Georgia On My Mind

Georgia On My Mind

ink

8.5" x 11"

Often, while I watch tv, I sketch. Sometimes I just start doodling and see what happens. Sometimes, I have a thought or memory that I want to record. Other times, something on tv inspires me to draw. There may be times when I draw my reaction to a program or the news, or I may even get an idea for an editorial cartoon.

I also like to draw girls when I doodle, and sometimes I put them into a scene or a story type of setting. I may also just be interested in a mood, a hairstyle, or fashion.

Last week, as I heard the news from the country of Georgia, it was hard to believe. I watched images of explosions, tanks and soldiers rushing about, the president of Georgia speaking, and the reactions of our own president and others. Tv pictures of destroyed buildings and fires, with ladies walking along, some with a small bag, saying they had lost everything and didn't know where to go or where they would sleep that night. Old men pleading for help for their country. And even a sweet little black and white cat, crawling from under a pile of broken concrete.

I thought that, sometimes, we talk things to death, while people suffer and die, property and even little animals are lost. We should have the power to make things right and just go do it.

Simplistic, I guess.

I wished that I could reach out and pull all those in harms way to safety. Let the men who can't agree, just go to it and fight it out, and let the rest of us go on with our daily lives in safety. Again, simplistic, probably.

As I sketched, one of "my girls" came out on the paper, in a wistful, somewhat pained, thoughtful mood. The song, "Georgia On My Mind" occured to me and I thought of our own U.S. state of Georgia, famous for peaches.

So, I sketched my girl, leaning against a peach tree, thinking of the song and the country, and of those across the ocean, who are in danger and who are losing so much. Her thoughts reach across the sea, although there isn't much that she can do, but hope and pray.

I remembered the peach tree in my great-aunt's back yard that was loaded with blossoms in the spring and, by hot weather, was loaded with sweet, juicy peaches. She had a man put a board with ropes on it to make a swing in the peach tree. I loved to spend time swinging and pointing my toes up to the leaves of the peach tree and the blue sky beyond. And, on hot days, when the peaches were ripe, I would get a treat to eat out on the back steps in the afternoon-fresh, homemade peach ice cream. Some afternoons, she would have milk and Oreo cookies to play with and dunk, or even a cold glass of Ginger Ale, sometimes with a scoop of peach ice cream in it.

I thought of the ladies I saw on tv from the country of Georgia, one in particular with a flowered summer dress on, so distressed and frightened, not knowing what to do, as buildings burned behind her. All she had was a small suitcase. I wondered what kind of home she had lost, and if she had special things that she did there with her family. Maybe they had cold ice cream, or cookies and milk, and enjoyed the shade and fruit from their own trees in summer. I wondered about their family pictures and papers, and stories, that now are probably lost.

After working with our family pictures and stories, I don't think I could bear to lose any of it. And, certainly, the pets would have to go too, along with family members and my art supplies!

I left the lower part of the drawing blank, thinking that it should be filled in as a painting, later, or just left as a suggestion for the viewer's eye to complete. At this point, I think that it allows some contrast between the texture and darkness of the tree, and the lightness of her hair and the figure. Detail in her face conveys her mood.

Notes indicate the haunting music, while the curving lines among the lettering hint at a gentle breeze blowing from the sea, carrying music and thoughts of Georgia, war and peace, bombs and peaches, youth and age, memories and uncertainty, power and helplessness.

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Speaking of sketching, I just got the dates for the 20th World Wide Sketch Crawl. Mark your calendar for Saturday October 25. I have links to their website in my sidebar. Just click on the Sketch Crawl logo, and that should take you to their web page.

If you are in this area, I hope that you will join me in Sketching the Brazos Valley on the big Sketch Crawl Day.

If you are in another area, you can find a group there to join with or you can work on your own. If you are just learning about the site, look for someone in your area who might have registered, or you can register yourself. That way, you can post pictures of your results following the Sketch Crawl, or you can find others in your area who would like to get together to draw and paint.

And, remember, it's FREE!

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I hope that Tropical Storm, Fay, quickly spins off to the sea, leaving behind some much needed rain in the drought areas, and little or no damage. We're getting a little rain this afternoon, but it has just made the grass grow and the Crepe Myrtles have blossomed beautifully today.

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Morning Walk Through The Village

Morning Walk Through The Village

8.5" x 11"

pencil

TV has not been very good this summer. Some evenings, especially, barren. Late night talk shows-reruns. Hosts off on vacation. Jokes might have been funny the first time, but after that, unless I missed the whole show, and there was an interesting star on like William Shatner, I don't care to watch. Even the news is often the same thing, or even a rerun, over and over. Or, if they have too much of one thing or something that is too scarey, I turn it off. I don't care for most mysteries, or horror shows, sports, most modern music and movies, and the list goes on.

We have watched Gordon Ramsey on "Hell's Kitchen" (about the only reality show I will watch ) and the fairly new "Moment of Luxury" with Bill Stubbs.

