Magic Carpet Ride To February 15

Dream Tree

ACEO

watercolor

Take a magic carpet ride with a ticket for the 4th Annual One World One Heart give away. The magic date is February 15, when participating bloggers, world wide, will give away something with a drawing from people who have left comments on their blogs.

Click on the logo in my sidebar, or go to Lisa Swifka's blog, A Whimsical Bohemian, at http://awhimsicalbohemian.typepad.com/ for more information. If you are a blogger who would like to participate in this year's event, be sure to sign up by Feb. 8 at 11:50 p.m.. If you would just like to get in on the free items, you can find a list of participants on her blog. Just click on the link, go to the blog, see what they are giving away, and leave a comment on the individual blogs to be a part of the drawings.

Last year, they had bloggers from 28 countries. This year, so far, there are over 1,000 participants.

The idea is to find others who have things in common with you, finding kindred spirits, and giving from our hearts.

So, if you would like to win my little watercolor, just leave a comment on my blog and let me know that you are interested.

On Feb. 15, at midnight, I'll draw a name out of my hat from the comments that have been left. I will contact the winner and find out how to mail the art work to you. So, be sure that I can either click on your name to contact you, or leave an e-mail address so I can find you! I will also post the winner's name on my blog.

My give away is an ACEO of the watercolor above. I had scanned the larger version that I did, originally. The actual watercolor that I'm giving away is an ACEO size, on watercolor paper, of 2.5" x 3.5"-the popular trading card size. It will be in a protective sleeve, in an envelope.

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A lot of people are getting ready for the big Super Bowl game this evening. I can't get interested. I don't know any of the players, so I don't have anyone to cheer for. I've never heard of either of the teams, not being a big sports fan. Now, if the Aggies were playing, I could cheer for them and look to see the band perform, Parsons Mounted Cavalry, and all the really interesting things that go with a football game here. I'm sure that my daughter will turn the game on, have some food ready for us, and I'll have my sketchbook out to occupy my time. I probably won't know anything about the game. I think that people just waste a lot of money on these things! I'd much rather watch a good British comedy, an old movie or cowboy show! But that's just me.

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Speaking of sports, John Randle from Hearne is in the news. He was named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame yesterday. Congratulations to him! It's good to see so many former students being successful in their various pursuits! John told me, in my art class, that he would play football, and he did!

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Vision-Latest Eye Exam

Eye Exam

5" x 7"

watercolors and ink

I had my eyes checked last week, after a few years of just getting by with cataracts and wet Macular Degeneration in one eye.

You can read more about my experiences and see the pictures that illustrate my experiences by looking in my older posts. All the posts on my eye experiences are prefaced with the word VISION.

During this latest exam, in the top picture, I guess my right brain was working, and, for some reason, I was looking for a picture! I was trying to make out a landscape with a house, or barn and silo, and figure out what might be in the sky-birds? clouds? Suddenly, it occured to me that this was the biggest letter on the chart! -a big E! I was so surprised!

I struggled through a few lines of the smaller letters. They were mostly fuzzy and I had to take my best guess.

I couldn't see the chart at all with my left eye. I have a lot of scarring from the AMD on the macula in that eye, I was told. I assumed that, already.

The dr. said that my vision in my right eye has changed because of cataracts, and I'm nearsighted in that eye. He believed that my vision would be greatly improved if I get rid of the cataracts.

In the second picture, the nurse or technician, who was taking care of me, put in drops, checked pressure, and did some preliminary tests. Like this one. She started with her fingers in front of her, then moved them out, asking if I could see her fingers. I could see the tips of her fingers, when she extended them out, but I couldn't see her, except for her legs on the stool and a bit of the top of her head.

In the third picture, I had my face resting on the machine with the dr. shining bright lights into my eyes. He told me to look at his nose. He told me to look at his ear. To look to the left, etc. I had to laugh because I couldn't see his face! Just the top of his head and a bit of his shoulder. I had to guess where his nose and ear might be!

These were done in ink and watercolor on 5" x 7" sketchbook paper.

I took my series of pictures to show what I had been going through. They seemed to enjoy the work. However, I still wonder why I couldn't see anything but a black background with green squiggles in the DPS office, when I went to renew my license. I could see the letters in the doctors' offices, but not in that little box. Very strange.

I thought, it is odd that I can now read without my glasses, except for very tiny print.

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I was sad to hear of several deaths.

The first was Thelma Cunningham, age 105. I enjoyed talking to her at St. Joseph's Manor. She was proud of her artist grandson and urged me to go see his work. Since I had an interest in being a nurse, it helped that she had been a surgical nurse and her first husband had been a doctor. I'll bet she could have taught the current nurses and doctors a thing or two.

Another death was reported on the Roots list. Oklahoma story teller and veteran, Paul Odle, has died. I enjoyed sharing stories of growing up in the 1930s and 40s with Paul. People on the list looked forward to his stories about his hometown of Yukon, Oklahoma. His stories appeared in his hometown newspaper, and, he said that he had published some of his work in books. I know that a lot of people will miss him and his stories.

I haven't heard a word about this one on the news, but someone shared this on the Texas Scottish Festival List. Author Frank McCourt died. His story about his mother was told in his first big best seller, "Angela's Ashes".

I really enjoyed hearing McCourt talk, when he appeared on tv. He certainly will be missed.

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We finally got quite a bit of rain the other night. But there were storms. Lots of pictures of funnel clouds and damage, mainly to the south and east of us. We got 3-4 inches of rain, while College Station got 7 inches and over toward Snook and Caldwell, got 9 inches of rain.

The National Weather Service said today that there was not a tornado touchdown, however. Pictures and eyewitnesses said a bit different. The news had said that it might have been an F-0, a very weak tornado. That was stronger than most of us want to experience!

We had another shorter downpour the next morning. At least it has cooled the temperatures a bit. But it brought out the Fire Ants.

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Life Cycle

Life Cycle

watercolors

My apologies for not posting for a while, but Blogger's little robot thingys decided that my spam needed to be blocked until I could prove that I am a real person. So, I was locked out of my blog. It seems to be working again today, finally. Of course, they didn't let me know what was wrong for a few days, and, again, they didn't let me know that it is working again. I just happened to check, and here I am.

This is a little watercolor done with Indigo Blue and Brown watercolors on 300# watercolor paper. I did add a little touch of purple to the painting.

I just wanted to get in a short post today.

Bitsy, my 23 year old cat, is not doing well. And, at the same time, my aunt, whose home the cat came from, is also at the end of her life. I'll be going to the nursing home shortly.

I just wanted to get in a post to let everyone know that I'm still here and haven't abandoned my blog.

I would ask that, if you haven't subscribed to my blog, please do so. It makes it so much easier for you to receive- and for me to send out. And, that way, you are assured of getting the blog when I post.

Thanks for reading and sharing!

