Yesterday my mom, sister and I went to Old Sturbridge Village because they were giving free admission to all mothers. It was a nice afternoon and we saved $75.
The gazebo in the herb garden.
Some unfired pottery.
I always wanted a canopy bed as a kid.
Looking out the window in the "rich people's house."
The pond and covered bridge.
I haven’t been there in twenty years and it was just as I remembered it. I left with lots of potential reference photos and the general impression that I was born in the wrong century.
Last Friday afternoon we were driving through Montague, MA on our way to look for a certain waterfall in Sunderland. We came across an old mill that had been renovated and filled with shops. There was a cute little co-op gallery, Saw Mill River Arts and a bookstore, the Montague Bookmill. We stopped for a bit and browsed. There were rooms and rooms of used books and new books connected by narrow staircases. I felt almost like I was snooping through someone’s house. I would like to come back and spend some more time there and perhaps eat at their little cafe.
We ended up finding the waterfall and it was quite impressive. I filed away my snapshots into my “future paintings” file.
Another item found at Papou’s house: a pencil sketch of Papou drawn by his sister, Mary. I remember him talking about this drawing in amazement at how his sister could capture his likeness so well. He saved it all these years, since 1951.
I found this ashtray at Papou’s house, and I took it home and put it on my nightstand to hold hair clips. I love the bright red inside. I enjoy pottery with white on the outside and bright colors on the inside, like these tripod dishes.
I sketched it twice. The sketch on the left was first and I was off quite a bit. I came closer to the actual object on my second sketch (right). Elipses were never my cup of tea (whose are they, anyway?). I could fill up a sketchbook of practice sketches and still be improving.
I stayed with my grandfather (Papou) when I was in college and for a few years afterward. He passed away this past year, and his house was recently sold. I’ve always loved his house. It was a simple ranch, but it was nicely decorated with lots of original art.
The landscaping was impeccable. He had mini palm, orange and fig trees out on the patio in the summer and kept them in his heated garage in the winter. He had lovely, mature Japanese maple trees.
Even though I will miss him more than any thing, I will truly miss his house. It was always there and available for me to stop in any time. If I ever build my own house someday, I think I will build a replica of his house.
I went through my old drawings and put together a flickr set of some of the drawings that I made at Papou’s house over the years.
I’ve been scanning a box of photos so I can throw out the originals and declutter my space. Recently, I found this small seascape, painted in 1994. Back then, I usually copied from photos in magazines, but I made up this scene in my head.
At the time, I remember being so proud of myself because this was the first watercolor that turned out the way I wanted. I’ve kept it around all these years as a memento of that feeling. Now I’ve thrown out the original, but I still have the memory.
Baby Cate arrived last week and I’m finally getting into the swing of things enough to make some sketches while she naps. I am no expert on baby portraits, but I will definitely get a lot of practice over the next few months as I’ll want to do plenty of sketches of my precious baby girl. I am so lucky!
I was always suspicious when I heard women say that childbirth was their most creative act. In my case, the only creativity involved was making some sketches from my hospital bed while waiting for the contractions to set in.
Hurricane (tropical storm) Irene proved to be a real non-event for my family other than our power going out for one hour. There was a gentle, steady rain with almost no wind. I’ve seen the lake more choppy on a sunny day in fact. It was generally just a gray, yucky day. Thankfully, I baked up some tasty whole wheat blueberry-oat scones that morning.
Below is a watercolor I made last year of the Deerfield River as seen from the Bridge of Flowers. It is so sad to think of it as such a destructive force. I still have some reference photos of the bridge itself from that trip and I’ve been thinking of making a painting to remember it like it used to be. I’m sure they will fix it all up at some point, but it will be a long time and will take a lot of money.
I hope all my American readers have a wonderful Independence Day celebration. Yesterday we had a great time on the lake with lots of fireworks and fires. Katie had an especially good time and she got a lot of exercise by running in and out of the lake to catch her ball. Today I am relaxing at home.
