On our latest excursion, as mentioned, we took quite a few photos and here is one of the tree bark photos I took with my cell phone. I wanted to kick myself for forgetting the camera in the car, but the photos actually turned out after all.
Matthew and I were both free from our jobs yesterday. We were relaxed as we pretended we didn't know what work was, and excitedly made our way to the Beaverton Library on 5th, and to Blick's Art Supply store at Cedar Hill Boulevard. These places may seem mundane to some, but we are captivated by their contents.
We were both children that loved to play pretend on our own. He made new gadgets and tools by taping and tying different combinations of toys together. His room was a space station. He would fly a star wars toy around the house and pretend he was on it, but then he took it a step further by actually having the interior of the jet inside a specific location in his bedroom. I am convinced that if he had been handed a video recorder we would have some of the most entertaining sci-fi home movies.
I enjoyed being a scientist by mixing different concoctions of shaving cream, mouthwash, and facial astringents in Dixie cups on rainy days. The bathroom was a laboratory, though at times the experiments moved into the kitchen to include carefully eyed measurements of ketchup and mustard as new variables. Inevitably, nothing would happen. There were no explosions or green gases as hypothesized. The only certainty was that they would be thrown out by my parents once the cups had sat by the sink for a few days. I was lucky to have patient parents.
So is it any surprise that we would love bookstores, libraries, and art supply stores? These places are where imaginations are celebrated and we are free to dream up new adventures and creations. The main question seems to be one of considering possibilities, "What about this?"
I ended up checking out a couple of drawing books, Experimental Drawing and Lessons in Classical Drawing, and renewed David Rothenberg's Survival of the Beautiful: Art, Science, and Evolution, and Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell. I've been making my way through the George Orwell book for the past week and a half. I am on page 74 or so, and it is a only 213 pages long. I'm a slow reader when it comes to reading fiction from my favorite authors. I feel as though I need to savour every word. Iris Murdoch's books take forever.
I would say that Kurt Vonnegut's books are the exceptions. His pace is very fast, but I still prefer to hear his voice...or what I imagine his voice would be like if he were reading it to me between puffs off his cigarrette.
Blick's gave way to buying new materials that we haven't tried before. I've been researching avenues of layering different elements of drawing and painting that have led me to a Faux Encaustic method using soft gloss gel, and heavy gloss gel. I'll keep you posted on how that all goes in the weeks to come. Currently, I've been drawing different organic forms in my sketchbook and also working on a 24x36" painting commission. I had to break out the Turpenoid instead of the Turpenoid Natural for this one. The Turpenoid Natural is just too oily for the thin coats of color unfortunately. Open windows and fans are in full force.
Surprisingly, my hopes of explosions and green gases have reversed.
I hope you are having a wonderful weekend! Love to all -
Matthew and I were both free from our jobs yesterday. We were relaxed as we pretended we didn't know what work was, and excitedly made our way to the Beaverton Library on 5th, and to Blick's Art Supply store at Cedar Hill Boulevard. These places may seem mundane to some, but we are captivated by their contents.
We were both children that loved to play pretend on our own. He made new gadgets and tools by taping and tying different combinations of toys together. His room was a space station. He would fly a star wars toy around the house and pretend he was on it, but then he took it a step further by actually having the interior of the jet inside a specific location in his bedroom. I am convinced that if he had been handed a video recorder we would have some of the most entertaining sci-fi home movies.
I enjoyed being a scientist by mixing different concoctions of shaving cream, mouthwash, and facial astringents in Dixie cups on rainy days. The bathroom was a laboratory, though at times the experiments moved into the kitchen to include carefully eyed measurements of ketchup and mustard as new variables. Inevitably, nothing would happen. There were no explosions or green gases as hypothesized. The only certainty was that they would be thrown out by my parents once the cups had sat by the sink for a few days. I was lucky to have patient parents.
So is it any surprise that we would love bookstores, libraries, and art supply stores? These places are where imaginations are celebrated and we are free to dream up new adventures and creations. The main question seems to be one of considering possibilities, "What about this?"
I ended up checking out a couple of drawing books, Experimental Drawing and Lessons in Classical Drawing, and renewed David Rothenberg's Survival of the Beautiful: Art, Science, and Evolution, and Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell. I've been making my way through the George Orwell book for the past week and a half. I am on page 74 or so, and it is a only 213 pages long. I'm a slow reader when it comes to reading fiction from my favorite authors. I feel as though I need to savour every word. Iris Murdoch's books take forever.
I would say that Kurt Vonnegut's books are the exceptions. His pace is very fast, but I still prefer to hear his voice...or what I imagine his voice would be like if he were reading it to me between puffs off his cigarrette.
Blick's gave way to buying new materials that we haven't tried before. I've been researching avenues of layering different elements of drawing and painting that have led me to a Faux Encaustic method using soft gloss gel, and heavy gloss gel. I'll keep you posted on how that all goes in the weeks to come. Currently, I've been drawing different organic forms in my sketchbook and also working on a 24x36" painting commission. I had to break out the Turpenoid instead of the Turpenoid Natural for this one. The Turpenoid Natural is just too oily for the thin coats of color unfortunately. Open windows and fans are in full force.
Surprisingly, my hopes of explosions and green gases have reversed.
I hope you are having a wonderful weekend! Love to all -
