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.
Recent mental stress has left me in a creative rut, so I have nothing very interesting to post at the moment. What I have been doing is refilling my “creative reservoirs.” Here are some of the things that I have enjoyed recently.
Flipping through old sketchbooks:
Ernest Shepard’s original pen and ink drawings of Winnie-the-Pooh.
Browsing through the portfolio of illustrator Oliver Flores.
I’ve been eating well these days, having had almost every meal at home for over a month now. Last week I went to an Applebees and ate some fried appetizers. It felt like a mini shock to my system, and I was a little surprised at that!
Last night I had the pleasure of sketching while food was being cooked. I remember this post by Suzanne Cabrera when she commented on the same thing happening to her. I did clean up afterwards though.
I’ve been spending a lot of time in this room lately and I’ve gotten it cleaned out enough to show you all a picture. Like I said earlier, the purple walls aren’t my favorite, but I really didn’t feel like painting them right now. And I am so excited to have my own space at all that I’m not very picky.
I’ve never had my own room to do my artwork. I’ve always had to use some other part of the house, usually my bedroom and most recently, a large part of the dining room that I commandeered. I had a large table to work on, but it became cumbersome. For example, when we wanted to have Easter dinner at the table, I had to clear everything out. Also, I didn’t have a good place to store my materials and I was always trekking to other parts of the house to look for something. Now I have everything I need in one place, except for a sink. I also like the idea that I can close the door and be alone when I want.
I was planning on going to my last painting class today and spending the rest of the day outside sketching. Unfortunately, my appendix had other plans.
On Thursday, I got home from work and I had an envelope from Michael Nobbs waiting for me. My whole address was written out in his characteristic block lettering and it was such a treat after a long and yucky day. I ordered the first three issues of his zine The Beany. He has just come out with issue #4, which will be in color and will be available shortly.
The next morning, I felt inspired and made a sketch first thing after I woke up. The whole day felt very productive for me after that.
Drum and Table, ink and white colored pencil in sketchbook, 4/27/09
My Evening Companions, ink and white colored pencil in sketchbook, 4/28/09
While I was at Snow Farm, I tried to fill all my awake non studio hours with sketching. After dinner we usually had an evening activity of some sort, like a guest artist or some kind of presentation. After it was through, I took a shower and then came back to the common area to make a drawing. I was pleased with myself when I made a little hour long sketch.
Oddly enough, when I was there I found it so easy to draw all the time; whereas now that I’m home, I’m finding it to be a bit more of a struggle. I did not have my laptop with me, which definitely gave me more time and less distraction. The zune that Justin convinced me to buy a couple of months ago paid off though, and I was so glad that I had music with me!
When I was making these drawings, I must have been thinking of Paul Heaston, or I was subconsciously influenced somehow because they remind me a little bit of his style. If you haven’t checked out his blog, please do so.
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Image at left: ©2009 Carolyn A Pappas, Norway Maple. Colored pencil, 20 x 16 inches.
