19th Worldwide Sketchcrawl - Our Second!

The kids and I set out yesterday at midday and pointed the car toward Ward Parkway.  I got to the Plaza and turned to go through and the kids said they wanted to go to the Cancer Survivors Park on the Western edge of the shopping district.  The kids played a bit, letting me draw the view from my bench of the sculpture and the new building across the street.  We moved up the park to the front and it's new sculpture, a symbolic flame of hope.  I'll get a photo of it to get the colors in it.  It's really beautiful!

I didn't get to sketch this one as long, little attention spans grow shorter, so I'll add color another day.  I did manage a quick 'nother sketch of the kidlets checkin' out the acoustical properties of the parking garage that abutted the park!

We wandered into the Unity Temple on the Plaza, a church in the Beaux Arts (or is it Arts & Crafts?) style that I had attended once upon a time with my mother.  On around the corner, I took them into the McDonald's in the lower level of Seville Square and showed them the Bas Relief Mural of Seville Spain that my husband helped design while he worked for Art Works in Chillicothe.  I have an original ink on illustration board scale model of the final piece that he drew that I plan to frame when we get into a bigger place. 

Home for some rest and refreshment as the temperature climbed to about 85, then off to meet Daddy at Union Station for ice cream after work!  Some wriggly squiggles later, we headed out to Washington Park to run some outside and watch trains.  I worked on my perspective with the balustrade and park lamps.  Home, exhausted and sleepy!!

Bikes at the Park

Bikes at the Park
Originally uploaded by SideShowMom.

Kids have me working on some projects now that the paintings are delivered and there is a choreography to learn for the student recital at my bellydance school. We have spring break right now, so it's kid time! Rianna and I bought a Breyer kit to paint two horse models, she wants hers to be a palomino and I'm partial to yellow horses, too! I might try some antiquing in the mane and tail (the paints are acrylic and I used to paint ceramics so this is pretty familiar territory).

It was a grand warm day yesterday here and my DH took the day off to go to the park with us! We got the little bike out and both kidlets took turns riding it. Geordan's way too big for his trikey, so I've had him riding in the basement on sister's bike and he was ready to solo! It was really funny seeing sister's Barbie helmet perched on his too-big head! He didn't care! While he and DH were running to the local gas station, I got a chance to sketch my girl riding back and forth by me

Union Cafe at Union Station, Kansas City, Missouri

1/19-20/07
Originally uploaded by SideShowMom.

We got to come to Union Station for a while and run around a little to burn off some of the stir crazies before the snow hit yesterday afternoon. Some little boys with their dad and uncle invited us to play "duck, duck, goose" in the middle of the floor here. Lots of running and squealing! Then we walked across the Link to Crown Center and had lunch at Fritz's train cafe where your food is delivered by trains! When we were done, I checked outside and the snow had started so we headed up to Zoom, the toy store, and the kids picked out a toy each to buy with their Christmas money and we skee-daddled on home just in time!

Album Cover

Album Cover
Originally uploaded by SideShowMom.

After the Master of the Arabian Flute CD by Mohamed Naiem. The flute is an Egyptian Ney or nay, made from reed, it has a haunting sound. I had to make a paper cd envelope for it so I did some of the cover art, too. I left out the calligraphy, but may add it in later with some white ink, if I'm feeling ambitious. General's Layout pencil on 24 pound inkjet paper.

PITT Pen Color Chart

PITT Pen Color Chart
Originally uploaded by SideShowMom.

I recently started a new sketchbook so I had to make a new color chart of my PITT markers. I love these things! The light cool grey lives in my pen case that follows me everywhere. So does the sanguine set, you just never know when you'll want to draw henna designs! I also keep the flesh tones handy, I'm not real great at mixing them in watercolors yet and end up wasting too much time at the park. They've expanded their selection, I think there are 48 colors now, including a lighter flesh-tone and many other lighter shades of colors. 103 and that turquiose are wonderful to use! Danny Gregory used to use them in his journals and I liked what he was doing, and my art store had them on sale, so I bought some. Wish I had some more greens, but they do blend a little while still wet. I run into Utrecht and grab a couple every once in a while, just pocket change really, and will slowly accumulate all of them. Art supplies! Love 'em!

EDM Challenge 101 Draw a Bar of Soap

EDM Challenge 101 Draw a Bar of Soap
Originally uploaded by SideShowMom.

Sandalwood soap I received from my Secret Santa partner in the Henna Page gift swap. Smells great, but I don't want to use it up! Pencil in my hedgie...that's watercolor paper!

Here's a song I remember from Girl Scouts...

"Oh I wish I were a little bar of soap (bar of soap),
Oh I wish I were a
little bar of soap (bar of soap),
I'd go slippy, slippy slidey, over
everybody's hidey,
Oh I wish I were a little bar of soap (bar of
soap)!"

Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts

1-11-07
Originally uploaded by SideShowMom.

My sketch of the design for the Kauffman Center for Performing Arts being built in KC by Moshe Safdie. My dh is the Zahner Architectural Metals Project Engineer on it! I'm terribly proud of this, Safdie is an internationally known Arch. as is Frank Gehry, whose MIT Stata Center was one of the first buildings Ron did work on when he first went to Zahner. (yeah, I'm throwing names around!)

http://www.kcperformingartscenter.org/
www.azahner.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Gehry

Kleenexes

Kleenexes
Originally uploaded by SideShowMom.

When you send your significant other to the store for tissues because you have a cold and are out, what do they bring to you? Something nice and soft? Or sandpaper?

Couldn't let the day go by without a bit of ink...

