6-28-06

I didn't realize it had been three days since my last post. How time flies. I just finished my weekly drawing for WetCanvas. A broken gate. This was my second participation. I have been fairly happy with my results both weeks. I checked back over some prior months and am very glad I didn't join during some of those drawings. I wouldn't have even known where to start.

Like all the others in the life sketching classes, I have decided my dogs are my most sketched models. First because they are here and second because they are always sleeping. They are so spoiled they don't know they are dogs. I may as well let them earn their keep by modeling. And they won't be complaining if they are not happy with what I sketch. And it beats doing my hand and feet over too many times.

My husband drives a truck so when he is here, he is usually in bed and I don't want to disturb him. My cockatiel moves too much. Plus she is too hard to see thru the cage bars. I have done a couple drawings of her from photos.

I have just about sketched everything on my desk, in my yard, and even tried my inside car window while I was going thru a self-serve car wash. It was pretty dark in there so that one was not good.

I looked online for info about the museum here in town. I wanted to see if there were some displays I want to sketch during the sketchcrawl on Sat 7-1-06. I found a couple of things and I know they have many trees. I don't want to be stuck drawing all buildings as I am not that good with perspective. I am not a technical person so find that subject boring. It just does not click in my head. I can see where I am off even if I don't know how to fix it.

Well hubby is gone till Friday so I have plenty of time to sketch this week. If I can keep my head out of the computer or the tv. I just have way too many things I am interested in.

I bought a new Moleskine sketchbook on ebay and received that this week. Haven't decided when I will start using it. Probably when I get better and don't have as many bad sketches as good. I also ordered some graphitints and they should be here before long.

I belong to a site called Toad Hollow. It is a drawing forum. Carol over there has a lesson in how to use powdered graphite. You don't have to be a member to check out the site, but to join is free. Carol,whose site it is, has a very unique way of drawing. She starts out with a mass of graphite on the paper. Then it seems like she is washing a window and the picture becomes clear. Very intersting and very mystifying to me. I have no idea how she does it.

Looking forward to Friday and the sketchcrawl.

"Any story sounds true until someone sets the record straight." Proverbs 18:17

6-25-06

Today has been a lazy day for me. The heat has settled in and it hurts too much to move around.

I went to church this morning, then the bank, then home to check all the posts at WetCanvas and Toad Hollow. Then a nap seemed like a good thing. My two dogs thought so too. They always share my naps and bed.

I have the swamp cooler going as well as fans in most of the rooms. The miniature schnauzer is on the floor in front of a fan running on high. The flat coated retriever just moves from one space to another hoping that she will find that "just right" place for coolness. She is also ready to eat and follows my every move around the house. She wants to make sure she doesn't miss a bite of her food as well as mine.

Dinner is cooking. Since hubby is working today, I fixed him some fish, and will have baked potato with it and salad. I don't care much for fish or seafood so I will just eat the potato.

Life is good. Even with the heat, I feel so blessed.

Jeanne

What I did in church while listening to the sermon

I am Woman

I Am Woman
by Jeanne Grant

I am woman, hear me roar
As I mop the kitchen floor
Wash those dishes
Smash those wishes
Never ending always more

I am woman hear my plight
As I’m turning out the light
Make those wishes
Shove those dishes
Take the kitchen from my sight

Crosshatching sketch from photo

Practice for the WetCanvas

Sketching 102: Class 3

Floral Collage

C9lored Pencil

Drawn from photos

Poems

Golden Memory

It is that time for your final journey
Leaving us both with a sadness and yearning

You will be missed our golden child
You’ve been a joy from beginning to end
Because we love you so very much
On your final journey we send

We will miss your faithful eyes
As you wait for your next surprise
Your head would come to instant attention
When giving you licorice was our intention

Your longing looks at your papa’s face
Tears in his eyes there is a trace
You leave a void too hard to fill
Trying to forget against his will

Your jobs were clear in your eyes
Carry the paper no matter what size
Unloading the car, you carried your part
Always so faithful, such a big heart

We both remember the joyful times
Memories running thru our minds
Never a problem, always a joy
Memories of you with a brand new toy

We must go on with burdened heart
We must go on and make a new start
Remember our beautiful golden girl
We’ll never forget your golden curls

Jeanne Grant © 8-17-04


Promises of Rainbows

Somewhere is a rainbow
Waiting in the sky
Waiting for someone
To come walking by

To see all the colors
All nice and serene
God gave us this promise
Our sins redeemed

Looking at rainbows
Gives peace and light
And oh how grand
Is that beautiful sight.

Jeanne Grant 10-7-04

The Joke

My body is a failure
There is no more allure
The hair is dry
I know not why
There is no more a cure

My chin has many friends
They seem to never end
I cannot see
Where my neck would be
More chins my body intends

My stomach comes along
Something seems so wrong
Nowhere to be found
My waist does abound
For it grows daily strong

Continue downward to my hips
Wearing all that pass my lips
That cannot be
My huge hiney
I think I’m gonna flip

Knees were meant to bend
Mine will not be a friend
To bend my knee
Will set it free
And on the floor will end

My feet I cannot see
They will not set me free
They get me there
No time to spare
With them I’m happy to be

In consideration
Without hesitation
I’m not so sad
At looking bad
For all of the duration

What can a person do
When all of this is true
You laugh, you cry
You wonder why
Because the jokes on you

By: Jeanne Grant 4-25-04

6-21-2006

I spent today drawing. I did a couple of sketches first, then started and completed two drawings for my cousin. She has two dogs and two new kittens. I had fun yesterday playing with the kitties and taking pictures of them.