National Day of Prayer

National Day of Prayer

8.5" x 11"

watercolor & ink

This is the piece of art work that I did for the National Day of Prayer. I didn't get to post it on that day, but wanted to share it.

Unfortunately, some in high places, thought that this day was not important enough to observe.

With all the problems that we have in the world today, we need all the help that we can get.

National Day of Prayer was done on 70 pound acid free white drawing paper using Winsor Newton watercolors and a Pitt pen. It is 8 1/2 x 11".

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If you have an interest in Calvert, Texas, or went to school at Calvert High School in Calvert, Texas, you might be interested in joining the Yahoo or Face Book groups started for these places.

You can click on the Join button in my sidebar to join the Yahoo groups.

On Face Book, you have to belong to Face Book. Then, go to Groups and search for Calvert High School Trojans or Calvert, Texas.

As a member, you can share photos, comments and memories, links, etc. I have added a few to get started.

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I'm thinking of donating a painting or two to get a fund started to save Calvert City Hall.

Surely the needed funds to repair the City Hall can be raised through fund raising, grants, and donations.

What can we do? We can't lose that building.

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Thanks for reading and sharing!

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Vision-Night Lights

Night Lights

9" x 12"

watercolor

I was sleeping in my aunt's room that night. I don't like the dark and, at home, I keep my tv on all night. It takes me a long time to fall asleep, so I have something to watch. I sleep a little while, wake up and watch, and go back to sleep. I sleep best after the sun comes up.

This night, I had a small radio to listen to, and no tv or light. I opened the drapes to let light from the street light on the corner come into the room. As I used to do when I was a child, before we had tv to watch, I looked out the window at the trees and light, looking for some activity, listening to the trains go through town.

But, in the old days, I didn't have Macular Degeneration and cataracts to deal with. As I looked at the windows, I blinked to try to clear up the image, but it didn't help. I could see the glow of the street light, looking somewhat like fireworks. As I looked into the dark of the street, neon green shapes marched from out of the dark window into the room. They were similar to a loose boomerang and were different sizes. But they did march, in rows, moving through the window and disappearing into the dark room. Along with the green boomerang shapes, there were some small yellow lights that floated around. One was round and stayed low while another was a sort of rectangle that flowed along with the boomerang shapes. These were not lights from houses, as the street was dark except for one house that had a hall light on, that I could not see from the bed. That light was still, while these moved along with the other shapes.

In the painting, the area below the lighter blue line is the wall. Drapes are on each side of the picture.

I closed my eyes and there were still shapes moving around, but these were more like purple against the dark.

"What are these things?" I wondered. "How can I make them go away!"

"Could they be ghosts of the people who once lived here?"

I couldn't make them disappear, so I might as well enjoy them. Just as I have said about the shapes that I saw when I got the Lucentis injection. (See posts from last year.) I might as well sit back, relax, enjoy the abstract art show. Then do some paintings of what I have seen.

Share those with others who might encounter the same thing.

Maybe I could just remember the people who once lived here, or write a story from the images. They do seem to make me think of other things besides the colors, shapes, and movement.

It is true, that, even with your eyes closed, you still see moving shapes, that make it hard to go to sleep, not to mention making it hard to see things.

At this stage, when I close my right eye, there are wavey lines on things I see around the outside edges and an irregular purple spot covering all that I try to look at. The left eye is the one with wet macular degeneration and cataracts. The right eye has cataracts, too, but I can see things better with that eye. I tend to close the "bad" eye when I try to see things.

I watched the shapes until I finally fell asleep that night, and made mental notes about shapes, direction, and colors. Later, I sketched the shapes and window, and, much later, added the color with watercolors. This probably would have worked better on watercolor paper. But I used my sketchbook with 65 # Canson acid free paper. I used Winsor Newton watercolors to add a light layer of color, then added the darker Indigo Blue and the brighter greens after the first layer dried.

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In my post about James DeGraffenreid Miles, I left out the names of his brothers. They are all listed on CSA Military Men of Central Alabama. I found this list through the Alabama Dept. of Archives and History online.

Albert Thomas "Tommie" Miles married Ida Katerine Day, sister of Ellen L. Day. CSA, MS 1863. (Truthfully, I don't know what MS, 1863 means. This was on the list. There is more information in the book, "Your Inheritance" Vol. II by Robbie Lee Gillis Ross.)

James "Jim" DeGraffenreid Miles married Ellen L. Day, sister to Ida Katherine, Officer in the CSA, taken prisoner at Ft. Donaldson in 1862, according to the list. He was a POW at the notorious Camp Douglas in Chicago, but was released before the worst times there. He fought again in other battles.

John L. "Bud" Miles, married Mary Elizabeth "Lizzie" "Mollie" Holcomb. Was an officer itn the CSA. He joined Capt. Marcellus Fagg's company in 1862. Fagg was a brother-in-law to the Miles brothers and sisters.

William Miles, MD, married Julia M. Robinson. W.S. Army in Mexico, joined the CSA in Norfolk, VA in 1863.

This is all according to the list. There is a lot more information about them.

Most of these families moved to Texas about the time of the Civil War. Fagg moved to North Carolina after the War.

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Whew! We had a quick power outage and I thought I had lost this blog! I'm relieved to find that it had all been saved.

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If you are following the EDM (Everyday Matters) challenges, the next one is to draw a shell. Those of you on the coast can do this easier than we can here. Fortunately, I have a shell in my bathroom! Maybe someone will bring me back a good one from the coast. I probably will have drawn one, by then-the one that I have beside my garden tub!

We had some good times, looking for shells out on the little islands off Port O'Conner. It was hard to find good shells on the bay since they were usually broken apart before they hit the beach. I think that I bought the one I have in Galveston, years ago.

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If you are in this area, or plan to come here during Sketch Crawl, or for the plein aire workshop, you might like to join the Yahoo Group that I started for people interested in sketching and painting, and such activities in the Brazos Valley area. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BrazosValley_Sketchers. I put quite a few pictures on there from previous Sketch Crawls and the Plein Aire Workshop from last October in Calvert.

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A big get well wish goes out to Walter in Calvert. Hope you get better quickly!

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I apologize for the big space again. I don't know how to keep this from happening. I went back and pulled the lines closer together by backspacing, but that is going to leave even more space at the bottom.

I would blame this on the power outage, but this has happened before. I don't know why. I didn't type it with double spacing or anything like that.

Beauty In The Midst of Horror

Gaza Sunrise 1, 2, and 3

9" x 12"

Ink & Watercolors

While Fox News was having reruns on tv, CNN actually stayed on the air, live, for reports of the latest conflict. We watched the flashes of explosions as the night gave way to dawn. I had my sketchbook as I watched tv. The colors of the sunrise over Gaza caught my attention and I thought those would look good in a painting. I did some quick sketches as the day grew brighter, wrote in notes as to where various colors would go. I didn't have in mind, particularly, doing paintings of these scenes, but in using the combinations in other paintings later. As pictures began repeating, that gave me time to use my travel set of Winsor Newton watercolors, and put in some of the colors on the sketches. This is why you see my notations of colors in the above paintings.

