Class Coming

In February I'll be taking an Internet-based drawing class by Roz Stendhahl. It's called Drawing Practice: Drawing Live Subjects in Public and will be held the month of February. Two classes posted per week, with daily homework and two webinars on Saturdays afternoons. That topic is a weakness of mine and a strength of Roz's, so it's a class for me. She says we only need a pencil and sheet paper but says she will introduce techniques using materials on her list. It's sold by Wet Paint in St. Paul and is discounted if purchased as a kit, and most of it I don't have (though I have similar), so I bought it. The kit was delivered before Christmas so, of course, I had to sketch it!

Wilma was taking a weaving class this weekend in Lawrence so I drove her there and headed for a coffee shop to sketch and have a latte. Lovely way to spend time.

I haven't posted it yet because I came down sick with something that took five days of sick time and some antibiotics to get under control. That rarely happens for me. I'm mostly OK now. Time to get back into it.

New Old/Old New

Here's a couple new gadgets for me.

One is a new item just like the old days. No high-tech material in this pocket magnifying glass, just steel, leather and glass. Retro (and it was hard to find, too). I heard of a nature guide in a National Park that carried one around his neck to show his tour group the fine details of small nature. Then I heard of sketchers carrying one to inspect and sketch all things small. That's enough reason for me!

The other item is an old item from my daughter, that's new to me. I may be the last old kid on the block to get an MP3 player. Been looking at the technology for years but never figured out when I would actually listen to it. Well, I figured I'd listen to it when I exercised (an activity I strive to do regularly but haven't made it there yet). My daughter recently received a nicer one so Dad got her hand-me-down. Boy are they neat! It's old and has no clip to fasten it to your clothes, so I use a potato chip bag clip for that. Goofy but functional in the privacy of my own basement workout.


Here's a picture of my new journal, freshly stamped with a "return if found" stamp I had made, and a touch of calligraphy for a title page. I feel it's all me, from stitch to sketch. Feels good.

Trip, Finale

This is the last post for this vacation. It took a month to finish, but that's OK. Plenty of things to compete with journaling time so I'm just glad I could finish it and it didn't become an uncompleted goal. A year ago I knew we were going to Glacier and I knew I wanted to journal it, even though I hadn't learned to journal yet, much less have an on-line blog. So this post is a dream come true for me. I did it!

We're on the train here, coming home. Settling in for another 30-hour ride.


Here's a list of how we fill 30-hours. The first hours go well, but by the time we're approaching Chicago, we're ready to have it over. Then we drive a few hundred miles to get home. Kinda have a tense time getting out of Chicago, but the rest go fine. Then time to adjust to regular life again. Goes by fast and I'm ready to go again. If you like the ourdoors, Glacier National Park is a great place to visit.


Since I haven't done this before I decided to do a spread that covers what I carried and how I approached sketching for this trip. The old memory bank doesn't work as well as it used to. Next trip I'll read this to refresh my memory. If anyone has comments or suggestions on how THEY approach travel journaling, I would be interested in reading your responses.