7th World Wide Paint Out Sept. 11, 12, 13, 2009

Plein Aire Painting In Calvert

Top: Barbara Painting on Main Street

Bottom: Barbara Going To Paint In The Bandstand, Virginia Field Park

If you like to paint outdoors, join in the 7th World Wide Paint Out, Sept. 11, 12, & 13. Register and get more information on the website, http://i-p-a-p.com

To see if anyone has registered in your area, go to http://ipap.homestead.com/paintout.html . I have registered, and, if anyone would like to join me, that would be great!

You don't have to be a member to do the Paint Out, but you can join if you would like to be a member. The event is free.

If you want to paint with me, contact me and I'll let you know where I plan on painting.

Or, you can do this on your own, in your own area. You can also paint one day or all three days. And they have some cute t-shirts, caps, etc. on their website.

There is an html on their website to add to my blog, etc., but I couldn't get it to show up. I really don't understand those things. I clicked copy and paste, but nothing happened.

You can just go to their website listed above for information and products.

They are also on Facebook, for those of you who use that site.

After the event, people can put pictures of their work on the Facebook site. There is a link to do that on their webpage.

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Sorry for not getting this information out sooner, but I haven't worked on my blog or much of anything else for a little while. Haven't been able to see very well!

I had cataract surgery on my good eye, finally, and I'm still recovering. I was like the old joke, "Blind in one eye and can't see out of the other"! More about that in another post. But I did get through it okay, so far!

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It's been great finding people who I had not seen for years, on Facebook. And it's great to be able to share so many things. If you want to know something, ask, and someone is bound to know what you need to find out. Or have similar experiences. There are a lot of artists and writers on there, too.

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Saturday, Sept. 19 is the date for the 24th World Wide Sketch Crawl. I have registered on their Forum for Bryan/College Station and the Brazos Valley Area. Let me know if you want to go sketching with me, or if you would like to go on your own. Or if you have questions. Click on the Sketch Crawl logo in my sidebar to go to the website.

Or you can go to http://www.sketchcrawl.com for more information.

These things like Paint Outs and Sketch Crawls, make a really nice day.
I welcome some suggestions for how we can get these things going here, or where we might go to paint and draw.

Remember, this is Free, open to all ages, all media, groups, individuals, and all skill levels. You can paint, draw, sketch, write in your journal, or just doodle. You can work all day or part of the day, at home, or on location, with a group or solo. There are no rules.

I have listed to meet at the LaSalle Hotel in Bryan, and register at the Frame Gallery, 216 N. Bryan Ave. on Saturday morning. While it is nice to get out early in the morning, I'm finding that I need to sleep a little later. (I think it must be my meds, or my condition!) But, I'll try to do what others would like to do.

We can decide where to work, if we have a group.

In Calvert, meet at Mud Creek Pottery, 407 Main Street.

If people prefer to meet at one place, I am open to that too.

Contact me, or Greta Watkins at the Frame Gallery, or Sonny Moss at Mud Creek Pottery.

Let's have some fun and record the Brazos Valley!

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23rd World Wide Sketch Crawl Beginning

Reading

Barbara

ink

Barbara sketched this woman, enjoying reading a very thick book, in the coffee shop as we started Sketch Crawl.

Computing In The Coffee Shop

Barbara

ink

Barbara sketched a man at the next table, using his lap top. She used her small travel set of watercolors, a tiny folding brush, and a film container with water to add color to her sketch.

Ladies Meeting

Barbara

ink

When we arrived at the coffee shop, a group of ladies were having a meeting under an unusual antique mirror. They kept moving, so this was particularly challenging for Barbara.

Barbara Sketching

Cecelia

ink and watercolor

Since we didn't get any photographs, I did a little drawing of Barbara, sketching, while people walked past the window. I am having trouble getting my skin tones right. The yellow is just too strong. It was nice to hear people who were walking about, and talking about shopping and making lunch plans downtown.

