EDM #117 and #28 and "Best Buddies"

EDM #117 -Draw Something Round

I bet you don't know what this round thing is! I wouldn't have known three years ago, but now it is a part of my life several afternoons a week. This red, round item is the "stamper" that I use to put a postmark on letters and packages at my Post Office. It has a flat side so that it won't roll off the counter and so that the postmark can be positioned correctly. If you put your thumb on the flat side, it assures that the post mark will be upright!

The handle is made of wood and really is bright, shiny red. The end of it has a circle of rubber type that lists the city, state, our Contract Postal Station number, and a place for the date. In the center are three tiny slots for the month, day and year. I have to use tweezers to take the numbers out and put the next ones in. At the end of each day, one of us changes the date and stamps all the forms for the next morning.

When I joined the EDM list, "draw something round" was the challenge for that week. I drew this at work, in pencil, and painted it in watercolor sometime later. I touched it up last night and lifted a little bit of the color in the dark areas. The Holbein watercolors lift with ease, blend smoothly and are very rich. They are highly saturated, a little goes a long way. In my opinion, that makes them an economical choice for artist quality paints. They are my favorites! Paper is a page from the small watercolor Moleskine.

EDM #28 - Draw an Appliance

I did this sketch on a terribly hot day at Stan's Laundry, where it was also very hot. Stan's is close to home, and the majority of the machines are in working order - most of the time. This giant costs $4.50 to use but holds a huge quantity of laundry. On this particular day, I was there to wash every throw rug and "dog towel" in the house. Twelve little dog feet and daily summer rains create a bunch of laundry! This is in the 5"x8" Moleskine Notebook, sketched with a Cretacolor GraphitAquarell, 4B. I brushed on a bit of water when I got home. The GraphitAquarell is smooth to use and erases easily - without smudges. I use it for Sudoku too - lots of erasing!

Speaking of little dog feet...

Here are two more sketches. One is in pencil and the other is in ink with Faber-Castell Aquarelle Pencil. They are done in a Bateman Sketch book which has a firm, smooth paper that handles a bit of wet media pretty well.

There are two Doxies in these sketches. The one on the right is a black and tan, and very, very round. These little guys are three years old and have been inseperable companions since we got them. They are crated together when we are out and they sleep together on my chair, the sofa, or the dog bed. Doxies seem to do best when they are part of a "herd" and prefer to sleep piled up on one another. Since it is hot weather, side by side will be OK for now!

EDM #13 - Draw Your Phone

When I was a younger woman, with two small children at home, the telephone was something that hung on the wall in the kitchen. The cord was long enough for me to get around the room and shut off the faucet, turn off the stove, or set the table. My chin held the phone, supported by my left shoulder, and I often had one of the children on my right hip. Recalling my image in my bright yellow kitchen of the mid 60's, I am not surprised that I that my spine is a bit off kilter. A cell phone isn't as easy to fit into that space between the chin and the shoulder, or, could it be that my neck doesn't bend as well after 40 years?

The telephone was my lifeline when the kids were young. When I was at home with them and not able to get out of the house for one reason or another, I could call my friends and share the tales that young mothers tell about their lives. As I have aged, the phone is a different kind of lifeline. I carry the cell phone with me when I drive, if I'm working outside, doing the laundry in the garage, and I even keep it next to the bed so I don't have to track it down in the morning. It is a safety net. It is with me if something happens that I need it.

Phones have changed so much! As a teenager, I was excited when I got my first "Princess" telephone in my bedroom. It was a thrill when push buttons replaced rotary dials on the wall phones. Later, portable phones made it possible to move from one room to another, even outside, without picking up an extension. Now, a phone with no antenna somewhere in the house and no cord to tangle. You can carry it in your pocket or bag and never be out of touch (except in the Smokey Mountains or the Blue Ridge).

I resisted the cell phone idea for a long time. But, just like an automobile, it became a necessity. I assessed my vulnerability index and realized that I probably couldn't change a tire anymore or walk a mile or two on the side of the highway to get a gas can filled. It is possible that I could fall outside, or inside, and break a bone and not be able to reach the phone. Of course, the convenience of not getting up to answer the house phone is another point in its favor! If I could get high speed Internet here, I wouldn't even need a land line! When the land line goes dead from storms, falling limbs, or blown transformers - I reach for the ever-handy cellular!

I could have sketched any phone. However, this little one, clothed in a leather, with a brightly colored screen and a jaunty ring tone, has made my life easier, safer, and more convenient. Therefore, this phone has the honor of being my EDM for today! (5 x 8 Moleskine plain notebook, Holbein watercolors)

EDM #8 - Draw Your Watch

Recently, I have begun to consider the passing of time in a different light. Most of my life, time has seemed to be an unfriendly element that either constrained me or rushed me faster than I wanted to go. Most of the time it was rushing me. Now that I am 62, time goes faster than ever, but I am able to better appreciate the value of its passing.
I have a book about the relationship of Native Americans and time. There is no word for time in Native American languages and anytime is the right time. The beginning and end of each day is accompanied by prayer and ritual. For the First Americans, every day is a gift to be cherished, enjoyed, and used wisely.
I think that my relationship with time changed when I started school. There wasn't any pre-school or kindergarten when I was 5 years old. You started right out in first grade! I don't think I could read much, if at all, and I know that I had no clue about mathematics. I didn't mind being at school but the hours seemed to creep as I anxiously waited to get back home. Why did school have to take up so much of the day, so much of my time? I had a lot of other things that I wanted to do!
On August 1, each year, I spend a bit of the day thinking specifically about the importance of time because it is the 63rd anniversary of my father's death. He didn't have much time to live -he was 22 when his plane crashed in England during World War II. I have already lived 40 years longer than my father. His death reminds me that I have a responsibility to cherish the time I have today, and every day.
The watch in the sketch above is clipped inside the bag that I carry each day. I rarely look at it to see the time, but it is there if I want to. For today, I will do the things I need to do and remember how lucky I am to have another day to live and to remember my dad.
(2B pencil, Moleskine 5" x8" notebook, Graphtint pencils)