The channels with old tv programs have become some of our most watched with their old programs of "Andy Griffith", "Roseanne", "Home Improvement", "Murphy Brown", and "George Lopez". I am disappointed in them, though, because they have added a lot of programs that I didn't like the first time around and still don't. I thought that they were originally going to have some really old programs like "Our Miss Brooks", "My Little Margie", and "Dobie Gillis". Now those were some good programs that I would still like to see! Instead, they keep adding newer programs, over and over and over!

I've already said in a previous post that I really dislike the western channels putting on those awful tv westerns that I didn't like when they were on. "Bat Masterson", "The Rifleman", "Big Valley", and "Gunsmoke". We only had them on because you could only get about 2 stations in those days, so, whatever was on, people watched. If they have run out of old movies, I can recommend some good old Tim Holt westerns! They seldom have any of those anymore.

It got so bad this week, that I actually turned my tv off! That's something that I never do, unless I leave the house. Of course, I could still hear the kids' tv from the other room. "Sponge Bob, Square Pants", "Little House On The Prarie", and "Ghost Hunters". So, I was looking over You Tube for music and old movie clips.

The one saving thing for tv was that, after the comedies at night that I watch, "Scrubs", "Corner Gas", "Becker", "George Lopez", "Still Standing", "Home Improvement", "Roseanne" or "Andy Griffith", the old movie channel has been showing movies from the Big Band or Swing era. Last night, in the wee hours, they featured Betty Hutton and had an interview with her.

What an amazing woman she was! Just beautiful and so energetic, and so tragic. You just wanted to reach out and give her a hug.

Before that, I watched Cab Calloway (remember Zoot suits!), and the story of Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey. Lots of good shows, so much so that I just had to stay up and watch them.

There are a lot of video clips on You Tube that show the movies and music of those times. Just search for an artist or a song, even by the year.

After the good movies, and after the old "Star Trek" tv shows with William Shatner, I finally go to sleep.

Well, it isn't all just to watch tv. My tom cats keep me up all night. I don't know how they know it, but just as soon as my eyes start to close, one starts prowling and scratching on things. I got a little water pistol to squirt him with when he starts that. Now, when he just sees me start to get up with the water pistol, he runs. I think it has become a game. The other one starts running around, too, when that one starts meowing and scratching. Bitsy, the elderly Manx cat, just gets on the bed and goes to sleep, unless she gets sick at her stomach. Then I'm up chasing her around and cleaning up, sometimes, too. I think that they may just want my bed! As long as I am sitting at my computer, working, they sleep peacefully on my bed. But, when I move them to get in bed, they get frisky and keep me up.

They finally all go to sleep when the sun comes up and spend most of the day napping. I'm trying to keep them up during the day so they will be tired at night. Maybe they need a sleeping pill or tranquilizer so that I can get some sleep. When my son was a baby, the doctor gave him something so he would sleep at night, so I could get some sleep. Otherwise, I was up all night, watching him, to make sure he was breathing right! Maybe the cats need something too.

While I'm watching tv, I'm also usually doing some laundry, and sketching. I miss a lot of movies and programs, especially the ending, I guess, because I am thinking of something else, or have an image that I am trying to put on paper.

The sketch above is one I did one night this week. The movie "Apache" was on and I couldn't find anything else to watch. I was hoping for a comedy, but there wasn't anything good on tv. So, I settled on "Apache", while my clothes were in the washing machine. Burt Lancaster was in this one. Turned out to be a better movie than I had remembered. However, true to the way that I watch movies, I was impressed with the image of the pretty Indian maiden, walking through the village with her father. She just seemed to float and glide, so tall and straight, with her full skirt sort of bunched up and moving in front of her. I thought of how it might feel in early morning, walking over soft earth in such a village. They didn't seem to have the normal homes that we would think of in an Indian village. That's what I started sketching, and probably missed a lot of the rest of the movie.

The way that I watch movies, I thought that, when I saw it in the past, the movie ended with Lancaster being killed outside his hut with the sounds of his new baby crying. But, as I watched, this time, there was a happy ending. Or maybe I would classify it as another "non-ending", with the movie just seeming to stop and nothing memorable happening to complete the movie. I think that is why I don't remember a lot of endings. They don't really have an ending to remember! It's not all my fault, with my mind just wandering on to other images.

I thought that it was interesting that, after I sketched my Indian maiden, Russell Baker also posted a painting he did of an Indian chief, using some of the features of a deceased country-western singer, as a model. He had a little quiz to see if people could guess whose features he used. I told him that I was always amazed at how I will work on some piece of art work, and, somewhere, there will be another person thinking of, observing, or doing the same thing, or something similiar. The next day, he posted the painting of an Indian girl that he had worked on.

You can look for Russell Baker's work by clicking on his name in my sidebar under More Artists.

It's now Friday, and the weekend. Hope you have big plans to do the things you love to do, whether that is staying at home, relaxing and watching tv, or going out to eat, to a movie, dancing, or engage in some kind of sport, or whatever makes you happy, as Marvin Zindler used to say.