Ordering

Cecelia

ink and watercolors

Someone with a pony tail, hanging across their back, was ordering at the counter. I thought I would do a person, too, since Barbara was doing people. Of course, this person, too, left and I had to finish from my gesture drawing.
I really enjoyed the atmosphere at the LaSalle Hotel coffee shop, and downtown Bryan.

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23rd World Wide Sketch Crawl Morning

View From The Window

Cecelia

ink and watercolor

My view through the window of the LaSalle Hotel coffee shop window. Included is the back of the sign that hangs in the window. On the left is the Masonic Lodge and, on the right, is the restored Carnegie Library. There is a little pigeon in the round window at the top of the library. There is a garden area between the two buildings.

Masonic Lodge

Barbara

ink and watercolor

Barbara sketched her view of the Masonic Lodge through the LaSalle Hotel coffee shop window. A barber shop is on the ground floor. She used her small travel set of watercolors to add color to her work. For water, she had an empty film container with water, and a tiny folding brush.

WWoman Sitting In The Courtyard

Barbara

ink

Barbara sketched this woman, sitting in the courtyard outside the coffee shop of the LaSalle Hotel. Of course, like other subjects, she moved before Barbara was finished. Barbara enjoyed the challenge of drawing people rather than buildings, or other stationary objects, because they don't sit still and wait while they are being sketched.

Courtyard Gate

Cecelia

ink and watercolor

I don't know what happened, but this is, all of a sudden, wanting to make big spaces between lines. Sorry about that! I didn't do anything.

While Barbara was challenged by drawing moving subjects, I was looking at color, light, shadow, shapes, and that sort of thing. I liked the plantings in the little courtyard, and the iron gate beside the wide windows of the coffee shop.

These were some of our sketches for the World Wide Sketch Crawl. We failed to get any photos this time because Barbara didn't have her camera with her, and Joni didn't have batteries for her's. So, no photos to share, this time. Hopefully, our sketches will be okay to show part of our day.

Checking In

Cecelia

ink and watercolor

We left the coffee shop about noon. I had asked people to meet at the coffee shop, then, after 10 a.m., to check in at the Frame Gallery, so we would have some idea of who was sketching, and where. We seemed to be sketching alone.

We were greeted at The Frame Gallery by Sarah, the resident dog. Greta was helping customers select a frame for the portrait that she had painted of them.

We spent some time trying to decide on a place to eat. I thought of baked potatoes and atmosphere at Rudy's in College Station, so that is where we headed. Sort of. I am not a very good navigator so we got lost!

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My apologies for this double spacing. And for having to put these in several posts! But that is all I could figure out to do.

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World Wide Sketch Crawl Tomorrow

Tomorrow is the big 23rd World Wide Sketch Crawl. Go to http://www.sketchcrawl.com/ for more information.

Locally, in Bryan, meet at the LaSalle Hotel in downtown Bryan at about 8:30 a.m. Saturday morning. From there, we can decided where to work. We will probably need to find a cool spot, near restrooms, as the day warms up.

After 10:00 a.m., you can register at the Frame Gallery, 216 N. Bryan Ave. That will give us some idea of how many people are participating. Contact Greta Watkins at the Frame Gallery for more information.

If we have a group, some may choose to work together. Or people may choose to work alone. Possibly, we could meet later to share experiences and work. At the end of the day, experiences and work can be posted on the Sketch Crawl website, on individual websites, or places like Flickr, Picassa, Facebook, etc.

Just bring yourself, your materials that you want to use, and any personal items you may need. You might want to include a folding chair or stool, depending on where you want to sit. So far, I have been able to find a bench or chair to use, but I have a lawn chair in the car, in case I need a place to sit.

This is a FREE event, open to all ages, all skill levels, all media, groups, families, or individuals. You can journal, draw, sketch, paint, or even doodle. You can work all day, or for a few minutes-at home, in a group, or solo. There are no rules.

In Calvert, meet beginning about 8:30 a.m. at Mud Creek Pottery, 407 Main St. Contact Sonny Moss for more information.

People in other communties can work there, perhaps forming their own groups, or they may join in another group such as in Calvert or Bryan.

Let's Draw The Brazos Valley!

