Cat Sitting

A cat I stay with while her owner is away is a muse 

for sketching & for French practice.

This kind of fast sketching 

(a cat's movements necessitate fast)

has been 1 of my favorite pastimes for years.

I love the focus, I love the observing. 

De temps en temps je reste avec un chat pendant l'absence

de sa personne. Elle est ma muse de dessin 

et une inspiration pour 

ma practique du français. 

C'est élémentaire mais c'est OK.

Luna est un minou gris aux yeux verts. Elle est douce est tranquille. Elle aime jouer, et câliner, elle aime s’asseoir sur mes gênoux. Elle ne miaule pas beaucoup, sauf avant son repas. Elle ronronne, elle se lave et elle se gratte. De temps en temps elle regarde la vue par la fenêtre. J’aime caresser Madame Luna et parler avec elle.

 

Italian Language Study Wandering

Sketchbook Wandering is studying languages again. 

I'm taking a beginning Italian language class for travelers as well as an advanced French conversation class. 

Fountain pens, journals & colored pencils are a big part 

of my arsenal for studying. 

Missing my sketchbook wandering, but I'm loving this! 

My brain & spirit are happy.

Dream Come True: Speaking French, France. Dream to Fulfill: Art

 I enjoyed May's series with daily prompts on "Mindfulness" &

Mental Health. All of the prompts were positive & uplifting during 

a month which is always uplifting here: Full springtime! 

I longed to travel during the covid quarantine time. 

I'm still not ready to do it, but there is hope.

Stay tuned for a new sketchbook diary series 

that I began on June 1. 

Blue: Folio Book with Pockets & a Pamphlet Booklet

 

I promised myself & you, blog visitors, that I 

would glue up my painted Blue papers (previous post) 

into a folded folio.

The pages of the little tied up booklet 

have become ink swatches

of 5 favorite fountain pen inks in blue: 

Diamine Polar Glow, Noodler's Midnight, Sailor 940, 

Sailor Yonaga, & Noodler's Blue. 

The sentence in the lower right middle, on vellum says,

"Blue, réconforte-moi." Translated: "Blue, comfort me..."

Experimental Sketchbook Class: Time & Space to Create

Some of my work during the weeklong class.

It was perhaps the best art class I've ever taken at University. 

We were encouraged to experiment.

Push out of our comfortable ways.

I started getting scribbly & messy (not shown here)

so it was a relief to do some minimalist drawings.

Zoom grids became an integral part of my experience.

I wandered out of my familiar box.

I cut up one of my watercolor "still life" grids

and pasted fragments into a booklet.

And then, relief, back to the familiar~ 

except with a bit of a grid.

A grid containing The Tiny Fears of Rita

Les miniscules craintes de Rita

We tried a wax resist/ink wash/charcoal layering technique

that Maine artist, David Lewis, uses.

(His drawings are very sophisticated & refined...) 

We collected shadows by tracing actual shadows.

Some of the students turned their results into imaginative

imagery, unrelated to the original subjects, and then 

turned them into handmade books.

I loved my Swedish Ivy design & didn't transform it,

except to put it into an accordion format.

Last class exercise: Do 20 versions of the same object, 

using various papers & drawing materials.

I got 3 done in our half hour allotment...

But THIS is the idea which I most want to continue

at the moment...20 objects? 50? 100? 

Maybe they would be painted and drawn, then,

hand sewn together into a paper quilt that folds 

into a book. We shall see...

The beautiful thing is that I have SO many wonderful

inspirations & directions with which to continue.

Thanks to my instructors & to the class, composed of

young undergraduates, graduate students,

& some oldsters like me. 

So much inspiration,

& this is only the tip of the iceberg...

Home-Time in My Small Town

Since retirement, my home-time is very pleasurable. 

I have "stations" around the house for:

Painting • Drawing • Zumba & Exercise

Special Projects • Writing • Reading.

I am grateful for a working kitchen.

This is one time where being an Introvert comes in handy.

My life is less disrupted than are many others' lives.

In my small town the changes don't seem drastic to me,

 even though we do run out of toilet paper. 

We are lucky that we can afford to be calm & accepting.

We walk outdoors, & passersby are pleasant.

