mARTa's Art

Do I really have to finish the last one before beginning this one? I might wait till Sept. 1st to begin this one...so I've a bit more sketching in the old one first! I got a great idea from one of the blog artist I discovered this morning, Lee-Roy. He followed Martha's instructions for rebinding a moleskine planner but also said he had pre-cut pages that he had sketched on to rebind later. This sounds like a great idea for me who likes to pack light. I can take the pre-cut pages and then rebind when I get home.



I put in a few glassine pages with the watercolor paper.


inside front cover and back covers with clear envelope to hold blank postcards

Finished sketchbook with bookbinding cloth and reptile paper for cover

During the conferance yesterday I got a bit bored and spent a little time sketching.

I attended a nursing conference today and as I was leaving the building these 3 very good looking firemen were finishing up an emergency call. I couldn't resist flirting and soon was posing for this photo with them. I of course told them my husband was a cute firefighter also. Ah, this surely made my day!

*as a side note: No, they are not male strippers! LOL. They are from the City of Ontario, California Fire Dept. I have such respect for these men who daily face challenges in this metropolis: saving lives, fighting fires and in general helping keep all of us safe.*

Another rendition of Devin in water soluble graphite on 1/2 sheet Arches 140#cp watercolour paper.

I took this photo of him as he lay quietly in his mother's arms watching a Sesame Street video, which he loves. He was not going to give me the time of day as I tried to coax him to look at me to get some photos. I love this little boy!

I am really enjoying the water soluble graphite sticks. This is a sketch of one of my other little ones, Devin. Unlike Nicole whose mama can't be with her all the time; Devin's mama rarely leaves his side. He is such a vocal little man who entertains us with his jabbering. Him and I share his Cherrios in the mornings; me pretending to steal them from his tray and he laughs when he has caught me plopping one in my mouth! Both of parents are wonderful people and I enjoy them as much as their precious little boy. They have had so much to deal with this past year with his illness (leukemia) and still have a long battle ahead of them. Their love and constant vigilance with their son is beyond admirable. Often we only think of the children going through cancer but in reality, this is a disease of a family.

Well, here is the finished window paintng. Ok, so she kinda looks like me! I finished it just in time because shortly afterward we got an admission into that room. The little girl thought it cool.

Sent from me and my cool iPhone

Don't tell on me.....hehehe....It's Sunday morning and I'm at work with only 2 patients for the 12 hour shift. They are still sleeping and so I donned my princess tiara (I keep it in my locker) and set about painting a "princess room" for a little girl whom I promised next time she came in for chemo I'd have a room done up for her! I'm deciding on the face....hummm; perhaps a self portrait?

I'm going to jump in early for Sandy's show and tell Monday because I work on Monday and my day is un-godly long. This past week has been a bit difficult but life goes on. So today Rudy and I went into Pasadena, California for the afternoon because it's the last week of the Maynard Dixon exhibit at the Pasadena Museum of California Art. I love his work and especially the era during the depression. I have been fortunate to have seen some of his work over the years at other museums but today was treated to working sketches as well. My favorite piece I must say was this graphite sketch of Charles Lummis. I studied it carefully and saw the care he took in rendering the face with all it's subtleties and then contrasted that with the bold lines of the clothing and form. For an instant I imagined I was peering over his shoulder as he drew this.
The rest of the afternoon we wandered old town Pasadena and I treated myself to new art supplies at Dick Blick, then to lunch at Gaucho Grill which is my favorite Argentinian restaurant where we had Sangria and empanadas! A nice way to end an otherwise bad week.