The soft colors of daybreak were deceptive. The puffy little clouds were not the peaceful little summer clouds we sometimes see. Instead, they were smoke from explosions. But, they could easily have been those little cotton-like clouds we see in Texas. The yellow and gold sky scanned a much stronger yellow than it actually is.

I was going to stop with the first sketch, but the purple and lavendar sky in the next picture attracted me. Again, deceptively soft and peaceful looking, except the darker clouds on the horizon were not normal clouds. Instead, they were smoke flowing across the city. Who could tell what horrors were taking place in the buildings and streets below. I am not sure why the land appeared to be red orange. Maybe it was my eyes, but I thought that maybe it had something to do with dust in the air.

Again, I was about to quit when they showed a hilly scene, with some buildings on the horizon. I was impressed with the sort of olive green grass with darker areas that might have been little bushes of some kind. One little gamboge patch of color toward the top of the hill indicated, to me, an area of sand. You would think this would be a peaceful place where there might have been sheep grazing, but it was empty of life. By this time, the sky had turned to pink with a bit of shadey blue or lavender at the horizon.

It's a terrible situation, but I did find something appealing in the colors as I watched from safety, from a long distance. We hope for safety for all those people, but, realistically, as long as there are men, there are going to be wars and rumors of wars.

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I'm having a little more trouble distinguishing colors, and doing things like connecting lines when I draw and paint. I sort of aim and hope that things come close to being where they should be! Sometimes it works!

"Is this pink or orange?" I often ask.

"No, it's red," I am told.

The same thing happens for other colors. I have to take things to the natural light to tell what they are. That works, sometimes.

"That line should be straight, " I'm sometimes told.

"But it looks curved, to me," I answer.

It's frustrating, but, so far, I'm able to work with it. Although I really admire realism, that is not what comes out of me. And, with my vision the way it is, I know that realism is going to be impossible to do. It's a good thing that I can enjoy being loose, expressionistic, putting in pretty colors, experimenting, or I would be really upset and frustrated.

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Come sketch with us Saturday January 10 for the 21st World Wide Sketch Crawl. Wherever you are, you can still do the Sketch Crawl with a group where you are, or just sketch by yourself. Start your own group!

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It's really a nice day. Just take along your sketching or writing materials, maybe a camera, a chair to sit on, (or you usually can find a bench or somewhere to sit, depending on where you decide to draw.), and things you might like to have for the day. You might like to have a hat or sunscreen, depending on where you are. Maybe you will need warm clothes and pick a spot indoors. You can journal about your day from getting up, to breakfast, where you sketch, lunch, your afternoon, winding up, and those around you, too. Or you might decide to just draw in one spot, or move to different places. If you are going to an event, you can sketch there, too.

If you can't get away from home, draw what you do at home that day. You might draw your neighborhood, your yard, or wherever you are.

Or, you can find interesting things to draw in your locale.

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My sister takes her plein aire painting equipment, as well as a sketchbook and pen. She usually does a painting, then sketches a while. She has her oil painting supplies, a camp stool, a tripod, a variety of canvases, etc. She is prepared! She even has bungee cords, and, of course, her ice chest. She also takes business cards to give to those who show interest in her work.

I take my travel set of Winsor Newton watercolors with 3 small brushes-a smallflat, a small round, and a tiny detail brush) , a watercolor pad, a sketchbook, a pencil case with a variety of pencils and pens, a small ruler, eraser, and a pencil sharpener. I also have a plastic clip board that has a space inside. I keep copy machine paper, pencils and pens, and an eraser in that. (You could put sheets of drawing paper or watercolor paper in the clipboard. I use a film container or small pill bottle for water and keep some tissues in my purse. A bottle of drinking water is in my bag in case I can't find a water fountain where I am. A small spray bottle is an addition to use for watercolor techniques.

To avoid littering, I have a couple of Zip Lock bags, a plastic bag from a store, paper towels, and a trash bag.

All of these are carried in a plastic tote bag.

A lawn chair and a cushion provide a place to sit in case there isn't a bench where I decide to draw.

My oil painting things are handy, but, so far, I haven't found that I have time to take photos, sketch, do a little with my watercolors, talk, and do oil paintings, too.

I take another bag for my grandson (age 12) and have a couple of sketchbooks for him, pencils (drawing and colored) , eraser, his brushes. He has a folding canvas chair. (I tried that, but, with my knees, I had trouble getting out of it! I needed more support.)

We have soft drinks in our ice chest, in case we are working someplace where we can't buy a drink.

I've done quite a few sketches at places that I wouldn't have gone to sketch on my own. And that has resulted in more art work. I have more places in mind to go, now.

And it is a good way to spend a day with my grandson. He seems to like doing watercolors better than he has liked sketching-except for drawing the things he is interested in like ships or light sabres! But, he is at an age where he is going to be changing a lot.

Perhaps this will give you some ideas for doing the sketch crawl. Some people only take along what will fit into their pocket or purse. Others use a luggage carrier for their equipment. You might even keep things packed in your car, ready to go when the urge to sketch or paint strikes.

If you have any questions or would like to join us, let me know.

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Be sure to sign up for the Plein Aire painting workshop with Virginia Vaughan in Calvert Saturday February 21. For more information and a supply list contact Cecelia at grannyc_54@yahoo.com . Send a deposit of $40 to reserve a place in the class by Feb. 1, payable to Virginia Vaughan, with the balance due at the workshop.

Since we will all go out and paint for fun on Sunday, you may want to reserve a room at one of Calvert's B&Bs. The Pin Oak B&B and The Bird House both have rooms available that weekend.

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I read on the Calvert page of the Fort Tumbleweed website that Calvert has a soda fountain! That sounds really interesting! Ice cream is always good, and those old fashioned sodas and sundaes, lime ices, and such treats are something that we could use more of. I really hated to see Swenson's close here. It was the closest thing I've found to Taliaferro's Drug Store that we had in Calvert. Wish they would open again.

I did find a way to make something that is close to the old fashioned chocolate sodas that we used to be able to get almost anywhere.

I just put some chocolate ice cream into a soda fountain style glass. Put in a straw. Then added Sprite or 7-Up until it makes that nice foam on top.

Pretty tastey. And it helps to settle an unhappy stomach, too!

We'll have to look for that soda fountain the next trip to Calvert. I always thought they should have kept one, but the Dairy Queen seemed to become a popular place when those came into town. I guess that hurt the drugstore soda fountains and lunch counters. DQ is okay, but it isn't the same as the great old drugstores, or Swenson's.

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Happy 09 !

