Statue outside a dumpling house in Seattle. Stuffed Elk in a tourist center in Olympic National Park. Pine cones I picked up. Claws on a pacific ocean beach along the Washington coast. Dice at a gaming room in Bothell Washington. Rudolf playing on TV in Hilton Garden Inn in DC. Big Bird is a lawn decoration in Maryland. Other guys were at my sister’s house in Charlotte over Christmas.
Lake Quinault Lodge
Before the holidays began, My wife and I went to Olympic National Park outside of Seattle. We stayed several nights at the Lake Quinault Lodge. Because it was off season, there were hardly any guests. We had the joint to ourselves just like in The Shining, minus the axe. One day it rained so hard for 24 hours that it recorded the worst flooding in decades. It caused a tree to fall on one of the lodge buildings. When I say tree, I mean like a 300 foot one. We hung out at the lobby to stay dry which gave me a chance to draw the fireplace. The other days we hiked the trails.
India Ink
This is another drawing I did on Stillman & Birn Premium Alpha series paper. Works quite well for doing people portraits too (not just animals). I’m home after galavanting around the country for a month. Feels good.
Sully
When I was down in North Carolina, I went to the Sullenberger Aviation Museum. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because it’s named after Sully Sullenberger. He was the hero pilot who landed a passenger airplane in the Hudson River in Manhattan after the engines were destroyed by a bird strike ten minutes after takeoff. The actual plane is in the museum, fully intact. There is a film playing of the crew and passengers giving their account of what happened. To call what Sullenberger did a miracle is an understatement. When you hear his calm demeanor talking to the air traffic controllers, you’d think he was in his kitchen making a cup of tea and not about to crash an airplane with 150 passengers and 5 crew members. The flight was headed to North Carolina and most people were from there. That’s why it lives in Charlotte in a museum named after him.
Asawa
I went to see the Ruth Asawa Retrospective at MoMA in New York. Like most people, I didn’t know who she was. Man, was I blown away by her work, especially her wire sculptures. I had to find out more about this person. So, I read a biography about her. It’s titled, “Everything She Touched,” The Life of Ruth Asawa by Marilyn Chase. She accomplished so much more than just the art that was shown at MoMA. I had no clue what a gift to the art world she was. Ruth survived the Japanese internment camps as a kid during WW2. The famous painter, Josef Albers ends up her mentor. She went on to have a big family and a huge impact on how art is taught in schools on the west coast. She did major outdoor installations and fountains in San Francisco. The life of a super overachiever.
Van Leeuwen
There is an unusual building that lives under the Brooklyn Bridge. It was an old fireboat house built in 1922. Now it’s a Van Leeuwen ice cream store. I’ve been by it a million times and stored it in my mind’s card catalog of something I might draw someday. That day turned out to be a cold one, so I had no use for ice cream. That didn’t hinder the tourists though. Van Leeuwen does have vegan ice cream by the way.
Chicken
My last animal drawing in this series.
Pig Dots
My fourth Stillman & Birn paper drawing. Another wonderful animal we shouldn’t eat.
Dog
My third Stillman & Birn paper drawing. The dots make it seem like this dog accidentally ate some psyilocybin it thought was dog food.
Cow Dots
This is my second animal drawing done in pen and ink. It’s on Stillman & Birn, Alpha Series 8” X 10” 150 gm white. This is an animals that wishes more of us humans were vegan. We need to reduce our reliance on animals products. Make the world better.
Cat's Eye
Stillman & Birn sent me some Premium art paper to try out. It's their Alpha Series, 8" X 10" 150 gm white. I decided to do a series of animals. This is the first one. More to follow. Notice how bright the colors look.
Charlotte
This is a portrait I did of my wife’s, niece’s new baby. I even surprised myself at how well Charlotte came out using only a few colored pencils. Once I capture the eyes, I know I have it made.
Charlotte's Web
Charlotte is an agreeable baby. She’s the newest addition to the family. We went to Boston to meet her for the first time. It’s not easy having a dozen adult strangers stare at you for two days but she seemed unfazed. I drew her accoutrements which is another way of doing a portrait of someone who just turned one year old.
