this and thattle

I had a surprise visit from one of my sisters and her friend the other day. Went out for lunch at a great, little vegetarian place here in Guelph called The Cornerstone. My meal was delicious - the only thing missing was meat. hahaha...

Anyway, the restaurant is right beside an antique store so I had to peek in at Dis-a-Ray's. The owner, Ray, always cracks me up when I go there.

I purchased these two hand-painted signs. I forgot to ask where they came from but I have a guess (an old department store further down the street?). There were two others but I only wanted these two to make a headboard-thing for my bed.

See below:

(It's a bit of an inside joke... I sleep on the left, always cold and covered with many blankets. Freakishly-Furnacelike-Husband sleeps on the right below an open window with only a sheet and a pillow. There, now it's an "outside joke"... not a very funny one... but I need you to know my quirks have their own interior logic.)

***

Life-drawing has started back up. I got pretty rusty over the holidays and didn't end up with any drawings I'm particularly proud of.. but here are the highlights anyways...

These are both from the long pose at the end. I didn't have the attention span (or any nice paper) for the pose so I just flitted around and did a bunch of shorter drawings. These two almost fit together.

I think the next one was 10 minutes... that's a pretty long time to not get to her head and arm drawn - shows how slow I am at drawing! But anyway, I thought there was some nice stuff happening in the inner thigh area. hahaha. That sounds suggestive but I'm serious.

This one was also 10 minutes and done in pencil for a change of pace.

I was happy with the outline and I think I actually got her to recede from the heels to the head... I'm generally not very good at that but I think I'm getting better.

Aesthetically, I kind of like how she slips into the fold of the paper at the top but I wish I hadn't run out of room (and time) to draw her hands. They looked interesting.

caged bird

This is the cover of an old book - I liked the embossed image.

All the volunteers at the thrift store I got it from are old Dutch people (except for one young Scottish anomaly) so when I bought it the older woman at the cash told me that Gekooide Vogels means "caged birds". Also, it was apparently written by a prison minister. The author's last name was Coolsma. What a cool name eh?

I think I might paint around the edges at some point...

***

Below is an update photo of the avocado I'm trying to grow. In the daytime it sticks it leaves straight out (left) and just before sundown it curls it's leaves under (right).

(As a reminder, this is where it started from a few months ago... I only kept the taller of the two going.)

snowcapped

some snow pictures from around here today:

wave

wood

drain

patio furniture

this last one is just something i noticed today that i never noticed before.

i went into my bedroom around 4:30 and there were two curtain shapes. the shadow of the object is on the wall, right beside the actual object. this is due to a large mirror on the other side of the room and the angle of the reflection being just so...

it tickled my fancy i guess...

parka lovers united

I'm in serious-procrastination-mode so I went a'thriftin to "preward" (like an award you give yourself before you actually DO anything (I might have just made that word up - I'll have to check later (yay! more procrastination!)))* myself for all the hard work I'm going to do later today...

I have a weakness...

Anyway, on the drive there I went past a bus stop where I spotted this cuteness and I had to quickly commit it to paper as soon as I got home (as in, instead of getting down to work y'know).

I don't think they were kissing because their heads weren't close enough. I think they were just smooshing their furs together (get your mind out of the gutter) to stay warm, having a little tete-a-tete.

People are so hard on hipsters but I think they are adorable and I'm pretty sure I'd be one if I was younger and could wear leggings-as-pants without looking vulgar...

I'm rambling...

***interruption - phone call***

Oh geez - I just got another job. Now I REALLY REALLY have to get to work! Waves of regret for today's procrastination are flooding over me suddenly.

(Thank goodness I already prewarded myself with some excellent thrifts!)

Water level rising... most focus...

Adieu!

*Yes. That was a triple-bracket for those of you keeping score at home!

** Late edit: I DID NOT just make up that word. The urban dictionary has an entry from 2008. I'm just 2 years out of fashion is all... typical...

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on the horn with london

Totally out of the blue this morning an old friend skyped me from jolly ol' England - where she now resides. I was a little nervous when she first texted that she was going to call. We haven't talked in about 12(?) years, wouldn't it be horribly awkward?

But I was reassured from her very first giggle that it would be cool. Despite the "trans-atlantic" (as she calls it) accent she's developed she still laughs the same: a lot, infectiously, at the same stupid things I say, etc. We talked for an hour and it was really great. Our lives have progressed in alarmingly similar ways even though our careers and continents are so different.

She still inspires and challenges me. I'm still a little in awe of her - as I always was.

She felt bad that she was keeping me from work so I'm posting this doodle I did while we talked so she knows my hands were still busy.

This is a little boxer by the legendary "Stoney" from a Taschen book I have. I'll probably finish him on better paper, in ink, later on but for now I really DO have to get to work...

Keep Dancing!

FUN FINDS from the thrift store today:

- a framed movie poster of Singing in the Rain. I was attracted to this because it's a classic movie I enjoy, bonus the nice poster frame (glass) in great condition, then I noticed that it was autographed by Debbie Reynolds... all for a $7 price tag! I was sold.

I love that she signed it "Keep Dancing". Sage advice.

(I found a bunch of images of her autograph online and I'm pretty sure it's real... not that I think it's worth money or anything... I just think it's neat - especially since, if you know the history of this movie, Reynolds initially had some trouble with the dancing.)

- also a nice teapot... because after singing in the rain you'll need a spot of throat-soothing tea.

I liked the shape and colour, it has a stamp on the bottom I can't make out but I think it's old... but the thing that got me was the weird hole in the spout. I thought it might be for stopping that annoying tea-pot-drip-problem. 5 bucks was not a big enough barrier to keep me away from a possible dripless-teapot. I had to bring it home!

Verdict, if you pour slow at the end, no drip!

play-time

Today when I should have been working on sketches, I played with an old calligraphy set instead. I like to call it "skill-building" as opposed to "time-wasting".

I never did much calligraphy as a youngin' and haven't done any at all for about a decade but for whatever reason I've always had the tools around... time to learn how to use them!

The quote is from a drawing/animation book I've been reading by this old Disney animator called Walt Stanchfield.

Also today, I went downstairs to throw some junk away and came back upstairs with some other, different junk. I'm not sure what I'll do with these yet (maybe something on the backs?) but I'll just horse around and see what happens...

The reader (namely my husband) will be pleased to know that there was other tempting junk but I resisted taking the whole pile. Those plaqued family portraits from the 60s did beckon but I kept my wits about me!

Lastly, a reminder to myself that no handmade lines are ever perfect and also to remember/share how freakin' cool Margaret Kilgallen was, a video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04ejN8ZlX4U