Top: Birthday Cake

9"X 12"

ink and watercolor

Bottom: The End of 70

Self Portrait

9"X 12"

pencil

I'm seeing a lot of people who are doing their sketches as journal entries, especially as I read the submissions on Every Day Matters. There are even classes and workshops on journaling. I've been trying to draw daily and to record memories as well as some things that attract my attention or that I think will make an interesting picture. Sometimes, those are the most ordinary things. Things that we take for granted that will always be there, but may, over time, become lost or obsolete.

I've been writing some of my notes or thoughts on my drawings, but separately, usually. Seeing the journal entries, (and some of those are amazing!) I thought I would try my hand at a little lettering, page design, etc. I'm not really into that, yet. It seems to take a lot of time and I feel sure that, those who are doing these wonderful pages, must work very fast. Drawing, painting, writing, all take me a while so I can see that it would take me a really long time to complete really nice pages. So far, I've just recorded a few thoughts and notes on some of my drawings.

You can click on the Every Day Matters logo in my sidebar, and see some nice journals and sketches. I haven't posted anything there, yet. Something to do this new year.

With a new year, there is always a new birthday and age, for me. My ice cream was melting as I drew my piece of birthday cake! Last year, I drew memories of the blue birthday cake I wanted when I was in about 5th grade, I think, and wrote of some memories of birthdays past. This time, I thought I would do a still life of my cake. I hope I don't have bad luck this year because we didn't do candles on the cake, this time!

Bottom I've been watching the self portraits that Myrna Wacknov has been doing. She did several poses on one paper that were her reflections on turning 65. I really like her style, and it is so interesting to read all the processes and experimentation that she does. That one piece of art has won many awards and has been published in magazines, etc. Recently, she said that it has made the cover of an art magazine.

That work made me think of Kathe Kollwitz and all the self portraits that she did, as well as other artists from Rembrandt to Van Gogh, who we can learn more about through their self portraits. As I told my students, you should be able to draw something that you are very familiar with-something you have looked at all your life. And that is, of course, yourself. You look in the mirror to wash your face, brush your teeth, comb your hair, put on make up, or to just study yourself-and have for most of your life. And, in doing self portraits, you also learn to observe and draw other people, learn to do shading and highlights, textures, shape, etc.

I thought, when I first saw Myrna's portraits that I should record that milestone in my own life-being 70. And I did a few little sketches, but didn't get as creative as Myrna. I thought I could do something later, if I had a sketch or two.

The bottom sketch was done the night my birthday approached. I was putting down a puddle pad for Bitsy when I got a glimpse of myself in a mirror. Instead of looking at myself while drawing, I tried to remember what I saw, and drew that while I watched tv later. It isn't exact. And, now that I have scanned it, I see that one eye is darker than the other! It isn't meant to be a finished sketch, but just something that I can use in some way, later.

At midnight that night, Ashton came running into the den to tell me "Happy Birthday". Then he went back to bed. That was the most excitement of the day!

Drawings of turning 71 don't sound as interesting as turning 65, or 70, 80, 90, 100! I guess 75 would be the next milestone year. I will probably do something to record 71, too.

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Label your pictures! Last night I found a photo of a cat with kittens. We've been debating how old Bitsy is. I know she is 22, my daughter thinks she is not that old. I'm going by where I was working at the time Bitsy was born, and what happened when my daughter brought the cat to me at work! I thought this picture was of Bitsy and the one litter of kittens that she had when she was 1 year old. If so, and if it had a date on it, that might settle our argument. Of course, it isn't labled. I showed the picture to my daughter and she said that was another cat, Freaky! And, sure enough, it was.

We still are laughing at the contestant on "The Gong Show" on tv (years ago) who came out with a rainbow colored wig and sang, "I'm gonna do something freaky..." . When the calico cat was born, we thought of that contestant and the colorful wig, and named the cat Freaky. She does look a lot like Bitsy, but she had more gray on her where Bitsy is white.

I was hoping that photo offered proof of Bitsy's age. (I know I'm right!)

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Plan to join in the 21st World Wide Sketch Crawl Saturday January 10. It's right around the corner! See the website for more information http://www.sketchcrawl.com . Or you can click on the logo in my sidebar.

You can join us in Bryan, starting at the LaSalle Hotel at 8:30 a.m., then register at the Frame Gallery when she opens at 10. That's just to get an idea of who is participating and where they want to work.

In Calvert, meet at Mud Creek Pottery beginning at 8:30 a.m.

Other communities can join us, start your own group, or work on your own

FREE !!!

Artists, students, teachers, beginners, advanced, doodlers, sketchers, painters, writers, families, etc. -groups or individuals-work together or by yourself.

Work indoors or outside, or even at home. All day or a few minutes.

In this area, Let's Draw The Brazos Valley!

During the day, sketch your surroundings, then get together at the end of the day, if you want to, at the meeting place to share experiences and work. Work and experiences can be added to the Sketch Crawl Forum online, to places like Picassa or Flickr, and your own blog or website.

The idea is for people all over the world to record their surroundings, all on the same day. There are no hard and fast rules.

I have registered for Bryan/College Station/Calvert/The Brazos Valley on the Forum. So you can add a message there if you would like to join us. Let me know if you have questions.

Just bring your drawing, painting, or writing materials, and anything that you might want to use- like a chair-and yourself and friends, family, students, etc. and join in.

If it is cold, we can always go inside and work.

We have been sketching in downtown Bryan, Calvert, and out on country roads, previously. There is no limit, and we don't have to work together, unless you want to.

There is a cute t-shirt with the Sketch Crawl logo on front and a pencil on the sleeve, available on the Sketch Crawl website, in case you want one. It isn't required, though.

You can contact Greta Watkins at the Frame Gallery in Bryan, Sonny Moss at Mud Creek Pottery in Calvert, or me, at grannyc_54at yahoo dot com for more information.

I hope to see you there, and, if not here, at least to see your work and experiences!

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It's also time to sign up for the Plein Aire Painting Workshop in Calvert Saturday Feb. 21, going into Sunday Feb. 22. Go to her website at http://www.v-vaughan.com or http://www.vvaughan.blogspot.com . You can contact me at grannyc_54@yahoo.com for more information and a supply list.

We would like to have a deposit of $40 to reserve a place in the class by Feb. 1. The balance of $40 is due at the workshop. Make checks payable to Virginia Vaughan. Let me know if you are interested, and I'll send you more information.

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Thank you for reading and sharing. Please pass this on to anyone who might be interested.

Please subscribe to my blog, if you haven't done so aleady.

Sign my Guest Book

Join my Followers.

Draw, draw, draw! Paint, Paint, Paint! Write, write, write!

And have a Great 2009!

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Second Space Ship Flyover

Wednesday Night Flyover

9 x 12"

watercolors

Wednesday night, we had the best view of the space shuttle Endeavor and the International Space Station that we have ever had as they flew over us. We had watched it fly over in a lighter blue evening sky just south of us on Tuesday night. Bob French on KBTX tv told us that we would have a second chance on Wednesday night. Usually, when those things are announced, the first night is the time that the best views are available. Later viewings are often further away or dimmer.