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Speaking of art, Greta Watkins is having some classes at the Frame Gallery in downtown Bryan. Tomorrow, she is hosting a workshop on linocut printmaking.

On Wednesdays, there is a group that meets there focusing on painting portraits in oils.

See her website or contact her at the Frame Gallery in Bryan for more information.

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Remember sunbathing?

I've been avoiding the sun for a long time because I get sunburned and blistered, instead of getting a nice tan. The light bothers my eyes, too. But, now, my doctor told me to to go out and get at least 15 minutes of sun a day. So, I'm going out on the deck in the mornings, sitting in the sun with my hat and sunglasses, sketching and listening to the birdies sing.

Kind of a nice place to be.

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Texas Reds Festival 09

Photos from Texas Reds Festival '08

World Wide Sketch Crawl

Bryan, Texas

Pat & Cecelia

Carnegie Library & LaSalle Hotel

I hope that you are out enjoying the big Texas Reds Festival in downtown Bryan. Steak, wine, lots of entertainment, and things going on for all ages. A big concert tonight to top it all off.

I'm not up to going this year. The heat and the walking would be too much after my "little episode" a couple of weeks ago-on D-Day of all things! Wish I could go today. But, they have downtown blocked off and you have to take a shuttle from Blinn, if you want to see anything, or park far off. Last year, there was handicapped parking, but it was still too far for some of us to walk, and the EMS people took us from the parking lot to the LaSalle Hotel on one of those little car things! I wondered if they had planned better for handicapped people this year.

Last year, the Festival occured during the World Wide Sketch Crawl, so Pat and I went, but we couldn't take the heat then, either. We tried! You can look back in my Older Posts for last June, and find my account of our Sketch Crawl and what little we saw of the Festival. I know it was nice, but it needed to be at a cooler time of the year, for some of us who are not so hardy.

But, in Texas, there really isn't a good time for outdoors. It's either too cold, too hot, too dry, too windy, too wet, too stormy, or something. Festivals that can hit on great weather are really lucky!

This year, it is really hot and dry here. People are begging for rain. I guess I will have to paint another rain dance. (It worked the last time!) Of course, we don't want a hurricane, but, this time of year, sometimes that is what it takes to get rain. A gentle tropical storm, maybe? A really mild one.

It's sad to hear that the art work has been taken out of the MSC while they remodel. That's a really poor decision that has a lot of people upset. Wish they would reverse their decision and just freshen up the MSC with new paint or whatever, and keep it like it always has been. That's such a big tradition of A&M.

If you get a chance, go over to the Art Center in College Station and see the Members Show. Of course, I didn't get to enter this one either. I planned to work on my entry, and got sick instead! Always something it seems. I guess the next opportunity is for next fall.

Be sure to check out my sidebar with lots of information and things to enjoy.

Thanks for reading and sharing, and for joining my Followers or Mail List.

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Speaking of Sketch Crawl, the next one is Saturday July 11, 2009. LaSalle Hotel in Bryan, Mud Creek Pottery in Calvert.

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Thinking especially today of Gwen Shook, former Hearne High teacher, as she battles illness- and Paul Odle, the author of "Memories Around The Mill" as he recovers from surgery in Oklahoma. Many enjoy Paul's stories of growing up in Yukon, Oklahma.

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Evening Primroses

Evening Primroses

6" x 8"

oil

I've gotten some comments in the past few days, that are advertisements or spam. The link that one gave doesn't even go to a website. So, I've done something that I really hate having to do myself. I went in and changed my settings so that people have to complete those security letters before they can post a comment.

I hope that doesn't prevent you from making legitimate comments on my blog. Hopefully, this will stop some of those annoying spam things and, maybe, one day, we will be able to have our blogs without that type of thing happening. I noticed that so many people have added this feature. I hate to do those because they are so hard for me to figure out, usually! (I dislike puzzles as much as I dislike math!) But, hopefully, this will help avoid nuisance ads or worse.