We are still a town of Hello's & waving to strangers. 

Yesterday as I was walking the Harbor Walk,

 a woman on a bench called out to me:

"We can still do this!" & she did a thumbs up,

& I replied "Yes, we are lucky!" 

and raised my thumbs to her.

 Kathy at the blog Catching Happiness 

(click Here) 

has a post about "Staying Positive..."

She mentions "Stress Cleaning."

I've been enjoying "Stress Organizing," like

taking inventory of my colored pencils. 

At some point I will do a phone order/roadside pick up 

at Fiddleheads,

my local art shop, which is closed...

Temporarily.

 Oooh, order & labels for my fountain pen inks!

(the small ones are samples I get from Goulet Pens.)

 Writing in my journal remains a daily pleasure.

On this day I was listening to France Bleu radio

& decided to create a sort of dictation & to search words
in the dictionary (Reverso online).

I just started a new Rhodia daily journal.

A new Lamy "Turmaline" fountain pen arrived from Goulet 

just before things shut down. 

Goulet is a small business with heart, 

that is paying its employees during this time. 

Voilà. 

Nice to reinforce good feelings via online networks 

in a time of physical isolation. 

How are you occupying your time 

in your "confinement" and "sheltering."?

No Spring Chicken

 Eight years ago, when I was selling my art at Art in the Park
a woman asked me to create an illustration
for her daughter, who was raising chickens.
                                                              

I thought of it recently as I was 

writing a letter in French, and I wanted to say, 

 "I'm no Spring Chicken, you know!"

Google translates that as 

"Je ne suis pas un poulet de printemps,"

which is literal, & I knew that that was probably wrong. 

So using websites, I came up with 2 other, 

probably more accurate translations of what I meant to say.

But that's another story...

I'm not as young as I used to be. 

But I am lucky to still be able to: 

Express myself 

To dance Zumba • to wear fun clothes, 

To work/play at my art • to learn new things,

To eat well • to cultivate healthy habits,

To have old friends and to make new ones.

And on occasion, to be able to share my experience

and to help some one who IS a Spring Chicken.

I'm no spring chicken, but I am very grateful.

A Library in Québec & a French Translation of Love That Dog

Perhaps one doesn't think of a public library as thrilling...

but I WAS thrilled 
visiting the newly rennovated Bibliothèque Gabrielle-Roy 
in a lower, non-touristic section of hilly Québec City.

I found a French version of a favorite all-time book, 

Love That Dog, by Sharon Creech.

They totally changed the title. 

Translation is such a subjective art form. 

 They added illustrations. I did not prefer this.

The beauty of the non-illustrated original is 
in the words & the story.

They added borders & changed the location of the poem

"The Red Wheelbarrow".

I did not prefer this either.

The original book is pure & unadorned. 

The formatting & the white of the page 
work beautifully with the story, which is in verse.

Do read Love That Dog & you'll see!

(Like Jack in the story, I'm enjoying expressing my opinions!)

It's a beautiful book for adults, as well as for children.

 Poetry is the art form I least understood in school. 

The wonderful Miss Stretchberry, through Love That Dog

has helped me as an adult to understand more!

It says that Sharon Creech is an award winning author. 

But, unlike in the English version,

 it omits the information that she was a teacher. 

That is so important to this book! 

Love That Dog is used in many classrooms, 

along with her other books. It is about teaching,

finding one's voice, expressing oneself through writing,

feeling, learning, growing...

(See her website & her social media 

for more about teaching with her books.) 

My complaints aside, 

I'm thrilled that French language readers

have the chance to love this book by Sharon Creech

& that I found it at Bibliothèque Gabriel Roy in Québec!

La Tour Eiffel • Bon anniversaire! (edited re-post)

 

Above: I turned a corner in the 7th arrondissemnt

and caught my first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower.

Today Paris is celebrating the 130th birthday 

of the Eiffel Tower!

This is a re-post from September 21, 2012 

with some changes in the original text.

                                     

"Qui aurait dit il y a 130 ans que La Tour Eiffel deviendrait le symbole de Paris?  

130 ans et pas une ride!" (Site: Paris à Sortir)

 

Paintings by Maurice Utrillo and Raoul Dufy.

