Dreary day today. Lee is sweeping leaves in the background near the apartment while we wait for our Thursday lunch company. She came full of sensible ideas like, I may want to add another day for having a caregiver come so I can get some reading done, sew up my new fabrics, finish a short story…..and more. I never think of these things on my own anymore. And she is the only one I have to talk to in person to bounce around ideas. Tomorrow I will make some inquiries as to additional time scheduling.
In the mail yesterday, another friend sent what was a calendar with each month having different marks. So inspiring and thoughtful to have him think of me and my marks book. Such great ideas for filling spaces.
And another friend in Australia sent me an image of Scottie Wilson’s work. He was likely the first to start the outsider art movement with his art. Collected by Picasso and others. I see and understand his compulsion to fill spaces with marks and he is definitely worth looking up on Google.
I wonder if Gory was influenced by Wilson. What I also like is how he tentatively adds color to the marked sections. I don’t like colored pencils because they are somewhat garish but I do remember buying some that were greyed down with graphite I think ,,,..might start using those slowly, very slowly. They would be easy to add to my pen collection. Better than messy watercolors on my lap.
Anyway here are the drawings in the marks book since I left the little girl on the rock.
She peeks out the window.
Sees this.
And the dragon continues for a few more pages.
How fun is that…turn the short page over and the back leg lines up with the front leg.
I have no idea what to draw next. Maybe she sees more out the window…maybe an endless line of little kids…maybe another animal….maybe something else altogether.
Another friend sent me this image in messenger. It is a woodblock print by Jan Mankes, a Dutch painter who only lived to be thirty years old…tuberculosis. His work is stunning and worth a look up on Google. This particular image is full of the necessary repetitive marks to make a convincing background for the raven.
His paintings are just as captivating.
And now on to something totally different. On our conference calls with our kids and friend, Marla, each Wednesday evening and Sunday morning, are also about having a drink together. Our daughter’s partner made the suggestion of flavoring vodka for our Bloody Marys..one of the drinks of choice Sunday morning. So I took a bottle of vodka and shared it across several one pint bottles.
Left to right are bay leaf, rosemary, orange rind, and bacon fat. Sunday morning while they are showing off their Bloody Mary concoctions with olives, cheese, bacon, etc., I will be having my bacon fat infused vodka in my own drink of V8, dill pickle juice, celery seed, Worcestershire, tabasco, and pickled asparagus. Lee will be staying with V8. For those not aware, V8 is a highly seasoned tomato juice.
Right now Lee is napping and I am having a scotch. Dinner will be pasta and something yet to be determined.
If I am going to sew, I will need to move the sewing machine, iron and ironing board over to the apartment. Easily done. The fabrics, notions, material and threads go over as well. Then I can stop wondering when I am ever going to get to those lovely linens.
All twenty books have been sent to Australia and this morning four were sent out to California, St. Louis and Georgia. Six left for family and friends. It feels good to have the thoughts in words on pages and in the hands of those who were so encouraging.
More later…