Thanksgiving

Another Thanksgiving has arrived and I  know that I am very lucky and have a lot to be thankful for.  Among those things are you!

OK,  enough sappiness.   Here’s a quick sketch I did while waiting for breakfast  on a cloudy morning in St. Croix.   This was not in the Flamboyant Lounge, but the service was just as slow.   Matt was off for a dive and my other vacation friends were heading home.   After I ate, the sun came out and it was blazing hot.  I went to the beach, sat down with my book, iPod, and sketch pad to enjoy some sun, quiet and ocean waves.  And then it happened.

Like a wall of locusts.

A Disney cruise had just come to Carambola for a day excursion at the beach.  As they ran down the beach towards the west end where I had just settled in, I heard someone screaming GET A CHAIR, GET A CHAIR.  I turned, looked and was horrified at the vision in front of me.   Hundreds of people with screaming kids.  I took one look and I ran.  Right back to my air-conditioned room and cable TV.  I enjoyed a nice morning watching TV and knitting in cool, quiet and solitude.  I was very thankful for that!

Nothing to say

I’m posting today even though I really have nothing to say.

Not that that’s ever stopped me before.   I remember one time in high school at “Our Lady of the Cigarette Smoking, Plaid Uniform Wearing, Know-it-all Teenagers” we we given a science project to do.  I paired up with Mary Ellen.  She did the whole project.   The day of the Science Fair, lucky me, Sister Mary Don’t Wear Patent Leather Shoes ‘Cause Boys Will Be Able To Look Up Your Skirt In The Reflection came over to review our project just when Mary Ellen had stepped away.  I started yapping until FINALLY Mary Ellen came back.  She  looked at me and said  “empty barrels make the most noise.”   I never forgot that.  Which is surprising since this occurred in the 70’s and I don’t remember much from the 70’s.   So that’s today’s post.  An empty barrel.

I now TRY to keep my mouth shut and listen.   I sometimes think that we are only given a certain amount of words in a lifetime.  So I try to use them carefully.  Most times I fail.

You know what happened to me, but for those of you who can’t stand the suspense, I’m pleased to report that Mary Ellen got pregnant in junior year by a transvestite, dropped out of  high school and had a son she named Cannabis.

I loved the 70’s!

The above painting was another one done on the beach in St. Croix.

And that’s all I’m gonna say.

Who named that kid Rain?

Today, a little rant.   (I’m starting to sound like Kokot!)

During the evening dog walk Charlie and I were having our usual stream of consciousness conversation when at one point he said that his wife, Liz was really into the group The Black Eyed Peas.

Charlie: What’s up with The Black Eyed Peas.  They all have strange names.  apl.de.ap?  will.i.am?

Carol: I actually like will.i.am.  It spells William AND it’s a backwards declarative sentence.

Charlie: Only in a Dr. Seuss book!

Carol: Remember when you wondered about The Edge of U2?  You couldn’t get over the fact that his first name was a definite article.

(DON’T GET US STARTED!!!)                  And then we got started….

Interlude whilst you think of all the kids you know with crazy names.  A sister-in-law and a niece both work in schools and I love when I get the list of kids’ names.  Including, but not limited to the siblings Tropicana and Rambo, and a young lady named Princess Precious Gorgeous.

Then of course there was Nosmo King.  (No Smoking.)  No relation.

And what’s up with celebrities naming their kids Brooklyn and Bronx?   Do you think ANY ONE OF THEM has EVER been to the Bronx???

The above painting was done during one of those CRAZY Caribbean storms where the rain comes down so hard you can’t tell where the ocean ends and the sky begins.  I enjoyed this storm at the beach bar of the Flamboyant Lounge.  Yes, it is most certainly called the Flamboyant Lounge though it wasn’t as flamboyant as it was slow.  It really should have been called the “Slow Service Lounge”.   Or ” The We’re  So Slow Please Order Your Meal On Tuesday If You Want To Eat On Thursday Lounge.”

I mean there’s Island Time and then there’s Island Time.  She was our waitress at the Flamboyant Lounge.  I’m still waiting for my burger.

Back home with a bad attitude

I’m back.

I was away.

St. Croix.  And it’s amazing how quickly that relaxed feeling goes right back to stress and anxiety.  So while I’m enjoying my last day of vacation before I go back to work tomorrow I will tell you a little bit about St. Croix.   Pay attention.  There could be a test.

St. Croix is one of the US Virgin Islands along with its popular big sister St. Thomas where the cruise ships go and it’s rich baby brother St. John where all the rich people go.  St. Croix is the middle child that tries really hard but no one pays attention to.  But that was ok.  It wasn’t crowded with tourists since the “season” hadn’t quite started yet.   We went to visit Bonnie who lives there now.  She used to live in Manhattan.  Bonnie is the creator of my motto “Owtside begins with Ow!” which I blatantly stole from her and am not giving back.  She is also the author of the someday to be bestseller “I used to have a concierge, now I have a machete.” She is very funny. There were other friends there as well and a good time was had by all.

