EDM #128: View through a doorway

There's a small hallway outside our downstairs guest room. The door can be closed for privacy, but we usually leave it open, as in this drawing. (I probably should have left my elevated foot out...)

EDM #127: Skyscape

This drawing shows the grove of tall, skinny black oak trees that we view through the atrium door off the living room. They aren't particularly attractive trees individually, but they look pretty massed together. On stormy days in the winter, they sway back and forth wildly and I always expect them to end up joining me inside.

This drawing seemed like a good idea for a skyscape, but the execution didn't really work. (The lack of shading on the atrium doors makes them look convex. Sigh...it's always so easy to see this kind of stuff once its been posted.) The trees are what I see when I'm lying on the sofa and looking up at the sky. The window unit over the atrium door has a crazy number of moldings (within moldings) and was hard for me to draw. It would be a great drawing exercise for someone who could a) draw a straight line and b) realistically depict perspective, neither of which I do very well.

NOTE TO MYSELF: Do not try to go over fine ink lines with a larger size pen. It never works.

Back to the sofa now...

EDM #23: Draw your foot

I had minor toe surgery for a bone spur yesterday. As soon as the surgery was scheduled, I knew it provided me with the perfect opportunity to painlessly complete EDM challenge #23- draw your foot. Do you think I'm cheating? I mean, there's only one toe showing...

For the next two weeks I'm supposed to keep my foot elevated as much as possible. A less principled person might milk the situation, but I'll settle for a weekend of being waited on by my sweet husband. (Ronnell, I bought all the ingredients for your nectarines in rose syrup, intending to make it the day before my surgery, but the nectarines weren't ripe enough. My husband actually prepared it this afternoon - with only a bit of coaching from me. Can't wait to have it for dessert. Thanks for listing the ingredients in metric and the U.S. measurement system for cooking. Is the U.S. the only country in the world that still hasn't converted 100% to the metric system?)

I have a laptop, books and art supplies at hand, so plan to have a very relaxed and productive weekend, doing at least a couple of the things I love most in life.

Thoughts about clogging, er, I mean blogging...

I had to start this post about my new blog with a drawing of one of my clogs, but somehow I didn’t imagine it would look so huge AND ugly…they are, I guess. Shrug. I’m really into comfort these days…

If someone had told me a year ago that I would have my own blog, I would have been very amused. At that time my internet usage consisted of ordering books from Amazon and checking progressive political blogs for signs of hope that the damage done to our country by the Bush administration might be coming to an end.

Then I encountered Shelfari.com, a site that allows members to catalogue their book collections and communicate with other people who have a passion for books. I started spending a lot of time on the site, listing my books, getting ideas for future reads, discovering new poetry, and reading book reviews posted by other Shelfari members.

I decided to start my own blog. I named it “Present Tense.” I told a few friends and family members about it and envisioned it as a way to share family photos and other pleasures of summer life. But my simple vision expanded after I discovered the Everyday Matters website. I decided to start drawing and painting again and joined the group. I began posting my drawings on the website and it was fun getting feedback and encouragement from other artists. What a wonderful community of friendly, generous people! 

Then, as I checked out the lovely art and links on the websites of EDM members, I encountered some amazing food blogs. They inspired me to start sharing some of my favorite recipes. My blog began to feel a bit fractured. It was apparent that I really needed FOUR BLOGS – one for food, one for books, another for art and finally a blog for nothing but political rants.

I’ve taken the past couple of weeks off from blogging to think about what I want to focus on and how much time I can realistically spend on it. Books and art give me the greatest pleasure. So I’ve decided to stick with Shelfari for book related activities. I'm going to use the "Present Tense" blog for occasional family-related posts (not of interest to the rest of the world). My new blog, “Flat Sound of Wooden Clogs,” will focus mostly on art. When I paint something from the kitchen, I’ll pair it with a favorite recipe, so I’ll still be able to occasionally share my love of cooking.

If you've been visiting me at the Present Tense blog ( http://presenttense-umpqua.blogspot.com/), please delete the link. I hope you'll visit me here.

I'm working on a self-portrait to replace that 30 year old photo I used on Present Tense. I had a drawing I liked, but my son told me I looked deranged in it. Guess I'll keep working on that...


This has turned into a very long post. Thanks for stopping by. I welcome your thoughts about your own experience with blogging!