Travel During the Pandemic. Summer of 2020

A sketch from a journal sketch (see post of July 2...)

For years my favorite back road trip was up to

Skowhegan & Jackman, ending in Quebec City.

The Canadian border is closed, & I stay home a lot these days.

But road trips are still possible.

From Belfast to Brooks, Dixmont, Winterport, Hampden.

This is organic farm country in towns like Montville & Monroe.

Roller coaster ribbon roads. 

Forests, farms, scattered country homes,

occasional views of distant fields, faraway mountains.

Here & there, political signs appear on the sides of the road,

but I try not to look at them.

This is not the coastal route with its crowds & cars,

Its clusters of restaurants & hotels.

For a short time the world feels safe, normal & familiar. 

Beautiful.

The radio is off & I drive slowly, glancing, occasionally stopping.

I am told I will be able to visit Québec & other cities again.

In the meantime, how lucky I am to be here.

Still Quilting (#3 in a series)

Still working on the little quilt rather than sketching...

The current stage: 9 blocks ready to join...
I need the sticky notes to remember the layout.

Border to be added and a backing...
Maybe some embroidery....probably not sashing...

Preceding stages: I love the evolution!

My sewing room work space has been evolving.
An "office" corner with my card table from high school!

The day bed for laying out work, a drying rack for fabric.
The little, foldable plastic white table cost $10.
I'll be able to carry it with me 
when Sketchbook Wandering!

Meanwhile, I'm enjoying being a plant 
nurturer/grower,
indoors and out. 
Not a Gardener, not a Quilter, 
but being Homebound (mostly)
makes me an Enjoyer 
of these things!

The next project has already begun,
it happened on its own with leftover squares. 
I'm still using up what I've learned is called
my "stash." My fabric scraps from before.
Again, I'm grateful to You Tube sewing & quilt instructions.
And for tips & inspiration from my friend Beth at
Sew Sew Art. Click here for her blog.
Click right here for the YouTube video that 
inspired the "Crazy Log Cabin" style.

Sticker and Dot Play

 

While listening to the news of the virus,

I was soothed by painting Dots. 

Dots, again? 
You're supposed to be sketching,

Sketchbook Wandering!

I went through a major Dot Phase 

not too long ago.

Recently a reader, "minimal shine", 

asked about the Dot Stickers

that were on my last daily journal cover . 

To see that post, click HERE.

The Dot Stickers are some of my favorite stickers.

(Yes, I'm also going through a Sticker Phase. 

And at my age!)

 

So pretty, and even the dots have little dots!

They are called Sticko Color Bubbles, 

found at Michael's.

The Postal Service is also going through a Dot Phase.

The latest Celebrate postage stamp!

All of a sudden, while doing this post, 

Dots were everywhere!

Even my measuring cups turned into Dots.

Even the soap suds were made up of tiny dots!

The recently organized fountain pen inks.

Yes! The lids were Dots!

Like a happy school girl,

 I'm still merrily pasting little stickers 

into my current daily journal.

In between the writing & the tracking,

I'm also inserting 

my own drawings & paintings & colors.

I may leave the Sticker Phase,

but I don't think I will EVER get over Dots,

 or Drawing & Painting.

(To minimal shine

 let me know that you got the info!)

Finding my Sunflower Voice

I have been continuing to sketch my sunflowers.

One artist suggests to draw something100 times in order 

to really get to know it. 

I've been re-finding my ease with sketching

after not doing it for awhile.

I probably won't make 100 versions of my sunflowers,

but I did make 3 more renderings this morning.

And I did notice new things each time.

I didn't enjoy the above rendering 

(2 posts ago) which was made

after a long period of not drawing.

Not because I thought of it as good or bad, 

but because the process & end result

didn't reflect my spirit. 

It was a labored study 

rather than a more dancing,

free-flowing, good-feeling process.

It was important to do, to start somewhere,

but I am happiest when I am sketching lightly. 

Why do I draw? 

It's the feeling I get. 

It's in my whole body,

rather than just in my eyes.

And it's the feeling of my calm mind.

I respond to gesture & movement

in a subject.

When drawing the sunflowers 

on the back patio this morning 

I loved the flickering, changing morning light, 

the delicate fluttering 

of the petals, the cool air.

The vivid yellows & greens 

against our still gray landscape.

And the flow of water on my brush,

 the luscious paint.

The freedom of not thinking about what my 

picture would look like. 

Sometimes I draw to bring pleasure to others,

with more focus on product,

as in a card or sketch for sale. 

But even then, I need to find pleasure 

in the act of drawing itself. 

Why do I draw?, I ask 

as I watch snippets of drawing lessons 

on YouTube.

(I've been writing answers in my journal.)

