Foodstuffs

finally tossing out these old canned goods.

Old watercolor sketch

 Last night I was going through a box of stuff and found this little tree (about 6 x 9") that I did while playing with some watercolors.  I can't remember when I did it, but I think it was two or three years ago (Don't be misled by the date at the bottom, I put that on last night as an approximation.)  I had been searching for this, but couldn't find it and thought I must have given it away.  It's small and not sophisticated or great in any way, but it's one of the few things I've done with watercolors in decades and I liked the result.  I have been wanting to try watercolors lately, or use inks or acrylics for watercolor effects.

A striking example of storm damage to a tree

My family and I were out on Saturday, and as I pulled into a parking spot on one of our stops I noticed that the oak tree in front of me had an odd, tall gouge running up its side about eight feet or so. It looked like a single giant claw had run down it. I wondered if it was lightning damage--I couldn't think what else would cause it--so I walked over to take a look.

Moving around to the other side of the tree, about 90 degrees around, there was a similar gouge, but this one ran up as far as I could see into the canopy.  I thought it was very impressive!  The bark had exploded off; there was shreds of it scattered for dozens of yards all around. Some of the wood beneath it, the blond part, was blown out, too, in thinner strips about an inch deep in spots.  I thought it was pretty cool.

Sycamore & Butterfly Bush

 Both of these are walnut ink on paper.

Spiderwort, cilantro, bee balm, bachelor's button, mustard spinach

Lunch break sketch 6-18-13

I sat on a tree stump and drew for a bit. I think some little wasps had nests in the stump (that, or it was their hunting ground), but I remained unstung.

Fathers' Day

 

I had a great Fathers' Day.  First of all, I received a very nice gift from Mom and Dad: a seed sprouter for starting sprouts to add to sandwiches, soups, etc.  Besides a couple of different seeds for the sprouting tray, they also gave me a few different seed packets for my garden.  That's great stuff.

 

My daughters brought me breakfast in bed on Sunday, and unloaded the dishwasher for me.  That is quite a treat.

 

After that, I ran some errands, and then spent some time making ice cream.  We still had some frozen blackberries from last year, so I pureed and then strained them.  There wasn't enough for a full batch of blackberry ice cream, so I added flavors to make vanilla blackberry chocolate chip.  I am delighted to report than it came out great.

 

For dinner we grilled a couple of steaks in the rain, and at those with corn on the cob.  Then we me Mom and Dad at Willow Park to hear Blair Carmen and the Bellevue Boys, one of our favorite concert regulars there (the rain ended just in time for the concert to proceed, and the weather was perfect.)  And that was my Fathers' Day.

 

Lunch break sketching

Sort of hot, but I was in the shade and there was a little breeze. I ate some mulberries and swatted some flies.

School banner completed

Last weekend I had a moment to snap a photo of my completed painted banner hanging in place.

Plum Creek

 Another drawing with black walnut ink, my first landscape (not counting foliage seen in house portraits) since...I don't know, last year sometime.  This is 10 x 14 inches, done with a combination of brush work and dip pens.

Sent from my Motorola Smartphone on the Now Network from Sprint!

Angry Birds cake

I like cake, and I like art, and I like Angry Birds, and I like my friend's son Simon. So, how could I not share this photo of this great birthday cake made by my friend Helga?

New school greenhouse

The weekend before last, my family and I volunteered some labor at school helping put up the new greenhouse.  Thanks to a grant from State Farm and some generous donations from school families, the school got a nice greenhouse kit and was able to hire Daniel Skinner to design and build the greenhouse.

Much of my time was spent running a tiller, which I had never done before, plus shoveling and raking dirt.  I also worked with a few others to set up about half the support ribs, spread out the tremendous sheet of plastic and get it over the top, and do some anchoring.  It was a lot of dirty work over a hot weekend, but it was also sort of interesting, and the other people were great to work with (and very patient with me.)

I’m excited to see the finished project; I don’t know when the inside will be all put in, but it won’t be too long.  There has been work going on every day.  When completed, it will be state-of-the-art, with a water circulation system for heating and cooling, half-sunken rain barrels to double as classroom seats, a large fish tank, and both floor-level and raised beds and pots.

Hard at work in the morning

 My fearless wife high atop a ladder

The official ribbon cutting

Caperton Swamp

I had a few minutes to kill the other day waiting for the rest of my family, so I took a short walk on a trail at Caperton Swamp.  It's a pretty area, but I didn't get far into it.  Might make for a nice hike with the kids.

Watermelon carving

I did this as a centerpiece for a fruit table at an elementery school art show.

Black walnut ink house portrait

I finished this one a few nights ago. It is 11 x 15 inches.  Overall, I am satisfied with it, although frankly there are some elements of the house I'm not entirely happy with.  I'm happiest with the trees.  I enjoy working on trees and I'll try to do some more tree drawings soon.

Fat asparagus

This is a hefty vegetable. I chopped it down and dragged it into the house last night.

Pen and ink house portrait

 Here's another, finished late last night.  This one is 6 x 9 inches on cold press watercolor paper. This is a pretty house and it was pleasant to draw.

Asparagus

The last blog post is a photo of asparagus from my garden. I planted it the year before last, and this is the first year that I’ve felt like it is coming in well enough to harvest. I’ve sautéed a few bunches, and it has been quite good—flavorful and tender.  I have had quite a few gardening flops, but this isn’t one of them.

Kim doesn’t seem to react this way, nor does anyone else I know, but I find asparagus comical.  Every other thing in my garden starts as a seedling or a sprout that I have to wait on to develop, or I have to wait for it to grow fruit to pick, or to grow enough leaves to snip off.  But asparagus gives me the goofy impression that there is a tiny guy hiding under the soil with a bundle of full-grown asparagus spears under his arm, and he keeps reaching up and poking them through the soil for me to pick.