Stella

I think it is strange that English nouns don't have a gender - we can clearly see that this stool is female. Doesn't she have some kinda style! I was going through my old sketchbooks and came across this sketch I had done at a friend's house a couple of years ago. We named her Stella and picture her on an assembly line in some old factory.

Going through old sketchbooks is like reading old diaries. Not only are we recording the objects as we draw them, but we are etching the time and place into our minds - and at the risk of sounding dramatic - into our hearts and souls.

I have some very quick sketches of several figures I did as they were walking toward me in an airport. Not only do I have the sketches, I have a memory of the day traveling (and waiting!) and also of sharing the sketches with my granddaughter. She sat on my lap and wanted to know about every person on the pages, as if they had been "real people" passing through my life and I knew something about each one. Well, I did know more about them than if I had merely watched them go by.
Keep your sketchbooks handy. They really have a way of adding more color (even if the sketches are in pencil or ink) to your life.

I just held a two-day drawing workshop. It was fun (I had fun anyway - the students worked pretty hard) and I hope the group continues to draw. If any of you from the workshop are reading this - you did some great work this week - keep going! Don't stop now.