Remedies for cabin fever

This has been a long hot summer. A few weeks ago, I dealt with a brief spell of cabin fever by sketching the telephone.

The next day, we headed west of town, to where the sky is larger. We encountered a long curving line of vehicles, waiting for a freight train to pass. Again, a quick sketch, and time sped by, at the speed of the train. Watercolor added later.

Chex mix, berry trifle

We recently visited the Ohio Glass Museum, arriving too late for the tour, but just in time to view the holiday gift shop offerings.  A few shelves of interesting, inexpensive Anchor Hocking pieces were stacked in the back, behind aisles of colorful blown glass.
I picked up a sturdy trifle bowl for $6.00, and a few days later, layered my first trifle. Prepared ingredients made it easy.  The next time, I want to try making the components from scratch.

My mother sometimes made Chex mix to snack on, when we started off on family vacations. I decided to make it this holiday season, for old times' sake.

(I can tell my sketching practice has been neglected, when "hairy lines" creep onto the page.)

Focus objects

A few weeks ago I was homebound, ill; I drew my reading lamp, finding the curve of its adjustable neck interesting.
The lower sketch was influenced by the floral demo included in Ohn Mar Win’s Sketchbook Skool class. I had purchased a few spring bulbs, and was imagining how they would look in April.

Messy pages

Eggs

This messy, mixed media page began late at night. The object that reflected the most lamp light was the white egg timer (now gone over several times with chalk and white pastel, in an attempt to reclaim the lost white).

The next day, that sketch reminded me of an egg carton I opened a few days ago, to find one brown and eleven white eggs. I sketched it from memory, painted it with gouache, then prepared the lowest rectangle of the page with golden water color to match the table the timer sits on.

The chicks were an accident. I was drawing a border of eggs cracked open, and the far left one developed a beak and an eye, so I added legs and two chick siblings. (One of my earliest memories is being chased by the neighbors' barnyard chickens, when I tried to pet their baby chicks. The screen door swung shut behind me just after the first pecks landed; nerve endings sealed the memory.)

Today, I drew another carton from observation, then two of those eggs as they fried. (A row of narrow, protective cardboard cones ran between the two rows.) I used pastel pencils, colored pencil, and white charcoal, maybe even a little graphite.

I dug out a lino stamp I carved last year, inked it brown, and added its pattern to the page.

Sorry if the photo is not clear. I am still figuring out an alternative to the defunct Blogger app.

Artist, book maker, and Sketchbook Skool teacher Roz Stendahl:

I view my journal as a workbook for my brain. It’s a place for experimentation. In fact I feel so strongly about this that if I don’t get a really messy page every four or five pages I feel that I’m not pushing myself hard enough. 

The journal is a place for me to not only write down and draw what I see in my daily life, but to reflect upon it and to experiment and to develop new skills. Drawing skills, writing skills, to just work.

The Pentallic Nature Sketch journal is nearly filled. I have gotten my money's worth out of it. 

Shelves

A few weeks ago, I read an article offering free home decor ideas. You can give your bathroom towels a spa look by rolling them rather than folding them.

Incense

It was trendy to burn incense in the 70's. I had a little burner I used a few times back then. Eastern Orthodox Christians still burn it today, part of their (sensory-rich) worship services--or to accompany prayers at home. I ordered some, along with a burner and a roll of charcoal, from Legacy Icons to see what it's like. The burner is a work of art--the frankincense kit, tactile and beautiful. I am fascinated we can come so close to this physical element of the Nativity story, one of the gifts of the magi.

Video: How to burn incense