I was able to do a few paintings during the week  in a watercolor sketchbook  (5″ x 8″) I brought along with me.  I would start a painting and then the lure of the waves called and I was back in the ocean.   So there’s not as many as I would like.   But I do have a few more to post.

When I wasn’t painting, I was determined to finish this reversible cable knit scarf.   Yes, I was mocked.  Who brings knitting to the Caribbean?

Oh.  That would be me.

Claustrophobia

There are too many damn people in this city! And they are always in your face.

As I was getting off the subway at my stop, I accidentally knocked into a woman who started yelling that I didn’t have to push her, she was getting off too.   I was not in a good mood that evening (like THAT’S a surprise) so I said something back.  Nothing clever.  We had words and went on our way.  I always think of the really clever stuff  HOURS later.  I hate that.  She could have at least given me her phone number so that when I came up with a clever retort I could have called her and we could have continued our witty subway banter.

Subway woman: Don’t push me I’m getting off at this stop too.

Carol: Push you, I wouldn’t touch you, you cootie laden dirty skank!

How’s THAT for witty subway banter?   It was probably best that I didn’t think of that.  Or the next conversation would have been:

Carol: Matt, I’m at the police station in handcuffs.  Can you come and get me?

Matt: Who is this?

I wasn’t sure what to write about today and when I showed this painting to Judy she told me she liked it but it made her feel claustrophobic.  We are claustrophobia friends.  Neither one of us like feeling closed in and we always like being in the “go position.”  (That means that we like to be near an exit, not near a bathroom.  Although at our age, being near a bathroom is good too.)

So here you go.  A painting of  buildings on top of buildings.  These buildings are in Soho.   They are a bit wonky, but then again, so am I.

I decided to try another cityscape after doing one in my drawing on the right side of the brain class.   I did not do this one plein air.  I did it sitting on my butt. From a reference photo. I did not want to use a ruler.  I didn’t want it to look like a stiff architectural drawing.  I was hoping to give the  buildings some personality.  I may have just made them look like they are drunk.  Maybe I should be drunk.

*wanders off to get a cocktail*

Kaiya and the Crab Apples go to Putnam County

Here is another picture of my 100 lb barfing dog.  Her name is Kaiya and she’s 4 1/2 years old.  She hates the car.  What dog hates the car? Apparently this dog hates the car.   I took this picture of her after we drove up to Putnam County. She had already barfed in the car.  Twice.

I am excited to say that my crab apple painting got into the Putnam County Arts Council Juried Show.

http://www.putnamartscouncil.com/PACGallery.htm#FineArtsShow

Lest you forgot, here’s the picture again. This time framed and hanging in the gallery.  (Not the greatest picture as I took it with my phone.)

Still don’t remember?  Here it is unframed, but finished:

If you’re in Putnam County, please stop by and see the show.  My sister has a piece in it too.   A lovely handmade book.  It’s made out of old library cards. She made paper from the shredded cards and then made a book out of the paper.  The cover is made from actual library cards.  How cool is that?  It’s called “Pulp from Fiction” and here it is:

New Jersey Mocks Me

Last week the husband and I had to go to New Jersey.   The “Garden State.”  Should be called “the Jug Handle State.”  Or the “No Left Turn” state.  Or “whatever plans you had on getting somewhere I’m gonna get you supremely lost” state.   Or… oh, you get the idea.

There is never a time where we don’t get lost in New Jersey.  One time I got lost in the parking lot of the mall across the road from my brother’s house.  I had to call him for help.  New Jersey really mocked me that day!

I don’t get lost that often.  Plus, I have a GPS system in my car.  Her name is Svetlana.  She talks to me and nicely tells me tells me that I have strayed from her carefully crafted route.  Her favorite word is “recalculating.” She always gets me back to where I want to be.  Except when in New Jersey.  The “evil state.”

I do not like to leave the City.  Being on the other side of the Hudson makes me nervous.  (Well everything makes me nervous, but that’s another post.)  And it never fails.  The moment we get through the tunnel or over the bridge and land in NJ we get lost.  What is up with that?

I don’t think anyone will ever figure out what is up with that.  It is, as my sister-in-law always tells me, what it is.   New Jersey, the “you can’t get there from here” state.

In my penultimate Wednesday watercolor class we painted trees.  We spattered trees, painted wet-on-wet trees, drybrushed trees.  We wet the paper with clear water in a “tree” design and then added some paint and lifted the paper and let the paint roll around the wet areas.   Since it’s Autum in New York, everyone is into the trees which are turning beautitful fall colors…red, yellow, gold.  I love seeing the autum trees.  But not in New Jersey.

Last day of drawing class and my self-portrait

This is not my self-portrait.