I'm happy to be drawing again,

& to come back around to my true

Sketchbook Wandering self. 

If you are a draw-er, 

what is it that you enjoy about drawing?

Sketching Small & Fast: Boston

Train trip to Boston. View from the window.

I've been longing to go for many months,

with my Midori Traveler's Notebook, 4 X 51/4 "

The Italian North End. 

Dense with cafe's, restaurants,

& pastry shops.

Bricco • Cafe Bella • Ristorante Fiore

Cafe Paradiso • Ristorante Quattro

Trattoria il Panino • Ristorante Saraceno

Lucca • Dolce Vita Ristorante

And 19th century churches. And Sunday church bells.

 A distant view as we walked 

from the North End to North Station.

 Museum of Science. The Butterfly Garden with 

a hall of terrariums outside their giant room

is alone worth the admisson.

I mean, have you ever seen insect eating plants,

or a Stick Insect (that looks just like a twig/branch!!)?

Science, nature, art, enchantment, magic

as colors sparkle and flutter through the air. 

Knowledgeable & eager student assistants

are like butterfly encyclopedias.

Better than Google~ the real thing!!

It's like we were in a giant tropical terrarium.

And you had to check yourself before exiting

to make sure a butterfly hadn't landed on you! 

Butterflies on a city view window

with the Charles River right out back. 

Exhilarating day, indoors & out!

Sketching made it more so!

I Finished my Book!!

This is a continuation from my previous post.

 Stopping to face my situation of the too many ideas 

& projects that had started to form,

& asking for help did the trick! 

Beth wrote to Just choose one project & finish it.

Not rocket science, but it helped to hear it from outside 

my own brain which was turning somersaults! 

Organizing my space & hiding the other projects was key. 

And accepting that my finished book would not be perfect...

All along there were decisions to be made.

What to do with the wildflower cutouts that I had drawn & painted 

from photos that I had taken for my project?

I had to abandon my original idea of 

making the flowers pop up from the page, 

(something I love to do in my little handmade cards),

because I had a cover that I'd bound that I'd wanted to use.

A new stiff white paper replaced the green Mi Teintes. 

(Thanks, Fiddlehead Artisan Supply for being right in town!!)

From there on, the book seemed to make itself.

Book Arts prof. Rebecca Goodale says that there's nothing

like the feeling of you & the paper working together "as one."   

(I'm paraphrasing...)

The beginning.

It's an accordion book, but can be view one spread at a time.

The middle.

The end. 

 One of my favorite parts was writing text,

inspired by my original thoughts on my subject. 

Lots & lots of editing to keep it focused & brief.

I had written in the previous post that "there was 

so little left to do" on this book. 

Haha!...Little did I know!!!

 

The cover came last. 
I wanted to decorate it more, but I had a deadline.
The handmade books, the final projects 
from our Book Arts Class will be on view at USM 
during September with a lecture & reception on September 9.

The book was delivered yesterday, & I am exhilarated!

What joy to start with vague thoughts & ideas 
& to work with them 
as they evolve into concrete words & images~
Bound into a book!
I got to experience what my young art students
used to experience!

And, I finished it!!

Thank you to USM & Rebecca Goodale's 
Summer Book Arts Course!

Rose Windows

 My first visit to Paris: 2003.

And my first conscious travel journal, 

with encouragement from my French teacher at

The Language Exchange in Portland. 

Never EVER could I have imagined the complexity,

the grandeur, the art, & the spiritual feeling of

Notre Dame de Paris!

In 2003 I broke down & cried before one of the rose windows,

for its beauty.

In 2019 I cried  to see Notre Dame de Paris in flames.

My 2003 journal sketch of the window is rough & inaccurate.

And along with my notes, private.

But spending extended time in the cathedral was sweet,

& the journal pages bring the experience back.

Recently I've been making ink drawings based on photos. 

But the photos seem to be only a point of departure.

During that 2003 visit, one of my companions said

that the windows are like giant mandalas. 

That & more.

Let us hope that they & the cathedral 
will be restored for future visitors.

Exploring Rather Than Wandering

 

Sketchbook Wandering. 

I've done it here for almost 7 years!!!!!

Sketching & writing still bring me joy & comfort, 

as when I took a pause from last Saturday's winter festivities

at a café on Main St. I sat by a wall.

My sketchbook transformed the scene to interesting theater.

There are people who appreciate my sketches, 

& some have learned from my process.

But:

Change might be starting...

Expression, discovery, exploration, reflection, 

& who knows what else! 

I've been experimenting with making marks 

with a brush & "high flow" acrylic paints.

(Thanks, for introducing me, Beth. Go to Sew Sew Art.)

My marks turned to shapes & my shapes 

arranged themselves.

Aaaah, order...but maybe not too much...

More will be revealed...