The totally unintended clown face

I have been very busy or at least felt very busy for the last several weeks and the blog is what got left behind. Here's the story.

Last week DH picked me up from painting class and we headed to SC and younger daughter's house - a five hour or so trip. In their not large house we had four adults and five large dogs. Well, actually, one of the dogs is just medium sized, being a mix of Cocker Spaniel and some kind of terrier. It was hilarious. One of the dogs would start barking and all of them would run around barking and trying to figure out what they were barking about. They would run out the dog door and down the steps then outside only to find that one member, the one who started the barking, wasn't with them. She was planted on the best seat of the sofa, ready to be rubbed by whoever was sitting next to her at the time. I say "her" because Jackson was the only male and (and he is neutered) and he spent most of the time bewildered and obviously trying to figure out what was going on. Shiska (German Shepherd) spent her share of time in her "room", otherwise known as the downstairs bath, the room to which she is banished when she doesn't play well. Sometimes she consigned herself to the room, either to get away or because she knew that was where she was headed. Lucy, the Treeing Walker Coon Hound and my two Labradoodles finished out the group and did their share of barking and baying.
I was entranced by this bird bath that our son-on-law gave his mother. Such sinuous fish that you nearly expect them to move. 

Here is my very quick sketch of their wood stove. I know it is wonky, but I am still learning to slow down when I draw with ink since I can't erase. I started another, slower drawing but ran out of time. Too bad, because it showed promise of being better. 


We had a lovely visit and came back on Saturday. Sunday we went to the late service and then met the rest of the family and our niece's boyfriend's family for lunch. DH loved the lamb and I was taken by the split pea soup with mint. After that - a nap.

Monday it was back to the drawing class where we drew a cupcake.

It might look to you like this should have been easy, but I can tell you that it took lots of time and attention. At the same time, it was good to be completely absorbed in something. The bonus was that when we finished we got to eat the cupcake and, terrible breakfast eater that I am, I was really hungry. 

These two and the one below are various stages of the painting I have been working on. 


I took it to class like this and Sandra and I discussed possibilities. 

I got it to this stage today and sent it to Vicki who immediately called and told me that it was a big clown face. I think that I can fix that and in fact had it changed one time today and then changed it again.  I worked in the studio until about 11:30 on Tuesday night but tonight I have already called it quitting time. I will work on it tomorrow. I will paint some deli-paper and "glue" it on with water to see just exactly what I want to do. I am not sure that I want a third flower, but that might be what happens. Maybe the black "mouth" will go. I have some ideas about that. 

Meanwhile, it is late and I am tired. 
All is well, 
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