Wednesday night's time was at 6:19 p.m., an hour later than on Tuesday, so it was darker. On top of that, the outside light didn't come on at dusk as it always does, but delayed until the space craft had passed. So we had a very dark night to watch the skies.

We had been advised that it would come more from the west, so we walked out into the street, away from trees.

"Is that it?" I asked Ashton as I spotted some orange lights in the west, just over the oak tree . It looked a bit like the shape of the craft we viewed the night before, only much smaller. I couldn't tell if it was moving. It was near what we decided was a planet, but looked, to me, like the Texas Longhorn symbol with rays coming out of it.

That shape didn't move, but, soon, Ashton directed me to look over the pasture to the north, just above the pale glow from the sunset. Here came a steady moving group of orange lights that appeared to be connected by a slim orange tube. There were lights on it, some extensions, and orange rays coming out of it.

"That's it!" I shouted as it moved to almost overhead.

As I said it, there were echos up and down our country lane of "That's it!" from neighbors who were also out watching the space crafts passing over.

"It looks so close!" "Wow!" "Isn't that amazing!" "Just think! There are people up there!"

Just as it got over us, it turned a bright white. So bright that I had to look away.

As it moved on to the east, it seemed to be orange again, then disappeared into the darkness over Bryan.

Later, on the news, we heard that one of the astronauts had lost her tool belt while working outside the space station. We couldn't help but wonder if that happened while they were flying over us.

The stars that were so bright in the west are actually Jupiter and Venus.

We came in and I sketched out the shapes of the space craft as it appeared at different points over the pasture. I also added the planets as they appear to me. Later, I added color with Winsor Newton watercolors with a bit of white acrylic for the white rays on the center object. This is in a sketchbook on white acid free drawing paper, and not on watercolor paper. You can't get that kind of paper as wet as the watercolor paper, so the color doesn't blend and flow as well. It's okay, but you just can't get the same effects.

Tonight, at the George Bush Library, an astronomy group from A&M is going to have telescopes set up so that the public can view the planets. It starts at 6 p.m. and ends at 10 p.m.

It's going to be a bit cool, though. But, bundle up, and go out, if you can. It isn't something that we have an opportunity to do very often.

After watching the space ships, Ashton wants a telescope, as most kids do. However, we have had terrible luck with telescopes and microscopes. ( He was excited about that, too.) The things never work. The microscope set he got last year, even the science teachers couldn't work it. It looked to me like the hole to let light through didn't line up with the hole that you looked through.

Telescopes didn't work, either. We bought what seemed to be a really nice telescope for Christopher. Never could get it in focus to see anything through. We had better views just with the old Cannon camera with the zoom lense.

Enjoy sky watching with bright stars and gorgeous sunsets while we have these clear skies. I know, it may not be that way everywhere. But, here, it has been really outstanding, lately.

The featured exhibit at the George Bush Library has to do with space exploration, and is being coordinated with a similar exhibit at the LBJ Library in Austin. So, you may want to check it out, if you are interested in space.

Here's a trivia question.

Do you know who the astronauts are on board the space station and the Endeavor? And what countries they are from?

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Calvert will be having their Christmas Homes Tour December 6 and 7. You can click on my photo of the bandstand at the top of my sidebar and that will take you to the brochure that tells more about the Tour.

There is one old home on the tour that I haven't been in. And that is the one that looks like the house on the opening of the tv program, "Designing Women".

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Be sure to check out the events that I have in my sidebar.

Those of you who have been waiting for the slideshow of the Plein Aire Painting workshop with Virginia Vaughan in Calvert, it's coming! The tech people are still trying to help me get it to work. The guy said that he will put it on here for me. So, I am going to let him do that. I still am getting an error message when I try to do it, but it works for him. I need to figure out the problem, though, so I can do it myself in the future. I haven't forgotten!

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Brazos Valley Art League members need to get your entries ready for the upcoming juried show. The dates on that are December 1-19.

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I know that sketching, drawing, observing, practicing, experimenting, studying, researching, are all so important in being able to produce art. But, sometimes, I think that maybe I am doing too much practicing and sketching and not working enough on more finished things. However, at this stage of my vision problem, I am having to figure out some adjustments and directions.

I'm just having trouble getting things to connect and, sometimes, after a while, in seeing anything at all. What others see as straight lines may look wavey, curved, disconnected, or blurry to me. Just the physical act of bringing lines together or putting a brush into paint or water is difficult. I miss, often, and have to keep repeating until I finally hit something.

At the plein aire painting workshop, I felt like a bumbling idot at times because I just couldn't see things right to connect them, whether that was lines or picking up paint, or cleaning a brush, or packing or latching and unlatching hooks on equipment. Vaughan was demonstrating and while we painted, I thought I could see when she seemed to paint a nice curved line. So, I did that. When she came over to me, she pointed out that this was a straight line. I was surprised, because it looked like a big curve, to me. We fixed that. But, my rooster still looked like a cartoon character! (Most of my animals and people end up that way-cartoons!)

The other day, I made some tomato soup for lunch. The Campells Kids soup mug (which is white with pictures of the kids on it) that I usually use got broken, so I was using another cup that is black. I rinsed the cup and put it beside the stove. When my soup was hot, I proceeded to ladle my soup into my cup, or so I thought. Soup went all over the counter because I had my cup upside down. I was pouring it all over the bottom of the cup, and not inside. But, I couldn't tell the difference. Another mess to clean up, but, at least, this time, I didn't drop something on the floor instead of putting it on the counter because the edge of the counter disappeared into a purple fog.

I'm kind of slow and careful in doing things, anyway, but this eye problem (Macular Degeneration with cataracts) makes things take even longer.

A lot of people have this. I guess that I am actually lucky because I only have AMD in one eye. I just hope that the other one doesn't get it. As it is, I can get closer to things, close the bad eye, and see things. Not as they should be, but it isn't all just a big purple spot or dark, where I am trying to look. I can't imagine how terrible it must be for people who have this in both eyes. I guess that you have to adjust, but I have heard that some people are never able to adjust to losing their central vision.

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Get well wishes go out to Linda M., Vin, Carole P., and Gwen. And a special get well wish to Christopher. I hope that everyone will recover and get some relief, soon.

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Keep warm! It looks like summer and hurricane season are finally about over.

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Good Luck to everyone who will be participating in UIL tomorrow!

Space Station Fly Over

Space Station Flyover

9" x 12"

watercolors

As the sun was setting in the west, last evening, Ashton and I went outside to wait for the announced appearance of the space station and the shuttle Endeavor. We were told that we would be able to see them go over in our backyards at 5:52 p.m. Right on schedule, we looked to the south from the street in front of our house, and watched the space station move just above the treetops, from southwest to southeast.

"It doesn't look like it is that high up, " I said.

