has agreed to come back and help again. In return I am going to her house to help her with some heavy cleaning. We emptied old  boxes that have made many moves and got new ones for the Christmas decorations; I will be packing them away on Saturday, the 12th day of Christmas. As we explored the backs of closets and the "attic" I found things I had forgotten about. There were things bought on a whim which have lost their appeal. There were things that have been duplicated. There were things that just don't work in the new house. You might understand. A few more sessions like this should result in room to store things we want to keep and use and a sense of lightness and freedom to be out from under all that stuff.

 For one of my Christmas presents, Vicki gave me some Inktense color sticks. In the middle of the night I played just a little with them. This is all dry but can be wet for a different effect. The sticks show a lot of promise, even if the drawing does not. I look forward to playing with it.

 Now I need to get to the painting, which has been ignored over much of the holiday season. I did envision a new piece last night and got up to sketch it so I wouldn't forget but I have to look at it in the light of day to decide if I want to commit to it. My resolution this year, my word for the year, is "deepen" and I want to deepen the thought that goes into my work as well as the other parts of my life. Do you have a word for the year? Please share it with me if you do.

Please feel free to comment or just to let me know how things are going with your endeavors.

XOXOXO
Caroline

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Painting

Image
Last week I painted four(4) canvases and I like them. I won't say that they are finished because as long as they are in my possession they are open to more work. You might have seen this one on FB although I have added the little circle near the bottom left. I painted the background that wonderful orangey yellow thinking that I would paint marigolds, using the yellow and painting in the other colors and leaves. In fact, I chalked in the flowers to see how they would fit but then decided that I really wanted to do an abstract so I made the line on the left and smeared it out. After that I made that shape to the right, added the shape at the bottom and then added lines wherever they seemed to belong. The drips were made by spraying the paint when it was wet. It didn't seem quite finished so , the next day after thinking about what was lacking, I added the circle (it is a kind of greenish and metallic color) and I am finished. It has not been named as of yet.  This was
Read more

Rain, lovely rain

Image
We are having a long slow, soft rain and it is wonderful. We have lately had our share of hard winds, hard, rain, and hard heat.  Gentle is a nice change. So far the ground isn't saturated, but it is getting a good soak. The leaves on the redbud outside the dining room, gather drops. The leaves are huge and heart shaped and the effect is lovely. There is no breeze so the drops cling until the rain is harder or gravity finally pulls them to the ground. Out the front door the street is all shiny and the air is clean. The porch could stand some paint but that will have to wait for another, drier day. What you can't see here is a stack of newspapers that accumulated while we were gone and forgot to stop delivery and which I put off dealing with while it was so hot. They have to be freed from the plastic bag and rubber band , flattened and put with the recycling. Maybe I should just stop taking the paper, but It is good to keep up with the local happenings. All of you w
Read more

The things we do

Image
The things we do, whether for love or not. The sink in the downstairs bathroom has been draining ever more slowly and, as you know, we have no kitchen sink right now. Yesterday it took nearly an hour for the water from washing my hands to drain and I told Dean that something had to be done NOW. "Okay, " said Dean," I will cut a hole in the closet in our room and check the pipes". "Wait", said I, "Didn't you tell me that there is a clean out in the basement?Why not check that first." So putting aside his hats as airline pilot, attorney,  contractor and chef, Dean put on his plumbing hat and tackled the clean-out. I forgot my roles as artist, sewist, and became assist-ant to the plumber. Scene I, the basement. Ugh. Dean checks the clean-out and finds no clog there. Scene II, the bathroom. The snake is not budging any clogs.     C: What about a coat hanger?     D: That won't be strong enough.     C: Just a minute.   (I get a coat h
Read more