I forgot to tell you about the class involving negative spaces.  Then I will show you my self-portrait.  By drawing the space around the object, you get the object.  While I understood the concept, I found this difficult to do.  I kept wanting to draw the stool instead of the negative spaces.  However, it was another interesting lesson and now I can’t stop seeing negative spaces .

As long as I don’t see dead people.

Here is my in-the-works self-portrait which we did on the final day.  I don’t know why the background is green.   One of those camera mysteries I never know how to solve.

I’ll give you a moment to stop laughing.

OK?

Are you done?

Here is the final version:

I look like I’ve been stunned by the flash of the camera in the police station while they were taking my mug shot during the booking process!  I should be holding a sign with numbers on it.   Most of us came out looking like we were “staring” since we were staring into a mirror for 3 hours.  (The teacher did his self portrait in about 20 minutes!)  And yes,  I had a lot of help from the teacher.

You know how they say owners and dogs end up looking alike?  Well, I think I am starting to look like my lovely dog Kaiya whose portrait was done by my dear friend Judy.

Now If I could only get my ear to stand up like that.

Drawing class…continued

Here’s a bit more about the drawing class.   After we drew Igor Stravinsky upside down and then drew our hand, we went on to perspective.  After a lecture and a demo, we all split up to find a corner to do a perspective drawing.

Since I’m having hot flashes lately (I KNOW!  What’s up with that????) and it was a nice day I decided to go upstairs onto the roof to do my perspective drawing joined by one other classmate.  We had an interesting view, looking through some broken lattice at roof tops.  So, in addition to doing my first “perspective” drawing, I was also doing it plein air.  (So there WRJones.)

The light changed so many times it was making me crazy.  One time when the teacher came up to check on us, we complained about the light.  He laughed and said that’s what made the Impressionists go insane.

Unfortunately, the above photo is not the best quality.  I was on a roof deck, looking through some woodwork with the lattice-work below and some bamboo on the right side.  Through this I could see some roof structures and then more buildings.  I really enjoyed doing this drawing.

The following day the instructor talked about portraits, did a demo and then it was our turn.  YIKES.  After the obligatory apologies to our “models” off we went.  My model was Brian (not the teacher Brian).   And here he is with help from the teacher.

I needed help, but did a lot of it myself.  First of all, WHO KNEW the ear was SO FAR AWAY from the facial features.  And the back of the head???? Miles away.   The photo is a little blurry.  Sorry.  It’s probably for the best.

Next post will be my “final” which was a self-portrait.   I am giving you time to laugh now.

On another note, I have decided I am old.  How do I know this?

1.  I no longer know who the “people” are who are featured in People Magazine.

2.  If I see Jon and Kate on TV one more time my head will explode.  That will NOT make an attractive self portrait the next time I give it a try.  (I never even knew who they were before they split.)

3.  Does anyone care that David Letterman had an affair?  Or affairs?  My only reaction was REALLY?   Women actually agreed to sleep with him?

Wow.

Drawing 101 – OR – ow, ow, ow the right side of my brain is killing me!

I am in awe of people who have innate drawing ability.  I am not one of those people.  Drawing for me is hard work.  I have not taken a drawing class since the 70’s.  And like most everything else about the 70’s, whatever I learned I have forgotten.

I have just completed a 5 day drawing workshop based on the book Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, by Betty Edwards.   The workshop poses the question, what if you listened to the RIGHT side of your brain instead of your left side when you wanted to draw something?  The left side is the analytical, language based side, the right side is the creative side.  You are then  shown how to access the right part of your brain without all that messy brain surgery.

Now you may find this hard to believe, but both sides of my brain would NOT SHUT UP.  I finally got the left side to quiet down a bit.

Each day started with a lecture, a drawing demonstration by the instructor who just happens to be Betty Edwards’ son Brian.   He taught the workshop in his Soho, NYC (not London) loft.

One of the first exercises we did was to take a copy of a drawing that Picasso did of Igor Stravinsky, turn it upside down and then copy it onto our drawing pads.   Here is my version:

By turning the drawing upside down, all we could really see were lines, not hands or feet or noses or eyes.  By not being able to “name” the parts of the body or the chair or the glasses, the left side of the brain gives up and hands the assignment over to the right side of the brain.  Amazingly all of our drawings, though slightly different from each other and from the original, all resembled the original enough that there was no mistaking that each drawing was a copy of the Picasso.  We were all amazed.

Another drawing exercise was placing our hand on a piece of plexiglass, copying it onto the glass and then drawing our hand from the  image on the glass.  (We could also look at our hands.)

Apparently the point of that was to use the right side of our brain to see a flattened 2 dimensional image on a picture plane, not a 3 dimensional hand which would then confuse the brain.  (My brain is always confused.)

The class was 7 people, most of whom I liked and one person I wanted to bludgeon to death.

3 more days to tell about.  But I don’t want to bore you all at once.

It was hard work, but very rewarding.