I'm sure that, with my Macular Degeneration and cataracts, I didn't see the space vehicles the way others do. I told Ashton that it reminded me a bit of the oil well "pumper" behind us, but it was long, and slim, and had a silvery bluish tint to it. On one end, it looked like a flashing red light was attached to it, with other white lights in various places.

Usually, when we have seen the space station and shuttle go over, they went from north to south, so this was a bit different.

In my little painting above, I showed the shape of the space station and shuttle, as it appeared to me. However I changed things a bit. After the space vehicles passed over, we turned to the west to come in the house, and watched a clear, gorgeous sunset. I just had to add some of those colors to remember that we had a beautiful sunset, along with the amazing display from space.

I also added one of the planets in the evening sky, as it appeared to me.

"It looks a little like the Texas Longhorn symbol, but with spokes or rays coming out from the top and bottom," I remarked to Ashton as we walked in the road.

It reminded him of the North Star.

The space station and Endeavor are supposed to go over us again this evening, but I haven't heard a time, yet. Pictures of it on the local news were gorgeous, last night. We will go out again. I just heard that it will go over at 6:19 tonight.

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Notice the changes I have made on my sidebar. Lots of new things.

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I just joined the Every Day Matters group. Click on the picture at the top of my blog and you will be taken to their website. Each week, they issue a topic, and people sketch and journal about that topic. Then they submit their sketchbook/journal entries to the website. There are some really interesting sketchbooks on that list. If you need a nudge to sketch or journal, this would be a good site for you. They are on the 197th challenge. Number 1 was to draw a shoe. Number 197 was to draw noodles. (Funny, my daughter cooked spaghetti for supper that night. I drew my supper instead of eating it right away! I'm still working on that, and my sketch of a shoe. New challenges come out each Sunday. You can go to their website at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/everydaymatters/ .

I really don't need that nudge as I have plenty of ideas of my own to draw. But I thought the idea of journaling along with sketching was interesting. And it is inspiring to see what everyone posts.

Another site I am looking into is Virtual Sketch Date . On this site, they give a photo to work from each month, and then people can submit their own interpretations to the site.

I haven't joined that one, yet. I'm thinking that I really have enough to do already. Of course, you don't have to do every challenge and there is no pressure.

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Saturday there are a couple of events coming up here. The big International Festival is in downtown Bryan Saturday. You can see more through the link in my sidebar.

It's also UIL Day (University Interscholastic League) for students. Ashton is going out for picture memory again this year. He's just a little nervous.

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The Brazos Valley Art League meeting is Wednesday December 3 at noon at the P. David Romei Art Center in College Station. This will be a Christmas party and gift echange of a small piece of art.

Members Show will be December 1-19.

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I just received the date for the next Sketch Crawl.

The 21st World Wide Sketch Crawl will be Saturday January 10. Click on the logo or go to their website for more information or to sign up. http://www.sketchcrawl.com/.

And, one exciting new thing is that they are having special Sketch Crawl t-shirts made! They will be galaxy blue with the Sketch Crawl logo on the front and a pencil on one sleeve.

Okay, everybody. I'm signing up for Bryan/College Station/Brazos Valley Area. So, let's plan to draw the Brazos Valley. Let me know if you want to join us here!

If you are in another area, sign up or find a group for your area. A lot of people are already signing up, all over the world!

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And, of course, the big news is that we have set the next Plein Aire Painting Workshop in Calvert with Virginia Vaughan for Saturday February 21, and spilling over into Sunday morning Feb. 21.

You can see more on V...'s website . Click on her name in my sidebar to go to her website or go to http://www.v-vaughan.com/. or http://vvaughan.blogspot.com/ .

For a supply list or to sign up, you can contact me at grannyc_54@yahoo.com.

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Hurricane Watch

Dolly Clouds

Top: watercolor (detail)

Bottom: photo

I tried to post last night, but couldn't get into my blog, for some reason. So, I just fought the computer and watched the weather news on Houston's channel 13, the Weather Channel, and the updates on our local channel KBTX.

Edouard was right out there in the Gulf of Mexico, looking like it was going to strengthen to a category 1 hurricane and go right over Galveston, then head over us. We were warned of winds and heavy rain.

I always tell myself that it couldn't be as bad as the day that I got trapped in a small car in Hearne with flooding from 20 inches of rain, 15 of those in just 3 hours . We didn't have flooding here, then, and most of the rain will run off into the empty lake near us, if we should have a tremendous rain.

I finally fell asleep this morning after I saw on tv that Edouard came ashore east of Galveston, and had not strengthened to a hurricane.

There is rain showing on the radar, coming this way, but we really need it. It has been very hot and dry, which is normal for Texas in summer. Sometimes it takes a hurricane or a tropical storm in the summer before we get any rain at all. A nice, slow, gentle rain, without storms, would be nice.

When Hurricane Dolly hit south Texas, we did get several bands of showers with it, but ended up with only about 1/2 inch of rain. There were some spectacular clouds to the south and overhead that I took a few pictures of. At sunset, there was a touch of yellow and orange in those clouds.

I pulled out a piece of watercolor paper and did some quick cloud studies after I looked at the clouds. I'm not happy with them, though. My yellow is just too strong, for one thing. And it looks even stronger on the computer. (It looks great in a room with the lights off!)

My mother used to tell me that a blind person could see my paintings! Bold, bright, big, strong, thick, heavy, energetic. Small, soft, and realistic things just don't come out of me, without being very tight and controlled to the point of feeling extremely restricted and uncomfortable.

In the small watercolor, I started out trying to study the clouds, but, pretty soon, I just had to let go some and play around, getting loose. I stopped after that one page, because I felt like I wanted to play with the watercolors, more than I wanted to capture the clouds on paper. I decided to let the camera record the clouds for me, for future reference.

This morning, I looked out the window to the south, but there have been no magnificent clouds, so far. It was just cloudy and gray. Maybe there will be more, later, as Edouard moves closer.

At least, it won't be as hot today. It was 105 yesterday, with unusually low humidity. Today, it's only 84, with sunshine.

I loved to watch crashing waves and wind-blown rain, and was one who always wanted to stay and watch the hurricanes and storms when I lived on the coast. I like rainy weather and storms. I feel more awake then. I just want to enjoy them when I know that I am safe! People always had to insist that I evacuate when storms were coming. I knew I was supposed to, but, still, I wanted to see what was happening. Now, at least, thanks to some tv stations, we can watch a little of it through cameras and the eyes of reporters, from the safety and comfort of our homes, or wherever we might be.

I loved to be on the Seawall in Galveston when a norther would blow in, and the waves would come in, splashing over the rocks, then get hit with a blast of north wind, spreading the spray out in a great fan, back toward the incoming waves.

I even liked to be out in a boat, in waves. I never considered that the boat might sink or turn over, until years later!

