November 2009 Archives

End table. End of the day. End of November. End of autumn and beginning of winter. (I don't think they make beginning tables, only end ones.)

Unseasonably warm, and then a friend brought us raspberries...

Mild dust protection as we work on a home project - repairing a ceiling and painting a room.

Yesterday's apple, cut in pieces after dinner tonight. What was the figure of speech where a part stands for the whole? Not metonymy, but synecdoche. A synecdochic slice.

We had apple crisp for dessert. Still a few of the apples from the farm left in our bowl, but not for long. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

Paper towel on the edge of the table.

Watersoluble graphite stick.

Cool, damp, off-and-on rain. In spite of that, a sense that brightness prevails, however clumsily.

Now removed from a waistband, where it was acting as fastener. (Had a few moments on the phone this evening, and repaired the loose hook and eye - this safety pin no longer needed there.)

Orange zippered case, one of three which sit on my dresser, holding miscellaneous bracelets, pins, and necklaces.

Holding the hand of a sleeping child, I feel buoyed by love. The horizon is faint, but visible.

Dropped.

Little zippered bag we use to hold Nintendo DS games. Much easier to store them and keep track of them in this, rather than the big CD-sized boxes they come in.

Looking over at the bookcases in our bedroom, I see another kind of horizon. (Toy cat playing the role of stout Cortez, here.)

Found the other day beside the railroad tracks. Quartz + rust?

We went walking this afternoon in Frick Park, and when people wanted to go in different directions, I stayed back and sat on a log near the base of Falls Ravine Trail. Saw a woodpecker, and many people walking dogs, riding bikes, talking. I drew.

Carried materials to and from a workshop today. Realized that I don't use bags like this much any more - the handles stretch, and they don't carry much weight. They wrinkle differently from cloth bags, though, which makes them interesting to draw.

Or soybeans. A quick snack and satisfying to draw as well.

Crisp. Autumnal. Local.

Red-and-white striped dish towel, not yet folded from the wash. Reminded me of a flag after I was done drawing it, which seemed appropriate, with today Veterans' Day.

Sample-sized tube, from someone's dentist visit. Not sure why it was in my work bag, though.

A season of meetings, seminars, and conferences. A season of business cards. They remind me of those autumn leaves I'd collect and bring home as a child - brightly colored, ready for some project, a reminder of a particular moment...

This is a folder I made for myself - just slightly larger than a folded sheet of letter paper. I've found that I like carrying a printed two-week schedule around with me, so that I can add appointments, jot notes, and plan projects, but I don't like how tattered the papers get in my daily travels. Recently, I tried a home-made half-size manila folder for a week or so, liked it, and so a few weeks ago I made myself something slightly more permanent, covering some heavy cardboard with bookbinding leather.

I remember seeing a young woman on the bus, looking down at her hands. Thought at first she was knitting, then realized that she was untangling her headphones. Misplaced these last month, and found them again yesterday, in the pocket of a jacket I hadn't worn lately.

After a mild fall, the weather is shifting. Heavy frost this morning, and a scarf was not too warm on my walk.

I notice how connecting things with their cords has become an end-of-day ritual: plug in laptop, plug in phone, plug in camera. Everything wireless is tethered for the night.

My brush pen was nearly out of ink - the pale line along the page had a new texture.

A view of what was left behind in the mug. I used some of the tea as a wash, and found that the color dries to a much lighter shade.

Child's white sock turns up in an otherwise mixed load of wash.

Here is one of my Niji brand waterbrushes. These brushes have hollow bodies which you can fill with water, just as you might fill a fountain pen with ink. I love the way they let me paint anywhere.