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The little 6"x8" oil painting above is a country scene in spring, complete with mailbox and dainty pink evening primroses. They are in bloom here, now. Some people call them buttercups, but buttercups are yellow. They are a really delicate looking flower.

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Only 2 more days until the 22nd World Wide Sketch Crawl starts.

I looked at the Forum on the Sketch Crawl website, http://www.sketchcrawl.com, to see where people will be participating on Saturday. It looks like there are 55 foreign countries, and 47 different locations in the U.S.A. that have registered on the website, so far. There are 8 locations in Texas. That's over 100 places where people will be out sketching, drawing, painting, or journaling their surroundings on Saturday. I think that is exciting, and I can't wait to see what everyone does.

Here in Bryan/College Station, plans are for us to meet about 8:30 a.m. at the LaSalle Hotel in the courtyard, or the coffee shop. After 10 a.m., we can register at the Frame Gallery, just so that we will have some idea of who is participating and where they are working.

In Calvert, meet at Mud Creek Pottery on Main Street, about 8:30 a.m.

People in other communities can form their own groups, or they are welcome to join us in Calvert or Bryan. Or wherever you might be.

After we meet, we can see if we have a group, and if people want to work together or spread out on their own. And we can decide on where we want to work.

We will spend the day recording our surroundings with art. Those who wish to have lunch together might do that.

Participants can work all day, or for a few minutes, if their time is limited.

If there is bad weather, we can always go indoors to work. There are plenty of restaurants and shops with seating, even the library, that would be a nice place to sit and draw. Rain should not keep us from participating on Saturday. The weatherman said there might be thunderstorms on Saturday, but it is supposed to be worse on Sunday.

Easter decorations and traditions would be interesting to look at as subjects, possibly.

Please help to spread the word.

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These are some of the places that have registered for the Sketch Crawl. Maybe you can find one in your own area to join, if you aren't local to Bryan/College Station.

In Texas, North Texas, Austin, Houston, Waxahachie, Georgetown, Port Lavaca, Bryan/College Station, and Calvert. There is also an active group in Dallas, but I don't see them listed this time. They were listed in previous crawls.

In the Unitd States, Oklahoma; Ithaca, NY; Tttumwa, Iowa; Baltimore, MD; Manchester, CA; Corvalis, OR; San Jose, CA; Albuquerque, NM; Portland, OR; Savannah, GA; St. Joseph, MO; Taos, NM; Placer & Nevada counties, Northern, CA; Lansing, MI; Cambrige, Mass.; Rocherster, NY; Griffin, GA; Owosso, MI; Northern Indiana; Bozeman, MT; Atlanta, GA; Honolulu, Hawaii; Phoenix, AR; Albany, NY; LaGrande, OR; Washington, DC; Las Vegas, NV; Mobile, AL.

Also, NYC; Greenville, SC; San Francisco, CA; Los Angeles, CA; Moscow, ID; New York City; New Orleans, LA; Chicago, IL; Salem, OR; Tucson, AR; Seattle, WA; and Phoenix, AR.

In other countries, Ipswich, Australia; Frankfurt or Mainz, Germany; Budapest, Hungary; Singapore; Anwerp or Bruges, Belgium; Seoul, Korea; Oxford, UK; Brussels, Belgium; Vienna, Austria; Firenze, Italy; Hamilton, NZ; Moscow, Russia; Porto, Portugal; Sao Carlos, SP, Brazil; Bogata/Chia, Columbia; Sydney, Australia; Lisbon, Portugal; Italia; Rome, Italy; Amsterdam, Netherlands; Treviso, Italy; Vancouver, BC; Kanagawa, Japan; Barcelona, Spain; London; Beijing, China; and Jakarta, Indonesia.

Also, Tamworth, Australia; Banalore, India; Paris, France; Belfast, Ireland; Osnabruck, Germany; Drogheda, Ireland, Salvadore, Bahia, Brazil; Wellington, NZ; Bologna, Italy; Shanghai, China (Puxi); East UK; Salzburg, Austria; Kuala Lampur, Malaysia; Hyderbad, India; SE Wales, UK; Salsburg, Austria; Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; Manilla, Phillipines; Berlin, Germany; Milano, Italy; Israel; Sweden; Blue Mountains, Australia; Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; Aukland, NZ; Bremen, Germany; Sao Paulo, Brazil; and Stockholm, Sweden.

