Sick Day

Last Sunday after Thanksgiving I suspected I was getting sick. My grandsons had a cold and I was the lucky recipient - By Thursday I was sick as a dog (what does that mean anyway??) It distracted me to try this sketch as I sniffled and sneezed.

EDM #147 Made of Wood

Here are two of my favorite decoys, 'made of wood' and perfect for this week's challenge. I have several decoys and prefer the rustic as opposed to the real McCoy decoy ;-)

pencil and WC in notebook journal.

EDM # 146 Favorite Food

No doubt about it I love Cake, I am famous for my cake cravings, and as I proposed this challenge and Karen authorized purchasing said food for sketching (then indulging) Here it is, my favorite chocolate mousse cake from my favorite bakery "Take the Cake". Yes it was delicious!

Giving Thanks

After the feast was over, guests departed and clean up complete, there was one wish bone salvaged from our two 18# turkeys. This quick sketch called to me as the wishbone dried on the window sill over the sink. I had contemplated sketches all day long but there was NO time for sketching. That wishbone, got me thinking, counting my blessings (literally) and wishing for another wonderful year .

Turkey Time

What a Thanksgiving we had, 26 for sit down dinner and two turkeys and Tons of sides and of course dessert. A true Feast.

My GD wanted me to sketch from her Tom Turkey story book and it was fitting.

EDM #145 Autumn Tree

Mid November in Connecticut, there is not a lot of color left, this sketch from outside my window seemed appropriate and simple to do from inside, toasty and warm as the wind blows.

Twins

My oldest daughter has three boys, these are her twins. I want to learn portraits - the loose watery kind which scare the heck out of me - but unless I practice I will never learn anything - This sketch is from a picture (obviously, as they do not pose at one year of age.) Bits are actually representative but then, not enough to really be a portrait - and the watercolor is just scary. I hope one day to look back at this and feel a sense of improvement.

boat scene

Just practicing my water color sketching. I still find it awkward and long for my pens - this little sketch from a calendar is just more practice.

EDM #144 Square

Ok one more from Rome. The challenge this week was "square" and I simply could not find anything inspiring - then I remembered my picture of the Pantheon ceiling - the 8' opening at the center and the square paneling encircling the dome. There was a definite rosy glow as the sun beamed in. So here it is, my exhibit for "Square". Pencil, and watercolor in Winsor and Newton sketchbook.

Roma - last of the Europe tales for now

We hopped another train in the afternoon to Roma - our last stop. The scenery was lovely, something out of "Under the Tuscan Sun" The trip was only about 2 1/2 hours long from Florence, but quite pleasant.

Rome is a very large busy city - after a LONG wait for a taxi we settled into our hotel the Aldrovandi Palace - Quite POSH. This is the view from our window. Lovely pool and patio and a zoo of some sort nearby - occasionally a strange animal call could be heard (monkey? donkey? macaw?) Our hotel offered a free shuttle to and from the Spanish Steps which we gladly used daily. (hum, I must sketch my Spanish Steps pictures to enter) We have several stories surrounding this hotel (saved for another post).

Through all of Europe, this was My lifeline home. As a first time European tourist, I knew I needed a plug and voltage converter, but the first time I actually plugged in my new iPhone I held my breath (envisioning a poof of smoke ;-) But it all worked perfectly - my cool iphone gave us a week's weather prediction, international clocks for home and various stops, text messaging, pictures, internet look up - directions, alarm clock and even took notes on important facts to remember - a God Send and no, I don't work for Apple

This lovely building caught my eye, as we toured Rome on a lovely sunny day. I think I captured the bright crisp coloring here and the interesting evergreen trees - and there are palm trees here too!

The Colosseum, left me speechless

This fountain in the Piazza della Rotonda (right in front of the Pantheon) had a pigeon wading 'most provocatively' – I snapped a pictures and decided to try my hand in this sketch -

Sooooo many fascinating sites in Rome, the Coliseum, the Pantheon, to name a few AND the Vatican - so awesome! This sketch is from a distant picture - and even though I am not Catholic I was tempted to buy a rosary - it seemed like a perfect connection to the moment. Again we did not have time to enter many sites - with only 2 1/2 days in Rome - we did take bus tour #4 (open air double-decker) - they are so wonderful to get on and off at will and touch base on many major sites and learn from the tour information. With such short time allowances it was a great use of time and we used them as our taxi to return to areas easily.

Here my travel companion sleeps on our first leg of the flight homeward from Rome to London - Yes she wears her sunglasses all the time.

Wow, 2 weeks passed so quickly, we did it all by ourselves with No catastrophes! And we had a Blast.

We are definitely bitten by the travel bug and will return! - I did not sketch on site as much as I planned but I was so overwhelmed trying to get in everything I could . Yet, for the first time, I did well and will continue to sketch from memories and pictures. I now have a journal that I will treasure forever - and more journals to follow. AND next time I will meet and sketch with other EDMers ! I can't wait!

EDM #143 Spice

My Fabulous chili recipe and some of the spices used - the Magic Spice is unsweetened cocoa!! This pot is a definite sign winter is almost here!!