April 30

I had an appointment in the Miracle Mile district of Wilshire today, so I went early enough to allow for walking and sketching around the LA County Museum of Art and La Brea Tar Pits.

April 29

Woodvale Ct, near me, is rather steep, so I like to climb it to get my heart pumping. At the highest point of the road, I stopped and drew a few of the houses below me, with a badly pruned pine tree in the foreground. The hill extends above the road too, and after finishing my sketch, I clambered up through the deep Wandering Jew to one of the concrete runoff channels that encircles it. There I disturbed the red-tailed hawk that lives in these parts. (There may be more than one, but as I only ever see one at a time, I think of him as a loner.) He soared off, and last I saw was his majestic form high in the sky, with the craggy Chatsworth Hills in the distance.

April 28

Evie and I did walks 13 (Laurel Canyon) and 14 (Sunset Strip) from Walking L.A. today. This little stone angel was sitting on a steep concrete staircase in Laurel Canyon, above Jim Morrison's former residence.

April 27

More front yard excesses. I could only draw a small selection of them in my frame. (I've been carrying a viewfinder with me in an attempt to both select and contain my subject.)

April 26

There's a guy (I presume it's a guy, in fact, I presume it's an old guy) near here who makes fake wishing wells and birdhouses and such-like rustic wooden yard ornamentations, and sells them from his garage. His own front yard is liberally adorned with a lighthouse, a waterwheel, a wishing well, and many, many non-functional birdhouses. Lauren loves walking past, and has frequently suggested that we get a wishing well for our place. I don't think so.
This morning at breakfast we heard some rather loud quacking (not a normal birdsong around here). A little stickybeaking over the neighbour's fence revealed a duck happily swimming in their pool. While I went to get my camera, she was joined by a drake. Then they were ... conjoined. Who needs Discovery Channel when you can see antics like this right here in the suburbs?

April 25

I'm going to do it. Yes, I'm going to do it. I'm taking the baton from Julie, and committing to daily sketchercize every day for a year. I was so inspired a year ago when she started her challenge, and I'm still so very impressed with her for keeping it up through horrible weather, illness, heavy workload, and the demands of her family. If she can do it, so can I.

My neighbourhood isn't nearly as scenic as Julie's village, but I will look for and find beauty anyway. And of course there'll be travel in the coming year (including a few days in New York at the end of next month) so you won't be inundated with San Fernando Valley pictures EVERY day.

So here's Day One's offering, drawn on the street behind Chaminade High School, near Fields Market (which is a dying commodity in this city, a non-chain grocery store).

April 24

Did a press check today, which, as always, required quite a bit of sitting around and waiting. All my colleagues brought their laptops, but I was armed only with a sketchbook.

April 23

April 22

April 21

Rag Rug #2, in cool colours. It hasn't been blocked yet ... this is hot off the crochet hook!

April 20

Crocheted rag rug, in warm tones. Now I think I'll make one in cool colours. What a great way to use up the stash. Fast and gratifying.

April 19

Work in progress.

April 18

I have been working less this week, so besides getting the house really clean, I've actually – gasp – walked and drawn too. This rusty, dusty tap was discovered near the post office. I love having time for this kind of thing. But I know that declaring lack of time is just an excuse. Julie has managed to walk and draw every single day for nearly a year, and she has four children (including a toddler) and her own business!

April 17

Some people continually tweak, rearrange, and beautify their surroundings. I am not one of them. Even though I'm a visual artist, I tend to zone out my physical surroundings fairly quickly, and stop noticing if something's ugly. But last night I was on a cleaning jag in the kitchen, which got me looking at the venetian blind above the sink. I decided that Josh was right, we really needed to do something else with the window treatment. So I dug through my fabric stash and found these appliquéd café curtains I bought at an op shop years ago. They fit the width just fine, but because they're short, they reveal the view completely, which left me staring at the empty shelf outside the window. So this morning I made a quick trip to the garden center for some drought-hardy colourful plants (previous experience has taught me that even Mediterranean herbs do not thrive on that baking window ledge). And now, wow. What a difference when you walk into the kitchen. I love it.

What room can I beautify next?

April 16

April 15

Herbed Bubble Bread with Sun-Dried Tomatoes, made in the new tube pan Evie gave me for my birthday. Paired with thick pea soup, it was greeted with enthusiasm by the starving hordes around the dinner table. Love that :-)

April 14

There's something very appealing to me about chairs on front porches. I photographed quite a few of them on today's walk with Evie (#12 in Walking L.A.), around the Woodbridge Park neighbourhood of Studio City. You can see all the shots here, including one of the Brady Bunch residence.

April 13

The garden is planted. This shot was taken in the gloaming; it was nearly dark, and required a long exposure. I sat the camera on the garden's edging and was pretty pleased with the crispness I achieved, just keeping it steady by hand.

April 12

Keeping the monsters at bay.

April 11

Booties, completed. I think this might be the first pair of booties I've ever made! Josh looked alarmed when he saw what I was making, and asked if I had something I needed to tell him :-)

April 10

Work in progress.

April 9

Reef-hued placemats, set of six.

April 8

Set of six placemats for the Christmas Boutique. More in the works.

April 7

Birthday gifts from my Josh. That man knows what I like :-)

April 6

April 5

April 4

April 3

April 2

April 1