It is hot here. Supposed to be 104-112 degrees F the next two weeks. It wouldn't be as much of a problem if I had air conditioning in the house. But no, we have what is called a swamp cooler. On those really hot days, you don't do anything if possible but sit. Any movement and you start sweating. We have to run the cooler and fans all day, the fan over the bed and the cooler all night and we are still hot. Hard to sleep.

If we had air conditioning, we would be unable to pay our bill or would have to keep it so low that we wouldn't get the cold air any way. So it gives me a good excuse for not doing housework, not cooking, and sitting at the computer or drawing. And we drink a lot of iced tea, water, and sodas. In this town it is rare to see anyone running around town without some sort of beverage in their hands. Then we hope for no power shortages where they cut off all electric in random areas. Then you either go to the mall, sweat, or go somewheree they have air conditioning and you don't have to pay the bill.

Above are the pictures I drew. The two dogs are Lucky (rescued from the shelter) and Roxie. The two new kittens are Lady (who is very much a little lady) and Tiger (who almost got named Tramp). He is very loveable but likes to wander and check everything out. She is more skittish and will sit still for photos.

"Let every man be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger" James 1:19.

Jeanne

June 20, 2006

Beautiful morning here. Like a fresh spring day. No real heat yet. That will be along shortly. We are having weather around 100 degrees. July and August will be the hot months.

I will visit the craft store today and buy the "ingredients" that I need for the WC 102 : Class 104 Charcoal. I have never done anything with charcoal except use it in a barbecue grill. I really don't like messy but don't see how anything else is possible with charcoal. I haven't picked out my subject yet, but animals are my favorite things. My problem will be to pick just one.

I miss the participation in Class 3. I got so much from that class. The challenge to do more and more kept me prodded into production. I guess I have caught the bug. I haven't missed a day yet sketching something. Yesterday my subjects were from my desk, but I did get one tiny one of my dog Ditto asleep and one of my thumb.

The following drawing is a watercolor. I am just learning to do those as well. I want to learn to do the minimal washes in my sketchbook to enhance the sketches I do daily. So far I have not conquered that project. I don't yet have down the concept that "less is more". I tend to do everything in more vivid colors and don't know when to stop. I love seeing the sketchbook drawings with the watercolor touches and hope one day to climb that hill and plant my flag of success.

Thank you for visiting. May your day be a delight and you make an impact on someone else's life today.

Jeanne

More drawings

A poem I wrote about Alzheimer's

Alzheimers

I woke up today a feeling of terror
Got up, walked by, and looked in the mirror
Who is that person staring back at me?
Where did they come from, who do I see?

Changes are expected, they are the norm
But what the heck happened, that can’t be my form
Where is my picture, please let me see
Where are my thoughts, where can they be?

Living with strangers, why am I here?
Looking around me filled with fear
Don’t I have loved ones, none come around
I only see empty, I only see frowns

I woke up today, a feeling of glee
Looked in the mirror and what did I see
Staring back at me my shining face
Feeling so peaceful, no need to race

I see my beloveds looking at me
Filled with sadness, why, what do they see?
Can’t they see that today I am here
Not so tomorrow, no memories held dear

I woke up today, a feeling of terror
Got up, walked by, and looked in the mirror
Who is that person staring back at me?
Where did they come from, who do I see?......

Jeanne Grant 1-29-06

One of my self-portraits.

Here is the Drawing I did from the Weekly site at WC.

Today 6-19-2006

This is my first post. Today I finished a drawing for the Weekly Drawing Site. I haven't posted it yet, as they requested thumbnails, and I don't know how to do that. The subject was "ice".

I have been taking Katherine's Lesson on WC Basic 102: Class 3. I have enjoyed it greatly. I had never sketched from life. Just some self portraits. I try to do one of those a year. So far I have done three. Not very good ones. I tend to draw myself in the worst possible way. I see all the wrinkles, turned down lips, and frowns. I wear glasses to draw and can't see my eyes without them. But most people never see me with the glasses and don't see the resemblance.

In Katherine's class I finally overcame my fear of going into the public to sketch. At first I did some sketches inside my home as the site asked us to do. Then I ventured to my front stoop when it was almost dark out. More "undercover" that way. Then the back yard. The next trip was in the grocery store. Now I have progressed to sketching in the classroom's favorite, Starbuck's, and just this weekend at church and a restaurant.

I had onlookers at church even though I sit in the back row. A friend and her granddaughter kept watching. (I did listen to the sermon and enjoyed it very much) At the restaurant, the waiter gave my sketchbook a couple glances but never mentioned it. So I have lost a little of my fear of being watched.

I still came home and did a sketch of my hubby sleeping. That was a lot of sketching in one day for a person who had never sketched from life but always wanted. Anyone who needs a little push, should visit and work their way thru that class on sketching from life.

I will post the first (which was in the middle of the night when I couldn't sleep and looks like a witch) and the second one which is the "photo" I posted in the WC yearbook, but will do that later. The last one I did was horrible. And the face was too long so I put a fold in the paper instead of starting over. It is really scary.

Eventually I will post some of my poetry. Some of it is thoughtful, some funny, and some very spiritual. I write poetry because I like it and it flows from me freely. It is my way of balancing my life. When anything is bothering me, my grief, worry, depression, happiness, etc comes out on the paper. Like having a therapist but less costly.

I have always written, be it ever so humble, even as a child. I remember in middle school, when I was mad at my mom, I would write a letter telling her how much I disliked her. Get it all out on paper, then tear it to shreds. She would have killed me if she had read them. But it got the frustration and anger out of me.

I still do that to this day. My husband went through medical problems with his heart. Some of the poetry expresses the fear, disbelief, and processes we went through at that time.

I hope that all who browse my blog will either enjoy it, get inspiration from it, or find your own peace in it.

"I am using my gift of this day, to use my gifts I've been given"

Thanks, Jeanne