I miss being able to put my feet in the water, looking for things on the beach, watching the clouds and the waves. At one time, I bought one of those little mechanical things called the wave, that has blue water in it and rocks back and forth to make a wave. The mechanical part broke so I tried to buy a new one. But, the newer ones just look really cheap, but aren't, and aren't nearly as satisfying as those old ones. Besides enjoying it myself, I thought it would be something nice for my art room. I took the old one to let the kids watch, several times, and they were fascinated.

Some storms that hit the Gulf Coast do travel inland and do damage in this area through tornadoes or wind. We don't seem to have much flooding, except in certain areas where the road was dug out instead of being built up or where housing was built on a filled in creek.

I still watch for storms and am not quite sure how to prepare, inland, although I have spent most of my life in the area. I know what to do on the coast. Board up, tape up, pack up, and leave! But, inland, I guess we just have to think of what to do in case of a hailstorm or tornado. I still think that I should load up Daddy's cattle trailer, the pick up truck, the car, and move everything of value to Calvert, like we used to do. We did that with every storm threat. It worked because we knew storms were coming. It won't all fit into our little minivan, along with the family and pets, today.

Well, I think I am going to enjoy a rainy day, later, if it ever gets here.

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Please sign my Guest Book at the bottom of the page, if you haven't already.

And pass this along to anyone who you think might be interested.

I do welcome your comments and your support.

Let me know if you see anything that is of particular interest to you.

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Something About April

My Child

watercolor

What is it about April? Especially the time around the 20th through the 25th.

It should be a time for thoughts of spring, pretty flowers blooming, new life emerging. Thoughts of growth and renewal. April showers and May flowers. A beautiful moon, cool nights, and warm days. Kids playing outside, people gardening and planting, looking forward to summer days and vacations. Heading into the last days of school for the year.

Instead, something always happens, or I am, somehow, reminded of death, while wanting to cling to a loved one. Of wanting to reach down and with all my might, pull the dead from the grave-bring them back to experience life again. You don't ever want to lose that connection to someone, yet they are snatched away and hidden from you, no matter what you do.

It happened long ago. Still, you never want to let go-to stop reaching for them.

And, now, when spring and the end of April is here, more reminders. Another train hit a truck in that same county, killing the truck driver. This time, there were pictures of the truck in the news. It was almost on that same day, but years later.

And now we learn of the death of someone just a bit older than I am. Someone who lived a full life and was a truly good man, dedicated to, not only his family, but to his community. I know that his family will miss him terribly, but the town will, too. His presence and his deeds were truly blessings.

Today, I'm thinking of Wesley, a truck driver who was a stranger, little Otto from so very long ago, and little Marvin, also from many years ago, and Jamey, and Sherril and Bicker. Not all of them on this month, of course, but all of them gone too soon. They are all missed.

I remember watching the late afternoon sun through my window, filtering through the rich green leaves of spring, making lacey patterns that danced in a soft breeze Just like the days have been in the past week. How could something so unreal happen on such a beautiful day.

We can't touch, anymore, but we can remember.

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The watercolor above was done on 300# watercolor paper using a limited palette of blue and brown Winsor Newton watercolors.

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Next weekend, May 3 & 4, Calvert, Texas will have their 2008 tour of homes, with related events. Click on the link at the top of my page to find more information.

The town truly is a treasure and you should enjoy your visit there.

I have several links to various places around Calvert and Robertson county in my sidebar.

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Remember to sign my Guest Book

Mother

Mother

watercolor

The moon was full, the night that it happened, so many years ago. But it seems like just yesterday. Each detail, sensation, smell, and emotion are even more fresh than they were then. Probably, they are more keen because they were blocked by disbelief and unreality, then. It all seems, as it did at the time, like a bad dream that leaves you feeling empty, drained, anxious, questioning, and afraid. I wish that it had been just a nightmare, but time insists that it did happen and is real.

Some life goes on.

In the small watercolor above, I used a limited palette of blue and brown. I used Winsor Newton watercolors on 300# watercolor paper. I like working on the heavier paper best. This is one in a series of seven paintings that I did using this color combination. This is one of my paintings that seems to relate to the work of the German Expressionist, Kathe Kollwitz.

This painting shows a weeping mother, clutching torn clothing and a shoe. One child behind her, out of her sight, tries to hang onto her as life slips away. A second child reaches up to her, wanting to be held.

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Stork Update

Mama and Papa stork are well into their rhythm of taking care of the 5 eggs in their nest, according to the web cam for the nest in Przygodzic.

It looks like the web cam for the nest in Ustron is working now. This one is a school project.

You can find more in the sidebar under Stork Sites. The link that says Stork Cams gives a list of stork sites, including the one at Ustron.

I still can't find the one that we watched last year that had sound with it. We could hear music in the background, at times, traffic noises, and even the noises that the storks made with their bills.

If you would like to purchase one of my stork drawings, I will donate a portion of the price to the school project.

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Remember to check out the Sketch Crawl website at http://www.sketchcrawl.com . The 19th World Wide Sketch Crawl will be June 21. I hope that we can get a good turnout from the Brazos Valley area to participate this time. (Along with the rest of the world!)

Saturday June 21 is also the date of the Texas Reds Festival in downtown Bryan. I have added a link under events.

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Thank you for reading and sharing.

Please let me know if you see something of interest to you.

Vision-Sunday Afternoon Band Concert

Sunday Afternoon Band Concert

7" x 10.5"

watercolors

It seems like a perfect thing to do on a Sunday afternoon. Go to a band concert in a lovely place. A park is great, as is an auditorium.

My young grandson escorted me to a concert by my favorite band at Rudder auditorium in Rudder Tower on the Texas A&M University campus last month. (Which is also one of my favorite places to go.) Both the symphonic and concert bands were going to present programs during the afternoon.

Having played flute in the Calvert High School band for a few years, I have an appreciation for good band music. The former director of the A&M band, Joe Tom Haney, was also our band director in high school. So we had some excellent training.

As I dressed to go over to campus, I was watching the news on tv and knew that Shep Smith from Fox News was broadcasting from the Flag Room in the MSC, next door to Rudder Tower. I really wanted to go watch him, too, and, hopefully, meet him.

We also heard on tv that Bill Clinton was flying in to make a speech at Reed Arena about the same time as the concert. A busy day here.

As we drove past the airport on our way to campus, Clinton's plane flew over us as it landed. We knew because of all the police cars, waiting and circling around the area.

My daughter let us off by the MSC and we went into the Flag Room to see Shep Smith. I could hear him, and I could make out some people at a table across the room. But I couldn't really see much because of the bright tv lights! I checked out the art gallery door in the Flag Room to see if they were open on Sunday. They were. I thought we could return after the concert and look around there, if Shep was already through broadcasting.

We entered the lobby of Rudder and I almost had a panic attack! I couldn't see much. Dark carpets and low lighting in places. Thank goodnes my grandson was with me and that he is able to read almost anything! There was a sign placed on a stand in the middle of the floor, showing which auditorium the band concert would be in. I couldn't see it until I was just a few feet away. It was printed on maroon cardboard with black letters!