If you are in any of those areas, and want to sketch with a group, you can contact them on the Forum under 22nd World Wide Sketch Crawl.

Remember that Sketch Crawl is FREE and open to anyone who likes to draw, paint, sketch, journal, or even doodle. Just bring yourself, sketchbook or paper, pencil, pen or whatever you like to draw with, personal items like a hat, sunglasses, or folding stool or chair, and any money that you want to spend.

At the end of the day, people can get together, if they want to, to share their work and experiences.

We will post our work and experiences on the Sketch Crawl website, and personal websites and blogs. And this should give us some good material to do more finished work from.

Hope you are looking forward to this event, too.

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World Wide Sketch Crawl Tomorrow

Cup of Butter Pecan

9" x 12"

watercolor & ink

One of the EDM challenges was to draw your cup or mug. I chose this little tea cup that is among my everyday dishes. These were just two random teacups that we found for every day use. There didn't seem to be any other dishes to match this set. Unless I use it for hot chocolate, I use it for ice cream. On this night, I had some delicious butter pecan ice cream.

Unfortunately, it had too many pecans and I had a time, picking them out! The same goes for things like Raisin Bran. It takes a long time to pick out all those raisins! (You can't find just plain Bran Flakes in the stores around here, for some reason. So I tried to get raisin bran and tried to pick out the raisins. I think they put more than two scoops in every box, like they advertise!)

I wish I could still eat things like nuts and raisins, but it is just too painful to even put them in my mouth. I might just as well sandpaper my mouth!

The little watercolor above was done on 9" x 12" drawing paper with Winsor Newton watercolors and finished with a Pitt pen. I did it more like a journal page, with the little notations on the page, rather than as a straight watercolor.

It's supposed to get colder this weekend, and really cold next week. I may have to get the hot chocolate ready for my cups. (It's almost 80 degrees, now, outside, but the a/c makes it cool in our house. More like ice cream weather, than hot chocolate.)

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I can't believe it is here-almost! Sketch Crawl is tomorrow-world wide. That includes you, wherever you may be! If you want to spend even a few minutes drawing, painting, doodling, or journaling about your surroundings, you, too, can be a part of the 21st World Wide Sketch Crawl. http://www.sketchcrawl.com or click on the logo in my sidebar.

Since it is supposed to be on the cool side, and windy, here, tomorrow, I'm trying to think of indoor places that we might draw. I'm thinking of Rudy's Barbeque since it has a fireplace, or the Corner of Time with its soda fountain, maybe the Chicken Oil Company or Sweet Eugene's. There are lots of eating places around. But that fireplace, rustic setting, and the little creek in the back, sound interesting-and warm. There is a new German restaurant downtown that sounded interesting, especially for dessert!, but I'm not that familiar with places downtown.

Of course, we will start at the LaSalle Hotel. I thought of meeting in the courtyard, but, if it is too cool, we may need to meet in the coffee shop there.

We can decide when we arrive, I guess.

I hope that someone else shows up this time! If not, we may just find someplace to eat and sketch, then come home, and maybe explore the other end of our street. We did some of the west end of the street last time because we couldn't find anyone else sketching downtown.

I've got my travel set of Winsor Newton watercolors; a box of watercolor pencils; pencil case with pens, pencils, erasers, pencil sharpener and ruler ; a watercolor pad, a 9"x 12" sketchbook, a small watercolor sketchbook, clipboard with paper, bottle of water and small water container (pill bottle or film container); tissue paper; paper towels, trash bag and Zip Lock bags; lawn chair and cushion; hat and sunglasses; camera; purse-all ready to go.

Now, I'm trying to think what I might have forgotten!

I hope that I have notified everyone who would like to participate. And I hope that others are spreading the word to anyone who I don't have e-mails or addresses for.