From Chez Toi en France, a bilingual children's book.

 

 Delauney was obsessed by La Tour Eiffel, painting at least 30 versions. 

He appreciated it as a radio tower & symbol for global communication 

as well as for its beautiful design.

This book is in a series on arrondissements of Paris. 

Gorgeous watercolors are by René Oghia.

 

ABC de Paris: Découvrir la capitale est un jeu d'enfant           

by Raphaëlle Aubert

Minou, a children's book in English, illustrated by Itoko Maeno. 

Features many Parisian landmarks.

 9 images in the Paris Calendar by Cavallini & Co. 

feature the Eiffel. 

When I first went to Paris it seemed like a cliché, 

& I almost didnt visit it. 

But was thrilling. 

Far more original, complex , & magificent than I had imagined!

Mornings in Paris: A Delicious Memory

In Portland there used to be a most adorable, friendly & FRENCH café called 

Mornings in Paris. 

To see a post I made in 2012 about my old favorite café, 

click here.

The lovely & gracious  French owner, Isabelle,

eventually moved the café to Kennebunk.

One time we drove down to see her, but she wasn't there. 

So I spontaneously wrote her a letter in French 

with a little observational sketch & left it with the barista. 

I just learned online that she sold the business in 2017 to a British couple...

she is spending more time in France...

The only certain thing in this world is change, they say. 

But I don't always like change...

...Sketch souvenirs help. 

A Still Life with Robert

My childhood art teacher presented us

with still lifes. 

Many, many still lifes. 

Above: I quickly arranged some things that were 

already on my table. 

The caption,

"Every picture tells a story" showed up
as a complete serendipity.

In August I'll have my 2nd show at my library.

Theme: sketching locally. 

This still life is very, very local.
My table.

A friend who is visiting France writes that

she has found paradise on earth.

Reading & looking up French vocabulary at my table, 

this is for me a local paradise on earth.

Sketchbook Wandering in Québec City

Away from my to-do lists & routines
 my senses always open up in Québec.
Sketching & note-taking, my tool for observing & reflecting.
A beautiful place to enjoy being in the moment!

 My travel journal was a 4 X 6 book.

 After many trips there, I walk & wander, 
& I still discover new sights, like the Fontaine de Tourny.
Happy tourists play to the sound of 47 jets of water. 

(installed in front of the Parliament Building in 2007, 
but created in France in 1854.)

More new discoveries. This statue guy was a historian. 
Poets, artists, soldiers, women, politicians are also honored 
through statues around the city. 

 A visit to Musée de la civilisation always educates through sight, sound, movement & language. 
(French language!!)

On the left, part of a small model, une maquette, 
for the outdoor statue, Tribute to Women in Politics.

Surprise: The Quebec City Symphony filled the Main Lobby

with Beethoven's joyous 2nd Symphony.
Seeing them so close reminded me of the Sempé illustration,
which made me laugh!

 The exhibition C'est notre histoire, Premières Nations
et Inuit du XXI ième Siècle (First Nations) 
filled a huge hall with soft lighting, a sacred atmosphere. 
Artifacts & crafts displayed everywhere, 
including suspended from the ceiling,
stories & interviews on monitors, contemporary art...
The oral history touched me deeply...

Le Temps des Québecois was a fascinating historic exhibit,
again via artifacts, narratives, videos. Again, people's history.

Sunday morning sketch walk. Because of the weathervane

(la girouette) in the museum I started noticing them in the city.

The sketch on the right took quick minutes 

as my hands were cold & my feet were sore (wrong shoes).

I did it simply to observe the facade of a pretty café.

 I took some photos before my camera glitched out on me.

 The old city was being refreshed & renovated. 

Lots of construction workers, painters, scaffolding & cranes 

in the old city.

 But churches & monasteries were peaceful & quiet,
dressed in springtime light.

 This photo is for La Table de Nana. 

Lines were too long for me to eat 
at one of our favorite bakeries/cafés, Paillard. 
But these folks were enjoying it.

The public library that is housed by the 19th century church:
A place we return to for quiet, peaceful reading (in French!!)

Already planning my next trip...