Challenge #92 Draw a Brown Paper Bag

Challenge #92 Draw a Brown Paper Bag
Originally uploaded by SideShowMom.

Ok, so it's not brown...yet. I'll do that tomorrow, it's getting late and I wanted to get something up tonight. Pigma micron in my new hedgie!

I'll also get the link in the group page in the morning!

Bon Soir

Christmas Angel

1-6-07
Originally uploaded by SideShowMom.

This porcelain angel vase has been on my parents' mantle and by my Christmas trees all my life. Delicate porcelain prayers for Peace on Earth.

If you come to my Flickr in the next week or so and see something strange there, fear not. All shall be right soon! All my photos are still there as are all my sets, they are just hiding til Yahoo gets my money order in the mail!

New Sketchbooks In Production

Stitching the Signatures, originally uploaded by SideShowMom.

I've been making sketchbooks for a little over a year now. I started in the Everyday Matters Group almost 2 years ago with a Moleskine pocket sketchbook. Loved it, learned to deal with the beading up watercolors, wanted something better by the time I was halfway through the second one. I liked the size and the elastic and the pocket and the ribbon! I surfed Moleskine sites in search of cool hacks and stuff to do and found out about Hedgehogs. Wirewoman's Hedgehogs Forever Yahoo group is full of glorious stuff including instructions for making your own mole look-alikes! I tried it out, modified it, made it mine. Now I am in the middle of a batch of three; watercolor paper pages, fabric covers, pocket Molie size. They are numbers 10, 11 and 12. I've sold one, given one to my dh, another to a friend for a birthday, two typing paper ones to my kids, a henna journal with hand and foot templates to my Secret Santa person, and some for future use. These will have a nice Persian print fabric on them and be filled with love!

I did do a sketch today, I am waiting to see if I'll post it or not...someone else's input is needed...

Blogging & Bribes

1-4-07, originally uploaded by SideShowMom.

Hi Everyone on the Superblog! Michael was kind enough to add me today! Thank you!

I've been inactive for a while, since about May, and am on day 4 drawing again! I finished re-ready "Everyday Matters" this morning and am making a new batch of pocket moleskine-like sketchbooks as this one is on it's last two pages. If you'd like to look, they're on my flickr in the Making Books set here.

Hi to all the new EDM members! I look forward to seeing your work as I go through the links of the challenges and blogs! I am also getting more active on the Botanical and Naturalist group, Hi to you, too!

Rianna's in first grade and has homework every night (!). Tonight it's addition and subtraction of numbers up to 20. She get's real stubborn about getting started so we did some bribery today after some tickling to get her woke up and alert. Rold Gold pretzels are a good bribe for her but I didn't want her filling up before supper, so she only got 1/3 of a stick per right answer!

Trains Today

1-3-07
Originally uploaded by SideShowMom.

I drew my son's newest locomotive. This is Diesel. Not Diesel 10, but another rascal on the Sodor Line. Geordan really has train fever, he'll either be an engineer or a life-long hobbyist.

I started three new hedgehogs today, this one's only got 2 pages left!

Yesterday's Drawing

Keyboard
Originally uploaded by SideShowMom.

Drawing what's in front of me at 10am, here's my keyboard. I spend way too much time in front of it...something to cut back on this year. Most of the time is spent wondering if someone's answered a post of mine, commented on a photo or drawing of mine, or done something else of interest to me...

Quite narcisistic, I think.

A certain amount of self-focus is necessary to one's health and well-being, but to the exclusion of getting things done. Just not healthy.

Something to think about this year.

Seriously.

New Year's Day, 2007

New Year's Day, 2007
Originally uploaded by SideShowMom.

A new day, a new start! I'm taking up my drawing again and re-reading Danny's book to start off. I've lost sight of the reason for doing my art and dropped it except for the henna art.

Hydrants and Firefighters - EDM #66

Hydrants and Firefighters
Originally uploaded by SideShowMom.

When I was 6 or 7, I went to vacation bible school in Smithville. At the end of the week, there was a parade and I got to ride on top of a fire truck.

When I was 12 or 13, a girl next door used her toaster and it caused a fire that burned the kitchen of the duplex on the other side of ours. The girl's family had to move and lost some of their possessions due to smoke and water damage. There was a crack in our kitchen wall from the firefighters chopping out the burned bits with their axes. Our apartment smelled like burned plastic for a long time.

Hydrants
Originally uploaded by SideShowMom.

When I was going to school at DeVry (1986-88) there was an explosion at a gravel quarry near 87th street and Blue River Road near Swope Park. Someone had set fire to a trailer full of fertilizer that the quarry used to blast out gravel. When the fire company arrived, no one told them what was in the trailer and it exploded, killing six firefighters and injuring others. The blast could be heard 20 miles away and broke windows all over the area. I was in the area, staying with a friend. I heard it. There is a memorial there now.

Rianna on 9\11
Originally uploaded by SideShowMom.

When I lived at the car shop, Storm and I volunteered with the Red Cross Disaster Aid Teams as monitors. We would listen to a scanner for fire calls. When there was a fire in an occupied residence or more than 2 alarms called, we called the RC to send the IRV (Immediate Response Vehicle). It had blankets and coffee and relief items for firefighters and victims. One time there was a fire across the street from the shop. We went and watched the firefighters work. They are so efficient, fearless, tireless and courageous. Their lives are at risk every time they leave the station. People have so little respect for what they do, I see so many cars not pull over and stop when emergency vehicles have their lights and sirens on. What if it was their loved-ones' lives at stake? There's a new station being built near our apartment. We'll make sure they know they're appreciated!