Today’s newsletter has a lot of photos - click on the title above to read in browser and make sure you don’t miss anything. So many photos!
I finally feel like I’ve crawled out of the cave I’ve been trapped in for the last week and a half. I can see blue sky out my window, and white fluffy clouds! The oppressive smoke (which hit an AQI high of 289 here) is gone at last. My energy is back, and I no longer feel low-grade ill every day. Yesterday we returned to our regular weekend dog walks, which means venturing further than one block.
What a year, eh?
Things started out fine, then everything went to hell.
As is always the case, Michael knew exactly what these cars are. They’re Reliant Robins, an English vehicle that barely passed for an automobile and only required a motorbike license to drive.
Sitting on 10 inch wheels the Robin was the first Reliant 3-wheeler to be fitted with an anti-roll bar to give increased stability when cornering.
Okay, sure. Whatever you say.
For comparison our Dodge Challenger has 20-inch wheels.
2020 is the Reliant Robin of years. January was when we sat in the car before taking it for a drive, with just a touch of unease over the upcoming election - but that was still months away. In February we started down the road, and a sense of foreboding set in… something is not quite right, but there’s not much choice. Here we go!
March arrives, we hit the corner and wheeeeeee! We’re airborne.
Anyhow.
The sun came out today and it was so nice to go on the longer walks. Fall has definitely arrived - leaves are falling to the ground and Halloween super-enthusiasts are starting to put up decorations. I don’t mind, but I will wait a couple of weeks to put up mine. CLOWNS!
I digress. I’ll hold off on writing about Halloween until at least October 1st.
What I did see today was a lot of really brilliantly colored leaves and flowers.
Let’s start with this maple, which is one that has this color of leaves from spring to autumn. The sun was shining through them and they looked lovely against the backdrop of sky and black walnut tree across the street.
The same house had this plant growing against their fence.
A couple of houses up the street we saw this amazing plant. If anybody knows what this is please let me know.
On our walk this evening we spotted these Red Hot Pokers, also known as Torch Lilies. I used to dislike these flowers for some reason, but have grow to love their bright colors.
I’m thinking a lot about color right now, and my eye was keen to notice everything after the long stretch of being stuck inside. The renewed energy and exhilaration at being outside again perhaps gave the world an extra shine.
My art supplies arrived a few days ago so I started on my Big Art class in earnest yesterday. The class consists of 11 tutorials with different painting and mark-making techniques. I’m approaching the class with care and taking my time to think about each lesson before racing on to the next. There’s a private Facebook group for folks who have signed up for the class, and while it’s fun to see everyone’s work I can’t help but notice that they are racing through everything really quickly. They must be retired! I certainly don’t have very many hours during work days to devote to slowing down and really getting into each technique. I’m taking the time to journal the idea generation exercises first, because I want to get as much as I can out of this class.
There was some prep work to do, which involved cutting watercolor paper into 2-inch squares. I’ve been playing around with the paper I watercolored a couple of weeks ago as well. It turns out that cutting up 2-3 sheets of paper per evening is very doable.
So many little squares! I really enjoy working on these small surfaces. The medium of choice for this class is high flow acrylics. These paints are the newer version of Golden’s airbrush paints - super versatile and easy to work with. These innocent looking paints are capable of so much!
How much you ask? Let me show you.
I started with the blues and white, then decided to add yellow into the mix. The first lesson is called Big Sky, and you can see how this technique looks like the sky. Change up the colors and it looks like the shades of a forest, a meadow, or tropical waters.
So much potential.
It’s the art that keeps me going when the world seems out of control. I’m not holding my breath that anything will get magically better anytime soon, so I’ll just keep doing art.
What keeps you going?
Tidbits
Deep Reckonings - can deep fakes be used for good? We can pretend I suppose.
I had no idea Goodreads was such a nightmare (I only keep track of what I’ve read there)
The StoryGraph - a better solution than Goodreads for finding something new to read? If you check it out, what do you think? Your local librarian is also an excellent source of help for finding your next read.
The next set of Field Notes speaks to my letterpress loving heart…
Making: little squares for Big Art (see above)
Recently eaten: today we’re having a chip butty for lunch. Nothing fancy, just a good way to use up leftover chips (aka fries). Buttered bun, salt, and malt vinegar. YUM!
Reading: lots of newsletters - I signed up for several new ones and after reading a few issues I’ll share the best in future weeks. During the smoke malaise I’ve not really been in the mood to read books. The endless headache didn’t help.
Eye Candy Corner
Although I’m spending my time these days drawing and painting, I’m looking forward to the month of December when I will switch over to carving stamps for the entire month. When I’m not carving stamps myself, I still enjoy admiring the work of printmakers and I’ll be sharing the work of one with you today.
Jill Bergman
Jill’s work is heavily inspired by her surroundings both natural and human. The flora and fauna of Colorado’s Park Range are prominent in her work.
Here’s the bear before printing. Look at the level of detail! The finished piece is 18 x 24 inches. Check here for a good close up and a few pictures of the printing process.
Besides carving linocuts Jill is also a painter.
I could spend all day looking at her work, which is great except I want to get to making my own art! I encourage you to take a look at her sketchbooks as well. I’m particularly fond of the 100 Trees project.
Video of the Week
This week’s video will take about 53 minutes of your time, and I’ve not actually watched it yet since I just found out about it. It’s a new episode of NOVA from PBS about slime mold!
Secret Mind of Slime
Meet slime molds: the brainless blobs that can learn, make decisions, and navigate mazes.
Who says you need brains to be smart? Extremely primitive life-forms called slime molds can navigate mazes, choose between foods, and create efficient networks—no brain required. New research on these organisms, which are neither plant nor animal, could help reveal the fundamental rules underlying all decision making. (Premiered September 16, 2020)
This will make some great early morning coffee time viewing over the next few days.
Here’s a picture of slime mold to help get you excited about watching this show. Her photos are always amazing. Enjoy!
Current Temperature: 63.3F (17.4 C)
Current Humidity: 81%
Wind (max gust): 8.1 mph
Precipitation: 0.02 in
Air Quality Index: 10!
Wow great post this week! Loving all the art progress - can't wait to follow along. I got my Alphonso Dunn books yesterday. So excited to so some drawing!