The L-word

I am feeling somewhat relieved by Penny's comment a few days ago. Heck, yeah, getting a degree is more important than daily blogging. Thank you, Penny. Not sure why I needed your validation, but it helped.

Here is tonight's drawing effort. Lauren has a current school project (due Tuesday) to produce a page (written and illustrated) on each of five L-animals and five L-plants. After quite a bit of angst over the assignment during the last two weeks, she came home from Mom's place this afternoon with all the writing done (no questions asked over who did the majority of the work).

She requested my assistance on the illustrations, so I had a crack at them, and she copied my scratches. Here is the result of our collaborative efforts.

Rain

It is raining, for the first time in 151 days. And not just a sprinkle, either. Rain. There's even been thunder, something we rarely get, and I really miss, here in Southern California. I should have been in bed hours ago, but I'm sitting up, enjoying the sound of the overflowing gutter.

Oh my, another flash and crack. Love it. Send 'er down, Hughie.

September 19

Classroom doodles. My Women's Health class is aimed at teenage girls in the early stages of their sexual career. As I'm not one, I find it reeeeellly boring. But it's a requisite for my degree, so I sit through it.

September 18

Since starting school a few weeks ago, every spare minute is spent, not sketching, but studying. Today in my lunch break I didn't saunter forth for sketchersize ... oh no. I sat in my car and read a research paper on the woeful quality of educational interpreters, madly highlighting as I went, so I can write a five page summary. I get home from work, cook dinner (studying while things steam and roast) then as soon as we've eaten I hit the books again. Thus my intermittent posting. I'm still drawing every day, but as you can see I'm not spending a great deal of time on it. If you want some really lovely art, go check out Julie's pictures. Then come back here next week. Gotta go.

September 17

September 16

September 15

September 14

September 13

September 12

September 11

At Balboa Park.

September 10

A year ago today, my sweet mama died. I don't believe in life after death, so I am not comforted by the thought of seeing her again some day. Instead, I take comfort in the things she taught me and shared with me. I spent yesterday mostly alone, at the sewing machine, remembering how she taught me this skill so patiently ... every seam had to be pinned and basted before stitching. I miss her, but I am at peace.

September 9

September 8

September 7

September 6

September 5

I would love the luxury of being a full time student, but alas my life is full of other demands. Last year at this time I was in Australia with my dying mother, so missed the start of semester and had to drop the classes in which I had enrolled. In my stop-and-start journey to get a degree in American Sign Language interpreting, this meant that I had to wait a whole year before taking the next step. Today I returned to college, and I couldn't be happier about it. I'll be taking classes on Mondays and Wednesdays, so expect lots of campus sketches in the months to come.

September 4

Woman at the bookstore. I chose her as a subject because I could sit nearby with a magazine propped up, and hopefully be inconspicuous in my glancing. After I started drawing, I noticed that she had a large scar on her chin, and it occurred to me that she might be really self-conscious if she knew I was sketching her. It struck me that we can so easily be embarrassed about stuff that nobody else gives a damn about. Good lesson to remember.

September 3

Ladies with buns.

September 2

September 1

Josh on the floor in the bookstore.