This is my second Thanksgiving on my Aunt’s twenty acre farm. It’s domestic in the way of humans imposing landscaped-order on nature, and wild in the ways of nature just beyond the circle of light cast by the little boiler house that provides a permanent scent of firewood and heat for the humans. Rejuvenating by day, and for this […]
Author Archives: moonminded
November
11
Fairy Fall
posted by moonminded
Last Saturday morning I made a last minute decision to meet a fellow Urban Sketcher in NW. I made a calculated decision to bring some pastels because they’re too messy to explore in my small space. It turned out to be a glorious fall day – not entirely the chill November day I anticipated. Thus, when […]
November
09
Ghost Girl
posted by moonminded
I finally got a video of this drawing – and found out I can’t upload videos without the video upgrade! The video is super slow-mo, but perfectly captures why using graphite on black paper was challenging for me: It disappears. It reappears! Individual marks are hyper-visible. I found myself fussy and needing the light and angles […]
October
30
Let’s Get Digital
posted by moonminded
Di-gi-tal … Di-gi-tal. I wanna get di-gi-tal… R.I.P Olivia Newton John. It kind of pains me to see that a month has gone by. I really wanted to finish my Ghost Girl for Halloween. Instead, I re-investigated a drawing app I got … three years ago? After many unexplored updates and a PDF instruction sheet, […]
September
25
Overly Friendly
posted by moonminded
Monday at Powell’s, Lidia Yuknavitch interviewed Sarah Waters and could BARELY contain her passion for Waters’ new book The Paying Guests – it was entertaining! I got there about thirty minutes early and awkwardly sat in some very poorly arranged chairs that (practically by design) made it impossible to see the guests speak or read. After it […]
September
16
Kinda Sorta
posted by moonminded
It resembles me enough for my Urban Sketcher compatriots to recognize me. Kinda Sorta. When I need to sink absolutely into Introvert Recovery Time, drawing and an audiobook are my go-to strategies. I unearthed my Ursula K. Le Guin audio short story collection The Birthday of the World and sank into my little storyboard Moleskine […]
September
08
Boats and Blues
posted by moonminded
In Lieu of ever finishing a copy of Circe (1977 Romare Bearden) I’ve been doodling and sketching at lunchtime and during my morning routine. These are grouped together from the waterfront Blues festival and a post-work-decompression-doodle-session. The piano and boats are in my 3.5 x 5.5 Moleskine Pocket Storyboard Notebook – I thought the thumbnail boundaries […]
July
22
Symposium
posted by moonminded
The West Coast Urban Sketchers Symposium coincided with the Seattle-to-Portland (STP) race, Bastille Day celebrations, a zine convention, illustrator’s convention, a bead fair … and hot humid weather. We hosted guests from all over, who stalwartly captured the city’s architecture and people despite the terrible weather. Jaded resident that I am, I escaped into […]
July
17
Fur Potato
posted by moonminded
AKA Kylie, the Maltese-Yorkie-Who-Knows-What-Else-Mut with oversized ears and long semaphore tail that signals eager friendship. She literally sighs when she collapses against you for a little lay-down. I spent a bit of quality time with she and her dog friends at my best friend’s house AKA: The Dog Fort. Imagine an old schoolhouse lovingly remodelled […]
July
11
Haystack Rock
posted by moonminded
I went to Cannon Beach on the 4th of July. It was beautiful, and there was a charming main street parade with some truly inventive “floats.” I want to do more small, on-site watercolors. This is my second attempt. I don’t yet have a solution to the awkwardness of having everything on the ground or […]
Paper Escape Pod 