Come join us in Bryan, or Calvert, if you are in the area. Or you can work in your own community. Start your own group, or work by yourself.

I want to see what everyone did. It's amazing to see the world through other peoples' eyes. Some have cathedrals and museums to sketch in, subways and trains, snow or desert, mountains or beach. Food choices are interesting too. We have museums and nice churches, but not the other things.

What do you have around you that you could show the world? It may be ordinary to us, but very different to someone, or even familiar, to someone in another country.

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I have set up a Yahoo group for people who are interested in sketching, drawing, or painting in the Bryan/College Station/Brazos Valley area of Texas. Maybe that will help to reach more people who are interested in participating in things like Sketch Crawl and workshops in our area.

Please let anyone who might be interested know about this group.

The name is Brazos Valley_Sketchers

Go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BrazosValley_Sketchers .

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Let's Draw!

Happy Father's Day

Indianola Courthouse at Sunset

Family Photo

We don't really observe Father's Day in our family anymore. The fathers all seem to have died. I don't recall that we ever celebrated that day very much. We would get the fathers a card, and a gift like pajamas or a tie. Sometimes we would make something, which really wasn't appreciated. Gifts were taken, with thanks, then put away in a drawer to save for the possibility that they might have to go to the hospital, or if they happened to run out of their closet full of ties.

We often had our special meal of red roast and red gravy, with some of the men being served their favorite, fried oysters and oyster stew, with crackers. Most of the ladies and the children were not going to eat that!

Of course, there was church before that Sunday Father's Day meal.

We had a lot of men in our family who were not fathers. Many, who married, didn't have children. And, many didn't get married to begin with. It took them all to help raise the children, of those who did have families.

In later years, Daddy liked to barbeque, then take a nap before going out to check the cattle. He would put a little stool beside the barbeque pit outside the back door, put a lot of lighter fluid to get the fire going, then put on the chicken, weiners, or hamburger patties. They always were black and tasted like lighter fluid. But he loved to do that. He would sit in the hot Texas sun, tending the fire, and sipping cold "sky juice", as he called water. That was from his Aggie days.

The picture above is one of my favorites. It shows my father, carrying my son, on the old foundation of the courthouse at Indianola, about sunset. This was probably about 1965.

If you are a father, I hope that you had a wonderful day!

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It's just around the corner!

The 19th World Wide Sketch Crawl is Saturday!

Click on the Sketch Crawl logo on the top of the page, for more information and to go to their website.

I hope that you will join in! Remember, it's free, its' worldwide, it's for everyone, all ages, all levels, all media, families, groups, or individuals-just everyone, all over the world, all at the same time, drawing/painting/recording their surroundings through art.

Locally, we will meet at the Frame Gallery in downtown Bryan to register, then gather at the LaSalle Hotel, if anyone needs coffee and such! From there we can see who is working and where they want to work. Then we will spread out and start drawing the Brazos Valley.

We'll spend the morning and afternoon sketching.

Lunch is on your own, or a group could go together, if they want to. The Texas Reds Festival will be going on downtown Bryan, so there will be plenty of food to eat at the festival or at local restaurants.

After working, people can get together at the Frame Gallery to share experiences and their work.

There will be entertainment downtown, so, if people want to hang around and do the festival, they are welcome to do that.

After the Crawl, participants can either post their own work on the Sketch Crawl website, or they can add it under my listing for Bryan/College Station. They can also add it to their own website, blog, or places like Flickr.

People in the Calvert area, can do the same thing, but meet at Mud Creek Pottery on Main Street. If anyone is partial to kolaches, they might be sure to check out Zamykal Kolaches on Main Street, to start the morning. There are other eating places, there as well.

Hopefully, people in other communities will start their own Sketch Crawls for their areas, or they can work on their own, if they want.

Let's draw the Brazos Valley while other people are drawing their part of the world! I think we have plenty of material here to choose from.

Let me know if you need more information, or if you would like to join us in this area.

I would love to see what you create!

So get out your pencil and paper, or watercolors, markers, pens, paint, or whatever you want to work with and join in on Saturday.

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