Besties, Another Sketchbook Revival 2025 Class, Random Sketches

I've been wanting a picture of my two best friends and me for a long time. We've never had one made of the three of  us together before, and we've been besties since grade school. We are all 76 now, and our lives are very different from each other, but we all still live within a couple of miles of each other, so we see and talk to each other often. We've always tried to be there for each other through all of life's ups and downs.

Nina, the one wearing pants, comes every Sunday, and Lennie, in the dress, comes when she can, and we text/talk in between. Lennie also happens to be married to one of my favorite cousins, and we all graduated together. They all still work and stay very busy. This day, they both happened to be here, along with hubby's cousin, and I happened to think of the picture I wanted, so this is one of them. They were both glad I did it!

Don't know what I would do without them, and I can't imagine life without them!

This is another Sketchbook Revival 2025 bonus class that I sketched off and took notes for at the beginning of the classes. I knew I wanted to do one. It just took me a while! It was a class with Melanie Rivers, called "Butterfly Love", I think, and it's mixed media. It's almost 4" x 4" square on mixed media paper, and the butterfly I collaged on was a little too large, so I had to clip it's wings a bit. I loved doing it though, and I like how it turned out! I will do another one...

I sketched this one from imagination, all in one line, then added a little shading and some watercolor and gouache, plus a bit of acrylic. Not happy with the blackish on the flowers and may go back and do something else at some point. The random blobs came from smashing this page onto the opposite page, which I am doing a mixed media abstract on, and I needed to get rid of some excess paint. I like it. Just an experiment and learning experience!

I sketched this one all in one line from my imagination with a Micron pen and left it as is. Fun!

This one is an experiment that went very wrong. I used my Sanguine colored brush pen and sketched these at first with one line, then tried to fix it. I learned from it though!

Another one from imagination and my micron pen and one line, then I added the flowers, heart, etc. I like it and may add some color.

I did this one yesterday from my recliner with my Micron pen. It sits on top of our fireplace mantle, and the only light was from the kitchen, so it was dark and I couldn't see it very well. I did get it taller in ink than the original, but that's ok. It was still good practice.

It's a sketch of a bouquet of dried multicolored (oranges, yellows, etc) roses from a cousin, for my mom's funeral. They were arranged in a small basket, about a dozen of them, and it was so beautiful that I have kept them in a glass jar that I found at mama's house. I got the idea off Pinterest. I meant to tie a ribbon around  the lid, but have never gotten around to it. I still love them!

I sketched this one this morning, also from my recliner with my Micron pen, with very little light. The reference is one of my oil paintings, done many years ago with oil glazes, and it won first prize at our art guild art show. It's one of the few still lifes that I actually set up and painted from, and it's a painting of a favorite white ceramic lamb, purchased at a flea market, a small clear bottle that I did some etching on, holding pink and purple African violets, and a new pair of ballet slippers, also purchased at the flea market. I painted it many many years ago, but I still love it.

Anyway, that's it for my sketching practice this week! I'm still working on a few watercolors, a little at a time, as they tell me what they need. Three of them (a crow, a goat, and an abstract) are right at the point that I can live with them, but it may be a few days yet before I can share them.

I had to go back to the retina specialist for a three month check up September 18. I didn't have to have a shot in my eye three months ago, but the bleeding spot was a little bigger than before, so the Dr. gave me a booster shot, which I kind of felt this time, and it took my eye a bit longer to get over it. I don't have to go back for six months though, unless the black spot in my vision comes back, in which case I need to go back ASAP. Now I have to make an appointment with my regular eye doctor for our six month checkup there, only it's now been seven months. It's getting hard to keep track!

The specialist is a good ways out of town, so on the way home hubby and I swung by the Dragonfly coffee shop in Collinwood, TN for a slice of their delicious strawberry cheesecake and coffee. We treat ourselves to this any time we're near there, and we only get one slice between us, because that's plenty, as it so rich, and we are both diabetic, and we pull into a parking lot somewhere and eat it and drink our coffee. We love it. This time I also got one of their large brownies, which I ate on for two days, and it was scrumptious! Hubby did eat a couple of bites. I will definitely be buying another brownie next time! 