Then there were two flights of stairs to walk up. Carpet was maroon or dark blue in the building. No lights on the actual steps, but the landings were lighted. I was leaning over trying to find each step, and, at the same time, having pain in my knees from my worn out joints! People around me were walking easily while I was complaining, "Why don't they have elevators in this nice building!"

I couldn't help but wonder why, with a big architecture department at the University, this very public building was not made more handicapped friendly. I'm not that bad off, but I'm sure that others who do have more serious handicaps, and didn't have a young person to help them, would not be able to function in the building is, as lovely as it is.

(I have since learned that, there is a number to call to let them know that you are coming, if you have special needs, and they will have someone to assist you or show you where to go to avoid all those stairs.)

And, then there was the restroom situation. We were on the second level, but all the restrooms are on the first floor. That meant that, at intermission, I had to climb the stairs again. And then, I couldn't read the signs to know which was the ladies room. Signs were placed high on the wall, too far for me to read with my poor vision. My grandson escorted me to the area, but he was a little embarassed about going to the area of the ladies room. A man was there, waiting for his daughter to come out, and he showed me which door was the ladies room. I felt really stupid that I couldn't even find the restroom, and I was in a hurry, too!

We entered the auditorium and took the first seats near the door. To go closer to the stage meant climbing down more steep stairs. I noticed a woman on the floor near the stage, in one of those little electric carts. I decided that there must be another entrance somewhere that would allow people to sit close to the stage and not have to climb all those stairs.

My escort was a little gentleman and sat through the concert. A few times, I asked him to read the program to me, and he did. (Some of that was just to discuss the instruments and the music.)

The music was excellent and that should have been enjoyable. But all I could think of is that, one of these days, I may not be able to see the band at all. It was hard to sit there and struggle to make out instruments or what the musicians were doing.

Oddly, I could see the director and his platform fairly well. I could make out the percussion section with men in bright red or orange shirts. I could see one on the left who may have been playing a xylaphone or a kettle drum, just from the way he bent over and moved his arms. Another played rhythm instruments and chimes. Another either played a kettle drum or some kind of drums. He seemed to be using his hand flat.

Other than that, all I could see was a golden halo in the back of the orchestra for the baritones or bass horns, that same golden halo on the left for the trumpets (I think!), and the same halo for the trombones and possibly some other horns on the right.

I could see some knees in front of the trumpets. One set of knees seemed to be covered by a blue and green floral patterned skirt. Next to the skirt, there seemed to be jeans and next to the jeans, there appeared to be another blue and green skirt. But what instruments they played, I have no idea.

A hand with a part of a flute was near the director, toward the center on the right. A yellowish pattern was next to the director, in the first row, on the right. I couldn't tell if this was an instrument case, or some kind of air cast a person might be wearing.

On the left, I could only see a foot wearing a sandal.

There was a light area around the director, I suppose from a spotlight. But that blended into the purple spot that I see , and darkness. Only the few things I have mentioned poked through that darkness. At least that is the way that it looked, through my eyes.

"Will I be able to just sit and relax and enjoy listening, in the future, if it comes to that? Can I enjoy anything without being able to see it correctly?" I couldn't help but wonder as the director put his energies into conducting and the young people in the band worked to give us their best efforts. "Why can't I just sit back, relax, and enjoy being here and listening!"

I thought of the park and the old band stand there and how it should have been used more over the years. It was so wonderful when the Houston Symphony played there one spring. And the big highlight, for me, was when the band from Ft. Hood came during the Sesquicentennial. What a thrill that was . It was even nice when our Trojan band would play in the bandstand.

And I dreaded having to go back down those stairs to the lobby! I felt sort of lost and that I should be showing my grandson things instead of the other way around. I could recognize things and knew generally where to go, but I feel so foolish when I can't find or read signs, or recognize which way I should go.

The concert ended and I walked sideways down the stairs. My grandson and I walked across the fountain area, through a little dust devil, back to the MSC and the Flag Room. TV lights were still on and people were sitting around in the "living room", as they often do. We sat for a few minutes, too, but the tv personalities seemed to be gone. I thought they must have rushed over to Reed Arena to do a story on Clinton being there. Or maybe it was a supper break.

We went through the art exhibit in the gallery and looked at work by, and from the collection of, actor Anthony Quinn.

I've written about that in a previous post, so I won't go over that again.

I'm sure that, now, I have lost my center vision due to wet Macular Degeneration. (The cataracts in both eyes don't help, either.)

But it was a bit odd that I could see the band director so well, and he was in the center of my vision. I guess that it has something to do with the lighting in the auditorium. When the normal lights were on, I could see the band members entering and getting ready to play. And I could see their instruments.

If you would like to read more about my experiences with Macular Degeneration, look for the older posts that are prefaced with the word "Vision". Also, I have listed some of the sites that I have found that deal with AMD in my sidebar under "Eye Sites".

I painted "Sunday Afternoon Band Concert" from a sketch I did after we got home from our visit to A&M. I used Winsor Newton watercolors on 140# Arches watercolor paper.

Please let me know if you see something that you are interested in. Most of the art work on my blog is for sale.

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Stork Update

If you are stork watching, or would like to, the nest in Przygodzic now has 4 eggs! Mama stork seems to be sitting on the nest every time I look, but they give the egg count at the bottom of the camera shot. There are now 4 little animated eggs there, so we know that the nest has 4 eggs in it.

You can check out the links under Stork Sites on my sidebar on the right.

If you click on Stork Cams, you can see a list of various places that have web cams or information on the storks.

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19th Worldwide Sketch Crawl Announced

Get Ready! Make your plans! Sharpen a pencil. Pull out your sketchbook (or buy a new one!). Dust off your watercolors, markers, crayons, pens, or whatever you like to draw with.

The date for the 19th Worldwide Sketch Crawl has been announced for Saturday June 21. I will be adding more about that on my blog, but I just wanted everyone to be able to plan for this.

You can check out the website at http://www.sketchcrawl.com/ or look on my sidebar under Art Helpers and click on that link.

I hope that we can get a lot more participation from this area this time.

You can read more about the last one in previous posts on my blog. You can also see some of the work that we created that day.

If you are interested, you can register on the Sketch Crawl website, or, if you are in this area, you can register, then post a reply under either Bryan, Texas or College Station, Texas and let us know that you are interested. (You don't have to, but it would be nice to know who all is sketching, and might be fun to get this together as a group.)

You can even post your own reply to get a group together for your area.

Remember that this is open to everyone-all ages, all levels. Beginners, professionals, students, teachers, professionals, families, groups, or individuals. People can work together or solo. The idea is just to draw that day, with people all over the world, working at one time.

I'm excited about it and looking forward to another day of drawing.

More on this later. I just wanted to pass on the announcement of the date.

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