I love the Dragonfly. They have all kinds of interesting stuff in there besides baked goods and all kinds of hot or cold drinks, and they are very friendly.

In other exciting news, we had a mouse visitor this week. It jumped off the counter top into my piled up dining room/studio and disappeared. I've spent two days moving EVERYTHING out and around and back in there. I cleaned the floor under stuff down one wall and put the china cabinet and shelves back. I meant to do another yesterday, but had company and my back was spent, so that ship sailed. I meant to take the curtains down and wash them and the windows today, but so far that's not happening either. Ha! Lots of boxes to sort through and organize...Ugh!

It doesn't seem like Sunday today. Our friend usually comes after church on Sundays, but she had other plans today and came yesterday instead. We hardly know what to do with ourselves when she doesn't come! Not many Sundays in our married life that we haven't had company on Sunday. I have done this blog post though, which catches me back up with posts, so that's a good thing. So much to be grateful for!

I hear the popcorn popper calling, so I guess that's next on the agenda for today! We do love our popcorn!

Thanks for visiting! I hope you enjoyed my rambling. Take care and be well and creative!

Some Random Sketches and a SB Cover

 I am so far behind on everything that I may never get caught up. My body/mind just won't cooperate anymore, but I keep trying. 

Anyway, I got a package from Amazon the other day, and these words were on the outside of it. I thought they were not only appropriate for a shipping bag, but also a sketchbook, so I collaged them onto the front of my current book. I love it!

I paused the TV on a music video with a ballerina and sketched these with a micron pen, just to see if I could sketch a figure in this pose. I did better than I thought I would.

I have sketched this rabbit a few times before, partly because he sits on the fireplace hearth directly in front of my chair, and partly because I still like him as decor. He is usually lit from behind/side by the kitchen light, so part of him is too dark to see good. Micron pen

I sketched this tree from memory after my walk the day before. I see it every time I walk around the yard. I got carried away with the bark. It's not actually THIS shaggy, but it is kind of rough and gray. What makes it unique is that it looks like two trees grown together at the bottom, then it separates, only to grow back together in two places (like small bridges), then it separates again and one crosses over the other like a hug. I'm not sure what kind of tree it is, but it's very interesting. 

Oh, and where the bottom is grown together there is actually a wire section of a fence grown into the trunk, where I had a flower bed there many years ago. The tree must have been a baby at the time! Micron pen

Another one that I wanted to see if I could capture her pose in, referenced from a photo on Instagram. I didn't try for a likeness, just the pose of a woman sitting on some stairs facing me. I messed up, but at least you can tell it's a woman sitting on wide stairs! Anyway, it's just a practice sketch, so it's ok if it's messy... Also Micron pen

I don't know why I hadn't tried the Micron pens before. I love them, and they have become my new favorites for sketching, instead of my beloved Zig Writer double ended pen. 

I'm still trying to get used to Windows 11 and the new computer. I am using it now instead of my old one. This one is a notebook, and is much lighter and a little smaller than the other one, so I like that about it. I still have a lot to figure out about Windows 11, but hopefully I will learn that as I need to. 

That's about it for this post, so I'll see you in the next one! Stay well and creative!

Yard Walk Fall 2025

 I've been trying to walk a couple of laps around our acre yard the last few weeks to try to help get my diabetic A1c down, and I pass these old trees on my walk. The cedars were here long before I was! The fence divides our house lot and what was our little hay field. This day I decided to take my camera and make pictures.

Taken a few days after the field trip around the farm and down to the river.

August Drive Around the Farm, Down to the River, and the Backyard 2025

 Because I forgot and labeled these photos before I posted them to my blog, they are out of order. The farm pictures should have been first, then the river pictures, then the yard. They are also out of order within the groups, but that's ok. They still evoke great memories for me! Hope you enjoy them!

It's been a long dry spell here, so the branch has dried up, and the leaves are already turning. Beautiful day for a ride!